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.
At Xenia’s intersection of Main Street and Detroit Street, a failed attempt at a duel shattered the peaceful Wednesday morning of November 26th, 1926.
Long time friends Clifford “Tacks” Latimer and Charles Mackrodt had been enmeshed in an argument regarding Mackrodt’s dismissal from his job at the railway police force, where Latimer served as his superior.
The men met up at the southwest corner in front of the Commercial and Savings bank and walked across the intersection to the northwest corner, where they argued in front of the Steele Building. Witnesses overheard the men discussing a duel, and they agreed to walk to a nearby alley to engage. Apparently, Mackrodt changed his mind at the last moment and turned to walk away when Latirmer pulled out a revolver and shot Mackrodt three times in the back. One of the shots pierced his heart and caused instant death. The other two shots would have likely proved fatal as well.
Deputy Sheriff John Baugan witnessed the shooting and along with Sheriff Morris Sharp, ran to the scene and arrested Latimer, who still had the revolver in his hand. Latimer did not resist arrest. He was held in the county jail, charged with first degree murder. Latimer claimed he shot Mackrodt in self defense, but was ultimately convicted and sentenced to life in prison.
We will be in the Oregon District tonight as part of the celebration of Sanctuary Dayton Second Anniversary Celebration. Sara will be selling her books and Bethany will be there with Basil & Poppy Designs selling shirts, stickers, and more.
When a small family disembarked from a stage coach on a bitterly cold day in January 1851, nobody paid them much mind. The man, woman, and young boy walked into the old Phillip’s Tavern (replaced in 1852 by Phillip’s Hotel) and rented a room for the night. They were tired and covered with dust, telling the proprietor they were on a long journey and intended to stay one night and be on their way the next day. Despite her tired and dirty state, the woman has consistently been described as extraordinarily lovely in recountings of the story.
Unfortunately, the journey did not continue for the lovely woman. The man roused the innkeeper in the middle of the night and told him to fetch a doctor quickly, there was something wrong with his wife. Despite medical treatment, she died that night.
During this time period, it was not customary or required for guests to register or identify themselves to get a room for the night. Despite renting the room and receiving medical treatment, this woman’s identity was not revealed, nor was her husband’s. As the undertaker prepared for the funeral and presented the bill to the husband, he asked for their names. The traveler remarked, “I will pay you, but I will not tell my name.”
At every turn, he was asked again for her name, but again he declined to reveal their identities. Although they were certain he’d reveal her name for the tombstone, they were again denied. Instead, her tombstone was simply inscribed with:
A Stranger
Died Jan 4, 1851
Aged 24
Her kind and gentle spirit’s gone,
To a world of light above.
The unidentified woman was buried at Old Greencastle Cemetery, located at the intersection of South Broadway and Miami Chapel Road. Shortly after the funeral service ended, the man and child quickly left the cemetery. Nobody reported seeing them after that day.
Adding to the mystery, flowers started appearing on her grave every Memorial Day. This tradition continued for years and was still occurring 81 years later in 1932 when Dayton Daily News reported on this story. The groundskeeper for Old Greencastle Cemetery, where she is buried, reported the flowers would mysteriously show up at the grave, but he never saw a person leaving them. A man with gray hair and long gray beard had been frequently spotted walking through the graveyard. Some speculated he was the husband, long since dead but making an appearance from beyond the grave to leave flowers. Could it have been the son leaving flowers on his mother’s grave? The question remains, who was this woman and why wouldn’t they identify her?
Oakwood resident Betsy Hughes moved to Dayton as a newlywed and became one of the founding faculty at the Miami Valley School, where she taught for 30 years. Betsy earned her Masters in English from UD and after retiring, returned to UD to moderate courses in literature, creative writing, and the arts for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. Betsy has had a lifelong passion for poetry.
Betsy’s first book of sonnets, Breaking Weather was published by the National Federation of State Poetry Societies Press in 2014. Other published collections include Bird Notes, Forest Bathing, and The Lyric. Betsy’s book The Sixth Sense of Loss is dedicated to her husband of 56 years Jim Hughes, who died in 2020. This book includes sonnets and various other genres of formal poetry, including poems of grief.
What’s Your Favorite Scary Movie? Art Show
Includes Hearse Cruise-In, Vendors, and Food
Secret Chamber of Oddities and Artwork
17 W Main Street, Fairborn
Friday June 13th, 3pm-5pm for the less energetic, 5pm-9pm, for those all in
Dayton Unknown 