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Excerpts
from the January 2006 "Randolph Times"
Volume 8, Issue 1
From
The President:
From
Glynn Marsh
We hope you are enjoying the holiday season and
wish you all the best in the New Year! You will
receive this January newsletter a bit earlier than some
times as we are mailing early to avoid the increase in
postal rates that takes effect in 2006.
As
mentioned in my October column, 2006 is the bicentennial
of the legislation that authorized the building of the
National Road. It is our intention to make this the
theme of our history programs for next year. To
build enthusiasm for this topic, our meeting on November
9, 2005 featured presentations by several of our own very
knowledgeable members. Ed Kemper, who is president
of ONRA (the Ohio National Road Association), said his
organization is busy working with groups across the state
of Ohio to promote activities along the old National Road
next year. Special programs at four sites across the state
are being planned. When Ed learned about our
society’s planned exhibit, with proposed links to
Vandalia-Butler and Clay Township historical societies, he
said he would try to convince other members in the state
association to hold one of their four programs in this
part of Ohio. The board endorsed a membership in
ONRA for 2006.
Our plans for
the National Road Bicentennial Display at the Englewood
Government Center next summer are taking shape already.
Paul Dewey showed a new video which he has put together
about the building of the National Road across the State
of Ohio. Paul says the video is still a
“work-in-progress” and he will be adding more
narrative, but the draft version was very educational.
We hope to have this audio-visual presentation running on
demand at the exhibit next summer and possibly sell some
copies if there is enough interest. Caroline Bergman
and JoeAnne Conners have made lists of businesses situated
along Rt. 40 from the 1940s to present times and Sue
Cummings is incorporating this information into loose-leaf
binders with block-by-block maps. Photos of the older
businesses are being included. Hobert Robbins is
taking color photos of all current buildings. This
research will enable us to do a timeline display for
public viewing next summer. Sue also completed two
display boards - one tracing the history of the road from
Cumberland, MD to Vandalia, IL and one featuring the
road in Randolph Twp. The boards currently are on
display in the History Room.
We invite
other members to contribute their time and expertise to
assist the above-mentioned individuals with their work.
We especially need suggestions of persons or companies
that might be able to help us design, blow-up and mount
the graphic displays in the lobby of the government
center. Please call with suggestions.
The
Family Tree:
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“The Industrious Wagoner Family”
(from the “Biography and Family History of Floyd
R. Wagoner” by Gerald C. Wagoner and
conversations with Carl Wagoner.
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Three Wagoner brothers have led fruitful lives
along the National Road. Their names are very familiar to
residents of this area. Carl Wagoner, the eldest, owns and
operates Wagoners Store at 324 S. Union Rd. which will celebrate
50 years of service in 2006. Middle son Gerald helped Carl
with the store in the early years but later ran a shoe repair
business in the rear of 14 W. National Rd. The youngest
son, Glen, operated Wagoners Landscaping and Nursery on Rt. 40
for decades - now the business concentrates on power equipment.
But what about the family behind these good German Baptist
Brethren entrepreneurs?
The
family traces its origins to Pyrmont, Germany where a possible
ancestor, Phillip Waggoner may have lived. Family
tradition says that he immigrated to Pyrmont, PA and then some
family members came to Pyrmont, OH. When others moved to
Carroll County, IN, they set up a new community which they
promptly named “Pyrmont.” Somewhere along the way, the
second “g” was dropped in the surname and the family became
known as the Wagoners.
Floyd Raymond
Wagoner, the father of Carl, Gerald and Glen, was born in
Pyrmont, IN near the middle fork of Wildcat Creek on Sept. 30,
1898 to Emanuel and Eva Hufford Wagoner. Floyd had two
brothers, Artus and Alva. Their grandfather Leonard also
lived nearby. Leonard’s father, John, Jr. had emigrated
from Dayton, Montgomery County, OH in about 1828. Before
that John’s family had lived in Huntington Co. PA.
Floyd married
Mary Cecil Denlinger on December 17, 1921. Cecil, as she
was called, was born one mile south of Englewood on November 11,
1900. After her marriage, her father Allen purchased an
87-acre farm 2-1/2 miles west of Englewood on the National Rd.
(some may remember this in later years as the Caylor farm).
They made this their first home. In order to supplement
their farm income, Floyd and Cecil sold produce in Dayton. They
would load their wagon with meat, butter, chickens, eggs,
vegetables and fruits and sell it at their stand, first on St.
Clair St. and then on Jefferson St. They continued this
for about fifteen years until the markets closed during W W II.
In 1929, Cecil
and Floyd bought the 80-acre farm on Union Rd. originally owned
by Samuel L. Herr. The large brick house had been built in
1868 and the barn about ten years later. Floyd and his
sons farmed while daughter Mildred helped her mother. They
survived the Depression by working hard, selling at market and
living frugally. Beginning in the 1940s, Floyd and his
sons also farmed for Jesse Lowe, Howard Evans, Harry Motter,
Ezra Cassell, Elwood Nolan and Charles Wenger. All these farms
now are housing developments or shopping centers. Carl built the
Brethren clothing store in front of the barn in April 1956 and
he and his wife Hazel continued to live in the old brick house
after the parents moved to a new house just south of Fairview
Cemetery. By 1967 the store had been expanded and the barn was
being used as a factory to sew suits and trousers. Today,
hats are the only items made on site.
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