Katie Wright’s Miami City Ramble

In December of 1891 Katharine Wright wrote a article titled, Ramble in Miami City, for the High School Times, the school newspaper of Central High School in Dayton.

In her article Katharine writes about what she saw as she traveled down Eaton Pike and then down Third Street into Dayton. She first describes an old school building that had been recently renovated becoming a place where children could be found, " treading the flowery path to knowledge". She then describes the campus of the Union Biblical Seminary which she says is called the “preacher factory”. She said it is a beautiful building that rose above others near the city and that it was the first large building seen when coming in on the train from the west. Katharine next described a large group of people crowding around a building. She heard people saying things about a kangaroo and Australia but she didn't have enough money to go see the spectacle. She recounts that she later learned that is was not a kangaroo but a new voting machine that had got people so worked up.

Katharine spends the rest of her article discussing a house on Summit Street which she had passed; it was considered by many citizens to be haunted.  She said that a Mr. Ellis had once owned the house but ran it financial difficulty and he was forced to sell. In years after other people bought the property but faced similar situations. It then sat for years disused while the rumor of the house being haunted grew. When a young man went into the house to see if it was haunted he heard weird noises and something touched him. He ran away and several pistol shots were heard. It was said that those who looked in on the house later saw something moving about on three legs and the ghost was not heard from again.

While her story is brief it can viewed as similar to a diary entry or a letter. It provides a very personal, individual view of Katharine and her thoughts. It is neat to be placed into her shoes and to imagine traveling into Dayton back in the 1890's. The experiences she has are quite unusual and while they may be played up in the  article, they still represent Dayton and what was happening on that day in 1891.

MS-1 Box 6 File 10, Special Collections and Archives Wright State University Libraries