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From 1942 until 1946, members of local churches and two railroad auxiliaries operated a community-based free canteen for passing troops on the platform of the Pennsylvania Railroad station. A grateful region honored approximately 1.2 million of the nation’s sons and daughters with welcoming words, sandwiches, pies, cakes, cookies, fruits, drinks, and other sundries. Staffed and funded entirely by volunteers, donations came from many communities in eight counties. Crestline’s children donated their pennies to pay for construction of a larger canteen in 1943. Volunteers met as many as 25 trains daily. They served troops on passenger trains, troop trains, and hospital trains and new recruits and returning veterans as well as troops from allied countries on their trips to and from Europe or the Pacific. Throughout World War II, many other canteens were created across the nation, including many in Ohio. The Crestline region’s reputation was enhanced immeasurably by the volunteer’s service.
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James Sr. and Rebecca (Junkin) Galloway moved with their family to Greene County from Kentucky in 1798, constructing their first home, a small log cabin. Galloway built the present structure around 1799 near the bend in the Little Miami River near what is now Goes Station on U.S. 68. In 1936, the Greene County Historical Society moved the home to the corner of Second and Monroe streets and then to the present site in 1965. The 1974 Xenia Tornado caused serious damage to the building, which has been restored and maintained by the historical society. James Sr. served as a hunter during the American Revolution, procuring game for the army, and while in Ohio, was the first treasurer of Greene County. His son James Jr. served as the first County Surveyor.
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The Seneca County Museum is the former home of local businessman Rezin W. Shawhan. Born in 1811, Shawhan arrived in Tiffin in 1832 and opened a store with his brother Lorenzo. The store’s success enabled Rezin to expand his interests into real estate and banking. Upon his death in 1887, his estate was valued in excess of $1 million. Much of it was bequeathed to his second wife, Della Watson Shawhan. He also left bequests to Heidelberg College, the library, and Tiffin’s churches. The Greek Revival-style house, built in 1853, was passed down through the family, ending with Lynn Troxel who, in 1941, donated it to the county for use as a museum. The house is a part of the Fort Ball-Railroad Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.
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Soldier, engineer, and statesman, W.S. Rosecrans was born in Delaware County in 1819 and grew up in Homer. He graduated from West Point in 1842. During the Civil War, Rosecrans commanded the federal Army of the Cumberland. Popular with his troops, who called him “Old Rosy,” he was a cautious commander and, though victorious at, Corinth, Murfreesboro, and Chattanooga, he suffered major defeat at Chickamauga in 1863. A skilled engineer, Rosecrans developed coal properties in western (now West) Virginia before the war and helped design St. Joseph’s Cathedral in Columbus for his brother, Bishop Sylvester Rosecrans. Following the war he served as minister to Mexico and represented California in Congress from 1881 to 1885. He died in 1898 and is interred at Arlington National Cemetery.
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Moriah Calvinistic Methodist Church was organized on November 23, 1835, in the home of Daniel Edwards, Brynele. Although Welsh settled Gallia County in 1818, they did not build a church until more families arrived during the 1830s Welsh tide of immigration into Gallia and Jackson counties. They named their new church Moriah, meaning “appearance of Jehovah” in the Bible. Joshua Parry built the original log church in 1836 in the northwest corner of Moriah Cemetery. This was enlarged the following year and Enoch Thomas built the present church in 1846. Moriah Church, centrally located in the growing Welsh settlements, was the first in what became a circuit of 12 Welsh Calvinistic Methodist churches. For this, Moriah Church is known as Ein Mam ni oll or “the Mother of Us All.” (Continued on other side)
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This frame church, architecturally typical of the rural churches built throughout Ohio in the latter nineteenth century, was constructed in 1885 during the pastorate of E.L.T. Engers. The first pastors were from the German Reformed tradition and served a German-speaking congregation. The church contains native oak hand-hewn beams, rafters, and floor joists. The stained-glass windows were added in 1902.
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On July 21, 1845, eleven Ursuline sisters from Boulogne-sur-Mer and Beaulieu, France, arrived in St. Martin, Brown County, Ohio. A Catholic order of sisters known for providing quality education to young women, the Ursulines were invited by Cincinnati Archbishop John Baptist Purcell (1800-1883) to establish a school in the diocese and granted approximately 400 acres in St. Martin for that purpose. Led by Mother Julia Chatfield (1808-1878), the sisters quickly established their convent, a day school, and, within the year, admitted their first boarders. Originally known as The Saint Ursula Literary Institute, the school operated for the next 136 years. The Ursulines educated local students from their adopted Brown County as well as many who came from across the U.S. and farther abroad to board on campus. (Continued on other side)
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On April 1, 1818, six families from the Cilcennin area of Mid-Wales sailed from Aberaeron, Wales to Baltimore. The group of 36 people was led by John Jones Tirbach. From Baltimore they traveled to Pittsburgh and then by flatboats down the Ohio River toward their destination-Paddy’s Run in Butler County in the southwest corner of Ohio. They stopped in Gallipolis for provisions where their boats were cut loose by either travel-weary women or citizens of Gallipolis who wanted them to stay. The men found work on the Gallipolis to Chillicothe road that was under construction. The terrain reminded them of Mid-Wales, so they purchased land near Centerville and remained. These Welsh prospered and wrote home to Wales with news of their success, prompting others to come. (continued on other side)
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