The Great Turkey War of Penn Township

Bad neighbors, stolen turkeys, and a court case that captivated St. Joseph Count in 1890

BY JOSHUA LANGE // POSTED NOVEMBER 15, 2025

November is the month of Thanksgiving, where Americans sit around at family gatherings eating an assortment of food, with the centerpiece being a large turkey. Relatives will fight over who cuts the turkey and who gets the best slices. Fighting over a Thanksgiving turkey pales in comparison to the Great Turkey War of 1891-1892 in Penn Township. This “Turkey War,” as contemporary newspapers of the era referred to it, was the pinnacle of a long-lasting feud between neighbors, the Peck and the Meixell families, both of which were farmers. Their properties are now the site of Grissom Middle School and Penn Township Fire Station #14. The main figure of the feud was John Peck, a man infamously known in the City of Mishawaka. The absurdity and lengths of pettiness put on display became a spectacle that enthralled the residents of St. Joseph County. To understand what the Great Turkey War was, and how it came to be, we must go back to the beginning.

John Peck was born in Portland, Chautauqua County, New York. The exact year is unknown, as documents have conflicting years of 1816, 1818, and 1819. As a young man, John worked as a sailor on several types of boats on Lake Erie. In 1842, John married Lora (Fitch) Crouch, a widow in Portland, New York. By the spring of 1844, John, Lora, and his stepdaughter, Elizabeth Crouch, moved to Penn Township, St. Joseph County, where John became a farmer. In the following years, John and Lora had four children: Helen, Asahel (Asa), Mary, and Melvin. By 1860, John had built up enough influence within the community to run for the Board of Supervisors for Penn Township. He won the position later that year, with a total of 499 people voting in the election.

John was an entrepreneur of sorts, speculating in land and making other business ventures. The earliest known sale of property he owned was in December 1868, when he sold 40 acres of land in Madison Township to Charles Cole for $400 ($9,000 in 2025). In 1869, John Peck purchased a steamship called Kalamazoo and claimed that he would operate it out of the port of Mishawaka. After only 6 months, Captain John Peck sold Kalamazoo to Garrow & Co.

To understand how a man like John Peck would eventually get into a feud, here are a few examples of his questionable behavior that created enemies within the community. In 1872, John lost property in a lawsuit against a man named Lansing Hibbard. An article in the South Bend Tribune from October 17, 1879, describes how a man from Lakeville rode his horse to Mishawaka to sell it to John Peck but had to figure out a way home as John Peck would not bring the man back to Lakeville. In another article from 1881, John Peck had a hearing with Justice Harbon on the charges of allegedly assaulting Gustave Schmuck in the Ambos house with a beer glass. In 1885, John Peck lost a replevin case (withholding someone else's property) against A.C. Kuss of Mishawaka.

Later that year, John Peck purchased 40 acres in the south part of Penn Township from John Ungrey, one of his neighbors, for a discount of $1,500 ($50,000 in 2025). This seems normal, until the realization that Mr. Ungrey was in jail at the time for “outraging his daughters” (an old legal term used to describe severe forms of abuse). John Peck knew that Mr. Ungrey was going to lose his assets in court, so this was a way that both could benefit while trying to scheme against Mr. Ungrey's children who were entitled to the property according to the court. This scheme was revealed by Prosecutor Egbert of St. Joseph County, who, acting as guardian of the Ungrey children, sued John Peck and won, giving the Ungrey property back to the children.

John Peck's prior doings pale in comparison to a feud he had with his next-door neighbors, the Meixells. This feud eventually culminated in the Great Turkey War. The South Bend Tribune reported, “The Pecks and the Meixells who join farms, delight in litigation, and there is no time within the memory of the oldest inhabitant when the two families have not been at law. Let their dogs get into a fight and a lawsuit follows. It is said that a high wind once broke down an apple tree on one of the farms and the neighbor was sued for damages. Let a pig stray away from one party, and the other party is accused of stealing it. This bad blood and desire for satisfaction in the courts has kept the neighborhood in a state of tumult for over a quarter of a century.”

With these rambunctious neighbors, how did the Great Turkey War start? It all started in the fall of 1891, but the truth of how it happened depends on which person one believes is telling the truth.

According to John Peck, he had a flock of twenty-eight turkeys, and one night, a number of them escaped. He ordered his men to track down the turkeys, and the next day, they found the turkeys roaming in a field and returned them to their pen. He then said that Jacob Meixell falsely accused him of stealing their turkeys and illegally took six of his.

The Meixell family had a different story. They raised turkeys and one day, sixteen went missing after escaping their pen. The next day, the Meixells noticed that John Peck had six more turkeys, which John Peck denied. While the other ten turkeys were never found, the Meixell family was certain those six were part of their missing flock.

Jacob Meixell, the head of the household, had summoned the constable, and they went to John Peck's property to take the turkeys back. John Peck and company protested, attempting to block the police and the Meixells from taking the turkeys, but ultimately failed. Jacob Meixell left with the six turkeys, and John Peck attempted to summon another police officer to help him take the six turkeys back. The police declined helping Peck, probably fed up with the Peck-Meixell feud, and said that it was a civil matter that would need to be dealt with in court. The matter was brought to the Mishawaka Civil Court in December 1891, with Justice Long presiding over the case. The replevin case was for six turkeys and was ruled in favor of Jacob Meixell. The court ordered John Peck to pay the Meixell family $5.75 ($204 in 2025). John Peck claimed that this ruling was unacceptable and immediately appealed it to the St. Joseph County Court.

The replevin case became a spectacle for the residents of Mishawaka. The local newspapers sent journalists to cover the trial, and hundreds of residents went to see the case unfold all the way to the verdict. The South Bend Tribune noted that both sides had dozens of character witnesses, and both sides would regularly be threatened with contempt in court due to outbursts and cursing. The public was excited to hear that John Peck had appealed, as that would mean the fiasco would continue and satiate their hunger for entertainment.

 

 

In the spring of 1892, the appealed replevin case was ready to be heard, with both sides spending enormous amounts of money to ensure their victory. John Peck was in his seventies and in declining health at this point and was willing to do everything in his power to get one last victory after feuding with the Meixells for over a quarter of a century. For Peck, it was not about the money; it was about sending a message.

John Peck brought seventy-five witnesses to take the stand and spent absurd amounts of money on a large law firm. Jacob Meixell brought fifty witnesses and also spent a hefty amount on a large law firm. The trial continued with outbursts and threats of contempt in court for the Meixells and the Pecks. One notable point of contention was over a description of a turkey. According to the South Bend Tribune, “To add to confusion, [Jacob] Meixell testified that he could easily identify one of his turkeys because it had the distinguishing mark of its toes having been frozen off. But [John] Peck rebutted this testimony with the statement that he too owned a frozen footed turkey.”

In the final days of the St. Joseph County Court trial, the South Bend Tribune reported, “The Mishawaka street cars have been taxed to their fullest capacity morning and evening to accommodate for the Peck-Meixell crowd, male and female, young and old.” The verdict had a shocking outcome, ruling in favor of John Peck. The cost of the appealed civil case totaled to over $200 ($7,000 in 2025) for six turkeys and legal fees. The Mishawaka Enterprise and the South Bend Tribune both noted how ridiculous it was that both sides spent absurd amounts of money on those turkeys. Jacob Meixell was asked about his thoughts on the verdict, and he responded by saying that he hoped to live long enough to have as many grandchildren as John Peck to be used as character witnesses, so he would have a chance of winning a lawsuit.

John Peck succeeded in getting the last laugh. Despite losing so many court cases and battling the Meixell family for a quarter of a century, he got the turkeys and cost the Meixells more money than they imagined. This victory was his last hurrah, as less than one year later, John Peck died of a fatal heart attack.

The story of John Peck and the Great Turkey War shows that even one's worst neighbors are not as bad as having to live next to the Meixell and Peck families. They were Penn Township's Hatfields and McCoys, but instead of fighting with guns and bullets, the Meixell-Peck feud was fought with lawsuits. Who was telling the truth about the turkeys is up to debate, but one thing is for certain: that lawsuit was not just about six turkeys.

Josh Lange is a seventh generation Mishawakan. In his free time, Josh volunteers to help preserve Michiana's past, and writes a regular column for the Mishawaka Enterprise. You can find his works at mishawakajosh.com.