XENIA — John Ferrell was born in Xenia in 1857, he became a cement contractor. “Nixie” as he was most often called, owned the Star Patent Cement Company. It was his job to replace the brick, gravel or mud sidewalks with nice cement walkways. When he prepared the cement for the sidewalk, he used a special metal tamp to imprint his company’s name in the cement. If you look carefully, you may still find a few sidewalks with his imprint in the city.