Warren County Local
History by Dallas Bogan |
Contributor: |
Dallas Bogan on 23 July 2004 |
Source: |
Dallas Bogan, Warren County, Ohio and Beyond (Bowie Maryland: Heritage Press, 1979) page 107 |
Return to Index to see a list of other articles by Dallas Bogan |
There is a quaint little town named Lytle that lies just off the beaten path
of modern civilization. No interstate, no U.S. highways, just a few country
roads pass through this historic town. It lies in the northwestern section of
Wayne Township just on the border of Wayne and Clearcreek Townships. The roads
that pass through are: Lytle Road, Lytle Five-Points Road, Lytle Ferry Road
and Township Line Road.
(Much of the information in this column was taken from an article written by
Mr. Walter Kenrick.)
Lytle's first name was Raysville, named after Alexander Ray,
who came to the area with his wife, Debra, and six daughters
about 1807. Ray purchased, from the founders of Waynesville, Banes
and Heighway, a complete section of land consisting of 640
acres. He sold some lots, but was unable to give a clear deed because the original
owner of the land, John Cleves Symmes, could not give a clear
title.
Passage of the Enabling Act by the Government allowed the purchasers a clear
title, but not without paying an extra two dollars per acre. By 1810, many changes
were made to the town. The population was made up mostly of people from Bucks
County, Pennsylvania. Expansion of the village was commenced in the form of
tradesmen setting up their own businesses. Wagon makers, blacksmiths, shoemakers,
tailors, hat makers, coopers, grain makers, auger makers, and plow manufacturers
made up the bulk of the enterprises.
At this time more than forty covered wagons reached the County from Pennsylvania.
The main road through Lytle was then called the Pinckney Road. This road was
started prior to 1804, being possibly an old Indian trail. Part was called Raysville
and part was called Pinckney Road. It is now Lytle-Ferry Road.
The first nursery was established by Silas Wharton. He acquired
twenty-two and one-half acres for $91 in the northeast quarter of the section.
Edward L. Kenrick established a store in 1827. Sales recorded
for March 12, 1827, were:
Thomas Wharton, 42 pounds of iron at seven cents per pound,
$2.94 and a mole board for $1.75; John Belsford, two pieces
of glass, eight cents; Elizabeth Jackson, credited with 11
dozen eggs at two cents per dozen and seven and a half pounds of butter at five
cents per pound. Coffee sold at 22 cents per pound, tea at $1.25, molasses at
forty cents a gallon. The Wharton brothers were blacksmiths
and wagon makers; Thomas Goodell was the tailor and Biddle
Hay made Quaker hats.
Cornelius Morford built a sawmill and was operated afterwards
by William and Richard Duke, and after them
by Frank H. Duke.
The forest of the area at that time was thick with walnut trees and the mill
supplied the means for the building of many of the houses.
Raysville was platted in 1856, with twenty-two lots, by Mahlon Mills
and his brother, Owen. The Mills brothers owned eleven of these
lots and for a number of years ran a pork packing business. They butchered as
many as 100 heads of hogs a day and also acquired dressed hogs from the neighboring
farmers. Their manufacturing facilities were set up to make lard, barrel it
and pork, which was sold in Cincinnati.
A story goes that a farmer brought in a four-horse wagonload of dressed hogs,
but because of the cold weather the hogs were frozen solid. The meat was covered
and allowed to stay in the wagon. Six weeks later it thawed enough to be processed.
The Mills brother's establishment kept two cooper shops busy making barrels
for their packed goods. One of the cooper shops was located in town and the
other was near the intersection of S.R. 73 and Township Line Road. These shops
were also known for making whiskey barrels. (As we all know a cooper is a barrel
maker or one who repairs barrels. The sides of a wooden barrel, or strips of
wood are called staves.) The staves are wider in the middle than at the ends,
which makes the wooden barrel bulge in the middle. The reason for this bulge
is strength. The barrel is then bound together by metal or wooden hoops. The
heads, or top and bottom of the barrel, are formed by flat wooden circles that
fit into grooves near the ends of the staves. In the neighborhood of Lytle white
oak trees were plentiful. The coopers selected these trees as prime wood.
The Dayton, Lebanon and Cincinnati Railroad came to Raysville about 1883. An
official name was then needed for the village because of this event, and the
addition of a post office. Mr. Walter B. Kenrick suggested
the name Lytle, which was taken from a shoebox from the Lytle Shoe Company of
Cincinnati.
The first post office was opened June 5, 1882. The first postmaster was John
A. Kelsey. Other postmasters and dates were: Elmer E. Keever,
July 15, 1895; Samuel L. Williamson, February 5, 1896; and
Charles E. Johns, December 16, 1897. The postal service was
discontinued November 30, 1918, which was then moved to Waynesville.
A new store was built in 1867 opposite the Methodist Church. The name of the
original owner or builder is unknown. However, in later years it was bought
and operated by Isaac Sellers and his son-in-law, J.A.
Kelsey. The general store of Sellers and Kelsey was moved, in 1885,
to the area of the railroad where they operated it for a number of years. The
business was sold in 1894 to Elmer Keever, who later sold it
to C.E. Jones, who in turn sold it to Elbert Wallace
of Red Lion.
In the early days, as repair was being made on a stone bridge, a family of minks
was uncovered in the bridge. The town was then referred to for many years as
Minktown rather than Raysville.
The first religious meetings were held in the homes of individuals until 1824,
when Charles Hall sold to the trustees of the Raysville Methodist
organization land in the area of the Pinckney and the future Franklin Road.
A log structure was used for over 20 years for the first church. This was replaced
in 1847 by a frame building. In 1860, a large frame church was built which was
destroyed by fire some 12 years later. The present church was completed in 1873.
Some years later, in 1915, a complete remodeling was done. An addition of an
entrance hall, two small rooms in the west end of the building, and a belfry
was added. A basement, an assembly room, a modern kitchen, and rest rooms were
added in the year 1952.
A log cabin also served as the first school for Lytle students. This was located
at the southwest corner of Section 16. Another school was located one and a
half miles northeast of Raysville towards Ferry. The Raysville students had
a walk of about two miles to attend school. The roads at this time were atrocious.
After a period of time, and many squabbles over this long walk, a new school
building was constructed just east of town in 1876.
In 1895, an operation was initiated which would organize a special jurisdiction
to include District No. 4, 12, and 3 in Wayne Township and 10 and 11 in Clearcreek.
When accomplished a successful school district was in utilization for about
20 years. Due to an increased teaching staff, which was required by the State,
and a small tax duplicate, they were forced to close the school and return to
the township method, and some years afterward were relocated into the Wayne
Township precinct at Waynesville.
The railroad's appearance changed the town somewhat. Morris Silvers
bought an acre of land from Jacob Lamb and built a grain elevator.
Purchasing five more acres from Lamb, Silvers added a lumberyard.
After three years, Silvers made an assignment to a lawyer named Dechant,
who sold the assets of the business at auction and the property to Mrs.
Morris Silvers. Mrs. Silvers sold the property on August 31, 1883,
to John Simonton and his son, Lon, of Lebanon.
Lon later inherited the business and conducted a successful
firm for 37 years. He afterward sold the enterprise to Everett Early
on June 23, 1923.
Early expanded his establishment by enlarging both the buildings and business.
He became one of the main shippers on the Cincinnati, Lebanon & Northern
and Dayton Lebanon & Cincinnati Railroad lines. Harvest time saw the business
receiving as much as 100,000 bushels of wheat for shipment. Early incorporated
the business in 1937, the corporation name being Early Elevator, Inc. Under
this name he branched out into several other lines, which included liquid nitrogen.
He later sold, in 1952, to Carl Pitstick.
Edwin Sweny and Josiah Hough constructed a
tile mill in which they manufactured and sold many rods of tile. The mill was
later sold to Frank Hamilton, and then to Sidney Coon,
and later to J.M. Stacy, who sometime later concluded the making
of tile. Everett Early bought the land, on which he had a coal
and feed business for five years, from the Stacey heirs.
Dr. Dyche opened an office in the early 1880's for his medical
practice. Attending the locals for several years he later sold his business
to Dr. James W. Ward, who at that time was a newly trained
medical student. Dr. Dyche tended the community for about 25
years in a sufficient fashion, and, in 1911 he retired to his farm near Harveysburg,
where he died in 1944, leaving his widow, Dora Nelson Ward,
who died two years later.
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