48 AUTON, JESSE, BRIGADIER GENERAL many citizens’ flight to the suburbs. Churches, schools, businesses, and residents began to experience problems. St. Benedict School, which had more than 400 pupils in the mid-1920s, dropped to about 100 by the late 1970s and was eventually merged with Bishop Howard School to become Holy Family Elementary School. Individuals and businesses continued to move from Austinburg to the suburbs, where taxes were lower and larger tracts of land were available. One of Austinburg’s greatest assets was the St. Elizabeth Hospital, which was built in 1912, at 20th St. and Eastern Ave. (see St. Elizabeth Medical Center). It provided both employment and superior medical care. However, the hospital business also changed as the exodus to the suburbs persisted. Inpatient admissions decreased dramatically, and as a result, St. Elizabeth built a new larger, better-equipped facility off Thomas More Dr. in Edgewood. Austinburg today is considerably larger than when it was founded in 1850. It now includes all of the east-west streets from 16th St. through 21st St. and the north-south streets of Water, Glenway, Oakland, Eastern, and Maryland, south as far as Wallace Woods. Mostly lower-income, workingclass people live in Austinburg now. The quality of construction and condition of area homes vary widely, from fully restored historic structures to poorly maintained substandard buildings. The Austinburg Neighborhood Association has been formed, with the goal of encouraging residents to restore the historic structures and to upgrade or raze substandard structures. With reasonable real estate prices, close proximity to major highways, and easy access to major restaurants and shopping areas, Austinburg may someday return to its past prominence. Most of Austinburg is listed on the National Register of Historic Districts (1987). It has buildings of various styles, including Colonial Revival, Greek Revival, Italianate, Neoclassical, and Queen Anne. Some well-known residents of Austinburg have been John G. Carlisle, U.S. congressman and lieutenant governor of Kentucky, Covington mayor Butch Callery, Covington councilman Bernie Moorman, Kenton Co. judge executive Robert Aldemeyer, and Boone Co. judge Charles Moore. “Austinburg Historic District,” National Register of Historic Places Nomination, 1986, Kentucky Heritage Council, Frankfort, Ky. Gastright, Joseph F. Gentleman Farmers to City Folks. Cincinnati: Cincinnati Historical Society, 1980. Reis, Jim. Pieces of the Past. Vol. 1. Covington: Kentucky Post, 1988.
Jack Wessling
AUTON, JESSE, BRIGADIER GENERAL (b. December 1, 1904, DeMossville, Ky.; d. March 30, 1952, Off utt Air Force Base, Neb.). U.S Air Force pi lot and commander Jesse Auton was the son of Robert Wesley and Julia E. Bagby Auton. He graduated from Piner High School in 1923 and was named class valedictorian. During his high school years, Auton was on the debating team and played basketball. He attended Georgetown Col-
Gen. Jesse Auton, ca. fall 1945.
lege in Georgetown, graduating in 1927 with a BA in education, and then returned to Piner High School to teach and serve as assistant principal for the 1927–1928 academic year. It was at this time that he became interested in aviation. In 1928 he left teaching and enlisted in the U.S Army Air Service to become a pi lot. Auton received pi lot training in Texas and was commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant in January 1930. From 1930 until 1936, he was given a number of assignments: he was a pursuit pi lot with the 94th Pursuit Squadron based at Selfridge Field, Mich.; commander of the Civilian Conservation Corps Camp at Ludington, Mich.; and group adjutant for the First Pursuit Group in California. He also served as an Army Air Mail Ser vice pi lot in 1934 and was assigned as aide and pi lot for Maj. Gen. Preston Brown, commander of the 2nd Army Corps. During his ser vice under General Brown, Auton commanded the Air Ser vice color guard for the funeral of Will Rogers. In early 1936 Auton was ordered to Washington, D.C., where he served as a White House Aide under President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933–1945) and as aide and pi lot for Assistant Secretary of War Louis Johnson. In January 1941 Auton commanded the 79th Pursuit Squadron in California, and by March he had been promoted to executive officer of the 20th Pursuit Group. He took command of the group in October 1941 and led the unit through the Louisiana War Maneuvers of that year. Following the outbreak of World War II, he was sent as an observer to England and Ireland to survey sites for potential U.S air bases for the newly formed 8th Air Force. Upon returning to the United States, he was assigned as plans and training officer for the 3rd Fighter Command in Tampa, Fla., and in January 1943 he was given command of the San Francisco Air Defense Wing. During this time he authored a fighter training guide for squadron and flight commanders, which was used through the end of the war. By April 1943 he had transformed his command into an overseas fighter wing and deployed it to England. The unit was designated the 65th Fighter Wing of the 8th Air Force when it arrived in England, and it became the first opera-
tional U.S. fighter wing in Europe. As wing commander, Auton had overall control of five fighter groups and one emergency rescue squadron. He and his staff, along with others, developed a strategic fighter control and communications system, which helped protect bomber formations more effectively. In March 1944 he was given the temporary rank of brigadier general; he commanded the wing through November 1945, flying 12 combat missions. After the war, Auton reverted to the rank of colonel, and from 1946 to 1950 he held a number of positions, including base commander of Lowery Field, Denver; director of operations for the Air Transport Command; wing commander of the 313th Troop Carrier Wing, which hauled coal into Berlin during the Berlin Airlift; and commander of the U.S. Air Force Station at Goose Bay, Labrador. In April 1950 he was assigned to Strategic Air Command Headquarters (SAC) in Omaha, serving in operations under Gen. Curtis Lemay. General Lemay sent him to Korea in 1950 to carry out a limited assessment of air operations in the Korean War, and during his time in Korea, he flew nine combat missions using various types of aircraft. Auton returned to the United States in early 1951 and gave public talks regarding the air war in Korea for SAC. In October 1951 he was promoted to the rank of brigadier general, with the position of director of Fighter Support operations. He was killed in a plane crash at Off utt Air Force Base on March 20, 1952, while returning from California, and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors. He was never married. Upon his death he left a bequest to Piner High School (now Piner Elementary), funds that have continued to help the school pay for various projects, including the recent construction of a new library dedicated in his name. Auton’s decorations and honors include two Legion of Merit medals, the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal, the Bronze Star, two Army Commendation Ribbons, the Order of the British Empire (Military), the French Legion of Honor, the French Croix de Guerre with palm, and the Belgian Croix de Guerre with palm. He was the only American to receive the award of the Freedom of the Borough of Saff ron Walden, England. Auton also received an honorary doctorate of military science from Georgetown University in 1951. For many years a street was also named in his honor at March Air Force Base, Calif. “Artifacts Tell General’s Story,” KE, June 3, 1994, C1. “Kenton General Killed in Air Crash,” KTS, March 31, 1952, 1. Who’s Who in America. Vol. 24 (1946–1947), “Latest Listings and Data” section, p. 15. Chicago: A. N. Marquis, 1946. “Wins Honor,” KTS, April 5, 1945, 1K.
Robert B. Snow
AVENEL HOTEL. In 1870 James M. and Mary Southgate sold a 50-acre tract in the District of the Highlands (now Fort Thomas) to St. Xavier College of Cincinnati, for $18,000. The land included