When Vandiver Moler came to Van Buren Township from Jefferson County West Virginia in 1823, the area was still considered primitive. Moler’s land was in section 17, township range 6. Exchanging work was the currency of choice for neighbors, and oftentimes Moler would set down his plow and head to his blacksmith shop to do a job for a neighbor. In exchange, that neighbor would pick up that plow and finish Moler’s field for him. Groups of neighbors would get together to do the harvest for another neighbor in what was called a “bee.” The community relied on bees for prosperity.

Just like any other member of the community, Mr Moler relied on and participated in these bees regularly. As a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, he was a firm opponent to the use of liquor during these bees, even offering 12½ cents more per day to men who would abstain from drink during that time. Eventually, he refused to hire help who used whiskey. His opponents were upset by this and declared they wouldn’t help him.

A stonemason named James Dean from Dayton heard about this and gathered a party to go harvest Moler’s wheat. When neighbors noticed the immaculate job Dean’s party did, they hired them as well to harvest their grain. Dean later found whiskey in one of the neighbor’s homes and promptly led his party back to Dayton, leaving the neighbor’s harvesting unfinished.

Source: Dayton Daily News, February 29, 1936