Col. Charles Young

Col. Charles Young was the ninth African American to be appointed to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, but only the third to graduate. (The first and second graduates also have Greene County connections.) He graduated Aug. 31, 1889 and was first assigned to the 10th Calvary Regiment, then to the 9th Cavalry in Nebraska.

He came to Greene County in 1894 to be an instructor of military science at Wilberforce University. He also taught French, German, mathematics and geology.

In May of 1898, he was promoted to major and appointed commander of an African - American unit of the Ohio National Guard, the Ninth Infantry Battalion which fought with Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders at San Juan Hill in the Spanish-American War. His career took him various places, then in 1907, he purchased the residence on U.S. 42 near Wilberforce which still bears his name.

Born in Xenia in 1869, he appeared for a time with the circus doing aerial feats and roller skating. Then he began to appear as a comedian on the vaudeville stage. He joined a stock company and began to write his own plays. He appeared on the New York stage for a total of 37 years, writing and acting in such plays as "Baggage Check".

Hallie Q. Brown

Hallie Q. Brown was a noted lecturer and elocutionist. Born around 1845 in Pittsburgh to former slaves, the family came to Wilberforce in 1870 where Hallie and her younger brother attended Wilberforce University. In 1873, she graduated as salutatorian with a B.S. degree in education. She received a M.S. in 1890 and an honorary Doctorate of. Laws in 1936 from her alma mater.

She taught, in Mississippi, then became dean of Allen University, South Carolina, and on to Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. She also spent four years teaching in the Dayton public schools. She was appointed professor of elocution at Wilberforce University, then began a lecture tour as a "reader" with the Wilberforce Grand Concert Company, a group designed to raise funds for the university. She traveled extensively throughout the United States, then just before the turn of the 20th century, toured Switzerland, France and Germany. She was entertained by Queen Victoria at tea in Windsor Castle, and provided a special program for Alexandra, the Princess of Wales. She also appeared before King George V. and Queen Mary in a command performance.

Active in the Women's Christian Temperance Union, (W.C.T.U.) she was a speaker at the third biennial convention for the World's Conference in London. She was so admired as a speaker that Miss E.J. Emery of London provided $15,000 for the erection of a girl's dormitory at the university. The building was named Keziah Emery Hall, in honor of the benefactor's mother.

Helen Hooven Santmyer

Helen Hooven Santmyer was born in Cincinnati in 1895, but lived the majority of her life in Xenia. As a child, she loved to play baseball with the neighborhood children, and her love of the sport continued throughout her life. After graduation from Xenia High School, she continued her education at Wellesley College in Massachusetts, graduating at the top of her class. She accepted a position as secretary to the editor of Scribner's Magazine in New York, and it was during this period in 1925, that she took up writing. She had her first novel "Herbs and Apples" published while living in New York.

Gilbert Van Zandt

From one of our oldest celebrities, to one of the youngest. Gilbert Van Zandt, born in Clinton County in 1851, offered to play the drum to attract recruits for the Army during the Civil War. The recruiting was successful, and Gib received 50 cents each day for his efforts. When his father enlisted in the 79th OVI, Little Gib, as he became known, enlisted with his father at the age of 10. Mrs. Van Zandt was concerned that she might lose both her husband and son in the fighting, but Mr. Van Zandt agreed to let the boy come along, convinced he would be bored in a few weeks, and ready to go home. The child stayed through the full three year enlistment with only one 30-day furlough.

George Day

Born on a farm near Xenia in 1816, George Day became a very strong man by the age of 19. At the 1879 Greene County Fair, he entered a weight-lifting contest. The next year, he was pitted against two other strong men whom he bested by lifting a monument weighing 1,155 pounds. The other two "strong men" could not budge the stone. He received a gold watch and chain and a gold medal stamped with his likeness and the monument he lifted

He became known as the "Man with iron jaw" when he supported a barrel of water, which weighed 500 pounds with two men, each weighing about 260 pound sitting astride the barrel. A total weight of about 1000 pounds, the barrel was supported by a rod which he held in his teeth.

Eleanor Parker

When L. D. Parker became superintendent of Cedarville Schools, no doubt he never expected his daughter Eleanor to become a well-known actress. Born in 1922 in Cedarville, she spent her early childhood in that community. Her father accepted a position as a mathematics teacher in Cleveland, so the family moved. While she was in high school in Cleveland, she was on the stage in a few local productions. At the age of 15 was offered a screen test, however her parents insisted she finish her education before considering a career.

She enrolled at the Pasadena Playhouse, observing that there were only two things she wanted to accomplish in her life. One was to be a screen actress, the other to buy her mother a fur coat. She later said "I worked hard, luck was with me, and mother got her coat."

Even though she was in acting school, she was "discovered" by a talent agent, who saw here in the audience. She took a screen test and was signed by Warner Brothers within days of her 19th birthday.

She starred opposite Paul Henreid in "Between Two Worlds," and was the leading lady in many other features as well. In 1950, she was nominated for an Academy Award for "Caged," in 1951 for "Detective Story" and in 1955 for "Interrupted Melody."

John Glossinger

If you like Candy Bars? Then you will appreciate John Glossinger, who was born in Xenia. At the age of 17, he set off to earn his fortune with a silver dollar in his pocket and train fair to Chicago. A born salesman and organizer, he did well. In 1923, candy was sold in bulk or by the piece. He convinced the Williamson Candy Company to manufacture a candy bar with an attractive tinsel wrapping. The name selected for the new product was "O Henry." However, the company refused to provide money for advertising. Since John was convinced it would be a best seller, he persuaded the company to drop the price from 10 cents to five, and proceeded to tack red and white stickers reading "O Henry" on automobiles, lamp posts, Etc., in Cleveland.  

He sent salesmen to take orders, and ordered a boxcar filled with the candy bars to be sent to Cleveland. Word of mouth is the best advertisement, it is said, and certainly that proved to be true. The boxcar with its $8,000 of candy was sold out very quickly.

Whitelaw Reid

Whitelaw Reid was born in Cedarville. He ended the McMillan Academy and when he d completed his education there, his father took him and his friend to Oxford where they rolled at Miami University. The covered wagon that Mr. Reid drove was filled with beds and bedding, canned fruit and kitchen utensils it would provide the means for the boys to complete their first year at school. They shared quarters with other young men, living on 30 cents a week each. Thanks to free apples and frequent dinner invitations, they were able to Survive.

Whitelaw graduated with honors in 1856 then taught school for two years, then became interested in journalism and with, a partner, bought the "Xenia News." He wrote stories and ran the press, learning all he could about the newspaper business while continuing his studies at Miami where he earned his Master's Degree in 1860.

He was not old enough to vote when he wrote editorials about the presidential candidates. He felt Lincoln would be a good president, and encouraged others to feel the same.

He accepted a position with the "New York Tribune:' and was named managing editor in 1869. Eventually, he acquired ownership of the paper, and became well known in political circles. He was an unsuccessful candidate for vice president, on the ticket with Benjamin Harrison in 1892.

In 1905, he was appointed Ambassador to the Court of St. James in London. He was honored with a visit at his London estate by King Edward in 1907. On Dec 13, word was received in the United States that the Ambassador was gravely ill. He did two day later, and a memorial service was held in Westminster Abbey with many officials of the British Empire present. His body was returned to the U.S. for burial in Tarrytown, New York.

James H. Kyle

The first Monday of September is celebrated as Labor Day, thanks to Cedarville native James H. Kyle. Born in 1854, he loved living in Cedarville, but when he was just a little boy, the family relocated to Illinois. Following his initial education, he took a course in civil engineering at the University of Illinois, then came back to Ohio to attend Oberlin College, graduating in 1878. He decided to become a minister and attended Western Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania. After his graduation in 1882, he was licensed to preach in the Presbyterian Church. He and his new wife felt they should serve as missionaries, and so went to a church near Salt Lake City, then to Colorado, and finally to a frontier settlement in South Dakota.

In 1890, he was pleased to be invited to give the invocation at an Independence Day celebration. The guest speaker never showed up, and the young minister was asked if he could say a few words, which turned into an impromptu 45 minute speech! The crowd was pleased, and the next day the political boss for the Independent Party paid him a visit, asking if he would consider running as a candidate for the state senate. He won that election, and at the age of 37, was elected to serve as senator from South Dakota in the United States Senate.

He was aware that several states celebrated a day to honor workers, but there was no specific national event. He introduced bill "S-730" which was signed into law by President Grover Cleveland on June 28, 1894, declaring the first Monday in September of each year to be Labor Day, a national holiday.

Norman Vincent Peale

Bowersvill native Reverend Norman Vincent Peale was the son of a Methodist Minister. When he started in college, he chose journalism as his course of study. Following graduation, he worked for the Detroit Journal. He attended a church meeting with his father during a summer break and decided that he would go back to school to become a minister. Not only was he a talented minister, he also became a talented author. His most famous book "The Power of Positive Thinking" has been translated into 42 languages with more than 20 million copies sold. He and his wife Ruth edited the "Guidepost" magazine for many years, and he received 22 honorary degrees from various universities. His weekly radio broadcasts reached millions, as did his personal and television appearances.

During the depression, he moved to Marble Collegiate Church, a Protestant Dutch Reformed Church in New York City. When he arrived in 1932, the church had 600 members, when he retired in 1984, there were 5,000 members.

He had known every president of the United States since Calvin Coolidge. He traveled about 125,000 miles each year speaking to various groups. He was the speaker when the Greene County Historical Society decided the Brantley Carriage House Museum. He opened his remarks with the following comment. "Everybody has a place where they are from, and this is it, this is where I am from."

Coates Kinney

The mansion on the comer of East Second and Monroe streets in Xenia was once home to Coates Kinney, Born in 1826 in New York the family moved to Ohio when he was young. He worked in a sawmill, tried his hand at being a cooper and worked in a woolen mill. He taught school for four years, studied law with Thomas Corwin and was admitted to the bar but decided his real love was journalism. He became associate editor of "Genius of the West," a literary magazine where he wrote poems, short stories and critical essays.

He became editor of the Xenia News, then at the beginning the Civil War enlisted and was elected captain of a company. He received a commission in 1861 as paymaster with the rank of Major, and retired after four years with the rank of lieutenant colonel. He returned to Xenia to edit the Xenia Torchlight, and wrote occasionally for the Cincinnati Times and the Ohio State Journal. In 1884 he became chief owner and editor of the Globe Republic in Springfield. He was elected to serve the Fifth Ohio District in the Ohio Senate in 1881, serving only one term, but was rated as the leading Republican speaker of that body. When Ohio was about to celebrate' its centennial, people came great distances to Columbus for the 45 day celebration. 0pening ceremonies included 1,500 children dressed in red, white and blue, waving flags. Col. Kinney approached the podium "a tall finely formed and erect gentleman with flashing dark eyes, and with the most silvery head in that multitude of thousands, rose on the platform and delivered the Ohio Centennial Ode. The poet of Ohio's Centennial, Col. Coates Kinney of Xenia, spoke in a voice clear, strong and sonorous and the audience signified their appreciation of a masterly production with rounds of applause. It was a great topic, the sublime occasion of a hundred years."

Perhaps his most famous poem, which was set to music was "Rain on the Roof." He died in 1904 at the age of 77 and is buried in the cemetery at Corwin.

Kathryn K. Hagler

1917 - 2006

Kathryn was born Dec 25, 1917, in Spring Valley, Ohio.  She was a retired school teacher and public servant committed to bettering the lives around her.  After teaching for 35 years,  she became the first Greene County Commissioner, where she served for five terms.  She was the Chairperson of the United Way; member of all Greene County Chambers of Commerce; American Business Women's Association; Governor's Child Support Task Force; Miami Valley Regional Planning Association; Greene County VFW Auxiliary; Altrusa International Club; Xenia Rotary; American Legion; Greene County Golden Age Senior Citizens; Xenia Elks; Blue Jacket Board of Directors; First Frontier Board of Directors; Ohio Retired Teacher's Association; Miami Valley Health Improvement Council, and member of St. Brigid Church.

Kathryn won the S. L. Stephan Award in 1988, given by the Xenia Chamber of Commerce.  She was inducted into the Greene County Women's Hall of Fame, in 1990; named the Senior Citizen of the Year by the Greene County Golden Age, in 1992; and honored with the Kathryn K. Hagler Family Prevention Center Award; won the Paula J. MacIlwaine Award (GED) program in the Greene County Jail), in 1994; former "First Lady of Year" award from the Greene County Chapter of Beta Sigma Phi; won the Loretta Richards Distinguished Alumni Award, in 1999, at Mount St. Joseph College; and the prestigious E. J. Nutter Award in 2000, for lifetime service to the community.

The Greene County Career Center Adult Education Scholarship Endowment Fund Inc., honored her Feb 7, 2002, for her lifetime commitment to education excellence in Greene County.  She is buried St. Brigid Cemetery in Xenia, Ohio.

Marcelle Marie Andree Julienne Zeyen Hedges

1921 - 2007

   Marcelle born in Houffulize, Belgium on Oct 23, 1921.  She graduated with great distiction before the Provicial Medical Commission of Liege, Belgium in 1942.  During WWII she worked as a nurse at the Hospital of Baviers, in Leige, and fought as a member of the Belgium underground army, intelligence branch, code name "Zizi."  She was also an adjutant of the ristant group, Movement National Belge, to the occupying Germans during the war and she saw 40 of her group lost during her five years in the Belgian resistance.

   Belgium decorated her with six medals and number of citations that she received for her actions during WWII, including the Belgium Cross of Ware and an award from British Field Marshall, Sir Bernard L. Montgomery for United Nation for the great cause of Freedom.  She married Harold Hedges of Xenia Sep 13, 1945, married in Liege, Belgium.  Marcelle received her citizenship in 1957.  She worked at various hospitals in the local area as a Registered Nurse.  She is buried in St. Brigid Cemetery in Xenia, Ohio.

COATES KINNEY — BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

Among the Counties of Ohio, Greene has furnished more than its quota of notable literary men; and in devotion to the state and nation, as shown in public service and in literary expression, none has surpassed Colonel Coates Kinney of Xenia.

Coates Kinney was born at Kinney’s Corners, near Penn Yan, Yates County, New York, November 24, 1826. He was the second son of Giles and Mira Cornell Kinney and the grandson of Stephen Kinney, a Revolutionary soldier. His first memories were of Lake Keeuka, one of the group known as “The Finger Lakes.” He wrote in later years, “My soul’s first-felt stir was by such a lake,” and again, “I have always loved the living waters.” The influences of his early environment are apparent in many of his poems.

During his boyhood (1840) the family moved to Ohio where he made his home until the time of his death, January 25, 1904.
He attended Antioch College during the presidency of Horace Mann. He studied law under two outstanding man, Thomas Corwin of Warren County (later Governor and U. S. Senator) and Judge William Lawrence, of Logan County, and practiced law for a time. However, his inclination toward a literary career was so strong that he soon turned to journalism and, thereafter, devoted himself largely to editorial work and to writing poetry. Before entering military service in the Civil War he edited the Xenia News, and after the War he was for some time editor of the Xenia Torchlight, forerunner of The Xenia Gazette. In 1884 he was chief owner and editor of the Globe Republic, of Springfield. While in newspaper work he contributed frequently to The Cincinnati Times and to The Ohio State Journal.

In 1849 RAIN ON THE ROOF appeared and, making an immediate appeal, brought the young poet into prominence. Regarding the inspiration for this gem the author, in a letter to his friend Dr. William Henry Venable, wrote:

“I slept one night next the roof in the little farm cottage which our folks lived in. . . . In the evening there came up a gentle rain, which pattered on the shingle roof two or three feet above my head. . . . Here I lay and conceived the lyric and then went to sleep. It haunted me next day, which was bright and green and glorious; and on a walk from Spring Valley to Mt. Holly I composed most of the poem. It was the easiest production I ever wrote.”

Throughout the duration of the Civil War Colonel Kinney was in active service. The patriotic passions which were stirring men’s hearts at that time found frequent expression in his poems.

Securing leave of a few days from military duties, the young officer came to Xenia, married Mary Catherine Allen, and returned to his post.

Colonel Kinney served in the Ohio Senate in 1882-1883 and was rated as the leading Republican speaker in that body. In 1888 he was selected to compose and deliver the poetic oration which became famous as the “Ohio Centennial ode.”

Three volumes of Coates Kinney’s poems have been published: KEEUKA, LYRICS OF THE IDEAL AND THE REAL, and MISTS OF FIRE. In addition to these a volume of selected poems was issued in 1927 by his daughter, Lestra Kinney Kenyon, for private circulation at the dedication, on the centennial of his birth, of a tablet to his memory. This memorial was erected near the place of his birth by Gu-Ya-No-Ga Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution. (Source Greene Co. Historical Society Bulletin, Number 2, March 1957)

Lestra Kinney Kenyon
 

CHARLES F. SNEDIKER — BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

   Charles Foster Snediker, who bequeathed his entire estate to the Greene County Historical Society, was born January 1, 1878, at 119 Main Street in Old Fairfield, Ohio, (now 119 N. Broad, Fairborn, Ohio.)

Information is scarce concerning his great grandparents, except it is known they immigrated to Fairfield, Ohio, from Holland and are buried in the old Hall Cemetery on the Fairfield-Yellow Springs Road, across from the Miami Valley Publishing Company.

His grandparents were David Snediker (January 20. 1818 - March 12, 1883) and Nancy Minick Snediker (November 7, 1823-August 14, 1895).

About the last of Martin Van Buren’s administration, Dave Snedikcr was a post boy. He carried mail on horseback between Dayton and Springfield, via Fairfield. His orders were to get the mail in on time “even if the horse did die from the effects of hard riding.” The Dayton and Springfield Pike was built between 1835 and 1840.

David Snediker is mentioned in “The Local,” (a paper published in Old Osborn) November 10, 1883, as a waggoner on the old stage line from Columbus to Cincinnati. Big wagons drawn by six or eight horses were used for hauling and they stopped overnight in Fairfield — a town that had three hotels at that time. The Old Exchange Tavern where many coaches and wagons stopped is still standing on Broad Street in Old Fairfield.

The parents of Charles Foster Snediker were William F. Snediker (1843-1916) and his second wife Emma Vancuran Snedikei-. Their children were Charles F., Emmanuel, Herman, and Winona (now Winona Snediker Furay). I lerman died about twelve years ago. William, the father, served in the Civil War and took a drum from a Confederate soldier in Georgia. That drum is now in the Greene County Museum, along with many other relics given the Museum by Charles F. Snediker.

The wife of Charles F. was Nellie Hebble (1878-1946), also a native of Old Fairfield, A daughter, Marjorie Lucille, was born in 1907. In her freshman year in Bath Township High School she was killed by an interurban traction car when the auto in which she was riding was struck by the electric car.

When young boys, Charles and his brother Emmanuel saw Coxy’s Army march through Main Street of Old Fairfield on its way to Washington. When thirty-eight years of age, in 1916, Charles F. participated in the events honoring his beloved, Fairfield’s celebration of its Centennial Year. He served his town as councilman and as a member of the board of education. in fact, he was attending a Greene County Board meeting, along with Mr. 0. W. Wilson, father of Mrs. Dana Hodgkin (Cleo Wilson) when his daughter was killed. I—Ic was a member of the Methodist Church and the IOOF Lodge. He had a beautiful colored glass window installed in the church in memory of his daughter Marjorie.

Charles F. Snediker enjoyed the title of “Number One Wood-worker in Fairfield.” He roofed a barn at the age of nine, From 1912 to 1931 he was construction supervisor for a Dayton architectural firm known as Schenck and Williams. He took pride in the fact that he built his own home, in 1902 the year after his marriage. The home, by his will now the property of the Greene County Historical Society, contains hand-finished trim, made-to-his-order doors, an oak mantel that includes a built-in clock cabinet, a sturdy staircase, the wood for r hich was hewn on a self-made, hand-powered circular saw, and several pieces of antique furniture.

Mr. Snediker loved and honored the history of his community, of Ohio, and of America. He was a devoted friend of our Society and a frequent visitor to the Museum. The members of the Greene County Historical Society deeply appreciate his generous gift and look forward to the time when we can have a fine Museum building through his help. (Source:  Greene County Historical Society Bulletin Number 7, May 1960)

Cleo Wilson Hodgkin (with information furnished by
Mr. E. M. Snediker, brother of Charles F.)
 

WE SALUTE
The Greene County Historical Society salutes the elderly citizens of our county, and extends to them the fullest recognition and the deepest appreciation. They have produced the good things we now enjoy.
We dedicate this issue of the Bu]letin to the life-stories, the work-records, and the earnest thinking of two Greene Countians, who, while living far away since their young manhoods, have nevertheless continued to love continuously, revisit frequently, and reflect brightly on their home town of Xenia and its surroundings. They are: John Glossinger and Russell F, Greiner.

JOHN GLOSSINGER

John Glossinger was born in Greene County and worked on his father’s farm near Xenia until he was 17 years old. At that age and with 75 cents in his pocket, he went to Cincinnati where he worked more than a year before moving on to New York City. In New York, he worked first as a clerk in the Waterbury Watch Company and later became a salesman. After a year he transferred to another company as a salesman with which he continued for some 20 years. He planned and carried out the program of wrapping candy and chocolate bars in tinsel paper and selling them in public places. The first of these items was the “Oh, Henry!” candy bar.

Mr. Glossinger’s productive years in industry were spent as president and sales manager of a succession of companies and in each case, he proved himself to be a master salesman. In making a success for each of his companies in turn, he made a great success for himself.

At the age of 65 he retired but immediately found that his boundless energy needed an outlet and he began looking around for something to do. At 66 he knew it wouldn’t be easy. Yet, as generally happens when one looks hard enough, he found an “opportunity.” It was to serve without salary for a while trying to salvage a company which had not made a profit in sixteen years, and, worse, was morally bankrupt — without spirit, faith or policy. It was a situation that would call for all the experience, knowledge and endurance he possessed. He accepted the challenge gladly. In just eighteen months the first black figures appeared in the ledgers, and the company has been prosperous ever since. This he repeated for one or two other companies and in referring to this period of his life, he states: “My success had not been so much with companies, as with men. I had helped others realize and achieve their potentialities. I decided that the philosophy which I had built for myself, thought on thought, in more than seven decades, might make a useful book. So I wrote the book, “You Are Born To Victory.”

“I have found that the art which pays the greatest dividends is the art of loving people. Every door opens to its approach; every heart bids it welcome. It is an art that is crying for artists. For there are so many lives that we can arouse to new endeavors, so much dormant ability that we can awaken and direct, so much good in people of which they are unaware. It is the greatest joy to set them up and watch them grow. Loving people is an art that anyone can master; all you need is to try. Just keep on trying and see your skill develop; watch your efforts enrich the lives of others. Then watch their lives enrich your own.”

• Mr. Glossinger’s work and Philosophy of Life have paid dividends in every field of his activity. At his birthday party in New York in October, 1960, his friends there surprised him by presenting him an honor from the Governor of Kentucky making him a “Kentucky Colonel.”  (Source: Greene County Historical Society Bulletin Number 8, May 1961)

W. A. Hammond