During a period of anti-German sentiment spurred by America’s entry into WWI, Germantown considered changing its name. Thanks to Mayor William Buck's determination, and support from a prominent Daytonian, the community decided to keep its name to honor its Pennsylvania roots.

Anti-German Hysteria
The U.S. entered WWI in April 1917. By the next April, anti-German sentiment had reached a level of “hysteria,” especially in states like Ohio with a strong German heritage.

According to an Ohio Historical Marker on Ohio anti-German sentiment erected in Cincinnati, “The United States’ declaration of war on Germany in April 1917 resulted in a tragic display of hysteria directed against everything and anything German. In Cincinnati, German teachers were dismissed from public schools, German professors were censored, German collections and publications were removed from circulation at the Public Library, businesses with German names had their names ‘Americanized’ and, by police order, only English-language public meetings could be held.”

The marker also notes, “Name changing became the rage. The Cincinnati City Council followed the trend by changing German street names on April 9, 1918. Among those changed were: German Street to English Street, Bismarck Street to Montreal Street, Berlin Street to Woodrow Street, Frankfort Street to Connecticut Avenue and Hamburg Street to Stonewall Street.”

Locally, Slifers Church Lutheran congregation (the congregation became Presbyterian much later) offered services in German up until this timeframe.

Germantown » Twin City
Copies of the Germantown Press from 1918 aren’t readily available; however, coverage in the Dayton Daily News from Wednesday, April 24, 1918 shows a movement to rename Germantown (see below).

“Patriotic citizens of Germantown, it became known Wednesday, are urging Mayor William Buck and other village officials to take the lead in a movement to change the name of the town,” the story begins. “Public sentiment to rid the village of its obnoxious name is said to have been growing steadily during the past several weeks.”

To make the change, Mayor Buck told the paper, 12 property owners would need to file a petition with the county court.

“The name of ‘Twin City’ was being considered most prominently Wednesday as a suggestive and splendid name for the village,” the Dayton Daily News reported.

The next day’s Dayton Daily News, Thursday, April 25, 1918, had a different take on the story. Mayor Buck had traveled to Dayton to meet with the paper’s editors for some damage control, it appears.

“I don’t believe the majority of our citizens want to have the name of our town changed,” he told the paper.

“Germantown has a population of 1,800,” the paper reported. “[Buck] has personally interviewed many citizens concerning the proposed change in name of the community.”

The story (see below) noted that the village of Germantown was named by settlers from Pennsylvania after their own town of Germantown.

“Everyone is loyal to the nation and patriotic to the extreme,” the paper noted, citing Germantown’s contribution of $172,000 in Liberty loan subscriptions, double its quota.

“Memoirs of the Miami Valley,” published in 1919 also noted the patriotism of the greater community. “German Township responded with patriotic fervor in its subscriptions to the Liberty loans, the amount credited to its citizens approximating $998,000, and not less patriotic were its gallant sons. Over one hundred splendid boys wore the khaki, and on the names of three of them will ever shine the glory.”

Controversy Continues
While Mayor Buck’s visit may have quieted the questions by the Dayton Daily News editors, Germantown still had to contend with naysayers from other communities.

On Aug. 30, 1918, Jackson V. Thompson from Miamisburg wrote into the Dayton Daily News asking, “Why the state upholds such a name as Germantown and do the inhabitants there know we are at war, making our daily sacrifices to rid the earth of the fiendish Hun?” (see below)

Famous Defender
This time, Mayor Buck did not have to respond. On Sept. 6, 1918, a Civil War veteran and prominent Dayton resident with a Germantown past, James M. Lawder, wrote to the paper (see below).

Colonel Lawder, a bailiff in the Court of Appeals in Dayton, was an active member of the Dayton Civil War Veterans association. According to multiple Dayton Daily News stories, he was also at Ford’s Theater the night President Lincoln was assassinated. He had been a Civil War POW and had traveled to Washington, D.C. to celebrate the end of the war and see a play. He lived in Dayton until his death in 1926 at age 81.

In 1918 he wrote to the Dayton Daily News to defend his hometown.

He indignantly criticized the earlier letter writer who objected to the Germantown name. “I wonder who this Mr. Thompson is and by what right he has to question the Americanism of the citizens of Germantown.”

Noting that he is a descendant of the Gunckel family on his mother’s side, Lawder said, “I dearly love all my people and my dear old home town—Germantown”

“The descendants of the honorable sire who named this town are patriots, and their patriotism has always been patriotic to the United States and its government, and should not be questioned by ignorance of facts,” Lawder retorted.

Germantown survived “the war to end all wars,” perhaps due to its level-headed Mayor and famous defender. The TWIN CREEK TIMES has not noted any records of name change suggestions during WWII.

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