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Charles Campbell Gard was born in Hamilton on January 13, 1895. He was the only child of Homer and Lutie Gard. His father, owner and publisher of the Hamilton Journal-News, taught him a love of the newspaper business and a devotion to public service. “Campbell” Gard graduated from Hamilton High School in 1913, attended Amherst College, and completed a one-year journalism course at the University of Wisconsin. After the U.S. entered World War I in 1917, the 22-year-old registered for military service. He saw active duty in Europe and was honorably discharged May 19, 1919. On October 25, 1921, while working at the Journal Publishing Company, 26-year-old Campbell Gard collapsed and died of myocarditis, an often-undetected heart disease, just days before marrying fiancée Helen Raymond. Gard was buried privately at Greenwood Cemetery two days later.
, OH
John Stewart Black (1891-1936) was a Vaudeville performer and songwriter who penned the classic “Paper Doll.” He is also remembered for “Dardanella,” which he called his “gift to the musical world.” “Dardanella”, recorded by the Ben Selvin Novelty Orchestra, debuted in 1919 and is believed to have sold more than five million copies. In 1942, the Piqua-born Mills Brothers recorded Black’s tune “Paper Doll.” It sold over 6 million records, was number one on the Billboard charts for twelve weeks in 1943 and became one of the most memorable records of the World War II era. Many artists, including Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby, recorded “Paper Doll” and the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998.