Land of the Deplorables*

The Land of the Deplorables.

My homeland, Ohio and the Midwest, is often derided by the coastal elites as being The Land of the Deplorables; intellectually inferior, "right wing", the worst of people. While I seldom experienced this "attitude" at Princeton, I did while living on the Upper West Side. Now, in the era of the putdown, for many, it is the name of the game.

History, and The People. The Treaty of Greenville marked the beginning of the opening of the Northwest territory, 1795. By 1820, a canal had been built from Lake Erie to Cincinnati; Grand Lake St. Mary’s waters supported the canal and was at that time the largest man-made lake in the world. (My mother's family, the Newberry Quakers were the first settlers of Pleasant Hill, Eastern Miami County ,1800). By 1850, St. Louis was the third largest city in the United States, Cincinnati the fifth largest. The great migration from Europe including French, German, Dutch, English and Swedes. Civil War: Ohio contributed Generals Grant and Sherman. After the Civil War, Ohio became the center of the Industrial Revolution. Pittsburgh Steel to the east. Detroit, Cincinnati, Dayton were centers of industry and of invention. Every town and city had successful industries. Western Ohio had some of the best agriculture in the country. The Ford automobile, the Wright brothers airplane, Thomas Edison's lightbulb, Rockefeller and on and on. After the Second World War, a booming economy. Much has changed since the 70's. Small farms are gone. Many small village and blighted areas in towns like Greenville, Troy and Piqua.

From the Wright brothers to Neil Armstrong, from Dayton to Wapakoneta (50 miles x 50 miles) was my turf. It was dynamic in the 50's. (Much of what I write below relates to the people and the culture of this wonderful area.) Heritages: French in Frenchtown and Versailles, Dutch in Minster, German Protestants, first settlers to the south. German Catholics in northern Darke County, the Amish in the southern part of the county, Italians and Jewish merchants in the towns. All religions tolerant of each other. (You just couldn't marry a Catholic girl.) Fun, drive a car at 16, beer at 18 years old, go to local racetracks like Eldora Speedway. Young social life. Take dates to drive-in theaters. Best of all, the many dance halls. Crystal Ball was a huge dance hall on Wednesday and Saturday nights. Lake St. Mary’s Sunday night had all the big bands, Dorsey Brothers, Stan Kenton. It's where you took your best date. Each town, Piqua, Troy, Sydney, Celina had different characteristics. Each a strong industrial base. Troy had Hobart which owned KitchenAid. There were poor areas and there were wealthy areas, but there were no blighted areas. Little violence, no slumlords, no drugs. You were safe in any area of any of the towns. Dayton was a great city. It's where we visited to shop or go to top restaurants. In 1950 it was one of the most affluent cities in America. (Seven of Dad’s Warrens Stores were located in Dayton). When I moved back to Ohio in 1984,. Dayton, while still fun and viable had begun a downward spiral. Now all major corporations like NCR (College roommate and best friend’s Uncle Bob Oelman, Chairman of the Board), General Motors, Frigidaire, gone! (My lawyer, Joe Rigot then represented 12 stock exchange listed companies from Dayton; only one exists today. 2021, downtown an empty disaster! The smaller towns also have blighted no go zones and are partially empty. (Thanks to great friend Jim Eiting, Mid Mark company, Versailles is still wonderful). Greenville, not so good, poor schools, many no-go zones and slumlords. General decline.

Land of the Deplorables. Darke County notables ⌲ See Land of the Deplorables Map

Listed below are some of the deplorable ones.

I). Not all are desirable. Every area has its bad characters.

A) Kool- Aid, Jim Jones. Famous of the Jonestown Massacre in Guyana. Born and raised 3 miles from the Darke County border in Lynn, Indiana. Not so cool!10 miles west of the Hills ,of Judea.
B) Bank robbers, 1970, Miami, Florida. Killed six FBI agents as a failed bank robbery. Most ever FBI agents killed. Citizens of New Madison, Ohio. 5 miles from the Hills of Judea
C). Nice lady, shady background, resident of Union City, Indiana. She had a rich husband who owned a company that made truck bodies for UPS. Old family friends. Dinner at their house. I had just returned from Russia. She said she didn’t tell many people her history. Her home had been in Kiev, Ukraine. When the Nazis invaded, they made her father the Mayor. When the communists recaptured the city, they hung her father and her brother upside down in the town square!!

II). History Makers.

A) Annie Oakley
B) Lowell Thomas.
C) Clement Brumbaugh and four other Congressmen.

III). Recent Prominent, Deplorables.

A). Mr. McCoy. Music teacher. Composer of Ohio State University theme song, ”Hang on Sloopy”.

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B). Matt Light. Seven time All-Pro football player for the Boston Patriots. Greenville High School graduate. Great-grandmother and Great-grandfather managed Wayne Lakes for my Grandfather, Fred Coppock.

C). Jeff Feltman. Jeff’s parents were my high school friends. (His father worked as treasurer for American Aggregates. His mother worked for me at the Second National Bank). He grew up four blocks from my parent’s house. Under Secretary of State for Middle Eastern Affairs under Hillary Clinton. The Benghazi story. According to his Dad, he was “sent” to the UN, with promise, that when Hillary was elected president, he would be appointed Under Secretary of State.

D). Jeff Macci. Greenville High School. His Father was a close friend of my Father. His Aunt Joanne Swank Lear was one of my best friend's from first grade through life. Jeff was a tennis coach and opened a clinic in Delray, Florida. He brought the Williams' sisters back to Florida from California as teenagers and taught them tennis. Best two women tennis players in the world.

E). Jim Steinle. One of Dad’s best friends, and also one of mine. Granddaughter Jill Steinle, San Francisco, was sadly murdered by illegal immigrant. Nationwide publicity.

IV). 50's, Age of Aquarius friends, who survived the land of the deplorabl’s...

A). John Deardorff. Four years ahead of me in high school and a good family friend. Gov. Rockefeller's political assistant. Later, Deardorff and Bailey, top Republican Consulting Firm in Washington DC.
B). Bill McGreevey, class behind me. Good friend, roomed with me in Columbus between college and grad school. PhD Berkeley, Masters, MIT. Latin American scholar and expert, World Bank.
C). Joe Shockney. Classmate, good friend. Purdue, Masters, MIT. Joe was Executive Vice President with Valero Oil Company, Texas. Country's largest refining company.
D). Tom Farmer. Classmate, football team, MBA degree Dartmouth Tuck Business School. VP with Sprint Telephone Company, Eastern States.
E). John Spidel. Close friend, class vice president, football star (beat me out for quarterback my sophomore year). Later, played football at University of Michigan, linebacker, half-year starting quarterback. MBA Michigan, corporate executive.
F). John Lantz. Best friend for 12 years. Little College All-American Football. To undefeated Ohio Class B Football teams. Voted Ohio Coach of the Year.
G). David Girbert. Best friend, Captain of the Miami of Ohio Football team. Played one half season for the Buffalo Bills. Great athlete, but too short. Presbyterian Minister.
H). Bob Reigle. Classmate 12 years, close family ties. Pratt Institute in New York, Fulbright Scholar. Leading architect and interior designer for Hilton Hotels, Morgan Stanley, etc.
I). Other successful Greenville friends included. Mayno Petering, classmate. Texas Yodeling Champion. Ron Ikenberry, halfback Harvard. Jack Balshum, six year relief pitcher, Philadelphia Phillies. Ed Nelson, number one in high school class, top designer of Apollo spacecraft and aircraft bodies for Boeing. Jim Goubeaux close friend; our parents were best of friends. Jim, one year older. Harvard law, my lawyer in Greenville. Gary Gruber, high school classmate, Princeton Theological School. Presbyterian Minister and Headmaster at Shipley School, Philadelphia. So many did so well with formative years in the land of the deplorables. Wish it were possible today.
J). Other notable athletes. My cousin Mike Thieme, Guinness Book of Records for oldest man to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa. Gene Riegel, National and Little Brown Jug Harness Racing. Neighbor growing up, John Sayle, Ohio Hall of Fame Skeet, Trap and Pistol Shooting Champion.

Deplorable Events.

A). The Great Darke County Fair. In my early years, and perhaps still the largest County Fair in United States. Much bigger than many state fairs. Truly a great event. (As teenagers, we had one rule...“Always sneak in”. We had secret places where we could climb the fence).
B). National Horse Shoe Pitching Contest. Every year in the Park by our house, they would have the National Championships for Horseshoe Pitching. Delightful to watch.

C). The Eldora Speedway. Now NASCAR. In the early days it was the top speedway in Ohio.
(Mrs. Baltes and her husband were clients of my father. She would keep an eye on me at the speedway and their dance hall. Because her husband performed in his own band she always had me dance with her.

Bernice was a classy lady and enjoyed tending to the landscape, especially her flowers. Bernice, and her husband, Earl, started Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, where she managed the concessions for nearly 50 years and operated the Eldora Ballroom. She loved auto racing and the racing fans. She was named "Women of the Year" by U.S.A.C race organization. Bernice had a love for music, especially Big Band. She was a lady of faith and an active member of St. Bernard Catholic Church in Burkettsville, where she was a part of the St. Bernard Lady's Guild.

D). The Dance Halls! Crystal Ball, Frenchtown, Ohio (10 miles north of Greenville). Eldora Speedway Dance Hall. Dirty John’s Triangle Bar and Dance Hall. (2 miles west of Greenville). Fairlawn Tavern, dining and dinner music. (Greenville). Now all gone. Television and computers destroyed life in the dance halls and the way it was in the 30's, 40's and early 50's.