BATAVIA, Ohio — The Clermont County Historical Society has uncovered a collection of leather-bound, 19th- and 20th-century Batavia Village record books since moving its headquarters into the village’s Armory building, and it will put the newly rediscovered volumes on public display for the first time later this month.
The nonprofit, which has collected and preserved county historical records since 1958, relocated into the Armory at 65 N. Second St. earlier this year, according to a post from the society. Sorting through decades of donated material at the new location turned up bound ledgers, village council meeting minutes and school rosters dating from the late 1800s through the last century, many bound in hand-tooled leather and suede and stamped in gilt, the society said.
“This is your history,” Kelly Wright, the society’s president and curator, said in a post announcing the discovery. Many of the names recorded in the volumes still belong to families living in Batavia today, according to the society.
One page from the volumes, shared by the society, records the Batavia Village Council’s regular meeting on Dec. 6, 1897, held under Mayor Samuel H. Sprague with council members J.L. Brown, W.F. Gomien, Frank Knauer and P.M. Rapp present. The handwritten minutes list that meeting’s approved bills, including 50 cents paid to village marshal John Young for burying a dog, $90 for two months of Young’s salary and payments for hauling water to fight a fire at the Clermont House.
The society will open the Armory to the public for “A Call to Armory,” a free open house from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 20. Visitors will be able to look through the historic volumes to search for their own family history, and the event will include refreshments and live music, according to the society.
The Armory building the society now calls home also houses Village of Batavia offices, which keep regular hours Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., according to signage at the building’s entrance.
The information contained in this story was obtained from the Clermont County Historical Society.