125 Years
March 23, 1899
The Midway Oil Company, whose property is located in Van Burean Township, this county, changed hands last week. The leases transferred comprise about 720 acres on which there are 14 completed pumping wells with a daily production of over 130 barrels. The purchasers are Clime and White of Cleveland.
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A large raft of walnut logs was brought to the mill at Lockington this week from Dawson, where they had been unloaded from the Big Four Railroad.
100 Years
March 23, 1924
William A. Darst, Shelby County Clerk of Courts and Alphonso Beery, county treasurer, are gaining new laurels in visiting spelling schools and ciphering matches held in Shelby County. They took first prizes at Port Jefferson and again at Maplewood.
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The county health department reports a total of 103 cases of whooping cough in the county during February with 13 cases in the city. There were 73 cases of measles in Sidney during the month.
75 Years
March 23, 1949
Robert F. Kaser was elected president of the Shelby County Tuberculosis and Health Association at the annual meeting of the group last evening at St. Johns Lutheran Church.
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Monsignor Anthony Moeller, pastor of St. Michael’s parish, Fort Loramie, recently raised to the rank of domestic prelate by Pope Pius XII, will be invested Sunday afternoon at St. Michael’s Church.
50 Years
March 23, 1974
Woodstock, Shelby County, Ohio, is a town that never lived. The site was selected, laid out in detail and an abstract filed on July 4, 1836. But the orderly plan was never developed. Near the corner of County 25-A and Meranda Road, just a mile south of Anna, J. Edwin and Betty Fridley own part of the Woodstock site. The rest of the original land is shared by Vernon Christman. A few steps south of the modern Fridley home stands an old log cabin whose rough-hewn logs are hidden by wooden siding.
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Officials of the Ohio Presbyterian Homes on Thursday will break ground for a new multi-million-dollar retirement community at the site of the Dorothy Love Home. It was the tragic death of the seven-year-old daughter of Rev. and Mrs. W. Blake Love, serving the Presbyterian Church in Sidney, that provided the spark that moved the original home project in 1924. In 1921, Dorothy was fatally injured when struck by an automobile at the intersection of Miami Avenue and North Street. Moses Russell, an elderly bachelor farmer, active in the Sidney church, had developed a particular fondness for the little girl. It was this fondness that prompted Moses Russell and his two maiden sisters, Martha and Elizabeth Russell, to offer three farms, totaling 294 acres northwest of Sidney for the location of homes for the aged.
25 Years
March 23, 1999
The Shelby County Sheriff deputies made a daring rescue of a dog at the Locking Dam a couple of days ago. Deputies Dave Spicer and Doug Schlagetter rappelled down the side of the dam to rescue a 1-year old do from the ledge above the turbulent Great Miami River. The Labrador was safely returned to its owners.
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The 2nd District of the Ohio American Legion held its annual spring conference meeting in Sidney recently. Leaders from around Ohio attended. The conference was led by Legion Commander Ron Anderson. The guest speaker was Jerry Wilson, alternate executive national commander. The entertainment was provided by Sidney’s Singing Soldiers.
These news items from past issues of the Sidney Daily News are compiled by the Shelby County Historical Society (937-498-1653) as a public service to the community. Local history on the Internet! www.shelbycountyhistory.org. Visit the Sidney Daily News website, www.sidneydailynews.com to read the rest of the week’s columns.
