Person:Charles Kindig (1)

Charles Kindig, son of Daniel and Susan Kindig, natives of Pennsylvania, was born in York County, Penn., September 7, 1815. He removed with his parents in childhood to Wayne County, Ohio. His opportunities at school were of necessity very limited, the schoolhouses of those days being log cabins of the rudest description and far apart; even the schools themselves were as rude as the houses in which they were taught. Charles assisted his father until his twenty-first year. In the spring of 1836, Mr. K. was united in marriage to Miss Elenor Allen, who was born in Trumbull County, Ohio, in 1813. He followed the vocation of farmer in his adopted county until 1839, when he immigrated to Wisconsin, where he remained but two yers. Upon returning from the Northwest, he located in Fulton County, Ind., and purchased 80 acres of land in Henry Township. Being possessed of an unlimited amount of energy and determination, he soon began to reap the reward of his untiring industry. In a short time, cultivated fields and a fine orchard appeared instead of the wild forest trees. The cabin was superseded by the commodious farmhouse, and the prattle of little voices and the patter of little feet only added other incentives for industry. The marriage of these two was blessed with four children, two of whom are living, Mary the wife of Charles Richter, and Orville, who is conducting the home farm. Mr. K. is regarded as a man of strict integrity. [T. B. Helm, Fulton County Atlas, A. L. Kingman, 1883, p. 39]

Round barns were advertised as faster, easier and cheaper to build. Forty neighbors came to help mix and pour the concrete floor and side walls. Then C.V. Kindig Construction Company built the wooden part of the barn, with only 2 to 4 men working at a time. It was done by Christmas. Kindigs built several of Fulton County's 17 round barns. 

Fulton County Round Barn Museum Leedy/Partridge/Paxton Round Barn This round barn was built by Bert Leedy in Richland Township on Old U.S. 31 just north of County Road 650 N. It was built in 1924, which made it the last round barn built in Fulton County The wooden part of the barn was built by the C. V. Kindig Construction Company. Bert had a regular rectangular barn that was struck by lightning and burned to the ground in September 1924. Winter was coming on and Bert needed a new barn and he needed it fast. He had livestock that needed shelter and he had cows to milk - and you don't want to sit in a snow drift to milk cows by hand.

Why Round Barns? Round barns may have developed from the English putting a roof over the horses walking in a circle to provide power to operate mills. They called the building a gin-gan. The earliest recorded many-sided or polygonal barn in the U.S. belonged to our first President. George Washington built a 16 sided barn in 1792 on his Dogue Run farm near Mount Vernon, Va. It was used as a treading mill to thresh grain. This barn decayed and was finally taken down after 1870. A replica of this barn was erected in 1995-96. The first true round barn in the U.S. was built in Massachusetts in 1824 by the Shakers. It is said that the Shakers preferred round barns so that evil spirits could not hide in the corners. Since the Shakers learned how to make black ash baskets from the Indians, it is possible that their decision to use a circular construction for a barn was also influenced by the Indian's use of the circle for teepees and wigwams. George Winter's sketches of wigwams in Chief Kee-wau-nay's village in 1837 near the present Lake Bruce look like round barns. Another theory is that the circular construction was derived from the round-houses built to turn the trains around, as the steam locomotive was also invented in the 1820's. The first of Indiana's round barns was built in 1874. The height of the "round barn building boom" was 1910, when more round barns were built in Indiana than any other year. The last round barn built in Indiana was in 1936. Land grant colleges including Purdue University advocated round barns as economical in the early 1900's. The University of Illinois published a booklet, The Economy of the Round Barn, in 1910. But they advised putting a silo in the middle to help support the roof. Fulton County's round barns do not have silos, but have unsupported roofs. Round barns are more economical in several ways. The capacity of a circle is larger than that of a rectangle with the same amount of siding. Having the livestock all face the center saved the farmer steps when feeding. It was faster, easier and cheaper to build a round barn than a post-and-beam barn because the round barn uses lumber that is one-inch thick instead of foot-thick beams, and used nails instead of pegs. Round barns are now an "endangered species." Several are disappearing every year. They cost too much to repair, and farmers cannot afford to pay taxes on them for storage because the big modern farm tractors and machinery won't fit through the doors. The neglected barns are succumbing to wind, weather and fire and are being torn down. The Fulton County Historical Society has established a National Round Barn Center of Information to collect information on round barns and help find ways to save them. Whenever a round barn is threatened, please notify FCHS, and we will try to find someone who will take it and save it. If you want a free round barn, ask us. Of course, the catch is that you have to move it and restore it, which may cost $65,000. That is what FCHS paid to move and restore the beautiful Fulton County Round Barn Museum in 1989-1991. The Kelley Agricultural History Museum at Tipton paid $80,000 to move and restore their round barn in 1997-99. Many barns are red but a large number of barns were always painted whit Learn more about the Fulton County Round Barn Museum Fulton County, Indiana Round Barn Capital of the World

Charles V. Kindig, born in 1863, and his brothers, Milton Kindig, John Kindig, Byrd Kindig and Douglas Kindig, were all carpenters and built in Rochester and Peru. Charles V. Kindig, and wife, Hattie Frances (Bryant) Kindig, had eight children: Cleve "Pete", Roy, Oral "Happy" or "Hap", Arnie, Cleon, Audrey, Lavonne, and Doris. The boys also became carpenters, working with their father, and the firm was named C. V. Kindig & Sons. They built schools, homes, barns, several of which were round barns. Their largest project was the Lincoln School in Peru. The most expensive project was the private home of Floyd Bailey in Peru, called "Whitehall" costing $100,000. It required three summers, the job being finished in 1952. After C. V. died in 1940, Cleve and Hap continued the business, and after Cleve retired in 1952, Hap continued until 1962, when he became 65 years of age. It was truly a family affair. [Kindig Builders, Shirley Willard, Fulton Co Folks, Vol. 1, Willard]

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C. V. KINDIG IS AWARDED CONTRACT FOR PERU JOB The Peru City school board in a special session last Saturday afternoon awarded four contracts totaling $106,525 for the construction of a new school building to be erected at the southwest corner of Main and Benton Streets. The general contract went to C. V. Kindig of this city who bid $83,000, the contract for the wiring was given to a Peru firm and for the plumbing and heating to a South Bend firm. Fourteen firms and individuals submitted proposals on the general contract; seven bids wre presented on the work of wiring; eight bid on the heating and five on the plumbing. The architects fees, which were not included will be between $5,000 and $6,000 thus making the total cost of the building approximately $112,000 or about $7,000 under the estimated cost. It was stated that work on the proposed structure will begin as soon as the transcript of the bond proceedings is ready, which will be about a week, in hope of having the building completed for the fall school term. [The News-Sentinel, Tuesday, April 24, 1928]4

Obit Tuesday, October 22, 1940 The News-Sentinel, Charles V. KINDIG, aged 77, for many years a prominent building contractor, died at 12:30 o'clock Tuesday morning at his farm home six miles south of Rochester on Road 31 in Liberty township. Death was due to complications and followed an illness of four years, the last ten days of which he was in a serious condition. The deceased was a life resident of Fulton county and was born March 24, 1863. His parents were William and Katherine KINDIG. His wife was Hattie Francis BRYANT and whom he married January 18, 1886. For many years the Kindig family lived north of Rochester in the home in which Mr. and Mrs. [Jesse L.] TOMBAUGH now reside. Survivors are the wife; five sons, Cleave A. [KINDIG], Roy E. [KINDIG] and Oral B. [KINDIG], of Rochester; Arnie J. [KINDIG], South Bend, and Cleon V. [KINDIG], of Marion; three daughters, Mrs. Forrest FENNIMORE, Mrs. Clarence MIKESELL and Mrs. Cecil JONES of South Bend; four brothers, Milton [KINDIG], Bunker Hill; John [KINDIG], Noblesville; Byrd [KINDIG], Peru, and Douglas [KINDIG], of Rochester; three sisters, Mrs. Arthur CUNNINGHAM and Mrs. Ann SKINNER, of Akron, and Mrs. Cora DEEDS, of Chicago; 25 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. The last rites will be held from the Kindig farm home at 2 o'clock Thursday afternoon with burial in the Odd Fellows cemetery in Rochester. The body will be moved from the Foster funeral home to the Kindig residence at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Round Barn Built by CV Kindig & Sons