W E VE G OT H ISTORY

Celebrating the lifetimes of some notable Daytonians September 10-11, 17-18, 2011

Our Tour Guides Local author, teacher and historian Edward Focke Breen leads todays tour. Featuring various Civil War soldiers graves and monuments, as well as highlighting notable Daytonians buried here, including members of his family tree such as the first business woman of Dayton, a former Mayor and Congressman, inventors, World War II spies and Fred Astaire's dance partner. Breen attended Capital University for an under graduate degree in History and completed post-graduate work in Education at Antioch University. He is an Ohio native and Dayton Public school teacher who has spent much of his life traveling in Europe, North Africa, and the Americas. The first weekend of tours will also include a presentation by Gary Wilson, great grandson of Corporal Patrick Traynor, and the story of Traynors immigration from County Mayo, Ireland and participation as a Union infantryman in the 73rd OVI.

1. St Peter, Frank E Gormly Monument Just as in Heaven, St Peter greets us with the keys of the pearly gates in his hand. This is the Frank E Gormly monument. He was born in Ohmah County, Tyrone, Ireland like so many others of Daytons first Catholics. The first recorded Catholic family was Robert Conway, his wife and children, who emigrated from Ireland to Baltimore, Maryland in the late 1820s. After Andrew Jacksons election to President in 1828 and encouragement of Irish immigrants to move west to find work and their own land, the Conways arrived in Dayton in 1831. They held Mass in their home at Second and St Clair with visiting priests for about two years until enough Catholic families moved here to form Emmanuel Church. The Conways are buried in Section 1, having been reinterred here from St. Henrys, the original Catholic cemetery established in 1844. With the rapid growth of the city around it, the Civil War, a Cholera epidemic and the Flood of 1866, St Henry Cemetery filled up, closed to burials in the late 1880s and fell into disrepair.

2. St Henrys Chapel Seeing the need for a new Catholic cemetery, Calvary Cemetery Association was founded by a group of parish priests and concerned business men in 1872. By 1887, it was determined that St. Henry would have to close and its graves relocated here. The Chapel is dedicated to the 4,000 souls whose graves were unidentifiable at the time of their removal from St Henrys cemetery. Their re-interment as a group is under the Chapel. Another several thousand graves were moved with their headstones intact. The Chapel is the creation of architect Frank Mills Andrews, who also designed the Dayton Arcade and the state capitol building in Frankfort, Kentucky. The structure is a Beaux Arts style with Gothic influences. It is built of New Bedford stone. It will be rededicated on its 110th anniversary on All Souls Day, 2012.

3. Three Reverend Hahne Graves During the early years of Catholicism in Dayton, three priests from one family helped it grow. They are the Reverends: John F., Carl J., and Charles J. buried here. The Hahne family was one of the most widely known and influential German Catholics in the area. John F. Hahne was ordained a priest in Germany in 1848. He was sent to Cincinnati as a parish priest in 1851. He was transferred to Dayton as the third pastor of Emmanuel Church, which had been founded in 1833. By 1859, the bustling city of Dayton had many more German, Irish, Lithuanian, and Hungarian immigrant Catholics. Disputes with the archdiocese of Cincinnati about the number and location of new churches made Father Hahne want to leave. His congregation begged him to stay and so he went on to remodel the church, establish a school help establish St Elizabeths Hospital. Father Hahne was on Calvarys first Board of Directors. When he died, he was succeeded at Emmanuel by his younger brother Carl. John and Carls nephew, also named Carl, was the second parish priest at Hoy Trinity church. He was also a member of Calvarys Board of Trustees.

4. Ely Mausoleum In the 1850s, Gypsies immigrated to America from England, Germany and Austria to find freedom from persecution by political and religious groups. They settled in and around Dayton and became part of the community. The early generations were Protestants but at some point the third generation became Catholics. Buried in this mausoleum are several members of the last known members of gypsy royalty. One of them is Frank Stanley, who was called the last king of the gypsies by the Dayton Journal when he died in 1929. A story is handed down that generations of tribes members would come and break a bottle of wine on the door every April to honor him. Stanley is said to have wanted his grave unmarked and deliberately did not have any children to end the royal line.

5. Hollencamp Mausoleum There are five generations of Hollencamps in the cemetery. This mausoleum includes Henry Herman Hollencamp, who was born in 1840 and died in 1889. He served as a First Sargent in the 108th OVI in the Civil War. Youll hear more about the 108th regiment when we talk about JU Kreidler, who was its Captain. Henry Herman Hollencamp was a tailor and haberdasher who built a building in downtown Dayton. His son, also a Henry, became a lawyer and started the Hollencamp and Hollencamp Law Firm. This Hollencamp sat on Calvarys Board for twenty years. Arthur Hollencamp, the current generation, is our the Boards Secretary/Treasurer.

6. The John Deis Cannon Deis became the commander of a company that he assembled of men from the Dayton area in 1861. They marched to Fort Dennison, near Cincinnati, and became Company M, First Ohio Volunteer Light Artillery. Eventually, he reached the rank of 1st sergeant. He served until December 13, 1864. Battles he fought in include the battles of Pittsburgh Landing, Shiloh Corinth, Stone River, Atlanta and Jonesboro. He served under generals William Tecumseh Sherman and William S. Rosencrans. Johns brother Philip, who also served in the Union Army, was killed in May, 1864 on General Shermans March to the Sea. The brothers are buried in the family plot in section 14.The cannon is a confederate weapon captured by Deis company at the Battle of Atlanta. With Deis help, it was presented to the cemetery by Old Guard Post #23 of the Grand Army of the Republic in 1901.

7. Soldiers SectionThe Soldiers Section honors those who have served in the armed services throughout the last 160 years. There are currently 300 people buried in this section, although there are over 20,000 veterans buried throughout the cemetery. Civil War soldiers killed in action were often buried at the battle site and moved to their home cemeteries years afterwards. The earliest burials in this location are Robert Smith and Charles Zwiesler, dating from 1891. We bury veterans and their spouses here with government issue markers at their request.

8. Civil War Obeliskthis monument was given by the children of soldiers and sailors who never returned home from the Civil War. Researchers continue to discover and identify the remains of soldiers and sailors lost in action or buried at battle sites.

9. John Francis Ohmer One of Michael and Rose Ohmers ten children. Born in Dayton in 1856. Married Anna Beckman. He had a passion for inventing, and invented the Taxi Meter and Ohmer Fare Register, a forerunner of the cash register. During WWI he converted his plant manufacture mounts and sights for Naval guns. The Ohmer fare Register Company was acquired in 1946 by Rockwell Manufacturing Company which eventually became Rockwell International. 10. The Ferneding Family C.J. Ferneding is known in the Dayton area for being the vice president of Dayton Insurance Co., and also helped to organize Fourth National Bank. He was also the president of Ferneding-Heymann Cigar and the Dayton Xenia Traction. The elevated train tracks that run from Washington Street over the Oregon District are there because of C.J., who fought hard to have elevated tracks. C.J. was the president of the Board of Directors of St. Henry Cemetery. Once St. Henry was sold, he was on the committee that oversaw the transfer of all of the bodies to Calvary. Ferneding was a leader in overseeing the building of St Henrys Memorial Chapel.

11. Louis Thobe Monument Saint George and the Dragon. Symbolic of The Knights of Saint George, a uniformed Catholic organization founded by Louis XV in France

12. Nicholas Ohmer The first child of Francis and Margaret Ohmer, was born in 1823 in France and emigrated with his parents to America in 1832. Coming to Dayton by the Erie Canal in 1837, Francis set up a confectionary and restaurant on Second Street, between Main and Jefferson. This being successful, another store was opened at Main and Third. Nicholas joined his father in the business and soon took over. Nicholas was a good business man. He became a Director of Merchants National Bank. His hobby and passion was horticulture, especially growing fruit trees and other ornamental trees. He founded and was President of the Montgomery County Horticultural Society from 1867 to 1904.He was the first Vice President of the Calvary Cemetery Association and selected the location for the Cemetery. He sold about 12 acres of his properties to complete the first 100 acres. He was on Calvarys Board from its founding in 1872 until he passed in 1903.

13. Bernadina Focke : First business woman of Dayton, founded William Focke Sons Meat Packing Company

14. Peter Dister Lt. Col Dister was killed in the Battle of Vicksburg in December of 1862. Dister, born in Germany, entered in the German army as a young man. He immigrated to the United States in 1848 and shortly after became the captain of a German military organization called the Lafayette Yagers. Four days after the Civil War began, Company B, First Ohio Volunteer Infantry was formed and gained Dister as a member. This particular unit broke up when the Union retreated at the Battle of Bull Run in July 1861. After a few months, Dister assisted in organizing the 58th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. After many battles in miserable conditions he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. Dister led his men, along with the 76th Ohio Infantry and the 31st Missouri Infantry, as they tried to gain control of the Mississippi River. On that fateful day in 1862, he moved his men forward but was killed in front of them after losing his horse in quicksand. Disters body was recovered by his brother Joseph several months later and brought back to Dayton for a heros burial. He was moved here from St. Henrys and is located in Section 15 next to his wife Catherine.

15. The Breen Family Maurice Breen, born in Kilbreanmore, Ireland in 1828, was a dray driver for the railroads in Xenia, Ohio. Died in 1906.

John P Breen Manager of the Phillips Hotel and later the Biltmore Hotel.

Ed Breen Manager of Biltmore Hotel with his father, World War II hero, City Commissioner, Mayor of Dayton, Congressman

Mary Louise Breen Spy for US Intelligence in WWII. Head of Catholic Relief Services for France and Spain.

16. Patrick Traynor Patrick Traynor was born in Ireland in 1842. In 1860, he immigrated to Chillicothe, Ohio. In 1861, at age 19, he joined the 73rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry Company C of the Union Army. His unit marched several thousand miles, and fought in 20 battles, including Gettysburg, 2nd Bull Run, Battle of Chancellorsville, Missionary Ridge and Shermans March through Atlanta. Always in active duty, Traynor was promoted to Corporal during his four years of service and finally mustered out in 1865. Returning to Chillicothe, he married his childhood sweetheart, Ann Grogan, from his original homeland. They had six children. In 1888 the family moved to Dayton for Patricks work in a retail warehouse. He passed away in 1895 of sunstroke and consumption at the age of 53. His original gravesite in the Soldiers Section was moved to its present location when his wife Ann passed away and their son William united them here. Thanks to Gary Wilson, great grandson of Patrick Traynor, for supplying this history and photographs for us.

Left: Corporal Patrick Traynor in 1865 Below: The 73rd Ohio Regiment marching on Paint Street in Chillicothe, OH January 15, 1864

17. Clement Focke The sad tale of Clement Focke is not uncommon for the time in which he lived. He was born August 9, 1880. Four days before his birthday in 1888, he drowned in the pond at his grandparents home. The heart broken family created a statue depicting him as he seen in this picture. At some point in time, the statue disappeared. Modern day family members are planning a replica statue that will be placed here in Calvary.

18. JU Kreidler When the Civil War started in 1861, John Kreidler was a lieutenant In a National Guard unit that was not immediately going to war. Anxious to see action, John resigned his officers rank to enlist as a Private with the 1st Ohio Volunteer Infantry Company C. He served his commitment of four months, and then re-enlisted as a Captain in Company E, 108th OVI. Presented a sword by his company in honor of his service, he promised his troops never to surrender it to the enemy. He kept his promise when he and his regiment were captured in the Battle of Hartsville, Tennessee in December 1862. Wounded but defiant, Kreidler broke his sword in three places and threw it at the feet of his captors. For this act, he was taken to Murfreesboro Jail and denied food and water. Later he was taken to Libby Prison in Richmond, Virginia, a harsh facility reserved for trophy prisoners. Many officers are known to have died there. Kreidler survived there for four months and was released in Annapolis in April of 1863 in a prisoner exchange. He returned to duty and mustered out in February, 1864. Dayton welcomed him home, electing him City Clerk in April of that year. He served four terms. In 1872 he became Superintendent of the new Dayton Street Railroad. Later he was Secretary of the Dayton Board of Fire Underwriters. When he died in 1892, all the insurance companies of the city closed their doors during his funeral in his memory.

19. Marie Berno lived her dream of becoming an actress and a dancer. She even appeared as Fred Astaires dance partner in several touring production in the early 1920s. She married Elmer Focke and gave up her career for a new role as wife and mother.

Above: Marie Berno as an ingnue Left: Playbill showing the cast of one of the musicals she starred in with Fred Astaire Below: Marie and Elmer Focke in 1966