Dear Friend Kinney and old ladies Pioneer Society.

It has been some time since I wrote anything for you. A few weeks ago I noticed in Dayton Herald a piece regarding the history of the old Iron Dog that stands in front yard in what is known now as the Harve Wilson farm⁷ on Turnpike 25 south of Tipp. The picture in paper showed besides the dog two young ladies who tried to give its history.

This is very likely the late 1946 newspaper article Samuel Stuart Smith saw that prompted his letter to Grace Kinney on January 10, 1947. This photo courtesy of Mary Fair Renner, from Jim Chrisman's collection.

This iron dog as it appears today is the very image of the animal as it looked when it was alive but the young ladies would have had to be very old girls to have remembered the dog when living as this iron dog was placed on the little masters grave 70 years ago in Maple Hill Cemetery in sight of CH & D Ry now B&O. I knew the little boy he was about 6 years old when he died and I was just a coukle [sic] yeasrs [sic] older. I have seen that little boy astride of that dog's back kusing [sic] him as a horse riding back and forth in that yard and where you saw the dog the boy was sure to be some where close and the boy died when this little master was but 6 years old and last words this boy ever uttered was the dog's name.⁸ So the story was given out at the time.

Van Crane was our Ed Crane's uncle and he at that time lived on Broadway⁹ south side of street where Catholic Parsonage and Church stands between 2nd & 3rd st. Van left Tipp shortly after Civil War and went I think to Port Huron Mich where he engaged in foundry biz.¹⁰ He being a sculpter [sic] he drafted and moulded this dog in iron and had it set on his little boys grave. It was there 50 or more years that I know of and as you know I was a telegraph operator on CH&D Ry about 70 years ago. This same irion [sic] dog caused me to write quite a number of letters and in some cases return money to writers that they would send to help pay for a shelter and food and care for this dog that had been standing on his master's grave in all kinds of weather with out shelter only leaving long enough to get water and food.

The dog stood brodside [sic] in Cemetary [sic] facing CH&D Ry so passengers could see it plainly and from that distance it looked exactly like a live animal and it became quite a nuisance to us Ry men having to answer questions. This thing started as a joke by a joker traveling salesman from Tipp by name of Simon Lindsley.¹¹ Some one asked him knowing he lived in Tippecanoe so Sime made up this story about that faithful animal who stood and was still standing on his master's grave day after day & night year after year no shelter and in all kinds weather it got around and became a nuisance to all passenger conductors no only tolus [sic} but to Mayor and Post Masters passengers going north out of Dayton and same South out Troy passengers would crowd over from east side to west side to get a peep of that wonderful dog and conductors could not get by to collect his tickets. So E O Thomas¹² who was the 1st conductor of the old CH&D put one over on me they would want to know all about it from him as to what they had herd [sic] about it as you know he had no time to explain it so he used to give them a note giving my name and told them Smithy had plenty of time and would answer every one and believe me I certainly did get plent y [sic] and lots of them were pretty tough on us people ofTippecanoe [sic]. Many would call us people having a hard heart or none at all to leave an animal out in all kinds of weather. Some of them would enclose money to pay for a shelter food and for care. This would cause me to write a letter to return same & a 2 cent stamp and one woman in particular wrote me several years after I was railroading west of Rocky Mts enclosing a $5 bill to help build a shelter for food and care taken for that poor dog that thought so much of his master.

A. W. Miles¹³ was P.M [sic] this letter came to Tipp for me A.W.M. got my address from my mother¹⁴ & forwarded to me the answer I wrote this lady was that there was no danger of dog suffering that he had been standing there for 20 years and was just as sleek and fat as when he was placed there and strange to say he was just as heavy as he ever was he being molded out of iron. I think the reason the iron dog was removed from Maple Hill was that it got to be a nuisance and Mr. Crane was asked to remove it as from a distance it would fool anyone it looked so life like.

Yrs truly
Samuel Stuart Smith
I am now in my 87 year

P.S. If you don't wish to show this to the other ladies put it in waste basket. I think Mrs. Harry Ritter Mrs. Kitty Hatshbarger Miss Katy Born Miss Anna McConnahey Mrs Anna Wardel Eickhoff¹⁵ they would probably remember parts of it.

Many motorists driving by here on U. S. Route 25 are familiar with the statue of a dog in a farmyard on the east side of the highway.

Those who have been curious enough to stop may also be familiar with the story behind the iron dog.

It begins in the 1870's with a family by the name of Van Crane.

Two important members of that Tipp City family were a little boy and a big dog. The boy died, followed a short time later by his faithful pet who grieved himself to death.

The father, who was in the foundry business in Michigan, made an iron replica of the dog and had it placed to guard his son's grave in Maple Hill Cemetery here.

For years it stood on a distant hillside in view of passengers riding B&O trains. One day a curious passenger was told by a conductor that it was a live dog guarding his master's grave.

The legend took hold and was repeated again and again and spread throughout the area. People began to write letters and one lady even sent money to purchase a shelter for the dog. Newspapers picked up the yarn and the matter began to cause such comment that the Cranes decided to move the statue to end the publicity.

The dog was moved to the Crane farm south of town. When this property was eventually sold out of the family to William Clingan, he had the statue moved to its present site a few feet off Route 25.

The property now belongs to Mrs. H. W. Wilson, daughter of Mr. Clangan [sic]. Her husband said today that they have refused several offers to sell the dog. They cherish its history, he said, and plan to keep it where it is.

Mrs. Grace Kinney, Tipp City's unofficial historian, regards the story as one of the most colorful incidents in Tipp's history.

Van E. Crane of Tippecanoe, moved his family, 1879, to Port Huron, Mich., where he went into the foundry business. Soon afterwards his young son died. The lad had a large brown dog that grieved its self to death for its master. Mr. Crane had a replica of this pet made in his foundry and brought to Tippecanoe, and placed by the boy's grave, in Maple Hill Cemetery. The location was on top of a hill, east side of the cemetery, and in view of the railroad below.

Photograph (ca. 1951) accompanying Grace Kinney's article in a 1969 edition of the Tipp City Herald. This photo, courtesy of John Powers, is of a portion of a document in the Tippecanoe Historical Society collection.

One day a passenger on the train inquired about the dog she had seen before. The conductor knew the story of the dog, but having a vivid imagination, he changed part of it, and told how the dog's master had died, and the pet had stood guard over the grave day and night, winter and summer. The passengers were so impressed, the conductor decided to entertain his passengers regularly with the story; and added a bit more as time went on. The tale was so impressive that a dear soul sent money to the railroad agent in Tippecanoe, to have a shelter built for the dog. Another person sent money for food; and many wrote letters to the family to sympathize, or to bemoan.

Finally the associated press got the story, which had been greatly elaborated by then; and their papers spread it over their whole system. When the Cranes received a clipping from a San Francisco paper, they decided to remove the iron dog to a Crane farm, Acacia Place, south of the cemetery. After the Conservancy bought the farm, a sale was held, 1918; and William E. Clingan bought the dog and had it moved to his farm at the southeast corner of Old Route 25¹⁶ and Evanston road.

There it has been on the south side of the farm home for more than 50 years. During this time, the dog's tail has been broken off.

The gentleman in the picture, in front of the dog (to show its height) will be recognized as the late Harve Wilson, son-in-law of Mr. Clingan.

This story was related to me¹⁷ by E. L. Crane, a nephew of Van Crane.

Editor, The Times Herald:

A 91-year old, cast metal dog, the size of a pony, made in Port Huron, has been the subject of numerous news accounts, over the years. It is known to many who travel 25-A, near Tipp City, Ohio, where it has attracted attention since 1918.

Originally, as told by Mr. E. L. Crane, one-time Tipp banker, to Mrs. Hartman (Grace) Kinney, Tipp historian, the dog was cast in a Port Huron foundry. She is a Texan!¹⁸

Van E. Crane, an uncle of E. L. Crane, moved to Port Huron, and the foundry business in 1879.¹⁹ He cast a large dog, presumably in the exact image of one that grieved for his young master, who died at that time. (A son of Van E. Crane.)

He took the dog to Tipp and placed it, on his son's grave, at a high point, of the old section, of the Maple Hill cemetery, where it could be seen by passengers, travelling on the nearby tracks of the then much-used train.²⁰

People asked the conductor about the dog. He knew the story and told it -- with a bigger buildup, on each trip, when he found his passengers enjoyed his account. People were impressed, they sent money for a shelter for the dog, for food, and wrote to bemoan the fate of a faithful animal who stood over his master's grave, day and night, winter and summer.

Finally, the story attracted so much attention that the Associated Press, broadcast it across the nation.²¹ This, in the form of a clipping, from San Francisco, must have convinced the well-to-do Crane family, that the publicity had gone far enough. They moved the dog, about 1913, to Acacia Place, their 1,000 acre farm.

However, there is still a small stone dog, near the Crane cemetery lot, which may have been placed there by some sympathetic relative.²²

William Clingan (1851-1933), Helen Wilson Dodds (1903-1980), Blanche Mae Clingan Wilson (1880-1955) and infant Diana Dodds (1929-2020), with the Iron Dog, ca. 1930. This photo courtesy of Mary Fair Renner, from Jeannie Davis' collection.

Later when the 1,000 acre farm was sold to the Miami Conservancy,²³ some items, including the dog, were sold. W. E. Clingan²⁴ purchased the famous dog, and placed him in front of the house, at a place called Evanston, Ohio, where for 52 years he has again attracted much attention - the dog is known to all who have ever been residents of the area, and many others, who only travelled by the place.

The latest was Jack Farr, of Houston, Texas, ²⁵ who saw the dog, interviewed people, called the then owner of the farm. He is writing a book which will tell the stories of similar iron dogs and other objects of this kind, which has been seen in various places in the U.S.

He plans a museum, some day in Houston, near the astrodome. His story, was published, after his son, then manager of a restaurant at the Dayton airport, told him of seeing the dog, which daily attracts the attention of passing motorists.

The point of this story, the writer is an ancestor hunter, and he is interested in hearing from anyone connected with the Van E. Crane line, of Port Huron, or wherever.

The only survivor of the Dr. Wm. W. Crane, line, a brother of Van E. Crane, is Mrs. Richard L. Sherwood, of Troy, Ohio.²⁶ She knew Van E., as uncle "Van," and says there were some children, besides the one, whose dog grieved his death.

Anyone with data is encouraged to write to 2218 Alta Vista Ave., Austin, Texas, where a former Miami Co., Ohio resident, still writes a column. "Your Family and Mine," started in Tipp City, O., in 1938.

COL. RALPH E. PEARSON,
(U.S.A. Ret.)
Austin, Tex.

Almost everyone who has traveled the old "Dixie Highway," remembers the large iron dog, that has stood on the corner of the "Dixie," and the Evanston Rd. (southwest of Tipp) for about half a century.

Recently Judge William E. Kessler,²⁷ of Troy, Court of Common Pleas, reported a duplicate "dog," in Monroe, Mich.

Both dogs have made the news:

The dog, near Tipp got into the news, when a man from Houston, Texas, tried to buy it for his collection of metal animals. Oliver James McGraw,²⁸ 6575 S. C. Rd., Rt. 25, Tipp City, the present owner, refused to sell.

The 94-year-old dog, near Tipp, the size of a small pony, was made in Port Huron, Mich., by Van Eli Crane, Miami County native, to place on the grave of his son, in Tipp City.

Mrs. Hartman Kinney, local historian, interviewed the late E. L. Crane,²⁹ banker, of Tipp., for an article for the centennial issue of the Tipp Herald, in 1969.

The large metal dog, was on a hill, overlooking the train tracks, and the conductor knew the story, and answered questions of passengers, until the Associated Press got the story.

The well-known Crane family, moved the dog to their 1,000 acre farm, "Arcadia,"³⁰ south of Tipp, to stop the publicity, presumably. The wife of Dr. Adkins, of Troy, daughter of Mrs. Richard (Anne Crane) Sherwood, now of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., said her mother had told her many times of how she sat on the dog. (and so did many others!)

When we visited the gravesite, we found that whoever moved the dog, had a bit of sentiment...they replaced it with a small stone dog.

Then we traced the descendants of Van Eli Crane, in Port Huron, where Stuart John Crane³¹ still lives. There is another story about the molding of hands for the statue of an angel, which stands on the grave of Jean F. (Mallery) Crane.³² The molding was done with a pair of French gloves, still in the shape of the lady's hands.

"I saw a duplicate of the dog, when I drove through Monroe, Mich., last summer," was my greeting, from Judge Kessler last summer. He didn't have to explain.

So we secured a copy of an article about "Rex," the dog that stands in front of a factory, in Monroe, Mich. The headline: "Familiar Landmark in Monroe Object of Senseless vandalism,"³³ causes many calls.

The Iron Dog, near the center of the photograph, at the house then owned by William E. Clingan. This photo, ca. 1930, courtesy of Mary Fair Renner, from Jeannie Davis' collection.

It seems that someone had broken the tail off the large metal dog, on which many had sat as a child. It was taken inside to be repaired.

Roy Macy, whose place of business, is across the street from the former home, of the man who bought the Tipp dog, when the farm was sold, added this story. (Next door to "Bill" Clingan's house was "Jim McClure's plumbing shop.)³⁴

Roy said: "One day the auditor came to go over Jim's Books. He said: "What the H... is this?" It was an item for $5.00 for soldering tail on a dog.

The Mich., dog was made in Batavia, N.Y.,³⁵ and was standing in front of an Ohio "mansion," which was being demolished, when it was purchased by the then president of Monroe Steel Castings Co.³⁶