A Little piece of Paradise… College Hill, Ohio - SELFCRAFT

School.John R. Davey built the home that was later known as “Oakwood.” The grounds were once part of theexperimental farm of Farmers’ College. The dark red brick Italianate style house was built in 1868, andwas designed by Samuel Hannaford. Davey was the president of Wilson, Hinkle & Company, and builthis new bride, Martha Gibson, this mansion. They had four children. John died in 1907 and is buried inSpring Grove Cemetery.The house was described in Kenny’s book, Illustrated Guide to Cincinnati (1875) as:...on the left,at the corner of Laurel Avenue, the fine residence and exquisitely cultivated grounds of John R. Davey, ofthe firm of Wilson, Hinkle and Company, the great school-book publishers. These grounds are possiblythe most beautiful in the country. The grapery is two hundred and fifty feet in length. The greenhouse isfilled with rare exotics, including four varieties of banana trees. On the left of the house is a beautiful lakefilled with water fowl. More than a mile of gravel walks, with rich flower-beds on the borders, windthrough the grounds.At one time a lake existed in front of Oakwood which extended to today’s Larch Avenue and thegardens in back of the house grew to Llanfair Avenue. About three dozen houses now stand on what wasDavey’s seven acres.The American Book Company was founded by Wintrop B. Smith. Obed J. Wilson (of Clifton andCollege Hill) was the principal of the 12th district school, a position he resigned from in 1853 due tofailing sight. He approached Mr. Smith for a job and did so well that when Smith retired, the firm wasrenamed as Sargent, Wilson & Hinkle. Sargent retired in 1868 and the firm was then called Wilson,Hinkle & Company. Nearly a decade (1877) later, the firm’s name was changed to Van Antwerp, Bragg& Company. In 1890 the name was again changed - it became the American Book Company. Theypublished McGuffey’s 21 Eclectic Education Series and printed all the text books used in the Cincinnatipublic school system, as well as many other schools across the country.Dr. Philip Van Ness Myers was the last owner of the property and it became the residence of severalof the unmarried teachers in the College Hill schools (about 1907). Two of the boarders were Miss Gatchand Miss Brown. The house was demolished in 1968. Over the years the land was subdivided and LarchAvenue and adjoining streets were built from this plat. Linden Avenue, where the home stood, is slightlycurved because a huge oak tree was paved around when the street was laid. The tree was a landmark andstood until 1985 when it was removed due to a lightening strike. The house was torn down in 1969 tomake room for an apartment building.A descendant, Alice Davey Ante, wrote for us her memories: “Approximately 1908, my Father(Charles Gibson McKinney, grandson of John R. Davey through his daughter, Alice.) inherited the lovelycherry dining-room set from Oakwood. It was used in my family until 1952 when I married and the setcame to me...where it is still in use. Dad remembered that the table could be extended to seat 24 at aformal dinner. If that table could talk, it would certainly have plenty to say about the family gatherings,the birthday celebrations, the bridge parties, the home-work sessions, the holiday observances and thescars it still bears from our vigorous ping-pong games. The marble-topped dresser has beautiful handcarved doors below and three beveled mirrors above. The two host chairs and the side chairs have thesame carving on the backs. According to Dad, in great grand Dad’s time, silver and cut glass vases stoodon either end ofthe dresser and were filled daily with long-stemmed red roses from the greenhouse. Between these stood a21 William Holmes McGuffey (1800-1873) was a Presbyterian minister and professor of ancient languages at Miami University. Hewas approached in 1833 by the Cincinnati publishing firm of Truman & Smith to write a series of readers for grade school students that, inaddition to learning to read and spell, would also promote good manners, a sense of duty and faith. These readers covered a broad range ofsubjects from zoology, botany, and moral philosophy to history. McGuffey lived at Oxford for the three years it took him to write the four bookEclectic Readers series, for which he was paid one thousand dollars. His brother, Alexander Hamilton McGuffey, a lawyer, wrote an additionalreader. Used in schools for decades, the books sold over 122 million copies and are still available today. The McGuffey home located on theOxford, Ohio, Miami University campus and is used as a museum.181