Cincinnati Gas & Electric Company, which is now Duke Energy, once owned the Chrisholm land but deeded the property and 17 surrounding acres to MetroParks of Butler County in 1995.
That same year, Friends of Chrisholm was founded to preserve the Augspurger house and share the region’s Amish Mennonite and farming history. The organization is now headed by Jeff Lehman, who is a descendant of the Augspurger family.
Credit: Bryn Dippold
Credit: Bryn Dippold
Friends of Chrisholm, MetroParks and a local machinery club worked together for eight years to restore the Augspurger home.
“It was not in good shape at all,” said Katie Ely-Wood, communications manager for MetroParks.
It had been abandoned for over 20 years, she said.
Friends of Chrisholm and Lehman are dedicated to preserving and presenting the agricultural and Amish-Mennonite history of the land and home with the region, which Lehman said is generally unknown to the public.
The Augspurger house was once home to Christian and Katherina Augspurger, farmers and leaders of six Amish farming families who immigrated to Butler County from France in 1819.
Their son, Samuel, became one of the most influential men in Butler County. He operated the 258-acre Chrisholm farm and was an entrepreneur, dealing in grain. He was also postmaster and president of the Woodsdale school board.
The original Augspurger house burned down in the 1870s, though the current house is built on its original stone foundation.
After rebuilding and losing an entire freight train load of grain in a crash, Samuel went bankrupt.
His wife, Elize, purchased the newly rebuilt home from him, causing a rift between the couple. Samuel took their five sons and moved to Woodsdale; Elize and their daughter, Otelia, stayed at Chrisholm.
Otelia went on to be the first Mennonite woman in the United States to graduate from college.
One of her children, Arthur Compton, went on to win the Nobel Prize in physics in 1927 and played a role alongside J. Robert Oppenheimer in the creation of the atomic bomb as an advisor.
The great, great granddaughter of Christian and Katerina was Esther Price, the Dayton chocolatier whose name is synonymous with sweets.
Charles Richter, another great, great grandson of Christian and Katerina, developed the Richter scale, which measures the magnitude of earthquakes.
Passing the Augspurger house on Woodsdale Road in Madison Twp., one might not realize the rich history that came from its original inhabitants.
Credit: Bryn Dippold
Credit: Bryn Dippold
Now, the house is maintained by Friends of Chrisholm and MetroParks of Butler County.
Recently, Friends of Chrisholm initiated a “Save the Cellar” program, prompted by a major water leakage problem.
The cellar features a lower-level floor and a unique arched, vaulted ceiling that needed immediate attention.
“It looks like the beer cellars in Over-the-Rhine in Cincinnati,” Lehman said. “We don’t think there are any other houses in Butler County that have it.”
Credit: Bryn Dippold
Credit: Bryn Dippold
The original house restoration, which was initiated in 1995 when MetroParks first acquired the house and land, left dirt and debris that needed to be removed.
Friends of Chrisholm put almost $20,000 into the repair, money that majorly comes from Augspurger descendants and the organization’s seed fund, according to Lehman.
There are free public tours of the home on the third Saturday of the month from 1-3 p.m. April through September.
The park itself is open everyday from 8 a.m. to dusk and residents are welcome to walk the grounds, explore the nature playscape and visit with farm animals.
Credit: Bryn Dippold
Credit: Bryn Dippold
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