1936 “Treasure Hunt” for Dayton History Facts

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In 1936, Dayton Daily News ran a daily column called “The Treasure Hunt”, featuring tidbits of Dayton History gathered by multiple sources. The history covered Montgomery, Preble, Butler, and Warren counties. Here are some of the stories.1. The First County Court in Montgomery County was located in an upper room of Newcom’s Tavern.

  • Presiding Judge: Hon Francis Dunley
  • Associate Judges: Isaac Spinning, Benjamin Archer, John Ewing
  • Officers:
    • George Newcom, Sheriff
    • Benjamin Van Cleve, clerk
    • James Miller, coroner

The court opened July 27, 1803, but there were no cases, so court adjourned that evening. Most of the male population of Dayton had turned out for the opening, and it was met with great excitement. The judges and lawyers slept in one room of the tavern overnight and left together the next morning to open court in Xenia. The next session of court was not held until November 22, 1803, and it was held until a tree behind the tavern. Sheriff Newcom was needed to control the crown gathering to listen to testimony from witnesses and jury deliberation.

2. Dayton was almost called Venice. Before Dayton was settled in 1796, Maj Benjamin Stites, John Stites Gano, and William Goforth had made plans for a settlement to be named Venice. It was located at the mouth of the “Tiber”, as they called Mad River at the time. They had agreed to purchase the land from John Cleves Symmers for 83 cents an acre and a contract was signed. Unfortunately for the men, Symmes had some issues with the government and the Native Americans in the area and the troubles forced them to abandon the plan for Venice.

3. The first town election was held on the first Monday in May 1805. The select council of the town was comprised of the seven trustees, with the president also serving as the mayor.

4. The first county election was held in 1802. Jerome Holt, County Sheriff, gave notice to Daytonians to convene at Newcom’s on April 1, then elect by ballot a chairman, a town clerk, three or more trustees, two or more overseers of the poor, three fence viewers, two appraisers of houses, a lister of taxable property, a sufficient number of supervisors of roads, and one or more constables.

100 Years of Esther Price Candies

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Esther Price Candies is celebrating 100 years of making delicious sweet treats!

Although the business got its start in 1926, Esther Price’s roots as a candy maker go back to a 7th grade Home Economics class. After partnering with her classmate to make fudge the first time, Esther kept her share to give to her mother, but decided instead to eat that share and make more when she got home. A love affair with candy was born.
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Sara’s 4th Book!

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Our very own Sara Kaushal turned 40 last Friday! Happy belated birthday to Sara!!

It was also a big day for Sara – she signed the contract for her fourth book! Unsolved Dayton will be coming in 2027!

If you have any unsolved cases from the Miami Valley you have always wondered about, please let us know! You can comment here, or reach out to us via our Contact Us page!

A Wedding and a Funeral

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Two University of Dayton students, Andrew Dixon and Sarah Pfarrer were planning to wed by April 28th, 1956. As the wedding date approached, Andrew’s father, John, had fallen ill and the outlook was not good. John was dying, and the family talked of postponing the wedding, but John insisted they do everything they can to keep the date and time, even hoping he’d make it long enough to see his son wed. Unfortunately, John Dixon died in his sleep just days before the wedding, and his funeral was planned for the afternoon of April 28th.

Andrew arose on the morning of April 28th at 6:30, ready for a long day of both happiness and sadness. As he dressed and prepared for his wedding, his uncle arrived and noticed three packages on the porch. His uncle brought the three packages in, believing them to be wedding presents. Andrew’s sister and two of his aunts gathered around the table as he began opening presents. The first package Andrew opened was a wedding gift, and the second was a cardboard box wrapped in brown paper. As he began opening the box, it exploded. The blast blew a hole three inches by 6 inches in the table, knocked out chunks of plaster from the ceiling and walls, and damaged furniture and light fixtures. The explosion was heard several blocks away.
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2025 Holiday Hiatus

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We hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving next week!

As Dayton Unknown does every year for the holidays, we are going to take a break for the rest of the year to enjoy time with our families.

We are always accessible through the Contact Us page, Dayton Unknown on Facebook, and by email – daytonunknown@hotmail.com. Don’t forget to check out our Instagram as well, at @daytonunknown!!

We’ll see you all in 2026!

Fox Terrier Saves Family

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During the early morning hours of September 16, 1927, Mr. Charles Wilson was awoken by the actions of a small fox terrier tugging at his bed sheets. The terrier had been sleeping in the barn nearby and when a fire started in the Wilson house, and the dog sprang into action. Now awake, Mr. Wilson roused his wife then attempted to run upstairs to rescue their 5 children, but the stairway was engulfed in flames. As Wilson was a painter, he had plenty of ladders and he ran out to the barn to get 3 ladders to put against the windows for the children. All 5 children made it out of the house safely.Wilson then ran half a mile to the house next door and called the Frigidaire Company’s Emergency department. They responded and put the fire out, aided by chemicals. By the time the fire was out, it had destroyed the house and everything in it. Wilson did not make an estimate of the damages he suffered, but speculation was that there was several hundred thousand dollars in damages. The children could not attend school because their day clothing was lost in the fire.

The fire appeared to have started in the dining room, but it is unclear how it started.

Dayton Quickie – Homemade Bomb in 1954

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On the night of July 31, 1954, Dorothy Rash was involved in an accident at the intersection of Terry and First streets. As she exited her vehicle, a homemade bomb suddenly landed at her feet and exploded with such force that a hubcap from a passing car flew off and landed in the street, leaving dents in the road. Dorothy was taken to Miami Valley Hospital and treated for wounds to her left leg.

The bomb was apparently thrown from a nearby railroad crossing. The motive for the bombing is unclear and no suspect was identified. A youth was spotted running away from the scene after the explosion.

Sources: Woman is Hurt in Bomb Blast, The Journal Herald, August 2nd, 1954; and Bomb Thrower Not Identified, Dayton Daily News, August 2nd, 1954

Local Author and Artist Jeff Wilson

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Vandalia Sign shop owners Jeff and Patti Wilson started a Facebook page Ohio Legends featuring drawings about local history and trivia. The posts were a huge success and soon friends were sending in their own trivia and stories to use on the page.

Now there are over 300 drawings, facts, and stories about Ohio’s rich history. Many were contributed by friends, family, and readers. Jeff verifies the facts and creates the drawings for those contributions. Three books, titled Ohio Legends 1, Ohio Legends 2, and Ohio Legends 3 have been printed with these fascinating stories and facts.

We had the honor of meeting Jeff in 2019, when all three of us were published in Wright Library’s zine glide, which is an art and literary zine made up of poetry, short stories, essays, and art focusing on the Miami Valley. glide was published as both a hard copy and a digital copy. There were so many entries that an additional online zine, glide on was made available as well. We are sad to share that Jeff passed way in September of 2024, but he will always be an Ohio Legend to us.