George Newcom was born in Ireland. In 1775, his parents came to America and lived for a while in Delaware. They then traveled on to Pennsylvania where George met and married Mary Henderson and took her on to Cincinnati. They lived there for two years before coming to Dayton.
Soon after his arrival in what was to be Dayton, he built a log cabin. This structure served for him and his wife as shelter and later for a kitchen. Not long thereafter, half of Newcom’s tavern was built with one lower room and one upper. In the winter of 1798-99, two more rooms were added. The first well in the vicinity was drilled nearby. A barn was erected to take care of Newcom’s horses and those of travelers.
Robert Edgar, a woodworker, was employed by Newcom at six shillings a day to build the tavern from hewn logs. Edgar’s board and lodging were not included. However, Newcom indicated that one deer a week would take care of the matter. So Edgar would wait at the river’s edge where the deer came to drink and there shoot his animal early in the morning, so as not to interfere with a day’s work.
Newcom’s tavern was located in the town’s center and was a gathering place for villagers and strangers passing through. In 1810, Newcom purchased the land adjoining his and built the county’s first brewery. The size and output of the brewery are unknown but it was likely a very small facility producing common beer for travelers and a few locals.
When Newcom took part in the war of 1812, Robert Graham assumed operations. Newcom died in 1853 and the tavern building remained standing, although it has now been moved to Carillon Historical Park.
George Newcom died on February 25, 1853 at the age of 82. Mary, his wife, died April 3, 1834 at the age of 69. Mary was removed from one of the downtown cemeteries and was laid to rest with her husband in Section 16 Lot 53 on February 27, 1853
Woodland Cemetery and Arboretum is located at 118 Woodland Avenue off of Brown Street near the UD Campus. The Woodland Office is open Monday through Friday 8 am to 5 pm and Saturday 8 am to 12 pm. The Cemetery and Arboretum are open daily from 8 am to 6 pm. The Mausoleum is open daily from 9 am to 5 pm. For more information call 937-228-3221 or visit the Woodland website.
Although it’s considered “off” season for music festivals, wintertime ones are some of my favorites! We’ve all got cabin fever, and just need to get out of the house and have fun! One of the most highly anticipated of those winter festivals is right around the corner: The 5th annual 
Frederick Rike (1867-1947) was President of the Rike-Kumler Department Store Company in Dayton. He began at Rike’s as a salesman and a buyer of notions, handkerchiefs, hosiery and gloves. He eventually worked his way up to the post of President, which he held for 40 years, seldom missing a day at work in the store. It was Frederick Rike who moved the store to the corner of Second and Main Streets that it anchored for so long. He was active during the recovery efforts from the 1913 Flood and served on the charter commission which reorganized Dayton’s government under the city manager format. He had worked for the establishment of the Miami Valley Conservancy District, and served as president of the Dayton Boy Scouts and Community Chest.
and storied Dayton institution, was founded by David’s grandfather in 1853. David’s father, Frederick, inherited the family business and upon his death in 1947, David was elected president. In 1965, he became board chairman and chief executive officer.
Joseph W. Green was born in Dayton, Ohio and worked for his father’s cracker company, the Green & Green Co. It was famous for supplying 6.5 million pounds of cracker-like bread, known as hardtack, to American military forces in WWI. The company custom-designed machinery to make special soldered tins that would ensure the product remained fresh and palatable in the worst of conditions.
Mike-sell’s Potato Chips. A Dayton Favorite!
Fast forward to 1965. After the death of Dan Mikesell, leadership of the chip company fell to Leslie C. Mapp. Under Mapp’s direction during the next 30 years, Mike-Sell’s expanded geographically, retained its quality focus, and continued to be an industry innovator.
Daniel W. Mikesell was born March 12, 1883 and died May 19, 1965 at the age of 82. He is resting peacefully at Dayton Memorial Park in Section 2 Lot 490.
He put an ad in the paper that an energetic young man was seeking employment as a salesman and he secured a position with a pipe tobacco company. His first assignment was in Boston, then later Philadelphia. After seven years, he was assigned to the Chicago office which included St. Louis in the territory.
In John’s own words “Well, Cleveland went over with a bang. We had a car-load of Oh Henry! on the railroad track worth $8,000 and before we were through, we didn’t have a bar left.”
Ever ready with aid for others, he once said, “When you love people, you have to help people.”
Anyone who has made it to the age of 92 would have a planeload of stories to share about a life filled with adventures, but Lt. Colonel Harold Brown is no ordinary nonagenarian. An accomplished educator, air pilot and one of the few remaining members of the famed Tuskegee Airmen. Lt Colonel Harold H. Brown has written a book chronicling this extraordinary life titled, “KEEP YOUR AIRSPEED UP: The Story of a Tuskegee Airman.”
How to Go?
John Harries, one of the pioneer inhabitants of the city of Dayton, was born in 1783 in the town of Gebledewyll, in Carmarthenshire, Wales. In 1810, John married Mary Williams, and soon afterward settled on a farm near his birthplace. In the fall of 1823, they immigrated to the United States, landing in New York, where Mr. Harries embarked in the wholesale and retail grocery business, and there his wife died.
