Dustin K. Lowe's Blog

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For 51 years, Joseph Embrey had been engaged in the jewelry business in Richwood, Ohio. His father was a jeweler, and all of the sons followed the same trade. Mr. Embrey had been located in the same building in Richwood for the past twenty-six years. He had the honor of conducting one of the oldest continuous businesses in Richwood.

Joseph Embrey was the son of Lewis and Margaret (Bell) Embrey and was born in East Liberty, Ohio on July 1, 1855. His father was a native of Virginia, and his mot...

Since the church in front of the cemetery is now for sale, I thought it would be prudent to offer a history of the lot. The first person to be buried in the cemetery was Jane Mary Brookins, daughter of J.P. Brookins. The story goes as follows:

“Jane Mary, the little daughter and only child of Dr. and Mrs. Brookins, was playing with her cousins, William and John Woods, and each had a fire. Jane Mary’s was burning well, but the boys could not get theirs to burn and asked to make them burn. She...

While Magnetic Springs was famous for it’s healing mineral water, Richwood was no stranger to these discoveries. Mineral water was thought to provide many benefits. By the 19th century, thermal resorts had become fashionable destinations for those who wished to bathe and enjoy the therapeutic benefits of mineral water. Many hoped to find miracle cures for their ailments.

The C.D. Sidle farm in Richwood was located slightly west of the fairgrounds. In 1899, the Richwood Oil, Gas, and Mineral C...

“On the 8th day of August, 1832, Thomas G. Plummer, a special deputy surveyor under the direction of Levi Phelps, surveyor of Union county, made the survey of the town site of Richwood, which as that time was in the midst of a dense wilderness. What date could be more appropriate for a Richwood Home Coming than the first week in August 1910, the seventy-eighth anniversary of our town?”

This article came from the Richwood Gazette on July 21, 1910. The thought was that the five hundred or so fa...

The Richwood Public Library as we know it was formed on January 26, 1915 with the organization of the first library board. However, you may not know that Richwood did in fact have an association library since 1882. On June 19, 1882, a meeting was called at the Methodist Episcopal Church to discuss the formation of a “library club.” A number of people met and the following minutes of the meeting were furnished by the secretary:

“The Richwood Library Association met to organize. A.J. Blake was ...

While Women’s Suffrage was a country-wide event, the effects of it were widely seen at the local level as well. The 19th Amendment was passed by Congress on June 4, 1919 and ratified on August 18, 1920. The amendment guaranteed the right to vote for women after decades of protest and agitation. And even then, it seemed like it came much later than it should’ve. The Suffrage Movement was discussed as early as 1848 with the first attempt to organize occurring in Seneca Falls, New York.  It was dec...

Richwood is no stranger to the Christian faith. Many different churches and denominations have appeared throughout the years. In fact, a certain reverend by the name of Barkdull complained in 1888 that Richwood had too many church denominations. At that time, Richwood had 8 various congregations; The M.E., M.P., Presbyterian, two Baptist congregations, two Disciple, and the Adventist. The Rev.’s idea was to united the various churches so that their would be greater unity.

Richwood and York T...

“On the 31st of this month occurs what is known as All Hallow Eve, or Halloween. Of all the quaint superstitions that have been handed down to us, there are none that have taken a deeper hold upon the popular imagination than the observance of this event. The leading belief in regard to the Halloween is that of all others, it is the time when spirits, both of the visible and invisible world walk abroad and can be invoked by human powers for the purpose of revealing the mysterious future, and spi...

The Richwood Gazette’s problems with Prohibition continued with an article on July 14, 1910, in which they accuse the Anti-Saloon League of not wanting to rid Columbus of their saloons. “If the Anti-Saloon League is so anxious to rid Ohio of the liquor traffic why not begin operations right at home? Directly under the noses of the officers of the League in Columbus, are about three hundred saloons. Why not clean them out first? They know full well these saloons are the source of supply for numer...