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  • Dr. S.R. Howard and the new ‘Skyscraper’

    Ladies and gentlemen, in last week’s blast from the past, the colloquy was on the time Hillsboro veterinary surgeon Dr. Samuel Rogers “S.R.” Howard saved three cows that had eaten dynamite in 1899. About a decade later, Doc Howard was credited for saving human lives when part of the oldest building in Hillsboro came tumbling down.
  • Dr. S.R. Howard and the cows that ate dynamite
    Well, there you have it, ladies and gentlemen, the cows that ate dynamite – and a crash course on how dynamite tastes and what it can do to humans and bovines.
  • Dr. S.R. Howard, the Hillsboro veterinary surgeon of yesteryear
    Ladies and gentlemen, when I was working at the Highland House Museum a while back, I happened to meet a gentleman whose relative was a veterinary surgeon and dentist here in Hillsboro back in the late 1800s and early 1900s. That afternoon, I learned about Samuel Rogers “S.R.” Howard, who opened a veterinary business in uptown Hillsboro.
  • Freemasonry in Highland County: The storm after the Centennial
    Ladies and gentlemen, in our last confabulation, the topic of conversation was of the Centennial Celebration of Highland Lodge No. 38 of Free and Accepted Masons, which was held Thursday and Friday, Oct. 4-5, 1917, not long after the Temple at the corner of North High Street and Beech Street in uptown Hillsboro had undergone a $30,000 makeover – which would equate to about $700,000 today.
  • Freemasonry in Highland County: Celebrating the Centennial in 1917
    The renovation was completed just in time for the Highland Lodge to hold its Centennial celebration on Thursday and Friday, Oct. 4-5, 1917. Speaking of celebrations, let’s mention one final time that there will be a 200th Reconsecration Ceremony on Saturday, May 4 from 9 a.m. until noon at the Temple. Any Mason who would like to attend the 200th Reconsecration Ceremony by the Grand Lodge of Ohio is welcome to attend. Now, let’s get back to 1917’s Centennial.
  • Freemasonry in Highland County: Renovating the Lodge
    Ladies and gentlemen, in our last confabulation, we spoke of how the Freemasons of Highland Lodge No. 38 erected a Temple in the 1870s that still stands at the corner of North High Street and Beech Street in uptown Hillsboro. However, the venerable edifice doesn’t look quite the same as it did back when it was first built.
  • Freemasonry in Highland County: Building the Lodge
    Ladies and gentlemen, as we examine 200 years of Freemasonry in Highland County, let’s take a look at the venerable Masonic Temple located on the corner of North High Street and Beech Street in uptown Hillsboro.
  • Freemasonry: Surviving the Anti-Masons
    Ladies and gentlemen, in our confabulation last week, we spoke of the first meeting of Highland Lodge No. 38 of Free and Accepted Masons in 1817 and left off with how the Lodge nearly folded due to the great Anti-Masonic agitation that rose up in America less than a decade after the Lodge received its charter 200 years ago.
  • Freemasonry in Highland County: The first meeting
    Ladies and gentlemen, as we mentioned earlier, the first meeting of Highland Lodge No. 38 of Free and Accepted Masons was held in Hillsboro in March of 1817 – March 3 of that year, to be exact.
  • Celebrating 200 years of Freemasonry in Highland County
    The first meeting of Highland Lodge No. 38 was held in Hillsboro on March 3, 1817. Yes, that was more than 200 years ago – the lodge received its dispensation in the 1817, but didn’t receive its charter until 1819, so it was decided at the state level that this year, 2019, would be the year the lodge would celebrate its bicentennial with a Reconsecration Ceremony by the Grand Lodge of Ohio.
  • The beginning of the C.S. Bell Co. in Hillsboro
    Our good friend and Highland County Historical Society founding member Bob Hodson just this week provided me with some more fascinating information about the manufacturing company. Mr. Hodson at one time was a minority partner of the C.S. Bell Co. and shared some background on the company and C.S. Bell himself that I would like to share with you.
  • Getting the C.S. Bell Co. bell out of the belfry
    Linda hasn’t been the only one who has reached out with great information on the C.S. Bell Co. and the bells the company produced for generations. Quite a few have shared some really fascinating odds and ends on the company that was a mainstay in Highland County, and we’ll share those particulars in the very near future (and if you have any stories, please drop me a line), but let’s pause for now, and we’ll continue next week.
  • Getting the C.S. Bell Co. bell in the belfry
    Ladies and gentlemen, there is still a C.S. Bell Co. in existence as we’ve mentioned in an earlier confabulation, but the company that’s no longer based in Hillsboro and is now located in Tiffin, Ohio no longer manufactures bells and focuses instead on milling and grinding, conveyors, crushers and recycling. However, there are still C.S. Bell Co. bells that were made right here in Hillsboro all over the world – and even all over the Internet.
  • A farm is not a farm without a C.S. Bell Co. bell
    Since last week’s offering, I have become the proud owner of my very own C.S. Bell Co. farm bell. When we last spoke, our confabulation centered on how a church is incomplete without a bell – this according to a 125-year-old catalog distributed by the C.S. Bell Co. of Hillsboro in 1894.
  • C.S. Bell Co. bells still ring true
    Ladies and gentlemen, we’ve rung in another New Year, and on that note, let’s continue for a moment with our look back at the C.S. Bell Co., which was part of the Hillsboro landscape for multiple generations.
  • C.S. Bell Co. and ringing in the new year
    Ladies and gentlemen, don’t look now, but another year is about to reach its ineluctable conclusion. Yes, as the clock moves toward the midnight hour on Dec. 31, the year of our Lord 2018 will take its final bow while folks near and far ring in another New Year.
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