Category Archives: Dayton Fun Facts

Going Out With a Bang: My God, I’ve Shot Myself

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Clement Vallandigham (July 29, 1820 – June 17, 1871)

It was going to be the biggest case of his life. Fifty year old Dayton Attorney Clement Vallandigham was to defend Thomas McGehan, who was charged with murder for a barroom brawl turned deadly in Hamilton, Ohio. Having been unable to find a jury un-swayed by newspaper reports in Hamilton, the trial moved to Lebanon.

Vallandigham and his partner, Daniel Haynes, formed a practice that had become “one of the best and ablest in the West”, with stories of Vallandigham making final pleas so persuasive that the jury was left in tears. Nobody researched more than he did, and he was adept at anticipating the rebuttal arguments of the opposing lawyers.

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More Interesting Dayton Facts

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  • Susan Koerner Wright, mother of Wilbur and Orville, enjoyed making things for and with her children. Reportedly, her husband Milton could not hammer a nail straight, and she was the handy person in the family. She often made toys for the children, and even put together some small appliances to make her household chores easier.
  • In 1900, Dayton listed more inventions than any other city in the United States.
  • John Patterson could not stand Charles Kettering, and would often fire him from his company, NCR. Edward Deeds would always hire him back.
  • During rainy seasons, carriages would get stuck in the mud. To remedy this, huge logs were buried under the mud, lining Dayton streets in a “corduroy” fashion, preventing wagons and animals from sinking.

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Interesting Dayton Facts

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During one of our research sessions at the library, we found a great book, For the Love of Dayton: Life in the Miami Valley 1796-2001, that was published by the Dayton Daily News in 2001. The book chronicles the history of Dayton year-by-year in little blurbs, and there were a lot of fascinating facts that we just had to share!

  • 1803 – Colonel George Newcom became the first sheriff, serving until 1809. He took little pity on lawbreakers, lowering alleged offenders into his empty well, where they remained until trial.

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Orville Wright (August 19, 1871 – January 30, 1948)

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In honor of what would be Orville’s 146th birthday, here are some facts about the younger Wright Brother:

  • Orville was a snazzy dresser – Orville wore well-tailored suits, wingtips, and “snappy argyle socks.”

  • Orville loved playing the mandolin. In fact, he played it so often that it drove his sister Katherine to say, “He sits around and picks that thing until I can hardly stay in the house the point of madness.”

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Dayton Unknown Spotlight: Laurana Wong

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Back in October, we hosted the Dayton Unknown Fall Scavenger Hunt at Wegerzyn Gardens. It was a beautiful fall day, and we had some great submissions from our participants. We awarded two prizes, one of which is a feature story here on the blog. Our winner of this prize is Laurana Wong – an incredibly fascinating character.
We came up with fifteen questions we thought would truly showcase Laurana’s personality and told her that she could pick and choose which questions to answer. In true Laurana form, she decided to answer all of them! We hope you enjoy learning about her as much as we did!

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Dayton Firsts Part 12

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  • First Telegraph Message – Received in Dayton on September 17, 1847.
  • First United Brethren Church – The first United Brethren church in Dayton was organized in 1847, in a small room in the Oregon Engine House. Their first church building was erected in 1852, at Sixth Street and Logan Street, later being purchased by the city and converted into a city prison.
  • First Gas Company – Chartered February 4, 1848, by Daniel Beckel, Peter Voorhees, Daniel Stout, I.F. Howells, David Winter, J.D. Loomis, J.D. Phillips, Valentine Winters, John Mills and Daniel W. Weelock.
  • First Hebrew congregation – The first Hebrew congregation was organized in 1850. They met in the old Dayton Bank building until 1863, when they purchased the old Baptist house of worship.

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Miamisburg Mound

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Located at 900 Mound Street, Miamisburg Mound pre-dates Dayton – but it is very important to Dayton History. Here are some facts:

  • The Mound is actually a burial mound, and it is one of the largest conical mounds in North America, and is the largest conical mound in Ohio.

  • The Mound is listed on the National Register of Historic Places

  • Mounds like this served as cemeteries, and may have also marked boundary lines for tribal territories.

  • The Mound is 65 feet tall. It was originally 68 feet tall, before an excavation attempt in 1869.

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The History of Sinclair College

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“Find the need and endeavor to meet it.” – David Ainslie Sinclair

Although his tombstone in Woodland simply states “Secretary of the YMCA”, David Sinclair did much more for Dayton and its residents.

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Dayton Fun Facts

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Time for another round of small, but interesting facts we’ve found in our research!

  • Dayton is the 6th largest city in Ohio.
  • There are a few former Indian burial grounds: one at the corner of Water Street (now Monument Avenue) and Beckel Street (Beckel Street still currently exists in part, but no longer intersects with Monument Avenue), one on the Fairgrounds Hill, one on a knoll in Woodland Cemetery, one at the north end of the Dayton View Bridge, and one at the west end of the Third Street Bridge.
  • James S. Trent – for whom Trent Arena at Fairmont High School is named – was a superintendent and educator.
  • The Dayton Dragons, farm team for the Cincinnati Reds, have played ball downtown since 2000, and recently set the national professional sports record for consecutive sellout home games.

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