A look inside Dayton's "White House"

DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) - The house oozes history with every creek of its more than 100-year old frame.

"It's inspiring," says owner Bill White of the home. "It fills me with that great feeling that the past is still current."

But of all the busts and buttons of Presidents in this Dayton home, it's the picture of a man who was nearly forgotten that started it all.

"It all grew from there into a love of history," White says.

If it wasn't for the clock, time would seem to stand still inside Bill's home that was once a holy place.

"In the early 1950's for a little while it was the Salem Lutheran Church," White says.

But now it's congregation is composed of great men of the past, complete with a Presidential dining room.

Food for thought is normally what White serves guests who would like a tour.

He has three other rooms upstairs, the Lincoln bedroom, the Lee bedroom and where he normally stays, the Kennedy Suite.

All three are filled with history, but of all the things the retired Montgomery County employee has collected over the years one stands out.

The letter is to the man in the picture, who was nearly forgotten.

He's Clark Hinkle, Bill's Great Grandfather.

Bill can still remember his aunt's stories about him.

"She says, 'Billy, that is your Great Grandfather and he fought in Mr. Lincoln's army.'"

The letter to Bill's Great Grandfather is from one of the heroes of the Civil War.

"It's signed by very truly yours, W.T. Sherman, General," White says.

William Tecumseh Sherman was a man who Bill's great grandfather so respected that he named his son, Bill's uncle, after him.

Now Bill also shares that first name and its link to the past.

"History is alive," Bill says. "History still means something. The people may not be with us anymore, but what they stood for and did and signed and talked about goes on. It's up to us to continue that."