Description: Reverse reads: "GRANT MEMORIAL CHURCH Grant Memorial Church of native rubble stone is of a design in keeping with the rugged character in whose memory it was dedicated. It was constructed by the Methodist Episcopal Congregation in Point Pleasant. Photo by W.P.A. Photographer, Federal Project #1 (Writers')" View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B02F12_010_1
Subjects: Grant, Ulysses S. (Ulysses Simpson), 1822-1885--Commemoration; Methodist Episcopal Church.
Places: Point Pleasant (Ohio); Monroe Township (Ohio); Clermont County (Ohio)
 

Description: The reverse side of this photo has three pieces of paper attached. They read: "District #3 Monroe County July--1939 Monroe county's handsomest rural school building is that serving Wayne Township, which was completed last year as a WPA project. This photo was taken after it had seen service during one school year." "Ident. - B-4 to Illinois Natioinal Picture Book 1/9/41 Location - Monroe County, Ohio Credit - Information Unit WPA in Ohio Caption - Rural School Built by WPA" "Ohio State Guide Education or The Schools Rural School built by the WPA, Monroe County Photograph by courtesy of Work Projects Administration" This school still stands. It seems to be in use, although this could not be confirmed. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B12F07_005_001
Subjects: Schools--Ohio; School buildings--Ohio; United States. Works Progress Administration of Ohio
Places: Wayne Township (Ohio); Monroe County (Ohio)
 

Description: Before the Ohio Penitentiary’s closing in 1979, the execution chamber within the facility housed and displayed photographs of many of the prisoners sentenced to death throughout the state’s history. This portrait of Henry Loudermilk is one of them. Loudermilk was the leader and organizer of a small, ragtag gang of Columbus residents. He was the mastermind behind the robbery and murder of John M. Kidney, a 75-year-old farmer and blacksmith from Monroe Township. He coordinated this violent crime with the intention of stealing roughly $60,000, which was rumored to be hidden somewhere on Kidney’s property. On December 10, 1931 Loudermilk’s gang invaded Kidney’s home where they viciously beat and tortured the residents inside, Kidney himself and his elderly sister, Sarah. They scoured the house in search of the hidden money but were only able to find $446, a small fraction of the sum they had originally anticipated. Disappointed, the assailants fled the crime scene, leaving the Kidney siblings to die. The Kidneys were later discovered and assisted by a visiting neighbor. However, John’s injuries were too severe and he died while in the care of his neighbor and the county sheriff. Sarah, on the other hand, was eventually able to recover. And she later testified against her attackers in court. Loudermilk was the second person involved in Kidney’s murder to be executed. The caption at the bottom of his photograph reads, “No. 166, Henry Loudermilk of Pickaway County, Electrocuted June 3rd, 1932, for the murder of John Kidney of Pickaway County, Ohio.” Loudermilk was married with six children and worked as an interior decorator in Columbus before his conviction and subsequent execution. He was electrocuted at the age of 47. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL08225
Subjects: Ohio History--State and Local Government--Law; Ohio History--State and Local Government--Corrections; Capital punishment--Ohio--History; Electrocution; Death row; Ohio Penitentiary (Columbus, Ohio)
Places: Pickaway County (Ohio); Columbus (Ohio)
 

Description: Before the closing of the Ohio Penitentiary in 1979, the execution chamber within the facility housed and displayed photographs of many of the prisoners sentenced to death throughout the state’s history. This portrait of Arthur Little is one of them. Little, a World War I veteran, was one of the members of a small, ragtag gang of Columbus residents led by Henry Loudermilk. Desperate for money after recently being laid off from his job, Little conspired with his fellow gang members to rob $60,000 from John M. Kidney, an elderly farmer from Monroe Township in Pickaway County. The gang had heard rumors that this vast sum of money was hidden somewhere on Kidney’s property. So on December 10, 1931 they invaded Kidney’s home where they beat and tortured the residents inside: Kidney himself and his infirm sister, Sarah. They then scoured the house in search of the hidden money but were only able to find $446, a small fraction of the sum they had originally anticipated. Disappointed, the assailants fled the crime scene, leaving the Kidney siblings to die. The victims were later discovered and assisted by a visiting neighbor. However, John’s injuries were fatal and he died while in the care of the county sheriff. Sarah, on the other hand, was eventually able to recover. And she later testified against her attackers in court. Little fled from Ohio after learning that John Kidney had died from his injuries. He first went to Indiana and then to North Carolina where he was eventually captured. Little was the fourth and final member of the gang to be executed. The caption at the bottom of his photograph reads, “No. 168, Arthur Little of Pickaway County, Electrocuted July 22, 1932, for the murder of John Kidney of Pickaway County, Ohio.” He was electrocuted at the age of 39. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL08227
Subjects: Ohio History--State and Local Government--Law; Ohio History--State and Local Government--Corrections; Capital punishment--Ohio--History; Electrocution; Death row; Ohio Penitentiary (Columbus, Ohio)
Places: Pickaway County (Ohio); Columbus (Ohio)
 

Description: Before the Ohio Penitentiary’s closing in 1979, the execution chamber within the facility housed and displayed photographs of many of the prisoners sentenced to death throughout the state’s history. This portrait of Lacey Adams is one of them. Adams was a member of a motley gang of Columbus residents led by an interior decorator named Henry Loudermilk. Adams was Loudermilk’s first recruit and was responsible for the subsequent recruitment of new gang members. He even hosted meetings at his house where the gang conspired and planned out future crimes. Adams, himself, was not a typical gangster. He was a father and had previously been a worker at his church. It was not until his wife’s recent death that he started involving himself in criminal activities. On December 10, 1931, Adams participated in the violent robbery and beating of an elderly farmer and blacksmith named John Kidney and his sister, Sarah. Adams and his fellow gang members entered Kidney’s home in Monroe Township with the intention of stealing a vast sum of $60,000 that was rumored to be hidden inside. In actuality the assailants were only able to find $446. Disappointed, they fled the crime scene, leaving the Kidney siblings completely incapacitated by their injuries. The Kidneys were later discovered by a visiting neighbor and were aided by the county sheriff. However, John’s injuries were fatal and he died while being assisted by the sheriff and his deputy. Sarah, on the other hand, eventually recovered and testified against her attackers in court. Lacey Adams was the third person involved in the Kidney murder to be executed. The caption at the bottom of his photograph reads, “No. 167, Lacey Adams of Pickaway County, electrocuted June 10th, 1932, for the murder of John Kidney of Pickaway County, Ohio.” View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL08226
Subjects: Ohio History--State and Local Government--Law; Ohio History--State and Local Government--Corrections; Capital punishment--Ohio--History; Electrocution; Death row; Ohio Penitentiary (Columbus, Ohio)
 

Description: Before the Ohio Penitentiary’s closing in 1979, the execution chamber within the facility housed and displayed photographs of many of the prisoners sentenced to death throughout the state’s history. This portrait of Walker Brown of Hanford Village, Columbus is one of them. Brown was the youngest member of a gang led by another Columbus resident, Henry Loudermilk. On December 10, 1931 Loudermilk’s gang invaded the home of John and Sarah Kidney in Monroe Township with the intent of stealing roughly $60,000 that was rumored to be hidden within. In actuality, the robbers were only able to find $446. John Kidney, an elderly farmer and blacksmith, age 75, was violently beaten and killed by the assailants. Sarah, his invalid sister, age 70, was beaten and tortured. Although there were multiple men involved in this violent crime, Brown was identified by each of the accomplices as the one responsible for the actual murder of John Kidney. However, Brown continually denied being involved. He was the first person in the group to be executed for Kidney’s murder. The caption at the bottom of the photograph reads, “Walker Brown, of Pickaway County, electrocuted June 3rd, 1932, for the murder of John Kidney of Pickaway County, Ohio.” Brown was executed at the age of 24. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL08224
Subjects: Ohio History--State and Local Government--Corrections; Ohio History--State and Local Government--Law; Ohio History--State and Local Government--Corrections; Capital punishment--Ohio--History; Electrocution; Death row; Ohio Penitentiary (Columbus, Ohio)
Places: Pickaway County (Ohio); Columbus (Ohio)