This article appeared in the
Dayton Daily News,
July 2, 1998, written by
Cameron Armstrong
With an old house comes lots of old stories. Fragments of history. Physical bits and pieces that may not make much sense, but leave much to the imagination. Walls that tell their tales to no one. "We've found some interesting things, and heard a number of stories about the house," Amy Cullis said of the historic 1852 farmhouse. She and her husband, Dr. Cass Cullis, purchased the home at 406 S. Ridge Ave, in Troy in 1991. "You feel like you're taking care of a part of history," she said. Probably one of the most interesting stories is the belief the home was a stop on the Underground Railroad. "That was the story I was told when we moved here. We found a newspaper from the bicentennial that perpetuated the story, but we don't really have any good evidence," she said. "My two boys have searched the entire house looking for secret doors. But a few years ago, we had to have some termite inspections done, and we couldn't find any way to access the house underneath the living room and dining room--the rest of the house is built over the cellar. They finallly found a door cut into the hardwood floors by the staircase. It's a three- or four-foot crawl space, but it's pretty expansive. They could have hidden people in there."
Another tantalizing piece of evidence came from a neighbor. "There had been an elderly lady in her 90's living across the street who would swear she used to play in a tunnel underneath the street. She said the tunnel led down from this house, "Mrs. Cullis said. Other finds in and around the home may not tell as intriguing a tale , but do pique one's curiosity as they hint at stories of generations past. "I found some huge railroad spikes buried in the back yard when I was digging a garden. There were some old newspapers in the kitchen wall when it was remodeled a few years ago. Our kids were really interested in reading those, and seeing the price of things. And we found a diary in the wall, too." The diary is believed to be that of David Galbreath's sister. Galbreath is the former owner of the home, having first grown up in the house with his sister and family, and then purchasing it from his parents and moving in his own family.
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