Whatever happened to the Industrialist families of Dayton? (Fairborn, Oakwood: new construction, good schools)

[GenericUsername73]

I wanted to say thanks to randomparent for the time put into researching my question. Really cool responses! I posted this and walked away, and I come back a week later and I have a 4 page conversation to sift through! Going to start digging through the thread.

[randomparent]

You are very welcome! I had reached a frustrating wall in researching my own family history recently, so this has been a nice diversion.

Make sure you read all the way through to the end. There are places where my original information was incomplete, or even incorrect. I made updates as I came across new information.

[weatherphotographer]

Originally Posted by randomparent

The Shermans were another very large Dayton family with many descendents in and around the metro area. I believe John Q. Sherman and wife Katherine Neary had eight children. The Sherman mansion on Philadelphia Drive is still controlled by the family trust. Two Sherman family descendants appear to have continued involvement in Standard Register, and a daughter, Patricia, died in 2014. She is buried in Calvary Cemetery. I think there are currently three surviving Sherman children, and as you can imagine, dozens of grandchildren and g-grandchildren.

Any relation to General Sherman? HE was from over in the Lancaster area

[randomparent]

Originally Posted by weatherphotographer

Any relation to General Sherman? HE was from over in the Lancaster area

Excellent question! ...that I cannot answer off the top of my head. I've been mostly focused on going forward in my research rather than backwards in accordance with the OP's question.

And on that note, for those interested in the Shermans of Standard Register, here's an article featuring John Q. Sherman II...

The Sherman family helped make Dayton greater

Edit: After a quick glance at the 1910 census, there does not appear to be any direct relationship. John Q.'s paternal grandfather was a German immigrant, while William Tecumseh Sherman comes from a long line of Shermans dating back to the founding of our nation.

[lived here forever]

Random, YOU ROCK!!! Thanks for all the info. If I have the right house, the Srog mansion was broke up into apts. My son lives in Middletown, and I pass it going to his house There are several mansions in the neighborhood.

[randomparent]

More information on the Mead family...

Katherine Mead, youngest of the first generation of children, married Maurice Sicault, a native of France. I think she was his second wife. If I found the right person, he was a hair dresser in the 1930 census. They resided in Florida, but both were buried in the Mead plot in Woodland Cemetery. No idea about children.

As for the Pattersons, I tracked down Frederick's homes in Tucson and Delray Beach, and the contrast between his lifestyle and sister Dorothy's is striking. While Frederick certainly didn't live like a pauper by any stretch of the imagination, Dorothy lived far more extravagantly, which you can see for yourself in the post about her estate in Virginia. Frederick and second wife Armenal had a nice home in Tucson, a second ranch house, and a lot of grazing land for his cattle, but they paled in comparison to Dorothy's Oakendale (reference post #55). His house in Florida was also very nice and had water access, but it reinforces my impression that building mansions was not Frederick's priority.

[Ohiogirl81]

Originally Posted by randomparent

So I suppose now would be a good time to ask if anybody gives a whit about these posts.

I do! I'm enjoying it immensely.

Originally Posted by randomparent

Frederick and Evelyn's house today. It's...um...well, just see for yourself. This home was a Dayton Philharmonic Showcase House in 2003, so that may account for the decor, which I think is best described as eclectic.

Wow. Thanks for the link!

[randomparent]

Originally Posted by Ohiogirl81

I do! I'm enjoying it immensely.



Wow. Thanks for the link!

Isn't it something? Believe it or not, that house sold for $290k in 2013, but it was a bank sale. Most recently, it went for $589k, and to me, even that seems like a steal.

[SWOH]

Originally Posted by randomparent

Isn't it something? Believe it or not, that house sold for $290k in 2013, but it was a bank sale. Most recently, it went for $589k, and to me, even that seems like a steal.

I'd agree! Amazing house, going for such a low price. And people buy McMansions in the suburbs instead..... I just don't understand the logic, especially since Oakwood has better schools too!


Also, another thank you for the posts. I'm learning a ton about what I never knew in my own backyard reading through these posts.

[robertbrianbush]

Originally Posted by lived here forever

Random, YOU ROCK!!! Thanks for all the info. If I have the right house, the Srog mansion was broke up into apts. My son lives in Middletown, and I pass it going to his house There are several mansions in the neighborhood.

Yes, it was. I just googled it and the most recent update was a 2014 article which qouted the new owners, who had already began extensive roof repairs, to be followed by replacement of the windows. They were qouted as saying that they planned to move to Middletown and spend their retirement years restoring the mansion...an apparent labor of love.
They estimated the repairs would cost $400,000 to $500, 000. They were considering opening a bed and breakfast. Does anybody have any updates?