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201 East Water St. Troy, Ohio 45373 • (937) 339-8677
Hours: Sat. & Sun.1-5 p.m. Mar.1 - Oct. 31 and by appointment
Benjamin Overfield, builder
of Troy's Overfield Tavern, was born in 1774 near
Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, a grandson of German pioneers who
settled along the Delaware River in 1722.
His
father, Benjamin Overfield Sr., was one of those intrepid
patriots of the Revolution who crossed the ice-choked
Delaware River with General George Washington on that
bitterly cold Christmas night in 1776, in one of the most
famous episodes of the war.
Benjamin Overfield, Jr., when a young man, went to Quebec, Canada, where he married Margaret Snow. In 1803 he brought her to Miami County, Ohio, where he built his cabin on the bank of the Miami River, about 20 miles north of Dayton.
By September of 1808 Overfield had apparently completed his two-story log tavern, for at that time, he obtained a tavern license, the first in Troy. He offered his tavern as a meeting place for the courts until a courthouse could be built.
Just
before Christmas Day in 1810, Margaret Overfield died,
leaving Benjamin with two small children. When the War of
1812 broke out, Overfield, as part of the Troy Militia
Company, was called to Fort Greenville to guard against
Indian attack. While there, he met and married Rebecca
Sumption. Upon returning to Troy, the new Mrs. Overfield
proved to be a most capable tavernkeeper's wife.
Benjamin Overfield died in July of 1831. His obituary in the Troy paper read:
"After a short illness, Mr. Benjamin Overfield passed away, aged 57 years. The deceased was the first citizen of this town. He located himself here and opened a publick house in the thicket more than 20 years ago. He kept a house which has always been found an asylum for the weary traveler, well provided and furnished with accommodations for travelers and visitors. In the deceased, the citizens of this place have lost a worthy citizen, and the public in general have sustained the loss of a good, congenial Inn-keeper. Mr. Overfield was remarkable for his scrupulous honesty and religious punctuality. He made little display - tended to his own business, and to none else; and thus secured the good will of all and the enmity of none."
The Tavern passed from the ownership of the Overfield family in 1834 and over the years, the interior was plastered, and the exterior covered with siding. Thus the logs were hidden until 1948, when Edward A. Hobart, President of Hobart Brothers Company, deduced from histories that the log tavern might still be under the siding. He and his brother William Harrison Hobart, Sr. purchased the building and restored it to its original appearance.
In 1966 the Tavern was opened to the public under the direction of the Troy Historical Society and many of the furnishings of the period have been added by the Society. The Tavern is owned and maintained by the Overfield Tavern Museum Corporation.