Governor Cox

While investigating collections to see if they contain material about the 1913 flood, I came across a file in the James M. Cox collection containing a bill from the 1915 Ohio General Assembly, that sought “An act to make building and loan associations organized under the laws of the state of Ohio and located in those portions of the state of Ohio affected by the floods of 1913, depositories of state funds for a period not to exceed two years.” Cox thought this was important to help repair the homes and to clean up property to ensure public safety.

So I started looking through more folders, and I found a letter signed by HRM, where he nominated two men from the Dayton area to honor for their bravery during the flood. One man named Thomas Green was a wire chief for the Dayton area and had acquired boats from Zanesville to aid in the rescue of hundreds of people.   

In other folders, there were Western Union telegraphs to Cox about fund raising for flood prevention. The goal was to raise $2 million dollars, which they met and exceeded. According to the inflation calculator, in 2011 that would be equal to $44 million dollars. There are more telegraphs and letters urging the governor to continue his efforts in trying to pass the conservancy district, not to wane in his conviction.

Interestingly, included in one of the folders was one person’s account of the flood. The detailed the noise of the rushing water and how cold the water was. He discussed that there were five people in the house with him, a woman, two boys, and two men. With water rising, they rushed to move what furniture they could to the second floor of their farmhouse. They were rescued from their home by boat when the water level had risen halfway through the second floor