Editing Greenville, Indiana (section)

==== John Baptiste Ford ====
[[John Baptiste Ford|Captain John Baptiste Ford]] found his way to Greenville as a 14-year-old runaway from [[Danville, Kentucky]]. Ford began as an apprentice with his future father-in-law in the local saddle shop which led him into his first business venture. Ford purchased the ''Old Mill'' and saddle shop from its owner, added a grocery and began making tin pie safes which he sold throughout the country. Later, Ford moved to New Albany and established several businesses, and became the first man to succeed in making plate glass in the United States. That success was the precursor to several glass companies, most notably the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company now known as PPG. Ford became the father of American plate glass.<ref>{{cite book|author=William Earl Aiken|title=The Roots Grow Deep|publisher=Libbey Owens Ford Glass Company|page=222}}|year=1957|Page=2-4</ref>

That original building that housed the mill, saddle shop and grocery still stands today. Historically referred to as the ''Old Mill'' and ''Ford's Flour Mill'', the Greenville Station is believed to be the oldest commercial building in Greenville. Construction on the original wooden structure began in 1810 and finished in 1812. In 1840, Ford helped to erect the present brick structure.<ref name="HistoryofOhioFallsCities">{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/stream/historyofohiofal02will#page/286/mode/2up|publisher=[[LA Williams & Co, 1882]]|access-date=September 28, 2016|date=September 28, 2016|title=Chapter XVI Greenville Township}}</ref>  Besides housing Ford's grocery and the saddle shop, the ''Old Mill'' was the Greenville Post Office from 1823 until the early 1940s when it was relocated to H. Miller's house at the corner of East First Street and Hwy 150. The Station was a stop for the 104-mile stagecoach route that ran from Falls Cities to the [[Wabash River]]. The building also served as a stop along the [[Pony Express]] route from 1861 to 1867. The Greenville Station served as lodge hall for two civil organizations: the fraternal order of the Free and Accepted Masons and the International Order of Oddfellows. Through a majority of the early 20th century, the Greenville Station was referred to by the townspeople as the "lodge building" or the "lodge."<ref>{{cite journal |last=Roberts Family |date=1993 |title=The History of the Station Building |url=https://www.visitgreenvillein.com/documents/114/History_of_The_Station.pdf }}</ref>

Ford was on the board for the Floyd County Seminary from 1850 - 1852.  Ford was a philanthropist and always gave back to the community even after he left Greenville. He paid for the construction of the Simpson Memorial United Methodist Church in 1899.<ref name=":0">{{cite journal|url=https://www.visitgreenvillein.com/documents/114/Methodist_Church_NPS_Submission_8.11.2004.pdf|title=National Register of Historic Places Submission Form for the Simpson Memorial United Methodist Church|date=August 11, 2004|access-date=February 12, 2019}}</ref>  In 2017, the Greenville Town Council named a road "John Baptiste Ford Drive" to honor Ford's history and significant contributions to both the community and industrialism.<ref>{{cite news |date=December 13, 2017 |title=John Baptiste Ford Drive |url=https://www.visitgreenvillein.com/news-detail?item_id=1311 |work=Town of Greenville|location=Greenville, Indiana|access-date=February 12, 2019}}</ref>  The Greenville Historic Preservation Commission had a historic marker approved by the Indiana Historic Bureau in 2019.  The historic marker is the only John B. Ford specific historic marker in the country and the first IHB approved marker in Floyd County outside of New Albany.<ref>{{cite news |date=August 13, 2018 |title=Greenville Approved for Historic Marker |url=https://www.newsandtribune.com/news/greenville-approved-for-historical-marker/article_be97b4a4-9f26-11e8-8dab-739be2215d65.html |work=News and Tribune|location=New Albany, Indiana|access-date=February 12, 2019}}</ref>