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David J. Miller (age 32), his wife Barbara (age 28) moved near Kiln in November, 1929. They are listed on **1930 Census with five children: Leona -age7, Gilbert - age 5, Harley - age 4, Lindy May - age 1, and newborn baby Sylvanus. The next child, Clara was born in Mississippi two year later.
. In January, 1930, the land agents held a free oyster supper at Levi M. Hochstetler?s home with seventy-eight other Indiana visitors present. Soon a total of 14 Amish families lived there. The settlers grew fruit and vegetables. Joe Coblentz fattened his hogs be feeding them sweet potatoes.
A week of cold weather in March, 1932 froze the strawberries and oranges. Then, in 1934, Joe Coblentz spld 110 bushels of ?Satsuma? oranges. Raising the produce was no problem for the Amish but making a profit from it was. Was it the poor economy caused by the Great Depression that caused this Amish settlement?s failure?
By September of 1934, there remained only the Coblentz family and two bachelor men named Levi Hershberger and Chris Glick. One settler reflected that ?our soil was sandy and poor. The bugs and pests were terrible.? So what began as a unique settlement of Amish in the South, soon declined.
Alvin Coblentz, 18 year old son of the preacher, Joe Coblentz , returned to Ohio in August of 1936 with his family. He could not forget his girlfriend, named Leona Lee Burge. He returned to Mississippi and married her on Sept. 10,1936. Alvin (now desceased) and Leona Coblentz raised 14 children, some still live in the Picayune area. The visitors would like to meet them on this trip.
*The Amish in America: Settlements That Failed. By David Luthy, 1986 **1930 Federal Census