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.
In 1826, he married Mary Elizabeth Conklin, of Huntington, Long Island, daughter of Elkanah R. and Rebecca (Smith) Conklin, both of whom were natives of Huntington and had roots in England. To his second marriage the children born in New York City were Charles and Caroline and in Dayton, Ohio, Mary, Rosetta and Emma.
In the spring of 1829, Mr. Harries, with his family, came to Ohio, arriving in Dayton on July 5th of that year, on the canal boat “Experiment,” having made the journey from Cincinnati by canal. The eldest son, Thomas, remained in New York, continuing his education, and the family that arrived in Dayton consisted of Mr. and Mrs. Harries and six children. Shortly after reaching Dayton, Mr. Harries engaged in the brewing business. He had little money and little knowledge of brewing beer, but by means of perseverance and considerable natural ability he made a success of the business, and continued to follow it actively until the last year of his life.
John bought the Dayton Brewery in 1831. He was the largest dealer of grain and his ale was the best made. It had a great reputation. John stored charcoal he used for making malt in a house made from a pirogue. The pirogue was a long narrow boat pointed at each end with boards on each side of which the men walked while pushing the boat upstream. After arriving at their destination, the pirogue was carefully taken apart piece by piece and rebuilt on dry land, becoming his first house in Dayton. John lived in it for many years and it was also used for hiding slaves who were trying to make their way to Canada.
The great secret of John’s prosperity was that while others reasoned and argue and weighed the probabilities of a case, he promptly resolved and acted. Mr. Harries had great power of concentration and self-control. He was a man of many virtues. With a heart tender and warm, his hand were ever open, ready and willing to lend aid to charitable causes.
The following words were said at the time of his death:
“John W. Harries is dead, and the places which knew him so long and so well shall know him no more forever. His friendly face, his familiar form, his cordial greetings, will never be seen or heard on earth again. On the 22d of February, at 1:10 P. M., he breathed his last. For several days he seemed on the point of dissolution, but such were his amazing tenacity of life and strength of will that he appeared to set death itself at defiance. Long and hard as the struggle was, however, he fell asleep at last, and a strong man passed away as peacefully as a tired infant goes to rest in its mother’s lap; Mr. Harries was a self-made man. Born in Wales, he came to this country in early manhood in quest of fortune, relying upon his character, his energy and his brains. His career strongly illustrates all the virtues, while it was far from most of the faults which characterize that remarkable class of brave men who rise by the inherent force of their own native and unaided powers. He earned his money by the sweat of his brow, and yet did not unduly estimate its value, nor pride himself upon its possession. In its use he was as liberal as a prince. Poverty could not depress; fortune did not spoil him. Wealth made him neither ambitious of the countenance or acquaintance of the rich or great, nor forgetful of the rights and feelings of the poor. In all his relations or dealings with men he was singularly just. He never forgot old friends or past favors. He had no false pride and never turned his back on a poor man. He was in many particulars a very remarkable person. Fixed in his convictions, he was in no wise intolerant of the opinions of other people. With few advantages of early education, native shrewdness, fine common sense, and close observation supplied the place of scholastic attainment. He was a reader of men, not of books. Without public position of any sort he was the best known, the most popular and influential man in the community in which he so long resided.”
John W. Harries died on February 22, 1873 at the age of 90. He is located in section 78 Lot 73.
Woodland Cemetery, founded in 1841, is one of the nation’s five oldest rural garden cemeteries and a unique cultural, botanical and educational resource in the heart of Dayton, Ohio as you will see as you read through this new MostMetro.com series. Visit the cemetery and arboretum and take one of the many tours Woodland offers free of charge. Most of Dayton’s aviation heroes, inventors and business barons are buried at Woodland.
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.
Mr. Bish was born near Carroll County, Maryland and hails from one of the old families of that state, founded in America by his great grand-father. Noah decided after his early school years to move to the Montgomery County area where he was employed on a farm for three seasons. He married Sarah C. Clemmer on November 11, 1869 and had three children: George William, Susan Adie and Ray Clemmer.
The dog symbolizes loyalty, fidelity, watchfulness and vigilance.
Frederick Olt was born in Dayton on September 25, 1874. He was the son of John and Philipena (Linxweiler) Olt. After becoming a partner in the butchering business with his father, Fred decided that office work was more to his suiting and obtained employment with the Schantz Brewery as a bookkeeper. Frederick’s sister, Mary, was married to Adam Schantz. In 1904, he advanced to the position of cashier and in 1906, he decided to go into the brewery business with his brothers and started the Olt Brothers Brewing Company. Mr. Olt married Laura H. Greve on April 6, 1902.
someone else has visited the grave to pay respect.
aul Laurence Dunbar receives the most coins. The coins are picked up periodically and are deposited to the Woodland Arboretum Foundation to care for the grounds and gardens of the cemetery.
with distinction in the Revolutionary War. In 1808, John ran a tavern on the east side of Main Street near Monument and First streets. It was a log building, one and one half stories high with a log barn and feed yard located near the back alley. The large living room of the house became the popular place for many of the socializing events of that day. The bell in the belfry rang twice for meals as was the custom at taverns in those days. When the town meeting was called to discuss building a free-bridge across the Mad River, the meeting was held at Col. Grimes tavern on January 27, 1816. At that time, the town’s people were crossing the river by ferry boats. The building of the bridge was a major advancement in early Dayton history. Col. John Grimes died on June 13, 1836 at the age of 81. Col. Grimes was originally buried in the old 5th St. burial grounds and later was re-interred at Woodland Cemetery on June 12, 1855. His final resting place is in Section 77 Lot 135.
This industrious son of Col. John Grimes, Alexander Grimes, served in the War of 1812. Alexander was a Dayton merchant who worked in close association with Steel and Peirce under the name of Grimes & Company. In 1828, Alexander was one of Dayton’s fire wardens and formed the fire-guards to provide protection and security around fire areas. Mr. Grimes was elected to the State Legislature in 1827 and 1830 and was cashier from 1831 to 1843 of Dayton’s first bank. He also served as the Auditor of Montgomery Country. Mr. Grimes was married twice. His second wife was the sister of Charles Russell Greene, Marie Antoinette Greene. Alexander Grimes died January 12, 1860 at the age of 69. He is located in Section 77 Lot 136.
P.F.C. Charles Greene Grimes – Ohio Militia Civil War
John Doren was born in Athens, Tennessee in 1834. Early on he displayed marked journalistic ability, and at nineteen years of age, under Gov. Samuel Medary’s leadership, became managing editor of the Ohio Statesman. In 1857, he was made official reporter of the Ohio House of Representatives, and in 1861 received the appointment as private secretary to Secretary of the Treasury, Salmon P. Chase, in Washington, D. C., in the cabinet of Abraham Lincoln. He graduated from the Cincinnati Law School in 1865, and that same year he succeeded G. M. D. Bloss as editor of the Cincinnati Inquirer, a position which he retained until shortly before he became a resident in Dayton in 1870. He then became Editor and Owner of the Dayton Daily Democrat, the predecessor of the Daily News.
What do you love most about Dayton?
The beehive was often used by the Freemasons and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. It symbolizes human industry, faith, education and domestic virtues.
In 2016, a group of high school students participated in a Work, Earn and Learn program at Woodland. Eight girls worked 16 hours per week for 10 weeks and did the care and upkeep of several gardens, established a new garden in a highly visible area of the cemetery with a focus on design and plant selection, learned the workings of the cemetery from the front office to grounds maintenance, received several tours learning the history of Woodland, its establishment and the people resting peacefully within and also worked on the restoration of several monuments, including the “Beckel Beehive.”
This window depicts the words written in the Negro dialect associated with the antebellum South by Dayton poet and author, Paul Laurence Dunbar, in the poem A Death Song published in 1913. You can also find the poem on the bronze plaque at his grave site in Section 101.
This week is the Grand Opening of Style Encore
Early Christians used the anchor as a disguised cross and as a marker to guide the way to secret meeting places. It is a Christian symbol of hope, it is found as funeral symbolism in the art of the catacombs. It is also an occupational symbol in sea-faring areas or the attribute of St. Nicholas, patron saint of the seaman, it symbolized hope and steadfastness. An anchor with a broken chain stands for the cessation of life. Anchors are also a Masonic symbol and often found on Mason’s graves as they were a symbol for well-grounded hope.
Libby Ballengee, President of the Dayton Ballet Barre and a local music promoter through her own music production company, 