Adam Schantz, Sr. Estate Records

The following is an excerpt from Dayton and Montgomery County: Its Resources and People (1932), by Charlotte Reeve Conover. It contains an account of the business, financial, and real estate interests which are reflected in the Records of the Adam Schantz, Sr. Estate.

"On April 20, 1903, the father of Adam Schantz, Jr. (Adam Schantz, Sr.) died in St. Augustine, Florida. In his father's will, Adam Schantz, Jr. was named as executor and trustee of the estate, which became known as the Estate of Adam Schantz. A period filled with tremendous activity and service to the community characterized the life of Adam Schantz, Jr. from the time of his father's death until his own decease. Large properties in all parts of Dayton were acquired by him, and for the most part, immediately developed. During his lifetime, he was recognized as having done more to change the skyline of Dayton than any other man. Ludlow Street, now one of Dayton's most thriving thoroughfares, was practically rebuilt by him.

March 1, 1904, Mr. Schantz effected a merger of six Dayton breweries into a group known as the Dayton Breweries Company, of which he became president. The Dayton Breweries Company was largely controlled by the Schantz interests. This brewing industry under Mr. Schantz's leadership assumed large proportions and became one of the extensive industrial interests in the city. Purified water, known by the trade name of Lily Water, and ice were also manufactured in connection with beer. Schantz Park, a large and beautiful residential section situated in Oakwood Village, a suburb of Dayton, was also developed by Schantz.

During the period from 1908 until 1911, Schantz purchased adjoining tracts of land a few miles south of Dayton, which he had long visioned as an ideal location for a model industrial city. In 1916, he obtained more property in that vicinity. This property with properties owned by E.A. Deeds and Charles Kettering were assembled and a corporation known as the Moraine Development Company was formed. In 1918, the Olmsted Brothers of Brookline, Massachusetts, one of the largest civic and community planners in the East, were called to counsel to make plans for an ideal industrial city. The dream was partly shattered when war clouds spread over the United States and "Dreamland" was pressed to service by the government for testing of airplanes which were manufactured by the Dayton-Wright Airplane Company, in a large building nearby which had, just previous to the war, been erected by the Domestic Engineering Laboratories Company (DELCO) of Dayton.

Early in 1926, General Motors Corporation found need for expansion of its Frigidaire Division. Largely through the efforts of Kettering, it was decided that a manufacturing plant be established in Moraine. A short time later, the Schantz interests in the Moraine Development Company were disposed of by a trustee of the Schantz Estate.

After the Flood of 1913, Adam Schantz was a major contributor and backer of the Dayton Citizen's Relief Fund, which later led to the establishment of the Miami Conservancy District. In January, 1917, Schantz donated a park to the City of Dayton, Waldruhe Park, situated on the Springboro Pike about eleven miles from Dayton. Mr. Schantz erected a large shelter lodge with ample facilities for picnickers.

Some of Schantz's business interests and connections include: presidency of the Ohio Brewers' Association, executor and trustee of the Estate of Adam Schantz, Sr., president of Citizen's Lighting (later Dayton, Power, and Light), president of the Buckeye Building and Loan Association, president of Dayton Street and Railway Company, president of Moraine Development Company, president of Gem City Realty, president of Edgemont Realty Company, vice-president of Citizens Relief Committee, director of Reliable Insurance Company, and president of Mead Engine Company.

Schantz died January 10, 1921, at the age of 53."