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Welsh Hills Cemetery was once part of the United States Military Tract given to veterans of the Revolutionary War. The land was owned by a Philadelphia Welshman named Samson Davis. On September 4, 1801, a portion of his land was purchased by the co-founders of the Welsh Hills community, Theophilus Rees and Thomas Philipps, who came from Carmarthenshire, Wales. On February 6, 1808, Theophilus Rees donated a portion of his land for the establishment of this cemetery. On that same day, Rees Thomas, the 8-year-old grandson of Theophilus Rees, became the first person interred. (Continued on other side)
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George Curry (1819-1885) was one of seven children born to a tenant sheepherder in the Cheviot Hills of Scotland. He immigrated to Ohio during the 1840s and married Scottish immigrant Agnes Milligan (1830-1893) in 1855. The couple moved to Licking County in 1865, and purchased 160-acres of farmland in 1873 to establish a sheep farm. They soon became known for their fine Spanish Merino herd. In the late nineteenth century, Ohio was a leader in the wool trade, with Licking County leading the state’s wool production by 1870. At the time of his death, George Curry was “a well-known stock dealer, and was greatly esteemed” in the community. Five generations of George and Agnes Curry’s family lived and farmed their Licking County land, until it was divided into parcels and sold in 1979.
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Born at Richford, New York, John D. Rockefeller moved to the Cleveland area with his family at age 14. He began his business career as a bookkeeper in 1855. From modest beginnings he became one of the richest men of his era by developing the world’s largest oil corporation, the Standard Oil Company, which was founded here in the Flats of Cleveland. Rockefeller moved to New York City in 1884 but maintained two homes in Cleveland, returning often with his wife Laura (1839-1915). Although he was a controversial businessman, Rockefeller donated millions of dollars to Cleveland charities and institutions, and land for Rockefeller and Forest Hills parks. John and Laura Rockefeller are interred in Lake View Cemetery.
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The Lanes, Baptist merchants from New Orleans, and the Kempers, a Presbyterian family from Cincinnati, gave money and land respectively for Cincinnati’s first manual labor theological seminary and high school, which opened in suburban Walnut Hills in 1829. The Reverend Lyman Beecher came from Boston as its first president. The president’s house, now known as the Stowe House after Beecher’s daughter Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, still remains at Gilbert and Foraker. Lane Theological Seminary, bound by present day Gilbert, Chapel, Park, and Yale streets, continued to educate Presbyterian ministers until 1932, when it was merged with McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago.
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Self-educated golfer Jack Kidwell grew up in central Ohio. From 1937 until 1971, he owned and operated the Beacon Light Golf Course, where he started as a caddie. In 1943, he married Geraldine “Jerry” Kidwell, his wife of 57 years, and had four daughters, Sally, Shirley, Kathy, and Jody. Kidwell became a Class “A” golf course superintendent and earned life membership status as a Class “A”PGA professional. His peers selected Kidwell as president of the American Society of Golf Course Architects in 1980. A member of the Ohio Turf Grass Association, he was honored as Man of the Year in 1982. His accomplishments gained him induction into the Southern Ohio PGA Hall of Fame in 1977 and the Ohio Golf Association Hall of Fame in 1997.
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Camp Joy was born at the site of Seven Hills Neighborhood House and original location of St. Barnabas Episcopal Mission Church. Displacement and loss caused by Ohio River flood of 1937 inspired St. Barnabas’ rector and his wife, Laurence “Cap” and Sadie Hall, to act on behalf of the children of Cincinnati’s West End. The Halls conceived of Camp Joy as a haven where kids could find a respite from impoverished surroundings in the city and its sweltering summer heat. The camp was a success and continued after the Halls’ assignment to another parish. From 1940-1944, Rev J. Brooke and Mrs. Betty Mosley continued to nurture the people of the West End through St. Barnabas and Camp Joy. (Continued on other side)
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Mechanical reapers enabled farmers to harvest much more grain than they could by sickle or scythe. In June 1835, in a field 800 feet southeast of Mill Creek, inventor Obed Hussey (1791-1860) tested what he upheld as the first successful reaper. Blacksmith John Lane, miller Jediah Hill, Hill’s son-in-law Henry Rogers, brothers Algernon and Thomas Foster, and others observed the test, the culmination of Hussey’s experiments with prototypes since the early 1830s. Hussey’s patent for a reaper in 1833 predated that of his competitor Cyrus McCormick (1809-1884) applied for in 1834. Initially, some preferred Hussey’s reaper to McCormick’s, although McCormick’s machines eventually dominated the field. In the late 1850s, Hussey and others sued McCormick for patent infringement and won, compelling the payment of damages by McCormick.
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In 1804, Enoch (1764-1817) and Achsah (c.1767-1839) Carson and their seven children journeyd from New Jersey to Cincinnati. In 1805, they settled in the western hills in a large grove near Beech Flats, in what would become Green Township in 1809 and Cheviot in 1818. Game was plentiful and fertile soil yielded abundant crops. By 1806, Carson had cleared and cultivated nearly 20 acres of his land. That fall, he began a tradition that has continued into the 21st century. Echoing the ancient custom of harvest home, Carson brought together a fledging community to celebrate its good fortune and abundant harvests. Each passing year the community gathered in Carson’s grove to give thanks, rejoice, and uphold the tradition of harvest home. (Continued on other side)
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