Today marks the anniversary of the surrender of Robert E. Lee's Confederate Army. (The entirety of the Confederate Army was made up of several smaller armies with Lee's being the largest. The others followed suit over the next 16 months.) When the fighting was over someone asked President Lincoln, "How did you keep Mexico from joining the Confederacy?" President Lincoln's answer was simple.

"Thomas Corwin."

Corwin was born in Kentucky, but grew up in Lebanon, Ohio. He served as a wagon boy in the War of 1812 (a nickname that would follow him. We have a piece of folk art of him with the same name) and would later establish a law practice with Durban Ward. 

Corwin went on to serve Ohio politically in the Ohio House of Representatives, the Governor of Ohio, and as a US Senator. Also known as the Great Orator, Corwin was said to be quite eloquent in his speeches and as "a born humorist" (according to peer, Benjamin Perley Poore). As a senator, he was being groomed for the Presidency but his outspoken stance opposing the Mexican-American War all but doomed his political career. Under the newly elected President Abraham Lincoln however, he was appointed Minister to Mexico due to his now strong relationship with the country's leadership developed from Corwin taking his believed in yet unpopular stance on the Senate floor despite the consequences to his political career.

Though the Confederacy courted Mexico several times throughout the Civil War, Mexico always refused due to their relationship with Corwin.

Take a walk, with​ one of our historians and explore Lebanon's haunted historic downtown and explore the darker side of this idyllic little community.

The ghost walk will travel from Harmon Museum, up Broadway, across Mulberry, down Cherry and then, back to Harmon Museum via South St. Tours take up to an hour and fifteen minutes.

​Tickets are selling spooky fast! Click here to reserve yours!

Sara Stegemoller | ​Development Committee 

With the end of 2024 so quickly approaching did you know, or forget, qualified charitable distributions (QCD) from a traditional IRA can be made to the Harmon Museum (Warren County Historical Society)? 
 
Yes, in fact it is quite easy.  The IRA trustee may make direct contributions to the Harmon Museum when the owner is age 70 1/2 or older.  A QCD may satisfy your required minimum distribution and may be excluded annually from your taxable income.  Making a QCD provides an opportunity to make a charitable contribution that you might otherwise not have been able to make and/or receive potential tax benefits.
 
The Harmon Museum has a process in place for you to control how your donations may be directed whether to the Endowment, music or educational programs or preservation projects.  Please consider us when planning yours and our future in preserving the legacy of Warren County.
 
However first, please consult your tax advisor and estate-planning attorney about your situation.

Our contact person for additional information is David Hopper, Vice President & Trust Officer at LCNB, (513) 932-1414 ext. 59108, dhopper@LCNB.com

Dr. Randy Overbeck is an award-winning educator, author and speaker. As an educator, he served children for more than three decades and has turned this experience into captivating fiction, authoring the bestselling series, the Haunted Shores Mysteries, winner of nine national awards. Last year, the Wild Rose Press released his newest work, an atmospheric amateur sleuth mystery, CRUEL LESSONS, which has captured two more national awards including mystery of the year. He hosts the popular podcast, “Great Stories about Great Storytellers,” which reveals the unusual and sometimes strange backstories of famous authors, directors and poets. He is also a speaker in much demand, sharing his multi-media presentations about ghosts and the world of writing with audiences all over the U.S. As a member of the Mystery Writers of America, Dr. Overbeck is an active member of the literary community, contributing to a writers’ critique group, serving as a mentor to emerging writers and participating in writing conferences. When he’s not researching or writing his next thriller or historical suspense or sharing one of his programs, he’s spending time with his incredible family of wife, three children (and their spouses) and seven wonderful grandchildren.

The Armstrong Gallery of Flight is now a part of the Ohio Aviation trail. When visiting the Armstrong Gallery of Flight, one of the first things guests notice is the mural that dominates the north wall.  Created by Carol Ann Newsome, it depicts early Warren County aviators Clifford Harmon and Lincoln Beachey around 1909.

Lebanon residents William and Clifford Harmon were fourth cousins to the Wright Brothers.  Clifford achieved a number of aviation firsts, including being the first person to fly across Long Island Sound and the first aviator to carry a female passenger (his wife).  In 1910, he became the sixth person in the U.S. to receive a pilot’s license.  In 1926, Clifford sponsored the Harmon Trophy for outstanding aviators, aviatrix, and aeronauts (balloons or dirigibles).  In 1969, a category for astronauts was added.  Neil Armstrong received the prestigious award.

Daredevil, stunt pilot and “America’s greatest aerial exhibitionist”, Lincoln Beachy, also grew up in Lebanon, Ohio.  In 1900, when Beachy was 13, like the Wright Brothers, Lincoln and his brother Hillary opened a bicycle shop.  Beachy earned his pilot’s license when he was 24; he was the 26th person to do so.  He virtually invented aerobatics and was known as “The Man Who Owns the Sky.”  Beachy often teamed up with race car driver, Barney Oldfield, and staged races. The two thrilled audiences around the country as Beachey’s bi-plane roared around a track in hot pursuit of Oldfield in his car.  In one year alone, an estimated 17 million people, one-sixth of the U.S. population, saw Lincoln Beachey fly.

In Warren County, new airports came from an unexpected source: farmers.  Farmers nationwide saw the airplane as a new farm implement necessary to farm operations.  Landings strips began to appear on farms nationwide.  Aided by the Flying Farmers Association, local farmers changed the face of Warren County. 
 

Warren County Airport/John Lane Field began as a grass strip. John, an avid pilot, had courted his wife, Joann by flying her to a pasture near her home in Waynesville.  After the two were married, they purchased a farm near Lebanon.  They created an airstrip by mowing a north-south runway between their fields.  As members of the Flying Farmers Association, the Lanes welcomed pilots from all over the United States to Warren County.  In 1964, Ohio Governor James Rhodes decreed that there should be a paved runway in every county in the state.  John Lane worked with Warren County officials to pave and light his airstrip.

A second grass airstrip, the Red Stewart Airfield, was started in the 1950s.  Red Stewart would fly his Piper Cub to work and land in the parking lot of Frigidaire Appliance factory in Dayton, Ohio.  Eventually, when the Frigidaire plant manager told Stewart to stop flying his plane to work, Stewart quit his job and created an airfield on a 108-acre farm two-miles south of Waynesville, Ohio.  It continues operations under the guidance of fourth generation family members.

In 1960, a third farm airstrip was created south of Lebanon, Ohio.  Brownies Airport, named after one of its owners, hosted a skydiving club and offered flying lessons.

On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong, engineer, fighter pilot, test pilot, and Gemini and Apollo astronaut, stepped onto the moon’s surface.  Armstrong’s moon walk lasted 2 hours and 13 minutes.  Upon his return to earth, Armstrong stayed with NASA until 1971.  Then he joined the faculty at the University of Cincinnati, School of Engineering and moved to Warren County.  For 23 years, Warren County’s most famous resident, Neil Armstrong, and his wife, Jan, lived and raised their family on a farm less than two miles from downtown Lebanon.  He was active in the community, serving on several boards, including the YMCA and United Way.  Upon his passing, the Harmon Museum received many items from his estate including a gold plated frisbee from Whamo and a bronze bust of Armstrong.