A Dozen Years (and before)

July 25, 2025

“aplacecalledmerrymount”

Sometimes during moments of solitude, I ponder the lives of others who lived in this old house before us. There is very little written about this place before we became its occupants on July 25, 2013, but I have looked into Madison County records and have gathered stories from the memories of Gary Self and Dave Junk. On this occasion, I offer you some of the history of this place we call Merry Mount.

You’ve read the story of Merry Mount before, and much of the joy and veneer of it has been chronicled on three blogs: 1) myfriendboughtafarm.blogspot.com by Victoria Elwood;

2) aplacecalledmerrymount.blogpost.com; and 3) aplacecalledmerrymount.com. 

aerial photo of 6090 Junk Road circa 1954

In 1887, James Henry McClimans (10/10/1854-12/27/1933) and his brother John Andrew McClimans (1/8/1851-11/30/1917) acquired 123.75 acres on Junk Road in Madison County, Ohio.  On 1/9/34 the deed for the acreage was transferred from James H. McClimans to his daughter Vona McClimans Corkwell and her husband Charles Patrick Corkwell. Imagine my surprise when I realized that a previous owner (and perhaps the man who built it) was also named Charles Patrick!!!

When Vona Bennett McClimans was born on 3 June 1884, in Pleasant Township, Madison, Ohio, her father, James Henry McClimans, was 29 and her mother, Mary Frances Bennett, was 23. Vona married Charles Patrick Corkwell on 16 January 1906, in Madison County. They were the parents of at least 1 son and 4 daughters.  One of the daughters, Mary Vona Corkwell married Kenneth M. Norris (of Norris Funeral Home in Grove City), and according to Dick Green’s wife (Dick Green of Green and Sons), Mary Vona Corkwell was born on 11/4/1909 in the house presently located at 6090 Junk Road.

On 2/1/44 Harold J. and Dorothy Self (Gary Self’s grandparents) purchased the 123.75 acres from Vona Corkwell. Almost 50 years later, on 10/14/1993, Kenneth and Shelly Kreager purchased 2.869 acres from Dorothy S Self. and on 7/24/2013 Charles Patrick and Loretta Woliver purchased the 2.869 acres from Kenneth and Shelly Kreager.

Before Gary’s father, Ray Self, passed (RIP), he told me that the barn was built around 1930 and that he helped dig the basement to an addition to the house with a pick and shovel. He also pointed to the marker over the garage that is dated September 1951 and said that he embedded a hosepipe in the wet cement that created the indenture.  Gary says that he remembers a time when newly processed hams from slaughtered hogs were hung in the second story of the main house.  Dave Junk remembers a house fire that was luckily extinguished sometime during his childhood. Dorothy Self is fondly remembered by Gary and Dave Junk as a strong, but loving matriarch whose essence can still be felt around her beloved home.

Dorothy Self at her table with her four grandchildren.

While the physical structures located at 6090 Junk Road help define Merry Mount, it is the people associated with it that makes it "Merry". I offer thanks to all who have shared in this journey: to the Porch Crew; to Lee and Robert for their love, brotherhood, and verse, especially during the pandemic; to Laurie for her hard work and gardening expertise; to Dave and Lynda, Keith, Jonie, and Bri, Jill and Tony, and Gary for being the best neighbors anyone can have; and finally to our children and grandchildren and their spouses; to Jason and Julie; all who have supported us in this adventure and provided us so much love and laughter.

CPW