West Jefferson in Days Gone By - series 160 by Charlie Miller

-West Jefferson Centennial 1934 -

- Greetings – It is with great pleasure and infinite pride in the achievements of the community that we congratulate the people of West Jefferson on their splendid heritage that has been 100 years in the making. A wide selection of choice cuts at special low prices. Beef—Veal—Pork—Lamb. Our meats will be sure to please you. Recobs Meat Market. R.W. Recob Prop. Phone 135 West Jefferson.

- Charles F. Kuehner. The name Kuehner has been listed in the business directory of West Jefferson for the past 75 years; Charles’ father, Martin, founded a hand-work shoe shop on the site of the present store in 1858. Charles has been associated with the business for the past 52 years. He started as a cub on the shoe bench in 1882 and has been a member of the firm ever since. Mr. Kuehner is an active member of the Business Men’s Association and has always been a leader in civic affairs. His hobby is a good book.

(Charlie Kuehner was born June 17, 1863, and died April 9, 1962, aged 98 years. When your writer was a very young boy shopping with his mother in Kuehner’s, Charlie Kuehner gave me an 1878 silver dollar, which I still have (2023). The Kuehner Building was the one that collapsed in 2015 on W. Main St.)

- Our Ice is Absolutely Pure – For the past several years we have safeguarded the health of our citizens by keeping their ice boxes filled with good pure ice. Foods never spoil with pure ice in the refrigerator. Fresh vegetables never dry out or wilt with pure ice. And the butter never tastes like fish or Limburger—because the melting ice actually absorbs all food odors and carries them in the waste water down the drain! C. I. Merrick, Ice plant on North Walnut Street, West Jefferson.

(Years before, ice was cut on Little Darby Creek in the winter.)

- Extended Greetings—To West Jefferson and its citizens on the One Hundredth Anniversary.

W. H. Wills your barber, West Jefferson.

- Final Article

- Press Historian Interviews Ol’ Timer—Your historian is greatly indebted to Mr. James Clark, an old resident, for the following information.--O. H. Bliss ran a place of business opposite the Pennsylvania depot. He was a dealer in old rags and iron, and especially in hoop poles. Small boys were his usual customers, and he usually paid them in candy of merchandise in lieu of cash.--North of the railroad, Lester Burnham made use of an old cooper shop for broom corn drying and was himself an extensive raiser of this. (A cooper made barrels. In 1875, Daniel Priest made these barrels from local oak. His shop was on Pennsylvania Ave next to the tracks. This was before they were elevated.)--In our very midst, a real frog pond once occupied the lots now owned by Jennie Redmond and Ella Peene. It was a paradise for the small boys, and catfish were plentiful, and in the evening, the bullfrog chorus furnished a melodious concern as the good citizens retired to their rest. (This pond was located on the north side of Main Street where Pond Street intersects it. That’s where Pond Street got its name.)

West Jefferson in Days Gone By - series 161 by Charlie Miller

- James Clark, Ol’ timer continued from Series #160 - 

The engines of the Little Miami R. R. were wood burners. They always stopped here for a supply of wood. A short distance north of town, a big wood-chopping camp was established, and the railroad company laid a spur track on the hill east of Little Darby Creek through the farms of Wilson, Conklin, Burnham, and O. H. Bliss terminating on the Bidwell land and the east side of the Middle Pike. Here, the wood was sawed and prepared by the use of oxen and mules for power, changing the animals every two or three hours. The Railroad, at best, was a very flimsy affair; the engines were small, and a train of five or six cars was considered large.-- -- Mr. Clark was asked if he remembered the woodshed, which at one time played a very important part in our early development. “yes’ he said, “I will never forget I always went to watch Edward Powell and Mr. Farrington saw wood for the engines. One day when, the wood train blew up, and Farrington was blown under the porch of O. H. Bliss but not seriously injured. The whole block adjoining the Baptist church in North Center Street was piled high with four-foot wood to be re-sawed, and also, there was another big woods chopping east of Big Darby with a spur track, and this wood was hauled to town and piled in the local yard. (At that time, North Center Street ended at Water Street, and the Baptist church sat there until 1887.) -- -- “At this time, I was living in an old hotel that stood where the present Building & Loan Co. is located. In passing, I forgot to mention that my brother Albert and I escaped injury when the engine blew up because we had been sent on an errand to Jacob McNeal and at least escaped a hot water bath.”(The Building & Loan building was on the northwest corner of Main and Walnut Streets, and still (2023) is.)-- -- Very few know that a culvert is buried in front of the Redmond home under the National Pike. Bridge Street got its name from this culvert. -- -- Mr. Clark recalls the flood of 1868 like the one in 1913. The Middle Pike bridge was washed away and was later replaced by a covered wooden bridge. He has been a resident of this town for 66 years. (1868) He attended school in the old academy and later in the present grade school building, where Lyda Mason taught for several years. In those days, plank walks were the vogue, and brick walks were unknown. -- -- in conclusion, Mr. Clark refers to these gay young fellows of a former day, who helped to enliven a rather prosaic existence, all of whom have passed to their reward—Frank L. Olney. (James Clark was born in 1858 and was the brother of Albert “Bird” Clark. For many years, he was the Village Lamp Lighter.

A lot of Oak was cut around here, along with being used to make oak barrels, and lot was shipped out on the railroad. The very first railroad was the Little Miami line that came through in 1849-50. Depot at that time sat on the east side of the tracks on Walnut Street just before it crossed the tracks, the Wood Shed sat on the south side of the tracks just east of the depot.

The Old Academy sat on the current site of the Apostolic Church on E. Pearl St.

West Jefferson in Days Gone By - series 162 by Charlie Miller

- The first recorded graduating class of West Jefferson High School was the Class of 1883, which contained seven members.

James Chase Hambleton- After James graduated, he spent from 1890 to 1900 in Chile, South America, teaching. During that time, he married Sara Paulson, and they came to America in 1900. He became a nationally known naturalist and the first president of the Columbus Audubon Society. He served as such from 1913 to 1928 and again in 1935. He died in 1938

- Frank W. Hoe – He became a Broker for a grocery in Columbus, His father was born in Berlin, Germany. Frank died in 1929 and is buried in Greenlawn Cemetery.

- Alice McNeal – Alice was the daughter of Jacob McNeal, the carriage maker. She married James Longman in 1888 and was widowed by 1910. Alice was still living in 1950.

- Hattie Seymour – She never married, she retired as a secretary for a railroad company. She died in Franklin County in 1958, age 94 years.

- Anna Beach – She was the daughter of John Noble Beach, who was commissioned as Surgeon of the 40th O. V. I. during the Civil War. She married Charles A. Shinn June 14, 1887, he was a clerk in the Paymaster’s Office of the H. V. T. Ry. She was a member of the D. A. R. She died in June of 1943 in Florida.

- Clara Slagle – She was employed as a stenographer and died in 1908 in Prairie Township, Franklin Co.

- Emma Burnham – Between 1884 and 1892, she taught school at the old Union Schoolhouse that was located in what is now Garrette Park. She was the daughter of Lester Burnham. On July 23, 1895, she married Fred W. Thomas, a traveling salesman. He died in 1925, and she died in 1956.

School Commencement.

The first commencement exercises of the West Jefferson High School were held at the School Hall last Thursday evening. The Hall was nicely decorated with evergreens and was well filled with friends of the graduates and the invited public. The class motto was “Palma nonsine pulvere,” made of evergreen. The program is rendered as follows:

Music—Song—Welcome by class

Prayer—Rev. Thomas

Music—“Beautiful Starlight”

Salutatory—Oration-- Emma Burnham continued the next series.

West Jefferson in Days Gone By - series 163 by Charlie Miller

W. J. H. S.'s first commencement continued in 1883

Rewards of Labor—Anna Beach

Oliver Cromwell—Frank W. Hoe

Music—Reception March—Miss Anna Beach

Personal Responsibility—Alice McNeal

Natural Law—J. C. Hambleton

Music—Misses Burnham and McNeal

Models Necessary to Culture—Hattie Seymour

Thought—Valedictory—Clara Slagle

Address—Prof. J .E. Hanna

Remarks—Prof. W. E. MacKinnan

Presentation of Diplomas

Class Song and Benediction

-Etta (Henrietta) Chenos – Always known as Etta, she was born July 12, 1896, and died November 29, 1965 and is buried at Mt. Calvary Cemetery. She was a graduate of West Jefferson High School, Class of ‘16. On June 29, 1918, she married John Chenos, who had immigrated from Samos, Greece, in 1909. He worked for the railroad when they elevated the tracks through West Jefferson in 1911/1912. Etta’s father was born in Ohio, and her mother was born in Germany. She immigrated in 1880.

It’s a shame that most people who will read this never knew her. Her graduation picture showed that she was very pretty, and her daughters took after her. I guess you could say that she was kind of a character. She was intelligent and could appear rough at times. I liked her. She spoke her mind, and you probably liked her or didn’t. She once ran for mayor. She could give village officials fits. She had gotten a WWII jeep, painted it blue, and drove it everywhere. In 1952, she, her husband, and several sons tore down the old Union School House, which was brick and two stories with nothing but the jeep, crowbars, and sled hammers. She saved enough bricks to build at least two houses. I always said that she could outwork any man alive.

The following is a presentation made by Mrs. Etta Chenos at the 1965 Alumni Association Banquet:

“Alumni, guests, and seniors, it is an honor for me to be here and especially to welcome you, the Class of ‘65, into one of the greatest alumni ever to be organized. These 81 receptions given by the Jefferson alumni have always been enjoyed by our graduates and have been the means of assisting in the educational awakening in our village. You owe your success first to your parents, who have given you the opportunity of an education through sacrificing their time and labor. Second, to your teachers who have guided you through all of your eventful school years. Third, to yourselves for having put forth the great effort building a firm foundation for your future to rest upon. As you think of your future tonight, many of us are thinking of our past. I wonder how many of us can remember the turn of the 20th Century. Listen to my poem, and we will see.”

West Jefferson in Days Gone By - series 164 by Charlie Miller

- Poem by Etta Chenos at the 1965 Alumni Banquet-

Do you remember our town was a town where we didn’t worry,

On the banks of the Darby smile.

Where we were cheerful and were happy in our village while.

It was in a valley of contentment,

In those days so long passed by.

I can’t forget the space of time no matter how I try.

Do you remember

Rustic benches too were scattered

For you to wile away your time

And to each you would find clinging

A hardy blooming vine.

Do you remember the race that turned the giant wheel that ground your

grain into flour and meal.

Do you remember the old oil streetlight

Graciously guiding you in the night

And the stallion hitched to the dray

Delivering merchandise every day

Do you remember we would hear

Horses hoofs ringing loud and clear,

And we know a stranger soon would be drawing near.

We always love to tell that he stopped at our town well

Watering his horse from a wooden bin

And quenching his thirst from a rusty tin.

Do you remember how the friendly greetings came our way

From early morn until close of day

Making us contented the whole day through

Regardless of the work we had to do.

Do you remember

No one seemed to be in a hurry,

They were singing all the while,

In our town of don’t you worry

On the banks of Darby Smile.

West Jefferson in Days Gone By - series 165 by Charlie Miller

Etta Chenos continued.-

Do you remember that years ago

You would see a familiar sign “wanted”

Not advertising something to buy or sell but it read “Boy wanted.”

“Wanted-–A boy” How often we

This quite familiar notice see.

Wanted—A boy for every kind

of task that a busy world can find.

He is wanted—wanted now and here;

There are towns to build; there are paths to clear;

There are seas to sail; there are gulfs to span,

In the ever onward march of man.

Wanted—The world wants boys today

And it offers them all it has to pay.

Twill grant them wealth, position and fame,

A useful life, and an honored name.

Boys who will guide the plow and pen;

Boys who will shape their ways for man;

Boys who will forward the tasks begun,

For the world’s great work is never done.

The world is eager to employ

Not just one, but every boy

Who, with a purpose staunch and true,

Will grant the work he finds to do.

Honest, faithful, earnest, kind,

To good awake, to evil blind,

A heart of gold without alloy,

Wanted—The world wants such a boy.

West Jefferson in Days Gone By - series 166 by Charlie Miller

Towns and Villages that once were or are still in Madison County

Name, date if known, township and other name.

Amity - 1833, Canaan Twp. (New Canaan)

Plain City – 1818, Darby Twp. (Pleasant Valley)

Lafayette – 1837, Deer Creek Twp.

Lawrenceville – 1816, Deer Creek Twp. (Limrick)

Lilly Chapel – 1871, Fairfield Twp. (Gilroy)

Big Plain – 1849, Fairfield Twp. (California Post Office)

Kiousville – 1874, Fairfield Twp. (Warnersville)

Kile – 1895, Darby Twp. (Kilesville)

Gillivan – Jefferson Twp. (Never platted)

Resaca – Monroe Twp.(Never platted, Post office established 1887)

Plumwood – 1895, Monroe Twp. (Sanford)

Chrisman – Oak Run Twp. (Never platted, Post office established 1896)

Walnut Run – 1837, Paint Twp. (Newport)

Florence Station - Paint Twp. (Never platted)

Rosedale – 1836, Pike Twp. (Liverpool)

Mt. Sterling – 1829, Pleasant Twp.

Antioch – Pleasant Twp. (Never platted)

McKendree – Pleasant Twp. (Never platted)

Sedalia – 1833, Range Twp. (Midway)

Chenoweth – Range Twp. (Never platted, Post office established 1887)

Range – 1848, Range Twp. (Danville)

South Solon – 1831, Stokes twp.

Meyers – Union Twp. (Never platted)

Rupert – Union Twp. (Never platted)

London – 1810, Union Twp.

Jefferson – 1830, Jefferson Twp. (West Jefferson)

New Hampton – 1822, Jefferson Twp.

Somerford – 1835 (Somerford Twp. (Somerford name was officially changed to Summerford in 1961)

Tradersville – (Never Platted.)

THE END (Continue on for Rememberences)