History and Backstory
Our Richland Farms site is an important landmark in Richland Township.
This page is dedicated to the sweat, muscle, and reverence for the land that has gone into the history of the family farmstead.
First Nations
The area was home to numerous tribes of American Indians including the Wea, Shawnee, and Potawatomi tribes.
This recent satellite image of a field located about 1 mile to the east, shows the footprints for numerous longhouses in an area that appears to have been be a village.
Many arrowheads and stone tools have been found along the creek and in the fields around the property.
Dagger Family Homestead
1824 to abt. 1938
According to historical accounts of Fountain County, Charles B. Dagger visited the Richland Township area "in a very early day." He was born and raised near the Natural Bridge in Rockbridge County, Virginia. He selected the naturally beautiful site on the banks of Coal Creek and the Shawnee Prairie for his farmstead. Charles purchased (or entered) the land in 1824 at the Crawfordsville Land Office. Charles was born January 10, 1803. So he was just 20 years old during his land prospecting journey to Indiana.
Charles returned to Virginia and married Mary ("Polly") Waskey. Together, the Daggers made the trek to their frontier homestead in Indiana with Charles' brothers James and Madison; their wives; and the brothers' mother, Mary Bouseman Dagger. Polly rode the entirety of the trip from Virginia (abt. 600 miles by current highways) on horseback. James was married to Mary's sister, Margaret. Historical accounts state that the Dagger families arrived in Indiana on January 2, 1831. Mary Bouseman Dagger died just four years after their arrival on August 24, 1835. She was 73 at the time of her death.
In 1826, the Crawfordsville and Attica Road was laid out. Where the road crosses the Little Shawnee Creek would became the site for the town of Newtown in 1829.
Also in 1826, the first sawmill was built by Mr. Yeazle on Coal Creek northwest of the Dagger Homestead near a fording spot. In 1830, a flour mill was also constructed upstream by Peter Shultz, Samuel Low, Richard Hicks, and Mr. Hawkins. This was the only flour mill ever built and operated in the township. Mr. Yeazle's mill was able to operate for just a few seasons due to the sluggishness of Coal Creek during the dry harvest season.
Since the Dagger Homestead was located in Section 18 of the township, the proceeds from the land sale (along with others from the section) would have been allocated for the construction of schools. Maps indicate there were two pioneer era schools nearby. One was located north of the sawmill. The other south of the Dagger Homestead off present day county road E 300 N.
An oak-lined road, or lane, connected the fording spot to the Dagger's Farm and the neighboring farmstead just to the east. It ran in a southeasterly direction from Coal Creek.
Charles and Polly Dagger had three children, Virginia (1834-1893) Caroline (1835-1866) and John A. (born December 22, 1836). Charles died just nine months after John's birth, August 16, 1837. He was 34 years old. Polly remarried ten years later on January 12, 1847 to Annanias Ogden and she lived to 83 years of age (DOD: October 27, 1891).
John succeeded his father and was a well respected farmer in Richland Township. Fountain County historical accounts state, "Mr. Dagger received a fair English education, and having always been a student in a comprehensive sense, has stored his mind well with the facts of general and scientific knowledge. He attended the Centennial Exposition. He owns 100 acres of valuable land one mile south of Newtown. Has been a Mason about fifteen years, and a Democrat all his life." He lived on and operated the farm until his death on October 14, 1916 (80 years of age). He married Lizzie Clark on January 18, 1883 and they did not have any children. Lizzie Dagger passed away in 1938.
The Daggers built a lovely two story home facing the Range Road that would later become Indiana State Road 341. The lumber was likely milled at the nearby saw mill and the sandstone foundation blocks quarried from the glacial moraines on the farm. The photo displayed to the right shows the house in 1940's / 1950's.
Dagger's Barn
Built about 1863
The Dagger Family constructed the large French style barn about 1863 using massive 13" black walnut timbers from trees that were logged from the nearby woods. The barn was constructed using the "post and beam" method. No nails were used in the framing of structure. 1.5 inch wooden pegs were used as joinery. The barn was built to face the oak-lined lane—so it stands about 33° off true north. The corner timbers stand on large rocks rather than a true foundation. And it was built into the grade of the sloping landscape.
The barn was originally built for draft horses with a series of stalls surrounding a central common area. It has also been home to beef and dairy cattle for many decades. The barn is still square and true despite 160 years of continuous use.
The 30 acres of pasture north of the barn is virgin prairie. Aside from some earthworks in the 1960's, It has never been plowed.
Kirkpatrick Farm Era
abt. 1940 to 1950
Very little is known about this period of time in the farm's history. The photograph displayed to here is the earliest aerial photograph found of the farmstead. The lane to the fording spot, mill, and school can be seen to the north along with a few of remaining oak trees that lined it. The cattle barn and granary are very prominent along with two sandstone quarries to the east.
High quality sandstone is found on the farm starting at about 50 feet under ground level. Above the sandstone are deep clay layers—including veins of the same famous blue clay that put Veedersburg bricks and clayware on the map.
Harvey & Bernice Duncan Era
About 1950, Harvey Duncan purchased the farmstead. He made a number of improvements including a new farm well (1962); new pasture and barnyard fences; a modern septic system; updated electrical; and he built a 70 foot pole barn.
About 1955, he also renovated the house. Some accounts recall a fire on the 2nd story. Others claim Harvey just didn't want to climb stairs and he wanted a mid-century ranch home since the style was popular at the time. The house is clad in sandstone blocks quarried from the farm before the pits were filled in and leveled off for crop production.
Harvey was well regarded as a prize winning breeder of registered Polled Hereford cattle. His success was memorialized as a member of the Purdue University Animal Sciences "Hall of Fame."
Harold & Esther Duncan Era
Harvey Duncan's youngest son Harold operated (and later owned) the farmstead following Harvey's retirement in the late 1960's. The farm was home to a thriving diversified grain and livestock operation.
Harold, along with his wife Esther and their family continued the beef cattle herd, operated a Grade A registered Brown Swiss dairy, raised hogs, and farmed about 1,100 acres of crops and hay until Harold's death in 1993 by farm accident.
Harold and Esther were advocates for diversified farming, common sense soil conservation practices, and they were early adopters of no-till farming.
Esther continued to manage the farm until her death in August, 2023.
Today ...
The farmstead was inherited by Richland Farms founder, Daniel Duncan in 2024 from his mother following an unsuccessful "hostile takeover" of her estate by another family member. If the takeover had occurred, the Dagger-Duncan farmstead would have surely been demolished and the virgin prairie pasture plowed under. The history would have been lost.
Daniel and his family have converted the farmstead to an IDEM state permitted vegetative composting facility that will use cutting-edge methods to produce and apply composts, compost tea, and organic soil amendments.
The equipment barn has become a workshop that will tend to the long neglected farm equipment from the 1960's and 1970's—now rehabbed for used in compost production. It will will become a home for modern robotics equipment and aerial precision agriculture drones.
The cattle barn has been converted to a quality lab and areas to produce compost tea. This is a brew made from filtered water and compost. It is rich with nutrients and microorganisms that are naturally beneficial to plants without the use of petroleum-based fertilizers. When used on lawns, pastures, turfgrass, golf courses, and athletic playing fields, there is zero-disruption to play.
Through these investments, Richland Farms can offer the community a 360° suite of table-to-field solutions.
Daniel and his family revere the farmstead and understand the importance of radically changing our habits as they relate to sustainability. They intend to honor the First Nations; and the pioneers and ancestors who came before them—while blazing their own trails.
Daniel, as Owner and Executive Operator, is an active member of the U.S. Composting Council (USCC) and a board member for the newly formed Indiana Chapter. He has also certified by the Compost Research and Education Foundation (CREF). Daniel brings decades of executive leadership experience and innovative thinking to Richland Farms as he is ex-Apple, ex-Johnson & Johnson, and Owner/Principal of Rowan Tree Studio.
