A Dayton Family Built Around Moving What Others Could Not
For generations, the Muth name has been connected with Dayton, Ohio, and with a very particular kind of work: moving, lifting, setting, and rigging the heavy and difficult things that helped build the city.
Read a letter from Jerry Muth, or listen to it as a podcast below:
Peter Paul Muth was born November 7, 1841, at Roedelmaier Ueb
Bad Neustadt, Germany, and baptised at the Catholic Church of
St. Aeguidius (Fr. Jos. Stock, Paster) at 8741.
Peter’s parents were: Kilian Muth— a Barrel Maker
Margarethe Reiher — a Farmer’s daughter.
NOTE: The above information was given me by: Col. Charles A.
Muth, 2741 Orchard Avenue, Huntington, W. Va., 25704, who visited
the birthplace of Peter in 1972, and saw the Church records. At
the time he met a Mr. Alban Muth, who was working at the Church.
Col. Muth, a retired Airforce man has made a hobby of tracing
the Muth Family. His “FIRST GENEALOGICAL REPORT of the MUTH FAM-
ILY” which reaches back to a Peter Muth, born in 1724 at Doll-
bach, Germany, is in my Muth Ancestry File. I don’t know when
or how he came to the U.S.A.
Peter P. married Sophia15, 1866, at Day- Baumstarch September
ton, Ohio. (Recorded in Montgomery County, Book G, page 555,
#4454). They lived in Richmond, Indiana, until they moved to
Dayton, Ohio around 1875. Sophia’s father was a music teacher
and played the Organs and directed the Choirs at Emmanuel and
Holy Trinity Churches.
Peter P. worked for the C & O Railroad and became “Track Super-
intendent.” The Railroad Industry was expanding and his job re-
quired that he move freight houses and depots to make room for
more Railroad Trackage. His experience in this field led him
to enter the house-moving business, which he started in Richmond,
Indiana, with a wheel barrow full of tools that he “borrowed”
from the C & 0 Railroad. However, the story goes that a Mr. I.
B. Miller, President of the Railroad, gave him a horse and wagon
to start business in 1871.
I think it was his cousin, Mr. Christian Luehrs, a German imi-
grant tailor, who was well known and liked in Dayton, who in-
duced Peter to move to Dayton with his family. He lived at the
North East corner of Richard and High Streets where he started
in business. (Note: Richard St. has since been renamed Josie St.)
Peter and Sophia Muth’s family included: Flora, Eugene, Jerome C.,
Charles, Walter F., Leo A, and John Howard. Everybody worked
for the house moving business known as Peter Muth and Sons.
The boys started helping about age 12. Flora did the book-keeр-
ing and made the lunches they carried to the job.
High School was in its infancy. Only Walter, Leo and J. Howard finished grade school. There were no child-labor laws, no unions,
no automobiles, no telephones and very little electricity. The
only source of power was steam, gas, horse and man. The only
fuel was gas (natural and artificial) coal, wood, alcohol and
coal-oil. Peter P. was, I heard, a super-strict German, discip-
linarian who ruled the household with a hickory stick or a buggy
whip. He was known to chase the boys all around the block, wav-
ing a wagon standard when they did something bad. Fortunately,
he never caught them.
I cherish the memory of the few occasions when my Father and
Uncles would get together and recount some of the rugged exper-
iences they had during their boyhood days.
In 1901 Peter built the “Old Home” at 121 LaBelle St., and the
brick barn next to it. In the rear of the home was the two-
story frame horse barn, with the hay loft on the second floor.
Stalls for eight horses were on the ground floor with the manure
bin at the rear alley.
As a kid around five or six years old, I always enjoyed watch-
ing the feeding and harnessing of the horses. I wore long,
blond hair which almost reached my shoulders. One time one of
the horses started nibbling at my hair. I guess he thought it
was a hank of hay. We kids hada lot of fun playing in the hay
loft. Edna got a pony and cart for her eighteenth birthday.
Sometimes a horse would get loose and run away. I can still
see in my mind’s eye, my father and uncles running around the
neighborhood to catch a run-away horse. We also had a horse
and surrey for pleasure and business.
Someplace I hope there exists a Journal Entry Book which record-
ed all of the business history from about 1905. It contained
such entries as: the Serial Number of Pa’s watch; the price of a
load of hay or horse corn; the formula for making horse linement.,
the horse Doctor’s charges for treating the horses for such ail-
ments as collick, the sweats, the bloat, etc.; their charge for
moving the milkman’s barn; the breadman’s shit house; lifting
farmer Schultz’s cow out of the cistern; moving the Bakery’s
brick hearth oven while it was still hot, etc.etc. Mighty inter-
esting reading.
Peter P. Muth was also a carpenter, blacksmith and general
handyman. He built most of the tools, wagons and heavy house-
moving dolleys for the business. By 1906 he had built three two
story houses at 101 LaBelle St. and 718 and 722 McLain St. This
area is now referred to as “St. Ann’s Hill.” Most of the es
in the neighborhood were built between 1850 to 1900. Central
heating (furnaces) had not been developed as yet. The average
house contained a large kitchen (for cooking, eating and laun-
dry); a smaller dining room, a larger “sitting room”; then a
parlor in front. The parlor was usually kept closed-off all
winter except for special occasionslike Christmas, and that’s
where the Tree was placed. The whole house was heated by the
wood-burning stove and oven for cooking, baking and boiling water for bathing in a tub and washing clothes; and a big wood
or coal burning stove which was always moved into the sitting
room for the winter season. There were holes, with dampers,
built into the ceilings to allow some heat to escape to the
bedrooms upstairs. The larger homes built by the wealthy had
a fire place in nearly every room. Bath and toilet rooms were
not included in the original construction of the house, but
were added in later years by partitioning some small space in
the building. Each bedroom usually contained a “wash stand,”
with drawer space for towels, etc., and had a marble top on
which rested a hugh china wash bowl and water pitcher
Page #3
Up until around 1890, there were no underground sanitary sewers, either in the outlying areas. The houses that Peter built were the first and only ones in the neighborhood that
were wired for electricity, but they were also plumbed for gas
lighting, because electric power was not very dependable. They
also had full basements with coal fired furnaces for hot water heating.
A large space was partitioned off for coal storage.
After Peter’s wife died in 190l, he moved to the 101 LaBelle St
home, where he lived with Flora and her two daughters, Gertrude
(Weckesser) and Leona Heuman (unmarried). Flora was widowed
and she kept house for Peter and later became horribly crippled
with rhuematism.
In the area where Highway 35 now crosses Wayne Ave, there was a
market house. Grandfather Zahn owned a Shoe Store there on
Wayne Avenue. Uncle Obe Hall owned a Haberdasherie Store on
West Third St near Broadway. Our usual family entertainment on
Saturday night was: – Father would hitch up the horse and buggy
drive out to visit with Uncle obe and Aunt Ida–then to Zahn’s
shoe store to visit with Grandpa and Uncle Joe Zahn while Mother
went to the Market–then to Kuehnle’s Drug Store at Buckeye and
Jefferson Streets, for a Nectar Soda–then home by about 10:00
P.M. One time we got home to find the house at 101 had been
ramsacked by burglars. What a mess. I think we scared them away
before they got away with too much.
Sometime around 1895 Jerome C. moved to Columbus to establish a
Branch there. He was quite successful and needed help, so Eugene
W. moved to Columbus also.
About 1900 Peter’s health was failing and he became hard to get
along with. Walter and John Howard decided to breakaway. They
bought property at 53 Green Street with the triangular lot in
rear (which Howard W. and I Still own) and set up business. (In-
cidentally, located on the rear lot was a large two-story barn-
like structure. Previously the ground floor contained the first
Bowling Alleys in Dayton, and the second floor was a public
Dance Hall. I have always wandered where the rest rooms were,
because to this date there is no plumbing on the premises. The
building later was demolished by fire.)
This new-business arrangement left Peter, Charles and Leo A. run-
ning the original business. However, Leo A. died in 1902 at the
age of 25. Eugene moved back to Dayton to help. John Howard
died in 1909, so Walter combined the two businesses back on La-
Belle St with Eugene and Charles. By this time Peter had retired.
He had a heart attack and died while watching the boys hoist a
machine to the third floor window at the N.C.R.
Charles was my drinking uncle, and it seems he was always threat-
ening to shoot my father or commit suicide. (But he never did.)
He was a great guy when he was sober.
Page #4
It was around this time that Walter and Eugene bought Charles’
share of the business and organized the partnership known as
Muth Bros. Shortly after, Charles went to Columbus leaving
his family at the 718 McLain St house. He helped Jerome C as a
warehouse boss, fixing and building equipment for the business.
He lived in a makeshift apartment on the second floor of the
barn.
Jerome C. was a born politician, so with Columbus being a politi-
cal town he really made it big. He, with his wife Theresa (who
was a sister to Theodore Lienesch, father of Paul, Ed, Karl, Ted
and Joe and Alma, and the organizer of the Gondert and Lienesch Box Factory), lived in a huge three-story mansion on Broad St.
I was there once and got lost on the third floor which was a dance
floor and cocktail lounge. He bought a Locomobile (which was the
highest priced car available.) The few times they visited Dayton,
they “Lorded-it-over and looked down their noses” at their poor
struggling Dayton relatives. Son, Albert was cantankerous–hated
school and everybody. They enrolled him at Notre Dame, took him
there, but he got home before they did. So Jerome C. was super-
successful until about 1930 when the depression hit. He visited
Dayton more often–to borrow money. A few years later Jerome C.
wife and daughter Lorna (who had a $3,000.00 Harp, which she could
not play), moved to California, leaving Albert to salvage what he
could of the business. Jerome died and is buried in California.
and Lorna moved back to Columbus.
In 1911 my father, Walter F. purchased his first personal Automo-
bile. It was a new Cadillac Touring Car with four cylinders, fold-
ing top, Presto-Lite Gas Lights, hand crank, tire changing tools,
and was the first four-door car in Dayton. A one-way trip to St.
Mary’s, Ohio required about ten hours, at least three punctures
and packed lunches for two meals. It was in 1911 also when Walter
fell off the top of a 90′ high smoke stack at the Armco Steel Mill
at Middletown. He landed on a Railroad siding track bed, which
wasn’t soft, but his only injury was a sprained ankle. He was so
deeply impressed with gratitude for this near miraculous escape
from almost certain death that from that time until he died he
tried hard to attend Mass at least once every day. Actually, dur-
ing his lifetime he enduring several unbelievable incidents of
avoiding serious injury. Like the time he was thrown under the
wheels of a moving freight train, however, he was lucky enough
to grab onto the airbrake hose and was dragged over two city
blocks before the train stopped. His injuries were a few scratches
and bruises and some thread bare clothes. He also got his right
hand caught in between the ropes and sheaves of a moving three-
sheave pulley at the Delco. His hand was badly mangled, but he
regained partial use of the fingers. Again he was thankful it
was not his left hand which would have prevented him from play-
ing the violin. (Incidentally, his old fiddle is mounted on the
wall in the Recreation Room at Cottonwood.) He surely could
make sweet music with it. He would sit and pump the player
piano and play the fiddle along with the piano music. He bought
me a snare drum and I accompanied him with it.
Page #5
Charles owned the house at 718 McLain, Walter owned the house
at 722 McLain, then bought the house at 101 LaBelle from Peter
Estate after the latter died. My playmates were mostly Irma
Howard (Eugene’s kids) and Lidwinna and Leo (Charlie’s kids.)
Leo died when he was about eight years old, in 1917. Since there
were no yards or grassy plots in the neighborhood, all of our play
ing had to be done on the sidewalks or streets or alleys, or the
porches when it rained. We had fun playing;–Run Sheep Run; Hop
Scotch; Hide and Seek; Marbles; Tag; Old Maid; Parcheesa; My Fath-
er Keeps a Grocery Store and imitating Charlie Chaplin. We also
fussed quite a bit. I was seven years old on March 25, 1913.
That was the date of the big flood. I don’t remember the real
tragedy that was caused, except that I got a pair of roller skates
and it rained so hard for three days that I could not use them.
I do remember the downtown streets lined with dead horses, mud
and debris. Somewhere on my shelves is a book entitled “A Time
of Terror” which details the catastrophic events during the Day-
ton Flood of 1913.
I attended Holy Trinity Grade School for eight years. We kids
walked to school in the morning–back
home for lunch–and back and forth again for the afternoon session. I served Mass and sang in the Boy’s Choir. Urban Deger was the Organist and hegave me some piano lessons for about six months.
Fire Wagons were a thrilling attraction for us kids in those
The Number One Fire House was located at Fifth and Brown Sts.
There was a big bell in the tower which tolled out the code num-
ber to dispatch the particular Fire Houses in town to the loca-
tion of the fire. Fire Wagons were pulled by horses which were
constantly trained to do their job. Every day at 6:00 A.M. and
6:00 P.M. every Station had Drill practice. The horses were
stalled in the rear of the station behind spring-loaded gates.
When the Station Bell rang, the gates automatically opened; the
horses ran to the front of their wagon; the collar; harness and
straps were always fastened to the wagon shafts which were sus-
pendee from the ceiling; the firemen would slide down a pole
from their upstairs living quarters and pull a cord; the harnass
and shafts would drop down over the horses and away they went.
So, witnessing the evening fire drill was another form of enter-
tainment for neighbors and visitors.
I will never forget the bad accident that occurred at our corner
one afternoon. The “Pumper” was a fire wagon which hauled a
steam boiler that powered a pump to force water through the fire
hose, and was pulled by a team of horses. It was traveling at
full speed eastwardly on McLain Street. The bell was clanging
and one of the firemen always blasted away on a Bugle when ap-
proaching an intersection. The horses ran head-long into a side
of a street car traveling north on LaBelle St. One of the wagon
shafts broke and pierced clear through the belly of one of the
horses. The poor animal layed on the street bleeding to death
until the fire department’s Veterinarian, who usually responded
to every fire alarm; arrived and dispatched it with a bullet.
What a bloody mess that was. I was about seven years old, I think
Page #6
It might be interesting to mention that Oakwood Railway Company
built all of their own street cars which were more deluxe than
any of the other Rail cars in Dayton. The car barn and factory
was located at Brown St. at the Railroad track behind U. of D.
and N.C.R. The plant was closed when trolley busses began to
replace Rail cars. That location and the buildings are presently
occupied by Frank Z. Chevrolet Company.
About 1908 Walter and Eugene bought a Thor Motorcycle for busi-
ness. Then a Model T. Ford Turtle-back Roadster. Next Walter
bought a used Buick Roadster which was cranked from the side of
the Engine. He bought it from Robert Snyder, father of Irvin.
One time he upset making a turn at Fifth and LaBelle Sts., but
wasn’t injured. Three pedestrians helped him tip it back on its
wheels. Then they remodeled the Model T to a Truck by removing
the rear wheels, bolting an extension onto the chasis and put a
flat bed on top. The new rear wheels had solid rubber tires and
were driven by a sprocket and chains. This was the beginning of
the end of the horse and wagon days.
Their next step forward was to buy the first 2-1/2 ton capacity
cylinder hand-trucks about 191l. It was a “Seldon” with four
crank engine, and solid tires. Several years later they purchased
a “Dayton” truck, built by the Stoddard-Dayton
Auto Company, located in the multiple story building, still standing on Bainbridge
St and the Railroad. This same plant was later taken over by the
Maxwell Motor Car Company which Jack Benny was to immortalize many
years later.
Around Circa 1900, Dayton was known as the “City of Bridges.” We
still have, of course, the Great Miami River, Stillwater River,
Mad River and Wolf Creek, all of them running from the outskirts
to the heart of the city. In addition there existed until around
1918, the Miami Erie Canal and the Dayton Hydraulic. The latter
extended from the extreme East End, near Focke’s Slaughter House,
paralled East First St. and joined the Canal near Fifth St. Pat-
terson Blvd. was formerly the Miami Erie Canal. All of the main
streets and most of the side streets crossed these waterways over
bridges which were mostly constructed of wood. Exceptions were
where the main arteries crossed the water and the bridges were con-
structed to safely support the concentrated load on the street car-
rails. The bridge flooring was still made with wood planking on
each side of the rails. Obviously this imposed a serious hazard
on the heavy hauling business, for fear of breaking through the
planks. Peter P. surmounted this problem by building his heavy-
duty wagons with the wooden, steel-tired wheels spaced to match
the same gage as the car rails. Therefore when hauling a heavy
load across a bridge, care was taken to lead the horses so that
the wagon wheels rode in the rails.
Haymarket St. extended from McLain St. South to Eagle and Richard
Sts. The name was appropriate because it actually was the Hay Mar-
ket. Farmers within a radius of approximately fifteen miles of
Dayton would bring their loads of hay to be weighed and auctioned
off at this Market Place. Their hay wagons, drawn by a team of
horses were piled so high and wide that they would brush the
limbs of the big Catalpa trees which bordered both sides of Mc-
Lain St.
Page #7
An average of at least one load every day would pass our houses,
so the street and sidewalks were always cluttered with sprigs
of hay. About three times a week a “Street-Sweeper” (that was a
man with a big push broom, a scoop shovel and a large can mount-
ed on wheels.) would come by and gather up the loose hay and the
looser horse-droppings.
About 1917 Muth Bros. had phased out the last of their horses,
so we kids, (averaging about eleven years of age) with the permis-
sion of our elders, cleaned up and decorated the obsolete Hay
Loft and threw a wing-ding Halloween party–with chaperonen even.
We served sweet cider, lemonade, and doughnuts (hot dogs were not
invented yet.) We played games and danced to the music of aVic-
tor hand-cranked “Talking Machine,” which was a luxury in those
days.
Erma Muth was the same age as myself and we were very close com-
panions. She attended the Notore Dame Academy (where Chaminade
is now) through the eighth grade, following with High School.
Dorothy Seifert became her closest friend, so Erma invited Dorothy
to help clean up the loft and be my date for the party. That is
how and when I met my future wife. Dorothy did not finish High
School, but chose to take a course in typeing and the operation
of a Comptometer. Comptometer operators were in great demand and
she became one of the best. The two of us shared many happy and
memorable occasions throughout our so-called courting days, which
actually extended over a period of about eleven years.
In 1920 I went to U. of D. Prep School, played Saxaphone and Flute
in the Band and Drums and Marimbas in the Orchestra.
I graduated from High School in 1924, followed by two years of Engineering
and R.0.T.C. I worked for Muth Bros. during the summer vacations.
In June of 1926, my folks allowed me to join with a small group
of students on a tour of Europe. We were guided by Dr. D’And-
rassey, a lay-professor of Arts teaching at U.Of D. He was, prior to World War 1, an Austrian Count, much traveled and well ac-
quainted with the European Continent. We visited high-lights in
France, England, Holland, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Austria and
Hungary. We ended up almost flat broke and deserted by the Pro-
fessor in Budapest, Hungary, which was his home town and birth-
place.
Upon returning from that trip, I decided to go to work for Muth
Bros. rather than return to College. I have never regretted that
decision.
Around 1924 my folks, Walter and Amelia, moved from 101 LaBelle
St. to the Boulevard Court Apartments at the corner of Great Mi-
ami Blvd. and Shaw Ave. Of course, I moved with them and occu-
pied a bachelor apt. connecting to theirs. The LaBelle St home
remained unoccupied until Dorothy and I were married on June 7,
1928, and moved into it. Much of my parent’s furniture, includ-
ing the piano, was still there, so all we had to buy was bed-
room furniture and a few chairs. That was about all we could
afford.
Page #8
The 1929 depression was just beginning. I was earning Thirty-
five Dollars per week–banks were closed and nobody had any mon-
ey. My parents moved to a smaller and cheaper Apt. on Edgewood
Ave. I couldn’t pay much rent, but fortunately, my father was
both my Landlord and boss. It was hard to make both ends meet.
Through the efforts of Government sponsored programs like WPA-
NRA., etc., we gradually recovered from the stock market crash
and business in general started to improve. Unions were a very
minimal force in those days.
Muth Bros. business was increasing and needing more room. The
Harris property next door north of the barn became available
through the death of Stella Harris. I tried to convince Walter
and Eugene to buy it for expansion. They could not foresee the
advantage, and refused. Finally, about six months later, around
1935, Dorothy and I decided to buy the property on our own. We
mortgaged our furniture to get cash for the down payment. The
old Harris house was nothing more than four two-story brick walls
and a roof. No plumbing, no gas, no electricity, no furnace.
However, there was an outside type flush toilet in the back yard
near the kitchen door.
About six months later Muth Bros. rented and cleared the back
yard for parking trucks, etc. By 1939 and the beginning of World
War II, the Company decided to buy the place from us (at the same
price we paid for it) They paved the yard and hired Jerry Gordon
the old building for office space.
Half-way through this project the LaBelle St neighbors, the Ro-
berts’ families, objected to expanding our business operation in
a residential neighborhood. The Courts and City fathers found
their objections valid, but because of our deep involvement in
war work, we were given permission to proceed with our expansion
program, provided we pledged to terminate all operations within
twelve months after the end of the war. With this forced move in
mind, the Company bought the property at 613 E. Second St. We
were unable to build on it because of the restriction on building
materials for anything not directly connected or required for
the war effort. However, plans were made for our future location
and we were able to vacate LaBelle St. within a year after the
Armistice in 1945. World War II began in 1939.
Eugene W. Muth passed away in his sleep in 1943. His Estate was
settled in such manner that left Howard W. owning his father’s
half of the stock. Walter F. Muth died as a result of a heart at-
tack in 1944 at the age of 65. His will left everything to my
Mother, Amelia. At that time the business was appraised at
$50,000.00. I gave my Mother notes totalling $25,000.00 to buy
my Father’s half of the business. Fortunately, Dorothy and I
managed to pay off all of the notes over a period of about ten
years. So, my inheritance was limited to a good name and reputa-
tion for which I am very grateful and happy. Mother passed away
following a stroke in 1957 at age 79.
Page #9
I succeeded my fatner as President and with the dedicated help
of Howard W.as Vice-President, Paul Schneble, Ron Klosterman,
Jim Lesher, Jim Foltz, Vernie Tucker, Hiram and Curt Atkinson
and many, many others, we were able to expand the business to
several times the value it had in 1944. Incidentally, I don’t
remember when the partnership was incorporated.
Personally, I am proud of the job we accomplished by 1971, the
year Howard and I retired.
The two happiest and proudest days of my life were the ones that
Jerome E. (Jed) and Thomas L. (Tom) decided individually to fol-
low in my footsteps. I am sure Howard felt the same regarding
his two sons.
Jed and Tom graduated from High School at Chaminade and from Col-
lege at the University of Dayton.
Following Graduation and interim working for Muth Bros., Inc.
they were both drafted into the Army.
Thomas L. married Sandra Bellville July 2, 1955 prior to entering
the Infantry and for a time they both resided at Fort Knox.
Jerome E. married Barbara Weis on August 25, 1953 after being dis-
charged from the Army. Eventually they introduced two lovely
daughters to the world. Molly Maria was born March 24, 1958 and
Melissa Maria was born December 8, 1959.
Howard’s sons, Robert Muth had joined the Navy after High School
Graduation and William Muth was rejected from Service because of
a previous injury to his right hand.
It has always been my fervent hope and prayer that the four
boys representing the fourth generation of Muth’s could continue
hand in hand and shoulder to shoulder, to attain unprecidented
heights in our field. Historically, very few firms have survived
beyond the third generation. However, maybe this is no the will
of God, in Whom I Trust.
Well, I think I have just about exhausted my memory up to the
time that Jed and Tom took over. I trust they will see fit to
jointly continue this history from where i am breaking off.
T can only hope that some day someone will find it to be worth
the reading time. Amen.
Cory Muth has recently started a new Muth Brothers company, carrying the family name into a new generation. The new company represents something larger than simply reusing an old name. It is a continuation of the entrepreneurial spirit that began with Peter Muth and the original Muth Brothers more than a century ago.
That is the real legacy of the Muth family.
From Peter Muth and the beginning of Muth Brothers in the nineteenth century, to Walter F. Muth and the company’s historic work in the 1930s, to the wartime rigging projects of the 1940s, to the machinery moves and industrial projects of the postwar era, to later presidents such as Jerome “Jed” Muth and Thomas L. Muth, the family repeatedly adapted while keeping the name alive.
Today, the next chapter is being written.
The buildings, factories, machinery, and businesses that once defined Dayton have changed. Generations have come and gone. The original company is part of history now.
But the Muth name remains.
And so does the idea behind it:
Build something worth passing on.