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Information contributed by Jane Spiess
1898 |
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May, 1909
The Ten Dayton Boys at the Wright Brothers Homecoming Celebration. |
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The Annual Club of Ten Dayton Boys continued until 1951 when Edgar W. Ellis,
the last survivor, died. Wilbur Wright was the first in the club to die, Reuchlin Wright the second, Charles W.
Olinger the third, William Andrews the fourth, Joseph Boyd the fifth,
Wilbur E. Landis (2nd from left above) the sixth,
Frank J. Gilbert the seventh, and Lorin Wright
the eighth. Irvin G. Koogle resigned his membership.
Annual Banquets of the Dayton Boys Third Annual Banquet of the Annual Club of T. D. B. : program held at the residence of Mr. Frank J. Gilbert, Nov. 3rd, l888. Fourth Annual Banquet of the Annual Club of T. D. B. : program held at the residence of Mr. Wilbur E. Landis, Oct. 31, l889. Fifth Annual Banquet of the Annual Club of T. D. B. : program held at the residence of Lorin and Wilbur Wright, Nov. 1, l890. Sixth Annual Banquet of the Annual Club of T. D. B. : program held at the residence of Mr. Chas. W. Olinger, Oct. 31, l891. Twelfth Annual Banquet of the Annual Club of T. D. B. : program held at the residence of Mr. Wilbur E. Landis, Dec. 3, l898 Excerpt from a book about the Wrights: Wilbur also became a member of The Annual Club of Ten Dayton Boys, which was a social club. It was based on the idea of a "last man" club where members met annually and the last member alive usually consumed a bottle of an alcoholic beverage, purchased when the club formed, as tribute to the other members. Edgar W. Ellis conceived of the club in the summer of 1886 when his friend Joseph Boyd informed him that he intended to move to Denver, Colorado, in the near future. Both thinking the club was a good idea, chose a third member, then those three chose a fourth member. This pattern continued until the membership numbered ten. The final roster of club members included Wilbur, his brothers Lorin and Reuchlin, Edgar Ellis, Joseph Boyd, William Andrews, Charles W. Ollinger, Irvin G. Koogle, Wilbur E. Landis, and Frank J. Gilbert. [18] The first meeting of The Annual Club of Ten Dayton Boys occurred on October 9, 1886, at Reuchlin's home at 1533 West Second Street. At this meeting the club was officially formed and a constitution adopted. [19] The stated purpose of the organization was "to preserve a closer relation of friendship existing between its members, and to keep them posted as to the future lives of their fellow members." The members agreed that annual meetings, consisting of banquets, would be the second Saturday in October, and each member needed to submit a written personal report updating the other members of his life in the last year. [20] The minutes for each annual meeting included a status report of each member. Wilbur's statement in the minutes from the first meeting in 1886 included the fact that he worked as a clerk in J.I. Hoffman's grocery located at the southeast corner of Sixth and Brown Streets. Reuchlin lived at 1533 West Second Street and worked as a clerk at E. Wright and Son's lumber yard and Lorin, who lived at 7 Hawthorne Street, was a bookkeeper at Farmer's Friend Manufacturing Company. [21] Wilbur E. Landis (1862-1934) is mentioned in an article which appeared in The Cincinnati Enquirer on September 20, 1945, page 6, column 1, entitled "Last Survivor Recalls Days Of 'Ten Dayton Boys' Club As Wrights Sought To Fly." It tells the story of how Edgar W. Ellis, in 1886, suggested the idea of a "last man" organization to several friends, among them Loren, Reuchlin and Wilbur Wright. Ironically, of the ten members, Mr. Ellis himself turned out to be the last one, passing away in 1951. This paragraph contributed by Bill Myers |
