Pioneer Archeological Work
— At George Rogers Clark State Park/ Peckuwe Battle Field —
You are standing on the site of a cabin
built by John Keifer in 1824. John Keifer
(1802- 1863) and his wife Elizabeth Donnel
(1805- 1865), daughter of surveyor
Jonathan Donnel, resided here until 1830.
That year the family moved to another farm
closer to Springfield. John and Elizabeth's
daughter, Caroline was born in the cabin in
1829.
Elizabeth's father, Jonathan Donnel came
from Pennsylvania and may have settled in
Bethel Township, just west of George Rogers
Clark Park, as early as 1795. John's father
George Keifer, originally from Maryland,
settled in the Township in 1812. John Keifer's
cabin sat on a 100 acre tract that was once
part of his father's much larger farm, which
encompassed most of the 1780 Peckewe
(Piqua) Battlefield. When George Keifer died
in 1845, John and Elizabeth returned to
Bethel Township and resided the rest of
their lives on what was left of his father's
original farm along the west side of
Tecumseh Road. John Keifer was a farmer,
US Marshal, Federal census taker, and the
cousin of Civil War general Joseph Warren
Keifer.
From 1831 until 1835 the cabin which
stood on this site was home to Frederick
Mennert, (sometimes spelled Minert or
Minard), born 1795, his wife Elizabeth
Bachman, born 1791, and their five children.
Their fifth child Frederick, Jr. was born in the
cabin in 1833. Frederick Mennert had
formerly owned a grist mill in Blair County,
Pennsylvania. In 1830 the family moved to
Ohio and in 1831 Frederick purchased John
Keifer's cabin and the old Leffel Mill located
along the Mad River just downstream from
the cabin. After going bankrupt in 1835,
Frederick and his family moved to Tazewell
County, Illinois. There he opened a
tavern and later purchased another grist mill.
Frederick and his wife died in Illinois.
After the Mennert family left the area, the
Keifer cabin and surrounding 100 acres went
through several owners. By the time Daniel
Hertzler purchased the property in 1853 the
cabin had long been abandoned and was
probably in a state of disrepair. Any
remaining foundation stones and bricks from
the chimney and a nearby smokehouse were
probably reused in the construction of the
Hertzler mansion. All that remains of the
Keifer cabin is the stone hearth foundation,
which was discovered here during an
archaeological excavation carried out in the
spring of 2012.
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