July 2022 newsletter

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VOLUME 24, ISSUE 3 July–September 2022

Officers
President: Doug Allen
Vice–Pres: VACANT
Recording Sec’y: Kay Dawson
Corres. Sec’y: VACANT
Treasurer: Doris West
Op. Dir.: Kristina Balside

Directors
Barb Eller (2022)
Mary Geiger (2022
Bill Gothard (2022
Ron Papp (2022)
Craig Falknor (2022–2023)
Jeffrey Harding (2022–2023)
Glynn Marsh (2022–2023)
Wilma Schroeder (2022–2023)
THE PRESIDENT’S CORNER
By Doug Allen and Kristina Balside
As we approach the middle of 2022, we have progressed
in a few areas. Our membership has steadily increased, and we are
enjoying new and younger members who have a lot of enthusiasm.
Some have families that have lived in the area for hundreds of
years. Our programs have been well attended and enjoyed by
many.
We’re greatly anticipating our first annual RTHS Car
Show!!! We hope this program is going to be so successful and
fun that we can do it bigger and better each year! We are seeking
donations from local businesses to raffle off with proceeds going
to the History Museum.
We are enlisting the help of a local Boy Scout troop to help
with some outdoor sprucing up around the History Center building.
They are also working towards an Eagle Scout award by planning
on restoring one of our significant artifacts to be displayed in the
museum when completed!!
New and exciting displays and programs are on the
horizon! Stay tuned……
UPCOMING MEETINGS & EVENTS
All functions are at the History Center unless otherwise noted.
Meetings on 2nd Wednesdays
July 13, 7:00 p.m./ business meeting
Aug. 10, 7:00 p.m./ business meeting
Sept. 14, 7:00 p.m./ business meeting

Special Events
July 17, 1–6 p.m. Car Show at History Center
September (TBA): Quilt Display
(look for details on Facebook)

Office Phone: 937-832-8538
Email: info@rths.org
www. rths.org

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QUARTERLY SUMMARY
April 2022: The History Center had 10 visitors since the last meeting. Kristina Scott presented a list
of members who had died in the past few years. The checking account showed a loss, partly due to
the postage for the newsletter and the annual insurance payment, but the total cash assets of the
Society equal $30,370.75. A donation covered the $100 expense of printing The Baby Boomer Years
booklet, and as of the meeting eight of the booklets were still unsold. Any new business was set
aside as not being urgent so the speaker could begin. Martin Gottlieb, author of Lincoln’s Northern
Nemesis: The War Opposition and Exile of Ohio’s Clement Vallandigham, spoke on Vallandigham’s
career, focusing mostly on his arrest, trial by military tribunal, exile behind Confederate lines, and
his subsequent political career. (See p. 5.)
May 2022: The History Center had three visitors since the last meeting, but lack of volunteer hosts
kept the Center from opening every Sunday. RTHS has added five new members in the past month
with three renewals. Despite the cost of the annual HVAC checkup, the cash assets increased by
almost $2,600.00, totaling $32,970.27. Board members present agreed to meet on May 18 to discuss
the quotes received for the drainage problem. In addition, Doug Allen arranged an appointment with
a pest control company to deal with mice in the basement and was making arrangements to check on
a water leak in the men’s restroom, all matters to be discussed at the board meeting. Robin Perkins
reported on the display committee’s work. As Kristina Scott has been doubling as membership
secretary, the RTHS asked for a volunteer to take over that job. Robin Perkins announced that Rex
Maggert would speak about “Privates of the Civil War” in June. After the meeting, Jason Antkiviak
presented a miniprogram on the Sheets rifle, with artifacts he had found and photos site along the
Stillwater River he believes to be the site of the Sheets Boring Mill. (See p. 5.)
At the board meeting, members chose a contractor to deal with the water problem and
decided to deal with the rodent infestation without sprays or professional help.
June 2022: The History Center has had seven visitors since May. Memberships total 177. There was
no treasurer’s report because the treasurer is on vacation. The water leak in the restroom turned out
to be very minor. Collins Waterproofing & More had come to fix the water problem in the basement
but found it couldn’t dig farther down than three feet due to the solid limestone bedrock in this area.
(See p. 6.) Craig Falknor is taking steps to control the pest problem. The RTHS scheduled a car show
on Sunday, July 17, 2022. Terry Guerra has resigned as membership/correspondence secretary, and
Robin Perkins has resigned as vice president. Anyone who would like to hold these positions for the
rest of the year (or longer) should contact the center. The board will also consider whether one
individual can hold two offices or if offices can be consolidated. After the meeting Rex Maggert
presented a miniprogram on camp life during the Civil War. (See p. 5.)

AREA NEWS AND NOTES

Upcoming shows at Center
The RTHS will hold a car show at the History Center on Sunday, July 17, from 1 through 6
p.m. Registration of cars will cost $15 and will be at the Center on that day. There is no fee to attend
as a spectator. There will be food trucks, trophies will be awarded, and the Center will be open to
visitors.

The Society is planning a display of quilts in September, but details have not been finalized.
Check Facebook or the Brookville Star in August or early September for more information.

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Randolph Ramblings
by Ron Papp
Cannonballs

Along the bordering wall of the RTHS’s south
yard is an arrangement of fragments from Sam
Gingrich’s “monument to the trees.” Interspersed
within them are silver cannonballs.
The monument was one of several on Sam’s
home and tree nursery on Covington Pike. Those
concrete, stone, and glass constructions were
destroyed in June 1997. Many of those were
salvaged in the aftermath and stored at my mother’s
property in Irvington plat. I used some granite-
topped segments of Sam’s pond edging to form a
ring around Mom’s flower bed of irises and
marigolds. The flower bed is where a round
swimming pool stood. Applying the pond segments
there may have been behind my idea.
Two blocks directly east of Sam’s property on
Irvington Avenue is a home with a grooved stone
retaining wall along its curved driveway. The wall is
also stepped, and perched on each. step “tread” was
a silver cannonball in the 1960s. Too tempting for
boy pranksters, the ornamental shots were
periodically pushed off to fall and thump and
probably roll on the driveway below. The toppling
could be on Halloween or occasional lapses spurred
by meanness. In the late ‘60s, my teen
friend/neighbor/classmate, Doug Wagner, and I were
playing in the shallow storm creek behind the
Irvington resident’s place. Clowning in the creek
bed, we discovered what turned out to be one of the
cannonballs. Fetching a shovel, we dug and pried it
up from the mud. Soon we found four more.
Apparently, the owner got tired of replacing his
heavy driveway decorations. Getting Doug’s wagon
(a nice one with removable sides built by Doug’s
dad), he and I carted our haul down Melody Road to
my mom’s shed. There they rested on the cement
floor for some 35 years.
Around 2002, I rolled them out. As the cannonballs
had blotchy surfaces of old paint and rust, I sanded
them down to the steel, then treated, primed, and
painted them silver again. I made little cone-shaped
basket bases that supported them on the round
flower bed in a pentagonal array.
Seventeen years later, in 2019, the RTHS
began putting Sam’s pieces along the History
Center’s south wall. For decoration and to
segregate blocks of writing that belonged
together, the steel balls were painted again and
incorporated into the scheme. Yet the design is
symmetrical, so five cannonballs make it
unbalanced. I surprised my old friend recently
with my “unbalanced” idea to return to the creek
with a metal detector to maybe find an
overlooked sixth ball. Doug donated to the
RTHS Center four cube-shaped planters that had
been made by Sam.
As far as I’ve known, our cannonballs have
been ornamental. There are about eight inches in
diameter and weigh over 40 pounds. However,
there were projectiles that size. So far, I haven’t
been able to identify them.

MEMBERSHIP REPORT
The RTHS regrets the passing of long-
time Englewood resident Carolyn Fitzgerald.
She was not a member but our members Jim and
Carolyn Van Dyne chose to memorialize her
with a donation to the RTHS.
Memberships Processed
April through June Meetings
During this period the RTHS received
five new individual, one new sustaining, two
family, one sustaining, and one individual
renewal memberships, making 177 members as
of the June meeting.
The Society is fortunate to maintain a very high
membership renewal rate. We continue to add
new members each year, but lose some of our
valued older members to death and relocation.
We value each and every member and work hard
to make the Society a valuable resource for
history in the community.

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MEMORIES

The History Center is often a destination for
Northmont alumni attending high school reunions.
On June 8, 2022, the Class of 1971 celebrated their
50th reunion (one year delayed by the pandemic) by
visiting the RTHS museum.
Twenty-seven people came, arriving about 10:45
a.m. with the last guests leaving after 1:00 p.m.
Anita Bannerman, one of their members and a mem-
ber of the RTHS, provided cookies and drinks. The
Center displayed the bound copy of the Englewood
Independent, showing a page devoted to Northmont
news, a yearbook, and other memorabilia.
Doug Allen, the RTHS president, spoke to the
group about being teenagers in the ’70’s. He remi-
nisced about Burgin’s Pizza, Flint’s, and other loca-
tions around town. He had the crowd laughing and
relaxed by the time Kris Balside, operations director
of the RTHS, spoke to them.
Kris spoke about the history center, member-
ships, and donations and explained the difference
between a township and city. Rex Maggert is a 1971
graduate as well, and Kris also discussed the pro-
gram he would give after the RTHS meeting that
night.
The group then enjoyed a game of Guess Who.
Kris had created a PowerPoint slide show with 20
random senior pictures from the class. The group
had to “Guess Who” the students in the pictures
were 50 years later. (See photos, p. 7.)

Earlier in the summer, Kris Balside asked Face-
book members to share their memories of childhood
summers in the area. Some of the memories are
printed here.
Doug Allen: Walking to the Englewood Plaza
pharmacy and getting a couple comic books, a Bub’s
Daddy and a lime phosphate at the soda fountain.
Anybody else remember phosphates?
Beth Cuff: Recreation day camp at Englewood
Elementary. The Masonic lodge’s annual chicken
barbecue. Riding bikes, and riding bikes, and riding
bikes.
Mo Dearth: Catching crawdads at Clayton Park.
Jackie Fox Dent: Walking along the drainage ditch,
aka “creek,” to Englewood Hills Swim Club.
Tom Carroll Eastridge: The Englewood Legion-
Lions Carnival and the Ice Cream Social at the
church at Walnut & Herr streets.
Dave Eley: Playing at Englewood Elementary
summer Recreation!
Chet Estridge: I went swimming with friends in a
gravel pit late one night. In the middle and couldn’t
make it. A friend saved my life that night.
Anna Gagaris: Walking from football games at
O. R. [Edgingon] to Burgin’s and everybody beeping
their horns when TBolts had a win. Great times!!
David Hanley: Spent hours at Aullwood. Also
having the Englewood Reserve as a playground.
Charity Irwin: Walking from Union to the Dairy
Queen in Englewood.
Sue Martin: We were so blessed to grow up in a
beautiful small town!!
Hermetta Pillion: Free movies (we called them
“free shows”) behind the City Hall building, Friday
night Burgin’s Pizza, the Englewood Carnival, walk-
ing to Ben Franklin’s to buy felt and other materials
to troll doll clothes, walking to the Englewood
Bakery on Saturday mornings for donuts or a
chocolate éclair (short walk, I lived on Wolf
Avenue), walking to Dairy Queen for a Mr. Misty,
picnics at Englewood park with my family, Trick or
Treating on Halloween where we didn’t have to x-
ray candy and we stayed out a lot later than kids can
now, free movies at Englewood Elementary (my
brother Larry would walk me there but I had to walk
10 or 12 feet behind him so as not to appear that he
knew me), in high school hanging out at Flint’s
hoping to catch a glimpse of cute high school boys.
Not that I’m sentimental about “back in day”…
Jody Deime Sampson: Northmoor pool.
Doris West: Visiting my Koogler grandparents at
their home on Chestnut Street. Riding my bicycle
on the sidewalks and alleyways. Knocking on the
old screen door (and remember the sound it made)
on the house that used to be on corner of Chestnut
and Main and asking. Aunt Emma for candy (I was
three or four and suspect she was a Fetters relative of
my grandma). Also, I would walk to the old house
on Chestnut (long gone and an apartment building is
there today) to visit my friend, Mrs. McKinney and
daughter, Mable. Mrs. McKinney was quite old and
had been a schoolteacher or Sunday School teacher
and loved children. I guess that is why she seemed to
enjoy sitting on her front porch swing and entertain-
ing me with her stories. When I was preteen, I would
walk to my relative’s house several blocks away and
my Aunt Mary Jane Koogler would invite me in and
I would lay on the living room floor and read the one
foot high stack of my cousin Bruce’s comic books.
Dave Wilson: Movies behind City Hall.

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RECENT HAPPENINGS AT THE RTHS HISTORY CENTER
With the easing of the pandemic, the RTHS has resumed regular meetings and programs.
Clement Vallandigham talk
In April, former Dayton Daily News writer Martin
Gottlieb talked to the Society about Lincoln’s Northern
Nemesis, his account of Clement Vallandigham’s political
life.
A former Congressman from Dayton, Vallandigham
became a leader of Northern opposition to the Civil War.
After a speech critical of the North’s policy, he was arrested
by General Ambrose Burnside (an act that caused a riot in
Dayton), tried by a military tribunal despite being a civilian,
and sentenced to prison. Lincoln, not wanting to make a
martyr of him, commuted the sentence to banishment behind
Confederate lines. From there, Vallandigham made his way
to Canada and continued his opposition.
Gottlieb related Vallandigham’s political actions and his postwar career in a talk that offered
not only history but humor.
After the talk, he signed copies of his book for purchasers.
Search for Sheets Mill
The last issue of the “Randolph Times” mentioned
that a person had contacted the RTHS seeking information
about the Sheets rifle he had bought. At the May meeting,
Jason Antkiviak, the purchaser, told of his efforts to find the site
of the Sheets Boring Mill in Union where the rifle was made.
He and Doug Allen, along with people from the Dayton Diggers,
a group of metal detection enthu- siasts, searched the banks of the
Stillwater River near Old Spring- field Road.
Antkiviak, displayed his rifle and showed slides of the
site he thinks is the correct one, along with some artifacts such
as a bullet and some metal that may have been used. He also
found evidence that may mark the site of the Hoover Flour Mill.
He has contacted the archaeology departments of local universities to see if further work can
be done.
Civil War Camp Life
After the June meeting, Rex Maggert talked about daily
camp life in the Civil War. He presented first-hand accounts from
diaries by Charles Smith in the 32nd Ohio and Charles Grosvenor
in the 147th Ohio, unit from Troy and excerpts from letters writ-
ten by Patrick Atkinson in the 22nd Michigan to his wife.
He also had items he uses as a re-enactor. In addition to a
gun, he had a tent inscribed with the battles that the unit originally
fought in and equipment that a Civil War soldier would have
carried with him.
Martin Gottlieb signs copies of his book.

Jason Antkiviak displays his rifle
to Monty Mercer. Mary Geiger,
and Cleva Collar.

Civil War cartridge box and forage
cap

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IMPROVEMENTS TO THE CENTER
“The best laid plans”
For 20 years, the RTHS has struggled with water collecting in the basement of the History
Center. We have mopped, we bought a wet vac, we installed two dehumidifiers, we have coated part
of the wall.
The dehumidifiers help in removing the humidity from the air and thus preserve the artifacts,
but the basic problem is water entering the basement. Apparently when the lobby was added, the
joint between the two parts was not sealed tightly and water enters the joint. Different-sized down-
spouts on the two parts also kept water from draining properly and let it gather at the joint.
Finally, the board of directors decided the time had passed for do-it-yourself fixes and the
budget allowed professional services. Two companies contacted recommended digging up the floor
and not only sealing the foundation but installing a sump pump. The third company said a sump
pump was unnecessary and agreed that the joint between the two parts was the problem and a drain
should be buried under the ground along the foundation to empty into the bluff behind the Center.
The board chose the third company, and workmen came out in early June. But developments
millions of years ago undermined their efforts.
As Earl Heck explained in his History of Englewood, the Stillwater Valley was formed 45
million years ago when the glaciers carved the river out of Brassfield Limestone. This formation,
nearly half to three-quarters of mile wide, runs from approximately Forest Park to north of Union.
It is extremely hard, resembling granite in its “workability.”
So what does this have to do with water in the basement?
The company called President Doug Allen, reporting this bedrock kept them from digging
deeper than three feet, and could not lay a drain to the bluff behind the building. This also accounts
for the lack of headroom in the basement; the church fathers who tried to dig the basement under an
already standing church simply gave up.
The board has not given up but will consider other measures to deal with the water.

“Of mice and men”
The RTHS is thus far uncertain of the success of other problem the board dealt with
mice in the basement. Apart from the health hazard and the general unpleasantness of the mice, they
threaten the artifacts.
The board acquired quotes from two pest control companies. Both recommended using bait
traps, spraying, and other measures. Besides members’ general reluctance to spray chemicals around,
the board was uneasy at having chemicals around a building that invites children in.
Craig Falknor offered to put bait traps around the building. These work by attracting the
rodents to the poisoned bait, which is inside a container unavailable to anything larger than a rat and
thus safe from people. The poisoned rodent become quite thirsty and leaves the building seeking
water, only to die in another area.
Because the rodents die elsewhere, we have no clear idea how it is working (and no one is
particularly interested in poking about in corners for mice). But we hope to report fewer sightings
in the near future.

Trash talk
When the Center opened in 1998, each meeting produced only a little trash from the refresh-
ments, and the RTHS decided not to contract for trash pickup. After each meeting a member would
volunteer to take a bag of trash home to put in their trashcan. Increased activities and the work by the
operations director produces more trash, and this arrangement was no longer sufficient.
The History Center now has a trash dumpster and regular collection.

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Membership Information

Name(s) _______________________________________________________________________
Address________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
City/State/Zip ________________________ Phone_________________________________
Email address (optional) __________________________________________________________
Date _______________ New membership________ Renewal ___________ Gift____________
Membership Level (Check One)
____Individual @$15.00/year
_____Family @ $25.00/year
_____Sustaining @ $35.00/year
_____Sponsoring @$75.00/year
_____Individual Lifetime @ $250.00 (one-time)
_____Corporate @ $150/year
Extra Cash Donation: $_________ Enclosed is my check for _______________
Please send completed form with check to:
Randolph Township Historical Society
RTHS History Center
114 Valleyview Drive
Englewood, OH 45322-1324
COMMUNITY REWARDS PROGRAM
One way to donate to the Historical Society without hurting your budget is to link your KrogerPlus card
to the Kroger Community Rewards program.
Each quarter, Kroger allots a certain amount of money for the Rewards budget and divides it among
participating organizations according to each organization’s percentage of the total spending by members of
all the organizations. Reports sent to RTHS only show the customer’s KrogerPlus Card Number, name, and
the donation amount.
To register your KrogerPlus Card, go to www.krogercommunityrewards.com and follow the instructions.
Link the card to RTHS (NPO #81403). Those without computers or email can set up accounts at the public
library or through another member. You can also register at 1‐800‐837‐4483, with your KrogerPlus card and
the RTHS number shown above. The bottom of each receipt should show your donation. Last year the Society
earned about $500 through this program.

Left: Memorabilia of the Northmont Class
of 1971 displayed at the History Center
Right: RTHS President Doug Allen,
Northmont Class of 1971, talks to
classmates attending their 50th reunion.

(See p. 4.)

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Dates to remember
All events are held at the RTHS History Center, 114
Valleyview Dr., Englewood, Ohio, unless otherwise noted.
Monthly Meetings: 2nd Wednesdays
July 13, 7:00 p.m.
Aug.10, 7:00 p.m.
Sept. 14, 7:00 p.m.
Oct. 12, 7:00 p.m.
Nov. 9, 1:00 p.m.
(note time change)
Dec. 14, 1:00 p.m.

Open for visits from 1 through 3 p.m. on Sundays
when the OPEN sign is out at Main Street and
other times by appointment. Call (937) 832-8538
and leave message

Car Show
July 17th 1 through 6 p.m.

2022 Corporate Members
Carra Builders Comm. Const. Inc.
City of Clayton
City of Englewood
City of Union
Kindred Funeral Home
Landes Fresh Meats, Inc.
Mill Ridge Village Retirement Community
Thank you!
We list our valued sponsors on our website.