When Jewish and German Refugees Arrived in Greene County (Sunday Rewind)

This past two weeks, I have been visiting local schools and talking about the history of people coming to America. So I thought it was only appropriate to share this blog post, which contains some of the records used for our students presentations! -Mary

This is a Sunday Rewind post featuring previously published content from the Archives. This blog was originally published February 26, 2016 at 9:42 AM by Elise Kelly here.

Coming to America

From yesteryear to the present day, America has been a beacon of hope, freedom and opportunity for immigrants. At different intervals of time, our nation has experienced an influx of people from the British Isles, to the coasts of Greece, to the plains of Russia.

Before the onslaught of World War II, thousands of European Jews migrated to the United States. Conveniently, many settled in New York after coming through New York’s Harbor. However, others did venture more westward.

Marie Treuer, declared her intention to become a U.S. citizen in Xenia, Ohio in October of 1939. Marie was a Jewish woman born in Czechoslavakia in 1897. She married an Austrian man named Fritz Treuer in Vienna in 1920.

During the 1930s, Austria’s government was moving more towards a centralized government in line with the fascist model.

Left: Marie Treuer – Part of her Naturalization Record

By March of 1938, the country was annexed by Germany and subsequently, a large number of people fled Austria. Only eight months later in November, nearly all of the synagogues in Austria were destroyed.

Fortunately, Marie, her husband Fritz, and their thirteen year old son, Robert, escaped the devastating destruction that was carried out by the Nazis. Let’s examine Marie’s Declaration of Intention Form. (See Below).

     Greene County Naturalizations 1940-1958

By 1940, the family was living in the village of Yellow Springs. I believe both Marie and Fritz were working at Antioch College at the time. (See Below).

 1940 Miami Township (Village of Yellow Springs Census Record)

FormAdjust: 1.35700 1.33100 194 440

Fritz is listed as a “Stenographer – College Personnel” and Marie is listed as a “Music Teacher – College.” How fortunate, Marie went from being a cook in 1939 to teaching music at the college level only a year later! She probably was a music teacher in Vienna.

In 1942, when Fritz was forty-eight years old, he had to register for the selected service. (See Draft Card Below).

Created by ImageGear, AccuSoft Corp.

         Fritz Treuer’s 1942 Registration Card

According to this registration card, Fritz was working for the Antioch Bookplate Company.

Similar Paths
  At the same time the Treuer Family was making their way to America, a thirteen year old girl named Elise Cahn, was crossing the Atlantic on a vessel named The Manhattan.

Elise did not arrive in Greene County until 1943. (See Declaration of Intention Form Below).

Elise Cahn – Part of her Naturalization Record

                          Greene County Naturalizations 1940-1958

In ’43, Elise was enrolled at Antioch College. Notice in the above record, her present nationality states: “stateless former German.” Sometime between Elise’s birth in 1925 and her voyage to America in 1938, she moved to Amsterdam in Holland. Cahn is both a Jewish and a German surname. Perhaps Elise sought initial refuge in the Netherlands but left before the Nazis entered in 1940.

During the war years, the process to become a U.S. Citizen was lengthy. Heribert Buerger, also born in Germany during the 1920s (1923 to be exact), arrived in the U.S. in 1936. When he filled out his Declaration of Intent in Xenia in 1941, he was eighteen years old. In 1944, he was still waiting to become a U.S.citizen. (See Letter Below).

                                Greene County Naturalizations 1940-1958

Mr. Buerger wanted nothing more but to become a citizen of the United States. These naturalization records are not only fascinating to examine but are extremely helpful. Through these records, we can obtain an understanding of the individual’s past history and its significance that played out on the world stage.

Until Next Time!

William Wallace Carr: A Nurse of a Different Kind (Sunday Rewind)

This is a Sunday Rewind post, featuring a past post from the Archives. This post was written by Amy (Brickey) Czubak and was published on May 31, 2019 here.

The Wright State University Special Collections and Archives has in its collections the papers of Alice Griffith Carr (Fig. 1), a Red Cross nurse who served during World War I, and also worked to improve and encourage better health in places like Greece, Poland, Lithuania, Turkey and Syria. While processing estate records at the Greene County Archives, I came across the estate of her father, William Wallace Carr, a Yellow Springs resident, who died on May 7, 1930.

Fig. 1: Alice Griffith Carr, courtesy of neareastmuseum.com

William Wallace Carr was born in Fayette County, Ohio, on June 5, 1843 to William and Sophronia Carr. A resident of Yellow Springs since 1857, Carr was also a nurse of sorts. A tree nurse. Carr established Carr’s Nurseries in Yellow Springs in 1870. A receipt from his estate on the company’s letterhead states that the nurseries’ office and tree packing grounds were a “ten minutes walk from the depot one hundred yards from traction line terminus of South High Street” (Fig. 2). It also states that they are “evergreen specialists.”

Fig. 2: Receipt written on Carr’s Nurseries letterhead, courtesy of the Greene County Archives.

To support the nursery, Carr owned several lots in the Village of Yellow Springs: lots #305-307, #523-549, #588-608, #645-685, 11.12 acres of land outside of the village proper, and 168 acres of land in Miami Township. All of this real estate was valued at $30,000 at the time of Carr’s death in 1930 (Fig. 3). That value today, with inflation calculated, would be a little over $454,000.

Fig 3: Valuation of William Wallace Carr’s real estate, courtesy of the Greene County Archives.

William Wallace Carr was not just a tree nursery manager, however. Michael A. Broadstone’s History of Greene County Ohio lists Carr as having filled several official Yellow Springs offices including: mayor, justice of the peace, council member, and school director. While Carr’s Nurseries no longer exists, the Carr family home still stands in Yellow Springs on Xenia Avenue, and there are many wonderful artefacts both at Wright State and at the Yellow Springs Historical Society that further examine the illustrious and industrious Carr family.

Until Next Time!

Sources:
“Nurse Alice Carr, Near East Relief and Near East Foundation.” Near East Relief Historical Society. August 24, 2016. Accessed March 16, 2019. https://neareastmuseum.com/2016/08/24/unstoppable-alice-carr/.
Broadstone, M. A. History of Greene County Ohio: Its People, Industry and Institutions. Indianapolis, IN: B.F. Bowen & Co., 1918.
Heise, Robin. “William Wallace Carr.” Yellow Springs Heritage. October 21, 2014. Accessed March 16, 2019. http://ysheritage.org/william-wallace-carr/.
“William Wallace Carr.” Probate Court Estate Records, Box 685, Case 2034. Greene County Records Center and Archives.

The Evers Sisters: A Generation of Greene County Nurses and Teachers

This week has been both Nurse Appreciation Week and Teacher Appreciation week, so today we are featuring a family that included both: the Evers family of Xenia.

John Henry Evers came to the United States from his birthplace in Germany in 1873 and quickly settled in Xenia, where he met Xenian Jane Murphy, whom he married in 1878. The couple would spend their lives together in Xenia, and had many children, including two daughters who pursued careers as teachers and two daughters who pursued careers as nurses.¹

Henrietta Evers, Teacher

Henrietta was the oldest daughter of the Evers family, and apparently led the charge for teaching in her family. In 1915, she was taking classes at Ohio University in Athens, where her sister Mary visited her and planned her own education there.

By 1926, Henrietta was the director of the State Normal School, which was a college for training teachers, and would have had more than 700 students when Henrietta was director (Miami University). The Normal School was the first iteration of what is now Miami University’s College of Education, Health and Society.

Xenia Evening Gazette, June 16, 1930, page 7. Via NewspaperArchive.

Helen Evers, Nurse

Helen was the second eldest of our four sisters. She was trained in nursing at the Seton Hospital in Cincinnati, and brought her skills back to Greene County as the Red Cross county nurse. She was apparently well-respected in this field, but was forced to resign her post due to illness after eight years.

Xenia Evening Gazette, October 21, 1922, page 1. Via NewspaperArchive.

Mary Evers, Teacher

Apparently inspired by Henrietta, Mary also studied at Ohio University and pursued a career in teaching. She taught for some years in Xenia’s schools, including the Orient Hill school, and eventually made her way to teaching at Linwood School in Cincinnati.

Xenia Evening Gazette, August 22, 1922, page 14. Via NewspaperArchive.

Matilda Evers, Nurse

Matilda, or “Tillie,” began her career as a telephone operator, and became chief operator of the Citizens Telephone Exchange in 1909. Thereafter, she changed her course and pursued a career as a nurse through the Red Cross after studying at Seton Hospital in Cincinnati. Whereas Mary worked on the home front during World War I, Matilda served as an enlisted nurse on military bases, including at Waynesville (North Carolina), Philadelphia, and Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, D. C.

It is inspiring to consider all the lives these four sisters must have touched during their careers, increasing the health and knowledge of those they encountered. This week and every week, we appreciate our nurses and teachers. Thank you for all you do!

Until next time!

1. Xenia Evening Gazette, July 26, 1926, page 10. Via NewspaperArchive. ↩︎

Brief History of the Ohio Soldiers and Sailors Orphans Home (Sunday Rewind)

This is a Sunday Rewind featuring a past blog post from the Archive. This was originally published November 5, 2021 at 2:55 PM by Melissa Dalton here.

The Grand Reopening of the Collier Chapel was held today [November 5, 2021], which is part of the original Ohio Soldiers’ & Sailors’ Orphans Home (OS&SO), later known as the Ohio Veterans Children’s Home (OVCH). With the knowledge that we would be attending this event, I wanted to look back on previous blog posts to see what we have written regarding the OS&SO Home… surprisingly, I found very little! So, this week our blog covers a brief history of the facility, and its contributions to our region.

In his second inaugural address, President Lincoln called on each state to care for the widows and children of fallen Union soldiers. After the end of the Civil War, the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) was established to support veterans of the War. It was the GAR that lobbied for the government to provide services and support for the families and children of the soldiers. In 1869, the organization opened the Ohio Soldiers’ & Sailors’ Orphans Home in Xenia, Ohio, and in 1870, the State assumed control of the Home. At that time, the OS&SO Home was relocated to a 240-acre farm on Home Avenue (Fig 1). The OS&SO Home was self-sufficient operation, with a farm, dairy barn, hospital, power/heat plant, gymnasium, school, banquet hall, chapel, and residence halls (Fig 2).

Fig 1. Map of the OS&SO Grounds, 1900 (Greene County Archives)

Fig 2. The Hospital on the OS&SO Home Campus in 1901 (Greene County Archives)

The residents were well-educated (Fig 3), and provided an opportunity to learn various trades, such as wood carving, knitting, dress making, blacksmithing, farming, butchering/slaughtering, etc. They also were able to participate in extra-curriculars such as choir, orchestra, band, and athletics. The students started their own paper in 1876 called the Home Weekly. At the age of eighteen, the resident was released from the Home.

Fig 3. OS&SO Home Graduates, Class of 1900 (Greene County Archives)

The site is now known as the home to Athletes in Action and Legacy Christian Academy (as well as some other ministries). The administration building, also the main building for the Home, was built in 1870 (Fig 4). The building is now the home of the Athletes in Action headquarters. Athletes in Action also operates the former Roosevelt Cottage, which was a dormitory. It was been renovated and is now named Brown Family Retreat Center.

Fig 4. OS&SO Home Administration Building, 1900 (Greene County Archives)

Collier Chapel was built in 1873, and was named Chaplain George W. Collier, who is also credited with proposing the idea of the Home to the GAR. The Collier Chapel was renovated in 1994, but had fallen into disrepair. A $1.2 million renovation project was just completed on the Collier Chapel and cemetery, and today, the current owners hosted the grand reopening (Fig 5).

Fig 5. Collier Chapel, 2013 (Wikimedia Commons)

The Lincoln Building was built in 1944 and was formerly the Woodrow Wilson High School. It now is the home of the Legacy Christian Academy (LCA). LCA also utilizes the Barnett Building (c. 1931), which was used for the trades. Today it is still used for classroom space and offices. The Gymnasium (c. 1924) was the home of the OS&SO Home Cadets sports teams, but now houses the LCA Knights sports teams.  

The site witnessed changes throughout its 126 years in operation, and was home to roughly 14,000 children. Buildings and property were added as the resident population grew. The State also expanded the effort of the Home, and accepted children of veterans from any military conflict. In 1978, the OS&SO Home was renamed to the Ohio Veterans Children’s Home. The OVCH remained in operation until 1995, when the Home’s doors were shuttered.

This really just provides some highlights of the OSSO/OVCH site and operations. If you are interested in learning more, we have a copy of The History of the Ohio Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Orphans’ Home at Xenia, Ohio, 1868-1963, by Edward Wakefield Hughes and William Clyde McCracken (edited by McKinley Warth in 1914, with further edits by Lloyd Brewster in 1924). We also have a copy of the 1900 Annual Report from the Home, which was included in the 1901 Greene County Courthouse Time Capsule (which is where we got most of the images for this blog post). It has been digitized and is available on Flickr. I also recommend that you check out our Facebook page for photographs from the Collier Chapel Grand Reopening!

Until Next Time!

The Dangers of the Powder Mills (Part III) (Sunday Rewind)

This week, we conclude our discussion of the history of Goes Station and the powder mills. Powder mills were a popular industry in the years leading up to and after the Civil War, and many saw it as an opportunity to make some great profits. However, the industry came at a dangerous, and many times, deadly cost.

According to many articles and papers, mill workers were well paid for their work due to the potential danger of the job. This did allow the mill owners to secure ample employees. They were told to wear shoes without nails (or only work in socks), not carry any metal objects, and to only use wooden tools. Although these precautions may have stopped some disasters, many still occurred.
As we learned in a previous blog, the Austin brothers, along with Benjamin Carlton, formed the Austin & Carlton Powder Company in 1846, converting the old scythe factory into a powder mill (Fig 1). Within a few years of the mill opening, it experienced several explosions, killing at least 5 people. An article in the Xenia Torchlight, dated 29 November 1849, claimed that it was the “fourth time in two years the mill has exploded.”

Fig 1. Greene County Auditor Tax Duplicate, 1845 (Greene County Archives)

In 1855, Joseph W. King purchased the Austin & Carlton Powder Co., renaming it the Miami Powder Company. Under his watch, the Miami Powder Co. experienced great expansion, building new facilities and increasing machinery. As the business grew, so did the small town of Goes Station. According to a few articles, company-owned homes and stores popped up in the area to provide housing and services to the employees.

In the early years, the Company was producing roughly 4000 kegs of rifle powder and 1300 kegs of blasting powder. The start of the Civil War brought an increased need for powder production, and the Miami Powder Co. supplied the Union Army with black powder. At the height of the War, they were producing more than double their usual annual totals, roughly 10,000 kegs of rifle powder and 3800 kegs of blasting powder.
According to several sources, the mill converted from water to steam power in 1871 (Fig 2). Within a matter of years, in 1877, King sold his shares and started a new powder mill in Kings Mill, Ohio, leaving the Company in the hands of the other partners.

Fig 2. Plat of Land of the Miami Powder Co., Riddell Vol. 2, p 27 (Greene County Archives)However, even with different management and increasing security measures over the years, it did not protect the large mill site from explosions (Fig 3). Between 1860 and 1885, there were at least 15 men killed in explosions at the Miami Powder Company. According to some sources, upwards of 42 men were killed at the site by 1886. Then in 1886, the Company experienced its most destructive explosion. Around 10:00am on March 1, 1886, the boiler in the dry house, which was housing thousands of pounds of powder, exploded, which ignited the powder housed inside. The building was ripped to shreds, leaving a crater about 10 feet deep where the building once stood, and killed the 3 men working in the building. Trees were uprooted, windows blown out, nearby homes and bridges were damaged, and the explosion was felt from Cincinnati to Columbus (Fig 4).

Fig 3. Washington Galloway Diary, 1872, pg 34 (Greene County Historical Society)

Fig 4. Article from the Xenia Evening Gazette, March 1, 1886 (NewspaperARCHIVE.com)After the explosion, the Company rebuilt and work continued; however they did have difficulty finding employees (Fig 5). The Miami Powder Co. sold the property to Aetna Explosives in 1920. Aetna only owned it for a short while, selling to Hercules Explosives Corporation in 1921. In 1927, the property was transferred to Hercules Powder Co. (appears to be same company, but under new name).

Fig 5. 1910 Sanborn Map of the Miami Powder Co. Mills (Greene County Room)

It appears that the owner of the Hercules Powder Co. decided to stop producing at Goes Station, and closed the powder mill in 1922. However, in the last 36 years of its existence, the mill wasn’t free of disasters. From what we can gather through old newspapers and Greene County records, there were at least 10 more explosions, which killed approximately 12 people. There are some that claim there was one final explosion that destroyed many of the buildings, prompting the owners to close and sell the business. However, we were unable to locate anything to substantiate this claim (even though it wouldn’t be surprising due to the history of the mill).After the mill was abandoned, it stood empty for several years. In 1929, E.H. Hunt bought the property, comprising over 350 acres, but had no plans to use the property for anything more than investment purposes (Fig 6). In 1944, Hunt sold the property to Dr. W. A. Hammond. It appears the land stayed in the family for several decades, and was sold to Hydebrook Farms, LLC in 2002. Today, all that remains of the mill are a few lone buildings.

Fig 6. Xenia Daily Gazette, January 10, 1929 (NewspaperARCHIVE.com)

Until Next Time!

Sources:
Greene County Archives
Greene County Historical Society
Greene County Room
NewspaperARCHIVE.com

John Goe and Goes Station (Sunday Rewind)

This is a Sunday Rewind post featuring a previously published blog from the Archives. This post was originally published on December 26, 2019 at 1:00 PM by Melissa Dalton here.

This week we continue our discussion of Goes Station and how the property eventually became what we know today as the old powder mills.

When we left off a couple weeks ago, John Goe, the son of Samuel Goe, had just purchased several tracts of land in the area. Before we move on, we want to give you a little more information about John and his family. John Goe was born in Pennsylvania in 1797, and married Catharine Crawford on April 24, 1824 in Greene County, Ohio (Fig 1). The couple had a large family, and from what we can gather from the census records and John’s will, we believe John and Catharine had nine children: Bernard, George, Samuel, William, John, Aronet, Rebecca, Mary, and Henrietta (although only six were named in John’s will).

Fig 1. Marriage Record A p 155 (Greene County Archives)

Around the time that John acquired the land in 1838 (as discussed in the last blog), the Little Miami Railroad was established, being incorporated in 1836. The Little Miami Railroad was built to connect Cincinnati to Springfield, and was only the second railroad to be built in Ohio. Construction on the line began in 1837 and was completed in 1848, with a section running through Xenia, and along the Little Miami River. This meant the railroad ran along Goe’s property as well.

In 1845, two brothers, Lorenzo and Alvin Austin, were interested in purchasing some of Goe’s land (as well as Andrew Galloway’s adjacent lands), with a special interest in the old scythe mill. The Austin Brothers had a black powder mill in Akron, Ohio, and were looking to expand their operations. The brothers acquired 8.04 acres from Goe, and 2 acres from Galloway (Fig 2).

Fig 2. Deed Record Vol 24, pgs 37-39 (Greene County Archives)

As the Little Miami Railroad grew, so did their needs. In 1857, they approached John Goe about obtaining a right of way through his property. An agreement was reached that they would have access to a strip of land that was 66 feet wide, with 33 feet on either side of the tract. Additionally, the Railroad built a stone water station on this land, in which the stone was furnished by Goe, and the water was from a spring on Goe’s property and accessed by a pipe. In all, Goe was paid $300 for the right of way (equivalent to just over $8000 today) (Fig 3).

Fig 3. Deed Record Vol 35 pg 415-416 (Greene County Archives)

It is important to note here that for some reason, much of the literature about local mills and the railroads claim that it was William Goe, supposedly the son of Samuel Goe, who sold all the land to the railroad around 1846, and that as part of the deal, William requested that the depot (station) had to be named Goe. However, Samuel Goe did not have a son named William, nor was there a William that owned any of that land during that time. Additionally, it was Samuel’s son, John who acquired most of the family land after his father’s death. We reviewed all the records and we did not locate a right of way or deed from any Goe to the Little Miami Railroad until 1857. We believe the mix up with names may have occurred because John and his brother, Thomas, both had sons named William, so it is possible that the names just got switched at some point (Fig 4).

Fig 4. Image of the 1855 Greene County Atlas of Goes Station area (Greene County Archives)

According to the 1860 Census and Non-Population Schedule, John had a rather large farm (about 220 acres) and his real estate was estimated to be worth $11,000 (Fig 5). In 1872, John sold his farm to J. H. Dickey for $80 per acre, for a total of $17,798.40 (Fig 6). He drew up a will shortly after selling the land, and made sure to direct his heirs to collect any remaining balance due by Dickey upon his death as he had not paid in full (Fig 7). On March 15, 1873 (just over a year after signing his will), John Goe passed away, leaving his six living children a healthy inheritance.

Fig 5. 1860 Census & Non-Population Schedule (Ancestry.com)

Fig 6. 1874 Greene County Atlas of region of Goes Station (Greene County Archives)

Fig 7. Will of John Goe, Will Record L p 111 (Greene County Archives)

The history of Goes Station and more specifically, the gun powder mills, continues. Follow us over the next few weeks to learn about the tumultuous history of the mills.

Until Next Time!

Sources:
Ancestry.com
Greene County Archives

Samuel Goe and the History of Goes Station (Sunday Rewind)

This is a Sunday Rewind, featuring previously published posts from the Archives blog. This post was originally published December 13, 2019, by Melissa Dalton here.

Robin recently gave me a stack on newspaper articles on the various powder mills of Greene County, and it occurred to me that we really haven’t had a blog post on Goes Station and the powder companies. There have been mentions of the area and companies in other blogs and Facebook posts, but little regarding the actual history. This week, we aim to tackle some of the early history of Goes.

If you have lived in Greene County for many years, or your family has roots here, you’ve probably heard the old urban legend that Goes Station was named for the many explosions at the powder mills, with residents exclaiming with each explosion, “There she goes!” But, do you know the real reason it is called Goes Station? It actually is named for a family that owned much of the land in the area, Samuel Goe and his heirs.
Goes Station is located between Xenia and Yellow Springs along US-68 (Fig 1). As you probably know, James Galloway Sr. was one of the original settlers in the region. The Galloway family settled in lands near what is now Goes Station, and around 1797, built the most well-known structure in Greene County, the Galloway log house. The land was sold to Robert Armstrong in the early 1800s, and in 1814, Armstrong sold the land to Samuel Goe (Fig 2).

Fig 1. Greene County GIS Map of approximate location of Goes Station (GC GIS Map)

Fig 2. Transfer of property from Robert Armstrong to Samuel Goe, 1814 (Greene County Archives)

Samuel Goe was born in 1767 in Ireland, but came to the United States prior to 1788. He married Alice Van Horn in 1788 in Pennsylvania. Samuel and Alice had six children: Isaac, John, Thomas, James, Sarah, and Jane. Samuel moved to Greene County in 1811 (Fig 3). Within a few years of moving to the area, he purchased the 307 acres from Armstrong.

Fig 3. Brief history of Samuel Goe (Greene County Chapter, Ohio Genealogical Society)

After Samuel’s death in 1815, the property was transferred to his heirs (Fig 4), but after this, the transfers and ownership of the property gets a bit complicated. However, it appears that James and John Goe acquired most of the property, as well as some of the surrounding lands. A few years later, James Goe transferred some of the property to his brother, Thomas Goe.

Fig 4. Property of Samuel Goe heirs,1826 (Greene County Archives)

However, it appears that by 1838, John Goe owned several tracts of land in the area, including acquisitions from Thomas Goe and Henry Jacoby (Fig 5). These tracts are probably the most well-known as they were some of the first to became part of the powder mills.

Fig 5. Transfer of property to John Goe from Henry Jacoby & Thomas Goe, 1838 (Greene County Archives)

The succession of ownership of the lands in Goes Station, and how the various Goe landowners are related, gets very interesting. We are still digging into the genealogy of the family, and determining ownership, so we’ll continue this story in future blog posts! This process been a good a reminder that property research requires time and patience, and a great attention to detail, as it is easy to lose track of property in the records.

Until Next Time!

Sources:
Ancestry.com
Greene County Archives
Newspapers.com
Overton, J. (Ed.) (1995). Revolutionary War Veterans of Greene County, Ohio. Xenia, OH: Greene County Chapter of the Ohio Genealogical Society
Simmons, G. (2007). King’s black powder mills. Bellbrook, OH: G and B Simmons Publisher.

1974 Tornado Community Archive Still Accepting Submissions

This month, the Archives has been focused on the history of the April 3, 1974 tornado. While the 50th anniversary has passed, we are still collecting stories and photographs from the community to be preserved in our digital repository. These stories help bring the human element to the history of the tornado, recording how the Greene County community responded to an unimaginable situation.

We are exceedingly grateful for those who have shared their stories and photographs with us already. This post contains just a few examples of the items preserved in the 1974 Tornado Community Archive.

The Donovan Kitchen. Photo courtesy of Joan Donovan, 1974 Tornado Community Archive.

Photos courtesy of James and Jane Langan, 1974 Tornado Community Archive.

April 3rd Remembrances

We were amazed, transfixed. We just stood there watching nature fill the sky as it got closer and closer and grew more powerful. We were down at the bottom of the 35-by-pass bridge on Lower Bellbrook Road, so, we could only see the top two-thirds of the tornado at that point; but we could see it was coming right at us. We stood there frozen, silent, amazed, and in awe. It was still a few miles away. Finally, our trance was broken when cars began speeding down over the by-pass bridge past us and the convenience store. And then, several vehicles pulled recklessly into the parking lot and screeched to a stop. People exited their cars and ran for the store. “Tornado,” they screamed as they ran for the doors. “Take cover!”
Dale and I didn’t move. […] First, we saw the roof shingles spiral up into the air like huge flocks of black birds. Next, the entire roof structures were lifted whole from the brick walls and spun up into oblivion. And then, the bricks were peeled away and looked like dominos chasing one another up into the air. And this was not just one house, this was the entire neighborhood. And on the streets, cars were lifted into the air and spun around and tossed away landing on their sides and tops like an angry child’s tonka toys. This remains one of my most vivid memories because this is the moment that the unimaginable power of the natural world was first revealed to me.

April 3rd Remembrance, Dennis McManes

My parents’and siblings’home on N. Detroit, at the outskirts of town at that time, was spared any damage. They, however, had one of the few working phones in the north-end of town. Dad and Mom (Dave and Jo Seiter) let anyone use the phone to contact relatives whether local or long distance. I think the bill that month was about $250for the long distance calls that month that my parents paid. The rest of the afternoon and early evening was checking with family and friends to see if they were ok. I believe we even had a weird snow that afternoon after the tornado. That night as we stayed with friends on the south side of town, it was eerily quiet. Nightfall brought on a darkness that I had never experienced. Very few city lights were on,and Xenia looked as if it had been bombed. It felt and looked like something out of a horror movie. My family was one of the lucky ones. Yes, we lost some items and were displaced for a short amount of time. But, compared to others, we were only inconvenienced and did not suffer the death anddestruction that others had to suffer through. For that, I am eternally grateful.

David Seiter

These and other written accounts and photographs are preserved and available through our digital repository. Explore them here.

And if you or someone you know remembers the 1974 tornado, please consider sharing your story to be preserved.

Until next time!

The Stained Glass in the Courthouse (Sunday Rewind)

This is a Sunday Rewind post, featuring past blog posts from the Archives. This post was originally published on March 15, 2019 at 7:37 AM by Robin Heise here.

When it was decided to build a new courthouse in Xenia at the turn of the century (the 20th century), there was a great deal of work put into the design and building of the structure (Fig 1). The Commissioners’ Minutes illustrate just how much time and energy went into the building, all the way down to the wall hangings and room furnishings (Figs 2 & 3). There are copies of contracts scattered throughout the minutes, and it appears not one item was left to question. However, in April 1902, those contract details were tested.

Fig 1. Article from Xenia Daily Gazette about the decision to build a new courthouse, dated March 5, 1900 (Newspapers.com)

Fig 2. Excerpt from Greene County Commissioners’ Minutes, Vol 15, pg 238 (Greene County Archives)

Fig 3. Excerpt from Greene County Commissioners’ Minutes, Vol 15, pgs 246-247 (Greene County Archives)

The courthouse was to have a beautiful bell tower, and fine art/stained glass window, both of which were items of admiration within the community as construction continued on the building. On Friday, April 25, 1902, Xenia and the surrounding area experienced a windstorm. Xenia has had its fair share of crazy weather, and this storm pelted the region. As the wind continued, it rattled the unfinished courthouse. By Saturday evening, the beautiful stained glass window could no longer withstand the winds, and shattered into thousands of pieces, leaving only the outer portion of the window intact (Fig 4).

Fig 4. Article from the Xenia Daily Gazette and Torchlight about the destruction of the fine art window, dated April 28, 1902 (Newspapers.com)

The window, which cost roughly $450 in 1902 (equivalent to just over $13,000 today) would have to be replaced. Seeing as this seemed to be a noted event within the newspapers, we went to the Commissioners’ Minutes to see what they had to say about it. Well, it turns out, nothing. It appears this little bump was not considered noteworthy, and it might have been because of their contract.
As stated earlier, the County was sure to design a fairly tight contract, detailing the finer points. While glancing through, the section below was spied (Fig 5). It states: “The Contractor shall be fully responsible for safety and good conditions of work and material in his contract until the completion of his contract… The Contractor shall also be fully responsible for any damage that may accrue to the property or other contractors or any portion of the structure, that in any wise results from the neglect or acts of his employees.”

Fig 5. Excerpt from the Greene County Commissioners’ Minutes, Vol 15, pg 229 (Greene County Archives)

The stained glass window was replaced without further incident, and still exudes its beauty today (Fig 6). The window is on the second floor of the Courthouse, on the north side of the building, which faces E. Market Street.

Fig 6. View of stained glass window from inside the Courthouse (Greene County Archives)

Until Next Time…

Sources:
Greene County Archives
Newspapers.com

Commemorating the 1974 Xenia Tornado: A Photo Gallery

It has been quite a busy week at the Archives remembering the history of the 1974 tornado.

On April 3rd, members of the Archives staff attended the commemoration event in downtown Xenia. Despite the chilly and windy weather, many gathered to mark the 50th anniversary downtown in front of the Courthouse. With music provided by Spirit of Flight and reflections provided by several who experienced the tornado personally, including Governor Mike DeWine, as well as a proclamation issued by Xenia Mayor Sarah Mays marking the occasion, the ceremony was an opportunity for reflection and remembrance, as well as an inspiration to continue to the spirit of community represented by the rallying cry in the aftermath of the tornado: Xenia Lives.

In addition to the city of Xenia’s afternoon ceremony, the Greene County Public Library organized and hosted a community commemoration event at the Xenia Adult Recreation & Services Center in the evening.

This event was a wonderful opportunity for the community to gather and reflect on their own experiences of the tornado, as well as the lessons learned from the event, as speaker and former Xenia Mayor Marsha Bayless reflected.

The Archives, along with the Greene County Historical Society, the National Weather Service at Wilmington, and the Greene County Room of the library, provided displays for community members to peruse after the speakers concluded.

Archives staff with display, left to right: Elise Kelly, Multimedia Archivist; Mary McKinley, Public Outreach Coordinator; Robin Heise, Archivist/Records Manager; Lori Harris, Administrative Assistant.

The Archives’ posters from this event will be on display in the Archives lobby, and were also shared through the Archives Facebook page for those who were not able to attend the event.

Although the 50th anniversary of the tornado super outbreak of April 3rd, 1974, has now passed, the Archives and other local history organizations in Greene County will continue to preserve the memory of this piece of history.

Until next time!

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Find our 1974 Xenia tornado collection guide here.