If you have consumed any beverage from a can, you can thank Ermal “Ernie” Fraze for inventing the pull-top tab used to open it.
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Category Archives: Prominent Local Figures
Dayton Inventions – Part 2
It’s that time again! Dayton is known for the airplane and the cash register, but there are so many more inventions that came from our great city:
- Electric Cash Register – John H. Patterson, 1906.
- Custer Invalid Chair – Levitt Luzern Custer, battery-powered in 1919, gasoline-powered in 1939.
- Night Photography – Brigadier General George Goddard, 1926.
- Freon Refrigerant – Thomas Midgley Jr., 1928.
Fun Facts about Dayton – Part 3
Here’s some more fun facts about Dayton we’ve learned during our research:
- The Private Fair statue on Main Street just south of Monument Avenue in downtown was almost a statue of the Goddess of Liberty, but ex-Civil War soldiers protested, and requested the goddess instead be a statue of a soldier. Private George Washington Fair of Dayton was the model for the statue, which was erected in 1884 – the original location at the intersection of Main and Monument.
- The statue of President McKinley in Cooper Park (behind the Dayton Library on Third Street and St. Clair) was built from funds raised and donated by local schoolchildren.
Local Street Names – Part 3
Time for more Dayton street name origins!
- Ashley Street: Ashley Brown, son-in-law of Colonel Robert Patterson.
- Schantz Road: Named for Adam Schantz, local brewer.
- Spinning Road: Isaac Spinning, a Colonel in the Revolutionary War, and a judge in Dayton.
Ay Caramba! Nancy Cartwright – the Voice of Kettering
If you talk to the right people in Kettering, they can tell you their personal accounts of knowing Nancy Cartwright, including my middle school history teacher, whose claim to fame was that the voice of Bart Simpson used to be his babysitter and Bethany’s drama teacher teaching Nancy in high school.
Seen in Old North Dayton
Tony Stein – Dayton’s Superhero
No greater person could be featured for July 4th.
Corporal Tony Stein
The only Daytonian to receive a Congressional Medal of Honor for WWII and the first recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor for Iwo Jima, Tony Stein still does not get enough credit.
Charlotte Reeve Conover – Dayton Historian
“Mrs. Conover was Dayton’s outstanding historian. Her manifold writings about Dayton and its people have place on bookshelves far and wide…” —Dayton Daily News, September 1940.
Charlotte was born to Doctor John Charles and Emma Reeve in 1855. She was given a stellar education from the start, even traveling to Geneva, Switzerland after completing high school. Marrying Frank Conover and raising 4 children did not stop Charlotte from traveling, studying, or writing.
In 1900, her first book, Some Dayton Saints and Prophets, was published. After that her writing didn’t stop. Charlotte also contributed writing to Ladies Home Journal, Atlantic Monthly, and Harper’s. She also became a French scholar, specializing in lectures about Molière.
David’s Cemetery
Located at the corners of Mad River Road and David Road in Kettering, David’s Cemetery is one of the older cemeteries in the Dayton area. The cemetery was formed on land donated by local man, Christian Creager, in 1826 and recognized its first burial in 1831 — a young boy named Noah Darner. It was named after Rev. David Winters, the first preacher to serve the Dayton area.
Local Street Names – Part 2
Ever wondered who local streets are named after? Here’s a few!
- Jefferson street – President Thomas Jefferson
- Perry Street – Commodore Oliver H. Perry, who was considered the “Hero of the Battle of Lake Erie.”
- Monument Avenue – Renamed from Water Street after the Private Fair statue was erected at the corner of Water and Main Streets in 1884.
Picking Up Cans and Chasing Women: Charlie’s Story
Although we generally reserve the category of Prominent Local Figures to historic figures, one can’t argue the prominence of Charlie/Billy in the Oregon District.
We’ve known him for 7 years, but many who have spent countless nights meandering through 5th Street have known him longer. Known as Charlie to some, and Billy to others, many have taken time out of their drinking nights to stop and talk to him. How many stories has he told over the years?
We sat down and asked him to tell us another story: his life.
Dayton Unknown 