USA > Ohio > Greene County > History of Greene County, Ohio: its people, industries and institutions, Volume I > Part 67
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83
In 1900 there were five local unions in the county with only seventy paid-up members. In 1903 the membership was seventy-eight; in 1904 there were eight unions and one hundred and fifty-one members; in 1905 there were one hundred and eighty-six members; in 1906 there were eleven
634
GREENE COUNTY, OHIO
unions and two hundred and fifteen members; in 1907 the number of unions had increased to nineteen with a total membership of nine hundred and seventy-one. The greatest growth of the county organization was in 1907, that year being the banner year in the whole history of the local county Union. In fact, in 1907 the county received a banner for having made the largest gain of any county in the United States.
In 1918 there are in active operation nineteen local unions in the county : A. C. Turrell, Mrs. Lizzie Burrell, president; Aley, Mrs. L. H. Bailey, president; Anne W. Clark, Mrs. Charles S. Dean, president ; Bell- brook, I. M. James, president; Bowersville, Mrs. S. T. Carpenter, presi- dent; Cedarville, Lulu Henderson, president; Clifton, Mrs. Ross, president ; Effie Carter, Mrs. Alice Rountree, president ; Jamestown, Mrs. J. H. Lackey, president; Jamestown Willard, Mrs. Arnetta Hough, president; McClellan, Mrs. J. S. Van Eaton, president; Osborn, Anna T. Morris, president; Ross Township, Mrs. Charles Ritenour; South Side, Mrs. Harry Siefert, presi- dent; Spring Valley, Mrs. Colvin, president; Wilberforce, Hallie Q. Brown, president; Xenia, Elizabeth Thomas, president; Yellow Springs, Mrs. W. C. Lacey, president; Bramlett (Yellow Springs), Mrs. Bertha Hall, presi- dent. Each of these nineteen local unions of the county has a full quota of officers and is fully organized for work under the direction of the county organization.
The oldest local union of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union in the county with a record of continuous activity is Xenia Union, which dates from December 3, 1874. It was the pioneer organization of the town and one of the very first in the United States.
It is a matter of history that the national organization of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union came into being in the fall of 1874. It is said that the first local union in the world was established in Osborn, Greene county, Ohio, by "Mother" Stewart in September, 1873. The winter of 1873-74 witnessed the beginning of a spectacular temperance crusade, the like of which the country had never before seen and one which has not been duplicated since that time. It was the first local union of Xenia which bore such a conspicuous part in this crusade, a crusade which resulted in the closing of thirteen saloons in the town in the course of three weeks.
So many years have elapsed since this famous crusade that most of the participants in it have passed away. Elizabeth E. Thomas, now the president of the local Xenia union, was then teaching in the city schools and has a very vivid recollection of the striking events of the months of Feb- ruary and March, 1874, during which time the crusade was at its height in Xenia. The opening of the formal crusade was on February 19, 1874. On this day, a cold blustery day, the ground being heavily covered with
635
GREENE COUNTY, OHIO
snow, seven bands of women devoted to the cause of temperance, began their unique effort to rid Xenia of saloons. It is probable that this day will stand forth as one of the most exciting the town has ever known. The leaders of these seven groups of women were Mrs. J. G. Carson, Mrs. George Watt, Mrs. John Shearer, Mrs. John Carey, Mrs. Henrietta L. Mon- roe and Mrs. Connable. Each group consisted of from twenty-five to forty women, each one of whom had pledged herself to follow their leader. Their plan was to gather on the sidewalk in front of a saloon and conduct a ser- vice of song, prayer and speaking with the hope of being able to induce the keeper of the saloon to agree to close his doors.
It appears that the first saloon chosen for their efforts in the morn- ing of this eventful day was that of Stephen Phillips at the corner of White- man and Second streets, his saloon being for some reason known at that time as the "Shades of Death." The groups worked in relay's on the side- walk in front of the saloon, a friendly blacksmith up Whiteman street allow- ing the women to remain in his shop to keep warm while not on duty. After several hours of work on their part, Phillips capitulated and told the women that he was ready to quit the business. He invited them to come inside and help to carry the liquor out and pour it into the street, an invitation which was eagerly accepted, and which soon resulted in the complete destruc- tion of his entire stock of liquors. Later, to tell the rest of the story con- cerning Phillips, the women raised enough money to establish him in a meat market, appropriately called the "Dawn of Day."
Following their initial success with Phillips the women proceeded with the other saloons in the town. It is not necessary to follow the story of the next three weeks in detail. The women met with success far beyond their expectations; one saloon keeper after another succumbed to their attack, until by the end of the third week no fewer than thirteen saloons volun- tarily closed their doors. Not all of these capitulated as easily as the first one, but the women kept faithfully at their work, beginning early in the morning with their service on the sidewalk in front of the saloon and keep- ing it up throughout the day and evening, their voices being raised every minute of this time in song, prayer or pleading for the saloon keeper to come forth and declare he was ready to quit the business. It is not too much to say that Xenia has never seen such an exciting three weeks as these weeks of February and March, 1874.
The campaign lasted about six months in Xenia, during which time the women worked unceasingly, but there were still some saloonkeepers who refused to close their doors. Thus it was that the first local union of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union received its baptism and was dedi- cated to the cause of temperance. While there has never since been such
036
GREENE COUNTY, OHIO
a concentrated effort to drive the saloons out of the city, yet this local union has never relaxed its efforts to free the city from them. It would be diffi- cult to pick out the women who are deserving of the most credit for the work which this local union has done. Probably the greatest of the early leaders in the work was Mrs. Henrietta L. Monroe, a woman of great strength of character, a splendid executive, an effective organizer, a force- ful speaker, and a woman withal who was able to inspire her followers with an unconquerable zeal for the cause of temperance. Mrs. W. A. Shappee was another great worker, a woman who was not afraid to talk to any one on the subject of temperance, and who talked with such convic- tion that her work was crowned with remarkable success. She was a typi- cal temperance evangelist and let no obstacles stand in her path. For nearly a quarter of a century she was a power in the Xenia union. Other giants of those early days in the temperance cause were Mrs. James J. Winans, Mrs. George Dodds, Mrs. C. C. Shearer and Mrs. J. G. Winans. Mrs. Cooley is remembered for her work among the colored people of the county.
The great temperance work done in Xenia in 1874 was duplicated in several other towns in Ohio at the same time, and it was undoubtedly due to work of these women at this time that the Woman's Christian Temper -. ance Union was born at Cleveland, Ohio, November 18-20, 1874. Pur- suant to a call sent forth from the Chautauqua platform at Chautauqua, New York, in June, 1874, a meeting of women was called at Cleveland in November of that year, at which the first national temperance organization was effected. It was only two weeks from the time that the national organi- zation of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union was brought about that a number of Xenia women met and organized what has since been known as the Xenia union. They adopted a constitution on December 3, 1874, with seventeen charter members, including all of the women who had borne the brunt of the crusade against the saloons of Xenia in February and March of that year, a brave band of women who endured the indiffer- ence of good, well-meaning people and the scorn of their enemies. They bore uncomplainingly the discouragement of defeats, laboring under diffi- culties which are hard to comprehend today, but all the time keeping the temperance sentiment alive, and at a time when it took a brave woman to ally herself openly with the cause. But their faith in the ultimate triumph of prohibition never wavered, and if those courageous women of the '70s were living today they would have the satisfaction of seeing that their work was not in vain.
The Xenia union entertained Frances Willard in Xenia on June 15, 1885. On that day Miss Willard gave an inspiring talk in the Trinity Methodist church, and when she concluded her talk of an hour the audience
637
GREENE COUNTY, OHIO
begged her to continue. The union has also brought other noted temperance speakers to the town in the course of the past forty-four years. In Decem- ber, 1888, Miss Willard sent the local union a motto, which has since been a guide to them in their work.
The records of the Xenia union are not very clear as to the succession of its presidents. Mrs. Caroline Winans appears to have been the presi- dent nearly all of the time from 1874 to 1888, although Mrs. George Dodds was at the head for a time during this period. Mrs. Dodds was treasurer for several years, and in those days the treasurer probably had a more diffi- cult office to fill than that of president. Mrs. Winans was president again from 1900 to 1908. Since the latter year there have been three presidents : Mrs. Frances Sanderson, 1908-10; Mrs. Samuel Galloway, 1910-12; Eliza- beth E. Thomas, since 1912. The Xenia union now has about sixty active members. It is divided into a number of departments for more effective work, each department being in charge of a superintendent. The officers of this local union in 1918 are as follow: President, Elizabeth E. Thomas; vice-president, Mrs. Homer G. Biddlecum; corresponding secretary, Jennie Thomas; recording secretary, Mrs. Edith Norckauer; treasurer, Mrs. Ella Nisonger.
While the local union at Xenia is the oldest in the county seat, and blazed the way for all of the local unions of the county, yet there has been another local in the city for the past eight years which has been very active. In fact, the A. C. Turrell Union, organized in 1910, named in honor of the Rev. A. C. Turrell, the pastor of the First Methodist Episcopal church of Xenia for six years, is now the largest local union in the county. It was formed for the immediate purpose of making a determined effort to drive the saloon out of Xenia, and so successful was its work that every saloon in the city was closed by April 15, 1911. The Turrell Union was organized in September, 1910, with thirty charter members and now has a membership of about one hundred. Its first president was Mrs. Eber Reynolds, who was followed in 1911 by Mrs. Walter Dean for a three-year period. Mrs. Eli Burrell, the present head of this local union, followed Mrs. Dean in 1914. Its other officers include the following : Mrs. Anna Bull, vice-president ; Mrs. M. C. Bailey, corresponding secretary ; Mrs. Maud Smith, recording secretary : Mrs. Henry Dunkle, treas- urer. The A. C. Turrell Union is active in flower-mission work, evangelistic social service, law enforcement and war work. It had charge of the Christmas boxes which the county sent to all the Greene county boys in war service at holiday time, and is doing a great and good work in keeping in touch with all the boys of the county who are now in some branch of the military service. It must not be understood that the Xenia and Turrell Unions deserve more credit than the other local unions of the county, but the fact that they are
.
638
GREENE COUNTY, OHIO
located in the county seat and have the largest membership gives them the opportunity to do more. All the other unions of the county are doing their part commensurate with the size of their local organizations. These unions of Xenia have, however, been acting in a sense as a clearing house for the other unions of the county, especially in connection with all the war work of the women of the county.
The county organization now has thirty-one departments fully officered and organized for effective work. These various departments are as follows : Flower mission, evangelistic, Sabbath observance, Sunday school work, temper- ance and labor, mothers meetings, Christian citizenship, literature, periodicals, scientific temperance instruction, social and red-letter days, anti-narcotic, par- liamentary, franchise, press, fair and open meetings, health and heredity, juvenile courts, medical temperance, medical contests, purity and purity in literature and art, institute, work among colored people, young people's branch, musical director, mercy and humane work, peace, railroad, Bible in public schools and finally, the department recently organized to work in behalf of the soldiers and sailors who have gone forth from the county. The title of the organization does not in any way indicate the wide scope of its activities, which, as may be seen, comprehend a varied program of work along widely different lines. But there is no one thing which they are doing which is not done for the good of the community. Everything which comes under their purview makes for better citizenship, for better men and women, and for a better county in which to live. They are doing a great and noble work, a self- sacrificing work, for it must be understood that not a woman engaged in this work receives any compensation for what she does. Their services are given free and unstintedly for the good of the county which they call their home; not a woman of the organization expects to receive a monetary reward for her services, but is content if she can contribute in any way to the betterment of her home county.
A word should be added concerning the part the women of Greene county have taken in the state organization. It has been mentioned that Mrs. Henrietta L. Monroe was at one time president of the state organization, and that Mrs. Carrie L. Flatter has a national reputation for her work in the temperance cause. Mary Ervin, of Cedarville, is now a national lecturer and organizer for the Loyal Temperance Legion and is doing a great work. The year 1918 finds the following Greene county women on the state organization : Mrs. Carrie L. Flatter, member of board of trustees; Mrs. Fannie B. Custis, superintendent of Sabbath school work; Mrs. Della Snodgrass, lecturer on purity ; Mrs. Olive K. Dean, superintendent of department of Christian citizenship.
639
GREENE COUNTY, OHIO
DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
The Daughters of the American Revolution is a patriotic organization of women. The eligibility for membership in this organization is confined to those who can establish a lineal descent from some ancestor who fought in the Revolutionary War. The primary objects of the organization are to foster patriotism and love of country, to encourage historical research and the pro- tection of historical sites, to preserve Revolutionary relics, to maintain and defend all institutions of American freedom, and to promote all agencies for the diffusion of historical knowledge, but it has added other features to the original plan under which it was organized. Probably the most important feature which has been added to the work of the society is that of helping organized charitable and benevolent movements. Beginning with the Spanish- American War, the society has given particular attention to the work of the Red Cross and renewed its work with that organization in the summer of 1916 when the American army went to the Mexican front. Its work along this line during the last two years needs no comment. The society has also been taking a more or less active part in civic improvements during the past few years, a work which was not planned for it by its promoters. The character of the work in different chapters varies widely; some chapters adhere closely to the original plan of operation, while others have made radical departures and branched out in work never dreamed of by the women who started the organi- zation. But this much should be said-all of the work done by the Daughters is of an historical or public-spirited nature and does not in any way conflict with the original plan of the organization.
Catherine Greene Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, was organized on December 16, 1894, at the home of Mrs. B. K. King. The credit for the organization of the chapter was largely due to the efforts of Miss Emma C. King, and she became the first regent of the chapter upon its organi- zation. Mrs. A. Howard Hinkle, state regent, effected the organization and started the chapter with twenty charter members, namely: Mrs. Robert D. Adair, Mrs. S. M. Allison, Mrs. George F. Cooper, Mrs. Charles Darlington, Mrs. Henry H. Eavey, Mrs. William A. Galloway, Mrs. Charles S. Johnson, Mrs. James A. Johnston, Emma C. King, Isadora F. King, Mrs. Edwin Meredith, Sarah Belle Williams, Mrs. William M. Wilson, Mrs. Sarah E. Harbine, Mary McCurdy, Mrs. Charles Walkley, Virginia Lauman, Mrs. Vanderveer Taylor, Mrs. Betsy K. King and Mrs. Cora Day Young.
For a number of years after the chapter was organized members were added slowly, but there are now eighty on the roll of the chapter. During the past year eight regular monthly programs were given, while a number of special meetings were held. The regular monthly meetings. are featured by one special paper, followed by a discussion and a social hour.
640
GREENE COUNTY, OHIO
It would be difficult to describe in detail what the local chapter has accomplished during the twenty-four years of its existence. Its work has not been of a kind to attract attention, much of it being of the quiet, unostentatious kind which never reached the public eye. The public at large has never known of the innumerable contributions which the chapter has made for all kinds of charitable and benevolent purposes. During the Spanish-American War it furnished clothes and in many ways performed the same work which is now in charge of the Red Cross. At that time there was no national Red Cross in the sense that there is in 1918, and the Daughters of the American Revolu- tion took it upon themselves to do much of the work which is now done by the Red Cross. Since the present war began the local chapter has raised a war fund of one thousand dollars and has also contributed liberally to the Daughters of the American Revolution lodge at Chillicothe. In other ways the chapter has contributed to the welfare of the soldiers in the service, as well as to their families left behind.
There are a few events which stand forth in the history of the chapter. One of these was the loan exhibit in 1897. This was held in the room at the corner of Market and Greene streets now occupied by W. A. Kelley, the exhibit consisting of all kinds of Indian and pioneer relics. A considerable amount was realized from the exhibit, and this money was used by the chapter in a variety of ways. Part of it was used to entertain the state conference of the Daughters of the American Revolution in 1907, and part of it was still on hand in 1917 and was then invested in Liberty bonds. In 1906 the chapter erected a handsome monument at Oldtown marking the approximate site of the birth of Tecumseh and also the point where Simon Kenton finished his famous gantlet run. The monument bears the following inscription :
THIS STONE MARKS THE SITE OF OLD CHILLICOTHE, THE PRINCIPAL TOWN OF THE SHAWANEE INDIANS TECUMSEH, CHIEF · THE FAMOUS GAUNTLET, RUN BY SIMON KENTON IN 1778, WAS FROM SEXTON'S HILL TO THE COUNCIL HOUSE, WHICH STOOD 30 RODS WEST OF THIS SITE.
The present members of the club include all of the original charter members except two non-resident members, Mrs. Sarah E. Harbine and Mary McCurdy, and those lost by death : Mrs. S. M. Allison, Miss Virginia Lauman and Mrs. Betsy Kendall King. The remaining members are Mrs. Dilver Belden, Frances Bigger, Mrs. Karl R. Babb, Mrs. James P. Chew, Madge B. Cooley, Mrs. Myra K. A. von Hoveln Carpe, Mrs. L. F. Creamer, Catherine Corrine Creamer, Emma Davidson, Mrs. John M. Davidson, Mrs. Frank
·
641
GREENE COUNTY, OHIO
DuBois, Elizabeth Ewing, Mrs. Charles E. Fisher, Mrs. Andrew S. Frazer, Mrs. Charles W. Figgins, Evelyn Helen Galloway, Mary Belle Gatch, Sarah B. Hagar, M. Gertrude Hagar, Mary B. Hawkins, Mrs. Chester Hinkle, Mrs. Robert S. Kingsbury, Mrs. Robert H. Kingsbury, Mrs. Harry S. LeSourd, Mrs. Thomas L. Magruder, Opal Mallow, Mrs. John M. McCalmont, Mrs. William H. McGervey, Mrs. Milton S. Mckay, Mrs. Asa C. Messenger, Mrs. Harold C. Messenger, Mrs. Austin M. Patterson, Mrs. John W. Peterson, Mrs. Charlie A. Santmyer, Mrs. Fred J. H. Schell, Ada Stormont, Mrs. Nelle E. Schuster, Margaret Elinor Steele, Florence Miriam Steele, Mrs. J. D. Steele, Pauline Torrence, Mrs. George Tiffany, Mrs. Stephen F. Weston, Mrs. Charles A. Weaver, Anna Weaver and Mrs. Kenneth Williamson. The non-resident members, with their addresses, are: Mrs. Richard H. Ahlers, Chicago; Mrs. William A. Aiken, New York City; Charlotte Luella Baker, Cleveland ; Frances Baker, Cleveland; Mrs. William H. Batson, Fort Worth, Texas; Emma C. Combs, Buenos Ayres ; Mrs. Charles W. Drees, Buenos Ayres ; Mrs. William L. Ekin, Decatur, Illinois ; Mrs. Charles E. Galloway, Chicago; Mrs. George F. Hardy, Whitestone, Long Island; Mrs. John H. Herding, Duluth; Mrs. Sarah E. Harbine, Tucson, Arizona; Amelia I. Harbine, Tucson, Arizona; Mrs. Paul E. Hawkins, Troy, Ohio; Mrs. Charles M. Kelso, Dayton; Mrs. Walter Koch, Millersburg, Ohio; Mary McCurdy, Akron; Mrs. Korah S. Shambaugh, Oakland, California; Mrs. Henry C. Stark, Columbus, Ohio; Lucy Stewart, Akron; Mrs. H. A. Thompson, Cherry Ridge, Ohio. Following are deceased members: Mrs. Betsy Kendall King, Mrs. Jennie Norton Bevridge, Mrs. Evelyn Spitzer Lyon, Mrs. Georgia Sinks Brown, Mrs. Fannie Metcalf Bagnall, Mrs. Mary Luella Stewart Hagar, Sarah Connable Bontecou, Mrs. Jennie Stevenson Knowles, Virginia Lauman, Mrs. Laura Carpenter Finley, Mrs. Louisa Myers Allison, Mrs. Sarah D. Nesbitt.
The regents of the chapter since its establishment are the following : Emma C. King, 1894; Mrs. Betsy Kendall King, 1895; Virginia Lauman, 1896; Mrs. Henry H. Eavey, 1897; Mrs. John A. Beveridge, 1898; Mrs. S. M. Allison, 1899; Mrs. William M. Wilson, 1900; Mrs. James A. Johnston, 1902; Mrs. Asa C. Messenger, 1904; Mrs. Robert D. Adair, 1908; Mrs. James P. Chew, 1910; Mrs. T. L. Magruder, 1912; Mrs. William H. McGervey, 1915; Mrs. William M. Wilson, since 1917. The present officers of the chapter are the following: Regent, Mrs. William M. Wilson; vice-regent, Mrs. Asa C. Messenger ; secretary, Evelyn H. Galloway; treasurer, Mrs. Charles S. Johnson ; historian, Frances Bigger ; registrar, Mrs. Karl R. Babb.
Since the chapter was organized it has been making a constant effort to locate all of the graves of the Revolutionary soldiers buried in the county. Thus far the following graves have been located and suitably marked with headstones furnished by the government : James Small, born in York county,
(41)
642
GREENE COUNTY, OHIO
1
Pennsylvania, February, 1757, and died in Greene county, Ohio, April 23, 1842, Massies Creek cemetery ; Wm. Stewart, born in County Derry, Ireland, August 4, 1739, and died at Xenia, Ohio, August 4, 1830, Woodland cemetery, Xenia; George Wright, born February 4, 1756, and died in Xenia, Ohio, in 1829, Woodland cemetery, Xenia; John Torrence, born in Ireland, October 6, 1757, and died at Xenia, July 29, 1840, Woodland cemetery, Xenia ; James Galloway, born May 1, 1750, and died August 6, 1838, Stevenson cemetery ; Robert Jackson, born in Ireland in 1758, and died one mile west of Cedarville, September 26, 1826, Massies Creek cemetery ; Launcelot Junkin, born in Ireland in 1753, and died near Jamestown, June 10, 1833, Stevenson cemetery.
These seven Revolutionary soldiers have had their graves marked with the headstones furnished by the government. There is no way of ascertaining definitely the exact number of Revolutionary soldiers who died in the county, as most of those who died during the early days of the county were buried in obscure country graveyards and their graves were never marked.
GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC.
The Grand Army of the Republic includes the veterans of the Civil War and such veterans of the Mexican War as fought in the Civil War, although there are very few of the latter now living. Lewis Post of Xenia has had at least two Mexican War veterans on its roster, William Huston and Joshua Simmons, the latter still being on the roll. Huston now makes his home in the Soldiers Home at Dayton.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.