My Trip through Adams County

On Saturday April 11th, 2009, I went with an Adams County tour group to explore sites of interest in Adams County Ohio. This was sponsored by the Adams County Historical Society.
Our first stop was at a community center where we were shown all types of quilts by the quilting society that meets there. It is from this group that the Barn Quilt idea sprang. If you drive though many Ohio counties you will see quilt squares painted and mounted on barns. This idea sprang from that group of quilters. We learned about old traditional patterns and looked at the beautiful products they had made.
After that we went to Manchester where we toured the Ellison home which was built in 1859 and is now the residence of a woman who is the Mayor of Manchester.
We had lunch at Moyer’s Winery on the Ohio River and afterward we toured the winery downstairs.
Back in the bus again, we headed up a narrow road which barely allowed passage for the tour bus. We noticed people staring at us, unused as they were to seeing a bus like ours on their back roads. Even the animals shied away in fright. When we got to moon hollow which would lead us to the birthplace of Cowboy Copas, we were unable to turn and the driver of our bus backed for about a mile and ½ to 2 miles, which landed us at the end of the road in someone’s yard. If people thought we were a sight in this bus going forward, you should have seen the looks we got backing up.
Now it was time to hike up the hillside to find the old home place of the Copas family. We crossed two streams that had no bridge and finally found the spot where the cabin had stood. There was an open well and hundreds of daffodils to mark the spot. After we hiked back and got on the bus again, we enjoyed cookies and bottled water while we went to the next stops at Page one room school and Knauff’s Grocery.
I enjoyed the trip for many reasons. The author of the book Cowboy Copas, John Simon, was on the tour as well as the daughter of Cowboy Copas, Kathy Copas Hughes. Other friends from school were there as well. I formed a genealogical connection with a cousin I’d never met and learned a lot I hadn’t known. Since I set my books in Southern Ohio, I’m sure that all I’ve learned will prove helpful sooner or later.

Saundra Crum Akers