Maj. Gen Ambrose E. Burnside VS Clement L. Vallandigham

Click to enlarge.. After Burnside's troops arrested Vallandighham and roughly hauled him to Cincinnati to stand trial in a military court he was asked to enter a plea for the charges against him. Vallandigham said: 'This is a military tribunal. I do not recognize this court's authority to try me!"

Another interesting aspect of this story is Clement Vallandigham's accidental death at the Golden Lamb in Lebanon, Ohio.
  John Zimkus historian at the Warren County Historical Society and author of Historical Footnotes of Lebanon, Ohio wrote a colorful account how Vallandigham died. While representing a defendant in a murder case, Vallandigham enacted his view of what occured at the crime scene. He attempted to prove the murdered man actually shot himself while pulling a pistol out of his pants pocket. Thinking that a pistol he was using as a prop was unloaded, Vallandigham pointed it at himself and pulled the trigger. The gun went off, and Vallandigham was mortally wounded.
Clement Laird Vallandigham was buried at Woodland Cemetery in Dayton, Ohio.

Paul Lawrence Dunbar

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  Paul Laurence Dunbar was an American poet, novelist, and playwright born in Dayton, Ohio in 1872. Dunbar began to write stories and verse when still a child. He was the only African-American student at Dayton’s Central High School and became president the literary society, edited the school newspaper, and member of the debate club. Dunbar was also a classmate and lifelong friend of Orville Wright. Dunbar often helped Orville with literature assignments, while Orville helped Dunbar through math classes.

  During the years the Wrights were involved in the publishing business, Dunbar edited the Wright’s newspapers, and with their help, went on to publish a book of poetry called Oak and Ivy that received national attention.

  In later years, Dunbar went on to write novels and lyrics for In Dahomey the first musical comedy written and performed entirely by African Americans. It was produced on Broadway and successfully toured England and the United States for four years.

  Tragically, in 1900 he was diagnosed with tuberculosis, then often fatal, and was advised by his doctors to drink whisky to alleviate his symptoms. Depression and declining health drove him to dependence on alcohol, and further damaged his health. He died alone and penniless in Dayton on February 6^th, 1906.

  Upon hearing the sad news, the Wrights stepped in to pay for the funeral and make the arrangements for his final resting place. Orville and Wilbur wanted Dunbar to be buried in the same section as Wright family plot but was politely told that Woodlawn Cemetery didn’t allow ‘the colored’ to be buried next to white folks.

  At the time, congress and the ‘monument builders’ of Washington had appropriated funds and had grand plans to build a great monument and tomb for the Wright family, a place of honor befitting the founders of modern aviation.  

  Orville and Wilbur told Woodlawn officials that if that if Dunbar couldn’t be interred in their section, they would move the family plot to Washington, DC. Woodlawn quickly relented when faced with the prospect of losing their celebrities.

   Today, there is no grand mausoleum and monument to the Wrights at Woodlawn. The Wrights’ family plot is hard to find because it is marked only with a modest headstone flanked with short flag poles and small markers on the ground for each member of the Wright family, and nearby; the final resting place of Paul Lawrence Dunbar.

Charles F. Kettering and Grand Theft Auto...

 Kettering was born in Loudenville, Ohio in 1876. He started life as a teacher, even though he had to quit school twice because of poor eyesight. He finally finished his degree in electrical engineering when he was 28.

 In 1909, while working for N.C.R, Charles F. Kettering partnered with electrical engineer Edward Andrew Deeds in his families barn, and invented the world’s first self-starting system for cars. Deeds in turn, showed the self-starting system to Henry Leland, the president of Cadillac Motors who immediately ordered 8,000 starting systems to be installed on his Cadillacs.

  It didn’t seem to matter much to Kettering that  he didn’t actually have the machinery, people, or facilities to complete the order. Kettering and Deeds hadn’t even named the company at that time. This is how Dayton Engineering Laboratories (DELCO) was born. DELCO boomed with the demand for starters, and within two years employed 1,500 people.

     Back in those days General Motors manufactured their cars with slow drying oil based paint that took six to eight hours to dry to the touch. The paint was hand brushed over a primer, and then the cars were left outside for thirty days to allow the paint to cure and harden to a tough, durable finish. Then the cars were brought back in to be buffed for a deep, lustrous shine. This process caused many delays in production, sometimes stopping the assembly line altogether because there simply was not enough room on the premises to park the cars to allow the paint to cure outside.

   Kettering saw this as an opportunity, and began to work with DuPont Paint Company to develop a new automotive finish that he offered to General Motors. He announced his paint would dry to touch in twenty minutes, and didn’t need to be buffed to produce a glossy new car finish.

  DuPont’s leading chemist was unconvinced and said:

  “Not possible Kettering, our people have tried it already. Just can’t be done!” he stated emphatically.

   Undaunted, Kettering asked him to have lunch at his expense; so he could explain the chemical properties of his new product. The executive quickly accepted the offer, knowing Kettering was a legendary cheapskate.

   Over lunch Kettering patiently explained his revolutionary automotive paint theory; and massive production cost benefits to GM's production, but the man was unconvinced and told him so. He tersely thanked Kettering for the meal and left.

   Kettering loitered for a while in the restaurant, and unhurriedly paid the bill as the G.M. executive returned in a panic. He shouted “call the Police my car has been stolen!”

  Kettering followed him back out to the restaurant parking lot and pointed to a car parked in his original spot.

   “Why, there it is!”

   “No” the manager said, “It looks like mine, but my car isn’t that color.”

  “It is now.” Kettering said slowly.

  In truth, Kettering’s staff had stolen the chemists’ car, and then completely repainted it and returned it to its original spot. Bone dry and gleaming in the afternoon sun. A deal with Kettering’s fast dry lacquer paint, for all of G.M’s Automotive Division, was soon signed.