Gatch and Lytle are names of great importance in the history of Clermont County, and once again these families are being brought together.

They are uniting to conduct an auction at the home of John and Virginia Gatch. Mrs. Gatch recently passed away at the age of 86. Her husband died years before.

The auction will take place Aug. 11, beginning at 10 a.m., at the Gatch home, 5689 Bee Lane, Milford.

The Gatches’ auctioneer will be Craig Lytle, a descendant of Gen. William Lytle, who is known as “The Father of Clermont County” for being instrumental in the development of the county in its earliest days. He was the founder of the county’s oldest town, Williamsburg, in 1796.

Rev. Philip Gatch was the second person to move to the area today known as Milford. He moved here in 1798. The Methodist minister once he arrived he assisted the first Milford resident, another Methodist minister, Rev. Francis McCormick. A portion of McCormick’s original log cabin still exists, enclosed within the Crone house that stands on the top of the hill at the eastern end of Forest Avenue. Here is where McCormick taught the first class of Methodists in the entire Northwest Territory (including all of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and most of Minnesota).