Irvin’s novel The Dark End of the Rainbow won the Jeremiah Healey Mystery Fiction Contest. Her next book, The Rules of the Game was a finalist for the same award. Irvin is a member of Sisters in Crime, Central Ohio Fiction Writers, and Buckeye Crime Writers. She also serves on the Springboro City Park Board and is a member of the Springboro Area Historical Society.
Some of her published works include:
- Hollowed Bone, published in the Sky Island Journal Issue # 25 in 2023
- ALL THE ODDS ARE EVEN, published in the Nexus Literary Journal in Spring 2015
- PAWNS, published in the Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine in May 2011
- THE FABRIC OF OUR FEARS, published in The Broken Plate in Spring 2010
A Canal Tragedy in 1897
Unfortunately, the horse fell into the canal, pulling with it the spring wagon containing the three women. They all plunged into the fifteen feet of water below, screaming and flailing. The commotion brought help to the scene but not in time for Mary and Katie. Mrs. Seaman was revived at the scene after a long period and taken to the hospital. She was not told of her daughters’ deaths until she recovered.
Source: Two Ohio Women Drowned, The New York Times, November 26, 1897
How a 19th Century Story Reached a Family Today
When we started Dayton Unknown, our goal was simple: to uncover and share the forgotten, overlooked, and lesser known stories that shaped our city. Stories like Johnny Morehouse and the Morehouse Family.
Recently, we heard from a descendant of the Morehouse family.
Just a Bite of Popcorn
The Fawleys were driving around town running errands when Mr. Fawley parked in front of the smokehouse on South Detroit Street. He left his wife and daughter in the car while he walked to complete a few more errands. Norma was eating popcorn and started choking, and her mother was alerted by her gasping for breath. Workers in the smokehouse heard Mrs. Fawley’s cries for help and they rushed out to try to help.
All attempts to dislodge the popcorn by swinging Norma around by the heels, turning her upside-down, and forceful blows on the back were unsuccessful. A man in the crowd carried the child half a block to a nearby doctor’s office, but by then it was too late. As the doctor prepared to perform a surgery to remove the piece, Norma took a few more gasps of air, then tragically died.
Source: Child Chokes to Death from Bit of Popcorn, Dayton Herald, April 3, 1925, Page 1
Fined for Helping a Prisoner
Messler was accused of harboring Ruth Isley, aka Margaret Williams after she escaped from the workhouse on September 3. According to her testimony, she escaped by prying off a door lock, crossing a roof, and entering a window of the Antler Hotel located on 6th Street. From there she ran to Messler’s garage, where she stayed all night.
Source: Fined For Help Given Prisoner, Dayton Herald, October 9, 1917, Page 16
An Elevator Accident in 1954
Source: Elevator Victim Reported “Fair”, Dayton Daily News, August 2, 1954, Page 4
Honor Flight Dayton 2026
This year’s flight is on May 30th. To apply as a Veteran, Guardian, or Volunteer, visit the Honor Flight Dayton Application Page.
Happy Birthday, Dayton!
Footprints in the cement at Founder’s Point at Riverscape Metropark to remember the first settlers of Dayton.
”The boat party was the first to arrive. Rounding the curve in the river, where for so many years since then it has been flowing under the Dayton View Bridge, the pioneers perceived before their eyes the swift current of Mad River emptying itself into the main channel, just as it had been described, and saying to each other (so we may imagine), ‘Yes this must be the place,’ they tied the pirogue to a tree at the head of St, Clair Street and led by Mrs. Thompson, all clambered ashore.
At that moment, DAYTON came on the map!” – Charlotte Reeve Conover in The Story of Dayton
The Thompson Cow
- William Hamer
- Soloman Hamer
- Thomas Hamer
- George Newcom
- William Newcom
- Abraham Grassmire
- John Davis
- John Dorough
A Fire in 1900
- J.P. Wolf & Sons, Tobacco Merchants
- E. Bimm & Sons, Grocers
- Benedicts & Co, Cigar Manufacturers
- The Dayton Paper Novelty Company
The Big Four Freight depot was located in the back, and had minimal damage. The office building was destroyed, but the slate roof prevented the rest of the company from more damage. There was an estimated $500,000 in damages to the district.
It took 3 hours for the flames to be under control, and there were many injuries:
- Night Watchman Snedecker was overcome by smoke and later found unconscious by other firemen.
- Another fireman, Louis Swaneger, was taken to his home, badly frozen.
- Three firemen, George Coy, George Nienaber, and George Griesheimer were buried when the east wall of the J.P. Wolf & Sons building collapsed. Nienaber and Griesheimer were not badly injured.
- Many other firefighters and volunteers were treated at a makeshift hospital located in a nearby home.
Dayton Unknown 