By Marilyn May
Milford History
A letter, photos and an old newspaper are among the things found in the walls of the farmhouse. Photo courtesy of Marilyn May.
The recent sale of the ancestral Beard homestead and farm at 97 Washington St. was controversial for some. The Beard family had been here since the 1600s, occupying land granted them by King Charles of England in 1639, making the family among the earliest settlers of Milford.
The land was purchased by Subaru for an expansion of its car dealership, while the historical community was concerned that Milford was losing yet another important part of its history.
One of the Beard barns, however, will be starting a new life serving new generations at a foundation in Ohio.
Former NFL player and three-time Superbowl champion Matt Light and his wife Susie established the Light Foundation in 2001 to help young people at risk. Students learn carpentry as well as life skills. Light specializes in dismantling old homes and barns around the country and having the youth rebuild them.
Of the Milford property, the earliest barn was a 24 by 24-foot building constructed around 1750. Some 80 to 90 percent of the building has been salvaged, and each piece tagged so that it can be reconstructed. Many other early timbers have been taken from other barns and outbuildings for reuse at the Ohio complex.
The Milford property includes a Greek Revival farmhouse from about 1840 that sits on the foundation of an earlier home that burned. A box was found inside the wall of the house currently there that contained a letter from 1925 from Jim Beard’s aunt (his father’s sister). At a time when floorboard renovations were being done, she apparently decided to make a time capsule. She wrote a letter, enclosed a copy of a newspaper and added a penny in a beer bottle cap. She secreted the box inside a wall.
Also tucked inside a wall was a carpenter plane. Carpenters typically left a tool behind as a reminder of who built the project.
The front portion of the farmhouse had pegs made of oak, while most of the beams along the porch were made of chestnut.
Future plans for the Washington Street property include a small park to honor the heritage of the Beard family.
Marilyn May is a lifelong resident of Milford and a member of the board of the Milford Historical Society.
Where in Ohio will this barn be rebuilt? Any photos of it now or from when it was built? I’m a writer and artist in Cincinnati and have strong interest in old barns and their stories. Recently the History Press published my book, Historic Barns of Ohio. I’ll be doing a second book and would like to consider this one.