The Delaware County Historical Society was entrusted with the historic Meeker Property by Tom and Carolyn Porter.
As part of that trust, Society volunteers research to discover the details of the property’s history. This work has taken many hours in our Cryder Library, other area archives, and online resources. Even so, it is an ongoing process of discovery.
Meeker Property Timeline
1800 – President John Adams awarded 4000 acres to Nicholas Gilman, “for satisfying warrants for military service.”
1801 – The property was then transferred to kinsman, Benjamin Ives Gilman of the Ohio Company, who was a pioneer in Ohio.
1807 – Sale of 624 1/4 acres (approx. one square mile) to John Beard, for $2497, by Gilman. Beard, who was the first white inhabitant in Delaware township, settled on the west bank of the Olentangy River (then called Whetstone), where he built a log cabin and a grist mill and erected a dam to control the water flow. Archaeological studies show evidence of a log cabin about a half mile north of the current Meeker property, which was built by either Beard.
1811 – John Beard sells the property to Forrest Meeker for $6,250. Meeker contracts for a cabin to be built, returns to Kentucky to bring his family back and reside in their new home.
1845 – Forrest sold the property to George Bieber for $10,150. Bieber owned property north of the Meeker land and had constructed a similar house and stone-end barn there.
1854 – Bieber died in 1854 and the administration of his estate was handled by his sons James and George. Various members of the Bieber family lived on the property.
1867 – The Meeker property was sold by Jacob Bieber to Jesse Eury.
1892 – Jesse Eury sold the property to Josephine Miller, his daughter.
1920 – Josephine Miller sold the property to the AC. Miller Company, who had various tenants. They cut trees for manufacture of shovel handles.
1936 – Paul and Bertha Radugge family lived and farmed the rented property.
1940 – Garth Oberlander bought 210 acres and had renters on the property.
1940s – In the early 1940s, the Humes rented and farmed 210 acres of the Meeker property, though they did not live in the house. They raised Percheron and Belgian horses.
1952 – Garth moved his family to the property and farmed it for several years.
1954 – Garth Oberlander began Garth’s Auction business in 1954, selling antiques from the barn loft, and later, from the barn floor.
1971 – Garth sold eight acres with the historic house and stone-end barn to Tom and Carolyn Porter who then operated Garth’s Auctions. The Porters were mentored by Garth and moved their family into the house. Garth moved to a small apartment on the second floor of the barn. Garth died in 1973 and the Porters bought the business and property.
1991 – The Forest Meeker Home and Farm are listed on the National Registry of Historic Places October 3, 1991 (#91001427)
1990s – Amelia and Richard (“Jeff”) Jeffers were mentored by the Porters. They purchased Garth’s Auction business in 2006. Their family lived in the Meeker House until 2008.
2010 – Tom and Carolyn Porter sold two acres where the Turkey Hill gas station is now located and donated six acres and historic buildings to the Delaware County Historical Society. Garth‘s Auctions rented the barn until the summer of 2018.
2016 – The Delaware County Historical Society began operations of The Barn at Stratford as an event venue to provide sustainability to the organization.
2016 – Meeker Homestead Museum Opens with a display of political memorabilia.
Now, this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning
Winston Churchill