![[1906 - The Coppock Barn, Monroe Township, Miami County, Ohio]](images/index/CoppockBarnMasthead2.jpg)
For the most part, the entries presented here are verbatim as originally recorded. However, most misspellings or word omissions have been corrected, while grammar and punctuation have not been. In a few cases, the language has been softened. The author sometimes became very frustrated with events, and that frustration was sometimes strongly reflected in an entry. On some occasions, entries stray a bit from the barn work at hand, but they none-the-less reflect what was on the author's mind at the time, and as such have been included here.
A number of identical footnotes appear throughout the log from month-to-month, so that each month's entries can be better understood on their own. For example, when a person is named in multiple month's log entries, that person is introduced by footnote at their first invocation in each month's log.
It should be noted that the author's primary concern was preserving the Pennsylvania Barn built by the Coppocks in 1857. As such, a great majority of the log entries concern work done there, as opposed to portions of the barn complex built many decades later, such as the milking parlor or grain storage bins.
When photographs were taken on the same day that a log entry was made, those photos can be viewed via the links in the calendar. In many cases, links to the photos can also be found within the log entry for that day.
Admittedly, reading this entire log would be a tedious task for almost all. It is, however, the only contemporaneous record of what occurred at the barn (along with photographs) during the period from its sale out of the Coppock family until it was demolished, and thus is rightly included on this website.
Days Logged in April: 24
Hours/Minutes Worked in April: Ken 45/05; Jim 43/00; Other(s) 2/45
Amount Expended in April: $1,525.55
| April 2004 |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | ||||
| 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 |
| 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 |
| 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | |
Jim 1 called and explained he had spent about 3.25 hours working at John's making brackets. 2 He made 20, which still need to be finished. John helped a couple hours, and Jim said we would pay for another tank of Acetylene for him - $33.00. I'll pay Jim and he'll pay John. We work tomorrow if weather permits and install the clamps on the roof. Jim expects to work another hour or so on the clamps tonight.
Saturday, the 3rd
What a beautiful Saturday, although windy. We put up 3.5 sets of hold-down boards on the west roof (fourteen clamps) - it took a full 8 hours (10:50AM - 6:50 PM). Physically felt good - still very tired when I got home though. We plan on doing more of the west roof next weekend. Looks like I'll need to start mowing soon. Noticed the siding under the south peak is all loose. We fix one thing and find two more problems, it seems.
Sunday, the 4th
Jim called; we'll likely try to mount more boards next weekend. Hopefully he can get more brackets made, so we'll have enough to do the whole west side. I asked again about maybe doing only a section of tarp, rather than trying the whole west side at one time. I think it might be more manageable to do a section, but it wastes tarp because of necessary overlap.
Wednesday, the 7th
Jim called to let me know he'd gotten material for more clamps, and hopes to work on them before too long. We also made tentative plans to plow Emilie's garden. 3 We might work this weekend if the weather permits and I have time from mowing.
Friday, the 9th
Jim and I talked via radio 4 and phone. He has more clamps partially made - John helped him yesterday. He also said he would work more on them tonight. We are doing a bunch of odd's and end's tomorrow, like putting the plow on the tractor so Jim can plow Emilie's garden.
Saturday, the 10th
7 Hours, 20 minutes of time spent on mostly barn work. Jim and I started out at around 9:30am for Lowes, 5 got more boards for the roof, CLR for the pump, and some other hardware. Also went to Tractor Supply 6 to look for tarps, and they had none. Called Beavercreek, 7 and they had two - Jim got them in the evening after we'd finished. We also assembled and got my push mower going. Did a lot of land clearing with the tractor at the Lesher's and put the plow on. Lashed the far south door to the wall - it was beginning to get loose. Pretty tired, and as usual, my feet hurt pretty good.
Sunday, the 11th
Jim called - he got the tarps, but Tractor Supply under-charged him. I told him to go back once and give them a chance to make it right. I also instructed him to get more door hanging hardware when he went back to Beavercreek.
Monday, the 12th
Called Jim to tell him we could work on tractor this week, so we could plow. One thing lead to another and I ended up calling Tractor Supply stores looking for tarps. Jim had one from an earlier purchase (the other was a 20x20 that he was sold by mistake, as it turns out), and we found out Greenville 8 has three. He will pick them up while up in Bradford doing RR 9 stuff in a couple days.
Thursday, the 15th
Beautiful evening. Went to the barn about 3:45 PM and worked until about 5:30PM. Talked to Leshers - they like the yard clearing. Emilie will paint the house a light yellow with white trim. She was curious about the barn color, and when she heard I was doing some blue trim, she thought she might too. She wants to take the limestone wall down. 10 I offered Jim and I to help her do the work there, and clear her back porch of the limestone and use it to repair the wall, and to create the wall she wants for flowers out front. And if there's any left, she said I could have it to repair the barn foundation. I used my push mower for the first time - seems to work well. Should take me about 1.5 hours to mow. Then Joe Lesher told me he would mow the large areas in back, which is good. Don 11 and Jim worked about 45 minutes freeing up Jim's plowing adjustments. We plan to work for a few hours tomorrow night. Apparently I won't have to pay Jim for this time. Emilie showed me where her stuff was and what was BS's 12 too. I showed her the blue writing on the door frame. 13
Friday, the 16th
Worked for 2hrs. 50 mins. during the evening. Put six clamps up on southwest side of barn. Plan to work more tomorrow. Very nice weather.
Saturday, the 17th
Worked 5hrs. 20 min, putting up six more clamps, including 4 on the SW edge. Moved van around to the wall. Both Jim and Joe thought somebody had been recently stealing boards from the door. I don't think so, but I diagrammed it to compare it to the door in the future. 14 Mark 15 came up and wanted to work on the tank and kind of held us up on the roof work while we moved the tank to Jim's, but he's trying to be helpful, and he is, so I just worked around it. But that pump is a low priority item - Jim realizes that. We plan to work some this week. Physically I feel better today than I have. And I mowed for three hours in the morning before I did this too. We spent time on-site just talking about how to do the tarp, too.
Sunday, the 18th
Went up this morning and took about 15 minutes to spray herbicide. Naturally, it was blowing like hell and it was hard to spray.
Monday, the 19th
Talked to Jim briefly about plowing Emilie's garden and also propping up the lean-to 16 roof that is collapsing. We plan to do both tomorrow.
Tuesday, the 20th
Jim and I worked from 4:00PM to 7:15PM on the lean-to roof, which is in horrible shape. We propped up some of the broken rafters using my floor jack, and used the remaining beam from the north addition to serve as a foundation for more permanent 2x4 supports. We noticed that in the north section when retrieving the beam that it looked as though the RR track 17 may have slipped/rotated. Jim fell from the aluminum ladder when preparing to put a beam in place - that was scary. Overcast with intermittent rain.
Wednesday, the 21st
Called Jim - decided not to work cause of rain.
Thursday, the 22nd
Called Jim - decided not to work cause of rain. Plan to work tomorrow if possible. May take off work early.
Friday, the 23rd
Jim and I worked for 3 hours 15 minutes this afternoon. We planned to do roof stuff after plowing Emilie's garden, but I decided just to keep using the tractor and clean some stuff up. We cleaned a lot of brush around the cattle ramp and the milk house. It was muddy - we plan to work the roof tomorrow.
Saturday, the 24th
I worked from 9:15AM to 6:30PM. Jim worked from 9:30AM to 6:30PM. We put 8 more clamps on the NW portion of the roof, after removing the far north tarp that had been destroyed by wind, and we got Jim's safety ladder up there too. 18 John, Gael, Mike and Ayashe 19 stopped by too. My feet were absolutely killing me by the time I'd finished. Nice sunny day for the most part. Put about 8 gallons of gas in the tractor; I'm guessing I've put about 25 gallons in so far. I'm segregating the cost separately. I mowed some also along the NW. Gave Jim some money ahead to buy more tarps and more hardware for clamps. Spoke to Emilie to explain about all the people - she didn't seem overly happy about the garden. Put gas in tractor. I would estimate to this point that I have put 20 - 25 gallons of gas in the tractor thus far, and have not allocated any of that to barn expenses - it just stays in the "gas" column. 20
Sunday, the 25th
Went to Lowes for about 50 minutes total to buy a lawn sweeper, but I also got duct tape and tie-straps for tarp making. Very sore and tired from yesterday's marathon. Talked to Jim about hardware/tarps he was to purchase today.
Monday, the 26th
Back hurt. Walking very painful.
Tuesday, the 27th
Ditto.
Wednesday, the 28th
Back really hurt - could have to go to doctor. Got Ibuprofen medicine from Jim. Talked to Jim about possibly doing light work this weekend, if my back isn't totally hosed.
Thursday, the 29th
Back much better today.
Friday, the 30th
Back almost completely pain free. Amazing. I was afraid this might really delay barn work.
1. James C. Gumbert, a close friend of mine since we met in elementary school around 1965. Jim did much of the most dangerous and physically demanding work on the barn. This entire barn preservation project would not have been possible without him. He also took hundreds of photographs initially to help us document the barn as we first found it. Return to April 2nd entry
2. The roof was arguably the most serious problem among those causing the barn's rapid decay. As such, as soon as I took control of the barn, my first priority was to cover the roof to stop the many leaks that were responsible for so much damage inside the barn. The clamps referenced were part of the hardware we fabricated to help keep the tarps on the roof. John is Jim Gumbert's brother. Return to April 2nd entry
3. Joe Lesher (April 18, 1941 - June 3, 2019) and wife Emilie purchased the Coppock Homestead house and immediate surrounding grounds (not including the barn and most out-buildings) on May 29, 2002. Emilie and Joe kindly permitted Jim Gumbert and I access to the barn via their driveway. Without permission to use their drive, the barn work would have been impossible. For that, I'll always be thankful to them. As such, when I could do something to assist the Leshers in their work around the house, I was glad to help. Emilie wanted to plant a small garden, and Jim was able to use his tractor to eventually prepare an area for planting. Return to April 7th entry
4. Jim and I are Amateur (ham) Radio operators. "Radio" refers to our ham equipment. Return to April 9th entry
5. This is the Lowes Home Improvement Warehouse located on the west side of Troy, Ohio on State Route 41. On very rare occasions Jim and I would visit the Lowes in Huber Heights, Ohio. Return to April 10th entry
6. Tractor Supply Company on Stanfield Road in Troy, Ohio. Return to April 10th entry
7. Beavercreek, Ohio, about fifteen miles south of the Tipp City, Ohio area. There was a Tractor Supply store there that we used on rare occasions. Return to April 10th entry
8. Greenville, Ohio is about 28 miles to the northwest of Tipp City, Ohio. Return to April 12th entry
9. Jim is a railroading ("RR") enthusiast. He was part of a group working to preserve the railroading history in the nearby community of Bradford, Ohio. Return to April 12th entry
10. The driveway onto the Coppock Homestead property crosses into an elevated area where the house was built. The face formed where the driveway cuts into the earth was covered with limestone blocks. Emilie wanted to remove these limestone blocks. Return to April 15th entry
11. Donald Rogers, classmate and friend of Jim and I throughout our years in the Tipp City schools and later. Return to April 15th entry
12. Both Emilie Lesher (owner of the house with husband Joe) and the person that sold me the barn (BS = Barn Seller) used areas within the barn complex to store various of their possessions. I wanted those properties identified so that I did not dispose of them while cleaning the barn area. Return to April 15th entry
13. While working at the house and barn, I found areas of light blue paint that appeared to be quite old. A number of the barn vents had a layer of this paint on them, and I also found traces of it in the house's south entrance door frame. As of this writing, I have not taken time to carefully examine a vent to determine if this paint appears to be the first layer on the vent. If so, it may well be the color the vents were painted when the barn was built in the late 1850's. At whatever time this paint was used to accent the vents, it appears the house may have been trimmed in that same color. Strangely, indecipherable writing was found in the barn near a door in the same color of blue paint. This was the writing that I pointed out to Emilie. Return to April 15th entry
14. From time to time when I would visit the barn, it was clear that someone had been there, other than Jim, since my last visit. Once in a great while items would turn up missing, such as siding or a fire extinguisher. Although I don't know for sure, I assume it was one or more of the landowner's family or friends, who either didn't know or didn't care that I owned the barn, and they simply helped themselves. In this particular case, Jim and owner of the house Joe Lesher felt as though someone had taken some siding from the west face of the South Extension. Return to April 17th entry
15. Mark Ward from Franklin, Ohio. Mark was a friend of Jim's; they met at R. L. Drake Company when Jim worked there. Mark became a friend of mine also as he made several helpful visits to the barn to assist Jim and me. All three of us are Amateur (ham) Radio operators, and we operated from the barn on a few occasions. Return to April 17th entry
16. "lean-to" refers to what I call the "South Extension" on this website. Return to April 19th entry
17. The "north section" mentioned here refers to what I call the "North Addition" on this website. The sill plate along the north wall of this addition was made from what was thought to be a rail from the Dayton and Troy Electric Railway line which passed near the farm from about 1901 until 1932. "RR Track" in this entry alludes to that rail. Return to April 20th entry
18. The barn roof had water-damaged areas where Jim felt it would not support him. The largest of these areas was arguably on the north side of the west roof. For Jim to safely work in that area, we used an aluminum ladder with 2x4's clamped to the legs at one end, at an angle. The corner formed where the ladder legs and the 2x4's met fit over the peak of the roof, matching its angle, effectively hooking the ladder on the roof. The ladder was placed over the large area that was unsafe, spanning it completely. Jim worked in that area by sitting atop the ladder. Because the ladder was hooked on the peak, there was no danger of it sliding off the roof. Return to April 24th entry
19. John Gumbert and Gael Ann Gumbert Allcorn, Jim Gumbert's brother and sister. Mike Douglas is Gael's boyfriend, and Ayashe is Gael's daughter. Return to April 24th entry
20. Throughout the time I worked at the barn, I kept an Excel spreadsheet to track of all of my expenses, including those incurred due to the barn work. I had not looked at this spreadsheet since the time that the barn work ended, until creating this website in 2020. I remember virtually nothing about how I allocated costs, and they are categorized no more specifically than with a "Barn" column and "Jim" column in the spreadsheet. Hence, due to my poor record keeping, I'm left to assume that "Barn" primarily refers to materials purchased for the barn, while "Jim" refers primarily to the hourly salary that was paid him. Whether harder to classify costs were accounted for in the spreadsheet, I don't remember and can't determine now. For example, fuel - it could be used in my vehicle for trips directly related to, partially related to, or completely unrelated to barn work. There is a "Gas" column in the spreadsheet, but whether it includes fuel costs for barn related work is unknown. Therefore, my reported barn expenses may be understated, depending upon how I reported more difficult costs to allocate such as fuel. Adding to the confusion, portions of this particular entry are at odds with each other, as though they were written at different times. Early on I state I've purchased about 25 gallons of fuel for the tractor, and a bit later I claim 20 - 25 gallons of fuel purchased for the tractor. I also say tractor fuel costs have been segregated, and later state that they have simply been added to the '"gas" column'. From a clarity perspective, this entry was not my finest hour. Return to April 24th entry