Col. Edward Deeds, Charles Kettering, and Harold Talbott Sr. and Jr. formed what became the Dayton-Wright Airplane Company in 1917, with Orville Wright in a consulting role. The company's Plant #1 and associated South Field was located at western edge of Deed's Moraine Farm property. The Kettering family lived immediately east of the Deed's property. In an area then known as Van Buren Township, Moraine Farm and Kettering's home became part of the City of Kettering in the 1950's.
"In 1916 he [ Col. Edward Deeds ] established one of the first, if not the first, private landing fields in the United States on South Field at Moraine Farm, equipping it with a hangar and a research laboratory. The installation became an experimental field destined to be the scene of notable aviation adventure. Deeds placed his field at the disposal of Orville Wright. Here the Wright-Martin Company tested its Model V and Model R planes. Howard Rinehart, who became one of the most famous of our test pilots, tried out the machines. Here Orville Wright developed his split-flap which made dive bombing possible. Here, too, the experiments on our first robot plane, forerunner of Germany's buzz bomb of World War II, were carried out. The radiotelephone which enabled planes to communicate with each other was born in the Deeds hangar." (1)
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| "The property Colonel Deeds acquired from John Eby was 172.64 acres, which extended east from Cincinnati Pike in an elongated rectangle." Cincinnati Pike is known as South Dixie Drive today. The topography, though unreadable at this map's resolution, clearly shows the flatter gradual grade westward and in area of location of Deed's home. Stroop Road boarders the southern edge.(2) |
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Aerial view of a portion of Col. Deeds Moraine Farm, circa 1921, courtesy of NCR archives, Dayton History, Carillon Historical Park. (2)
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| 2026 view of Moraine Farm, six miles south of Dayton, courtesy of Google Earth, with outline drawn by Author to approximate comparative view of Farm and Field shown in historical view above. North is to the right. The southern line drawn is Stroop Road. The western line is South Dixie. |
This area is fully developed now. Moraine Farm is currently owned by Kettering Health, and sadly is not open to the public. Charles Kettering's home (Ridgeleigh Terrace) just east of Moraine Farm is also owned by Kettering Health, donated by Virginia Kettering (Charles Kettering's daughter-in-law) in 1973, but she did not immediately move out. This author recalls in the summer of 1975 spending a day planting annual flowers in the many landscaped beds around the property. Unfortunately the home burned in 1994 due to a faulty extension cord on a Christmas tree. The home has since been re-built. (3)
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| Ridgeleigh Terrace, Charles Kettering Home, after 1994 fire. Photo courtesy of Dayton Daily News. |
Though today no longer viewed by anyone as a wilderness, 110 years ago Col. Deed's Moraine Farm property, (beyond the city limits of Dayton, the gem city of one thousand factories), was viewed in that way by some. It was beautifully described by a Dayton city dweller in the following news account.
Howard Egbert, City Editor for the Daily News wrote in April of 1917, (4)
"I spent two hours in the heart of Moraine farm last Friday, and they were the busiest, happiest two hours I have spend in all my life. Also I saw more of nature in these two hours than I had suspected it was possible for any man to see. Away up in the tall trees (and literally it is true, 'the woods are full of them'), the cawing of the crow was heard; hard by, a chip-munk dashed past, timid, shy and altogether scared of the strangers who had infested this beautiful wilderness; a squirred [sic] rustled the leaves and sprang into the protection of a friendly tree; rabbits darted here and there......Away in the distance you could see rising the giant buildings of the Domestic Engineering company, while the dry leaves crackled under your feet as you tramped along....The song of the spring birds filled the air, and there was solemnity about the whole thing that made you want to build a little cabin out there and get away from the grind and speed of the newspaper office......
The eternal hills are a part of Moraine farm; the peaceful valleys plowed deep for the farmer's care; the giant trees silent sentinels of the forest- all these proved that the poet was right- 'To him who, in the love of Nature, holds communion with her visible form, she speaks a various language.'
Charlie Deeds, son of E. A. Deeds, who owns Moraine farm, [said] 'I have counted at least 65 different kinds of birds out here in Moraine farm....Whenever I see a new kind of bird to me, I go home and take out my natural history book and check them off....."
It's a pretty good sized tramp for a city fellow to penetrate the fastness [sic] of Moraine farm. You would want to be better prepared that I was, to thoroughly enjoy the trip- and have more time than I had, too. After we had walked nearly a mile and a half, up hill and down, we came to the hut where H. L. Monbeck, caretaker for Mr. Deeds, makes his headquarters. The spot is about halfway across the farm, so you can have a pretty fair estimate of how many acres are contained in the tract- about 900, I am told. [The original site of 172.64 acres was expanded to 600 acres. (1)(2) The perimeter of the plot of land would stretch for 3.87 miles if the plot were a perfect square, which it was not. A rectangular plot of same acreage would add to those miles of walking.]
You would have to spend more time that I did to completely grasp the beauties of this wilderness home for birds and animals. The land is beyond Delco Dell, where officials of the Delco company have their summer homes. It is still in its primitive beauty, untouched by the hand of the ravager of forests. The scenery is picturesque. Deep ravines run along the base of the verdure covered hills. Farm land stretches away on all sides and the hum of industry in the busy city seems far, far away.
It would be sinful to molest this pristine beauty. I don't suspect Mr. E. A. Deeds expects to annihilate the wonderful land that is his. Sometimes, Mr. Monbect says, this great-hearted citizen, busy with his many industries, his brain crowded with problems of city and nation (because he has been called into the service of country and ours now), takes a few hours off and walks deep into the heart of this wonderful country of his. He likes to rest his tired body with nature's own tonic; to hear the birds sing in their natural environment; to see the little denizens of the forest at play; to sit outside the little cabin in the heart of the wilderness and just lay aside all his cares while the winds of the spring and summer swing through the treetops and speak of peace and God, who has made everything so wonderful for man to enjoy."
If Howard, the City Editor, had visited the property the prior year in 1916, he would have written of the herd of 60 Holstein cows grazing in Moraine Farm's field. William Sanders, also with the Dayton Daily News, interviewed in 1967, shared the following. (5)
[Orville] "had a plane out at what they called South Field. It was Mr. Deeds, Colonel Deed's field. Now a housing project. But in those days, it was a flying field for Dayton-Wright Field, loaned of course by Colonel Deeds. And South Field was the experimental center and Orville Wright as a consulting engineer was there a great deal and he had a plane there. The field surrounding this hangar was a pasture and Deeds had some cows in there and they roamed around the pasture." [The Dayton-Wright Airplane Company was formed in April of 1917. Deed's landing field and hangar was established in 1916. This specific account of cows roaming about in the field would have occurred in 1916, prior to the use of the field by Dayton-Wright Airplane Company.]
"And one night the caretaker of the building left the door to the Wright hangar ajar. And during the night the cows crowded in there and ate all the fabric off the wings. You know they put linen or, I guess they did work out of muslin fabric later and then it was doped and they liked that dope that was on the wings. So they made a shambles out of that plane. Trampling around of course, and breaking parts. And when Orville Wright came in there in the morning and found out what had happened. He really blew his top, so a man by the name of Moorehouse, who was an engine man, and witnessed it and told me." [ Harold E. Morehouse worked for the Dayton-Wright Airplane Company, and also assisted on the Kettering Bug project. He couldn't have witnessed Orville's reaction to the cows late night snack, as he wasn't hired until 1917 after the formation of Dayton-Wright. Most likely what occurred is the account was told to Morehouse by someone who had witnessed the event (perhaps the caretaker), and Morehouse then later shared the account with William Sanders.]
"But still it, it wasn't the kind of blow up that, for instance, you had out of a Kettering man; this was one of these very nice blow ups. It was the kind that only a Wright could indulge in......"
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| Orville Wright expressing is displeasure with the cow ring leader. (6) |
Perhaps just a coincidence, or the final straw, but in either case, the cows were soon to be history, as a public auction was scheduled for August 23, 1916. From The Dayton Herald, (7)
"Sale of certified milk and cheese coming from the E. A. Deeds Moraine farm south of Dayton, has been discontinued and the stock and dairy equipment will be disposed of at a private sale Wednesday, August 23, according to notices sent out by Mr. Deeds. Moraine farm since its establishment has attracted much attention and was one of the largest institutions of the kind in the state, distributing its products through many agents. Although Mr. Deeds is at present out of the city, it is understood that other business affairs require his attention to such extent that he has decided to give up this business. The farm lies near the site of the new Domestic Engineering company's plant and is occupied as a home by Mr. Deeds. The dairy department at Moraine farm was established on up-to-date lines and at great expense several years ago. The stock to be sold includes his excellent herd of sixty Holstein cattle, sixteen of which are registered animals. Several head of horses, hogs and other property also will be disposed of....."
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| The Dayton Herald, August 8, 1916. |
From the MS-1 Wright Brothers Collection of photographs within the Special Collections and Archives at Wright State University Libraries, photo MS1_21_3_19 shows the first hangar Deeds had installed at Moraine Farm. The picture creation date is listed as 1911 which would be incorrect as the Farm was not purchased by Deeds until 1912, and the landing field established in 1916.
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| Such a hangar at this early one (circa 1912-1916) at Moraine Farm would perhaps provide easy access for curious hungry cows. Image courtesy of Special Collections and Archives, Wright State University Libraries. |
From "The Bishop's Boys", Tom Croft wrote, "The officials of Dayton-Wright took full advantage of Orville's public relations value. He piloted an airplane for the last time on May 13, 1918, flying one of his 1911 machines in formation with the first Dayton-built DH-4 while newsmen snapped away. After landing, he climbed into the DH-4 and went up again for a second ride, this time as a passenger." (8)
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| Orville Wright's final flight as a pilot, in Wright Model with rectangular blinkers, May of 1918. Photograph from John Sheats archive, Author's collection. (9) |
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| Close-up of Orville Wright from photo above. Note the four-blade propeller instrumentation mounted above and to the left of Orville. |
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| Orville Wright with Howard Rinehart as pilot, about to take a flight at South Field, May of 1918. Photograph from John Sheats archive, Author's collection. |
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| Close-up of Orville Wright and Howard Rinehart from photo above. |
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This post is dedicated to our sweet kitty Chessie, who shared 12 of her 13 years with us, and lay next to me during her last hours as I wrote. Her first year as a stray, she spent eating whatever she could find, such as leaves, and perhaps airplane fabric.
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Copyright 2026-Getting the Story Wright
For related info, see post-
Orville Wright and the Kettering Bug
Notes:
1. Colonel Deeds Industrial Builder, by Isaac F. Marcosson, 1947. Chapter 10, Wings For War, pg 215.
2. Colonel Edward A. Deeds Moraine Farm- Kettering, Ohio A Cultural Landscape Report, Thesis by Cheryl Ann Sams, B.A., The Ohio State University, 1999.
3. Dayton Daily News, December 12, 1994, "Kettering Mansion Burns".
4. The Dayton Sunday News, April 1, 1917, "Wonder Wilderness That Enfolds Moraine Farm, Where Nature, Richly Garbed, Lures Man To Home In The Forest"
5. Interview with William Sanders, March 15, 1967, Wright Brothers- Charles F. Kettering Oral History Project, University Archives and Special Collections, University of Dayton.
6. Image created by Google AI as instructed by Author.
7. The Dayton Herald, August 17, 1916, "Public Auction of Valuable Property Is Set for August 23".
8. The Bishop's Boys, by Tom Crouch, 1989, Chapter 34 "Carrying On Alone", pg 470.
9. The aeroplane has historically been identified as a modified 1911 Wright Model B with rectangular blinkers added. It also has the higher rudder section as in a Model C. The flight occurred May 13th, with the picture released May 14th, per historical records such as NASA Wilbur & Orville Wright Chronology, by Arthur George Renstrom, 2003 re-issue. This Chronology is not without its mistakes however. For example, under 1916, May-June, it indicates the 1903 Wright Flyer had been through two Dayton floods. (The Flyer only went through one Dayton Flood, in 1913.)
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