Musicians in Sandusky

Music has been an important part of society throughout history. From lullabies, to work songs, to patriotic anthems and funeral hymns, music is associated with major milestones of an individual’s or a family’s life experiences. Before the time of television and radio, families would often enjoy songs together in the evening. Virtually all movies, plays, and television programs utilize some form of music to convey a message.

In Sandusky music has been performed by many community and school bands and orchestras. Musical performances at public events were common. Organized singing groups were very popular with the German immigrants. Additionally, the first known band in Sandusky was the Jaeger Band, comprised mainly of German immigrants (seen here circa 1851). A variety of bands appeared at Cedar Point throughout the years, including that of John Philip Sousa. When local piano teachers had recitals, the newspaper listed the names of the students as well as the pieces each student played.
Aimee Quinn is pictured with her violin in 1897. She later taught music along with her sister Jean in New York City. Aimee’s father was grocer in Sandusky.
Reber Johnson was a child prodigy. He is seen here at the age of 6 with his instructor William F. Peters. Reber Johnson taught music at Oberlin College for thirty years. He was the grandson of Leonard Johnson, who owned Johnson’s Island at one time. Reber Johnson’s aunt, Sallie Reber, was a well-known popular singer.

The Sandusky High School Orchestra of 1904 is pictured below:

Visit the Sandusky Library’s Archives Research Center to learn more about the music and musicians of Erie County.

The Western Liberties

The “Western Liberties” was a section of lots in Erie County west of and adjoining the Sandusky tract (the original section of the city, what is now the downtown area), created in 1836. Mills Street was the western boundary of the Western Liberties and Camp Street was the eastern boundary. The Mad River and Lake Railroad’s engine house and shops were located in the northern section of the Western Liberties. It is not clear why this region was called the Western Liberties, but a possibility is that it was adapted from the name used by William Penn for land outside of the city of Philadelphia. (Certain tracts of land were called "the liberty land or free lots," because these lots were given free of charge to first purchasers of land in the colony. Whether this policy was followed in the Sandusky Liberties is unknown.) At the time of its creation, the Western Liberties were at the western edge of the city.

Early settlers in this portion of the city were predominantly immigrants, particularly Germans and Irish. The lots and houses were generally smaller than in other parts of the city, and thus more likely to attract those making a new beginning in a new land. An 1855 article in the Daily Commercial Register described the region as a "busy, thriving town, composed chiefly of a foreign population," and predicted continued growth from German and Irish immigration.

The first Catholic Church in Sandusky, Holy Angels Church, was established in the Western Liberties, drawing many of its parishioners from this immigrant population. Father Joseph Machebeuf (who was the inspiration for the title character in the Willa Cather novel, Death Comes for the Archbishop) was the priest when the first church building was completed in 1845. The Catholic cemeteries of Sandusky, at Mills and Seneca Streets, are near the southern boundary of the Western Liberties.

During the cholera epidemic of 1849, the August 3, 1849 issue of the Daily Sanduskian reported that a temporary orphan asylum was established in a frame cottage in the Western Liberties, near the Catholic Church. Contributions of money, bedding, and provisions were accepted by John M. Brown, F.M. Follett, F.T. Barney, Rev. Goesbriard, and David Souter.

By the 1890s August and Jacob Kuebeler had established the Kuebeler Brewing Company on Tiffin Avenue. Though the brewery is no longer in existence, the former home of August Kuebeler is still standing at 1319 Tiffin Avenue, located directly across the street from the spot where the brewery once stood. (A similar house, owned by his brother Jacob Kuebeler, was across the street.)
Two historical atlases of Erie County are housed in the Archives Research Center of the Sandusky Library, dating from 1874 and 1896. By browsing through these atlases, you can see how drastically Erie County has changed though time. Churches, businesses, government offices, and information about early area residents are all documented in the Erie County historical atlases.

Program Announcement: Strangers in Our Bay (Brown-Bag Series)

Bring your lunch and join us in the Library Program Room (Terrace Level) as we explore topics in local history. Our next Brown Bag Lunch will be held on Wednesday, May 21, from 12:00-1:00 p.m. The topic will be “Strangers in our Bay.” Neil Allen, Director of the Maritime Museum of Sandusky, will talk about the many ships who temporarily called Sandusky Bay home.

Registration is requested. To register, call 419-625-3834 and press 0 to speak with a switchboard operator (9-5, Monday-Friday) or press Option 6 to leave a message.

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For further information, please contact:

Maggie Marconi, Museum Curator
Sandusky Library
419-625-3834

International Museum Day: Saturday, May 17

International Museum Day is Saturday, May 17, 2008 and nine local organizations are working together to mark the occasion. Sponsored by The Sandusky/Erie County Community Foundation, the Edison Birthplace, Eleutheros Cooke House, Erie County Historical Society, Follett House Museum, Maritime Museum of Sandusky, Merry-Go-Round Museum, Milan Historical Museum, Ohio Veterans Home Museum, and Sandusky Underground Railroad Education Center will celebrate from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and offer free admission, along with arts, crafts, and activities at each museum. For your convenience, the Sandusky Trolley will run between the four downtown Sandusky museums from 11:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Hours for the event are 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. You can visit any or all of the museums in any order.

Sandusky High School Class of 1913

Philip Weisberg is pictured below. Mr. Weisberg graduated from Sandusky High School
in 1913. He was an avid patron of the arts. Today, in the library, you will find his collection of art books, which he donated to the Sandusky Library. The Weisberg collection is shelved in the Lower Level of the library.

Two classmates of Philip Weisberg became authors. Corydon W. Bell authored several books, including The Wonder of Snow, Thunderstorm, and The Riddle of Time. In 1937 Emeline Baumeister was the co-author of a fourth grade reader entitled The King's Drum. A copy of this book is located in the Archives Research Center of the Sandusky Library.

In 1916 three members of the Sandusky High School class of 1913 were attending the University of Michigan.
In this picture of the Sandusky Club at the University of Michigan, circa 1916, Philip Weisberg is number 8; Wilbur Schoepfle is number 10; and Elmer Wirth is number 13. (Norbert Lange, who translated Sandusky Then and Now is number 15.)

In the early 1950’s the Class of 1913 had a reunion at Cedar Point. Pictured below are three members of the class, identified only by their first names: Gertrude, Verna, and Miriam, with their former teacher Miss Taylor.
The Sandusky High School Alumni Directory lists the maiden names of these 1913 graduates as: Gertrude Sartoris, Verna Payne, and Miriam Fitz.

George “Johnny” Nichols, Light Heavyweight Champion

George “Johnny” Nichols won the Light Heavyweight Championship in the National Boxing Association’s tournament finals in Chicago on March 18, 1932. Johnny Nichols is pictured below with his long time manager Jack Singer.
The March 19 Sandusky Star Journal reported that Nichols had only a “100 to 1” shot to win. Johnny defeated Dave Maier in the fight, but judge’s decision was not unanimous. Two referees voted for Nichols, but another judge, John Houghteling, cast his ballot for Maier. The crowd stood and cheered for Johnny Nichols when N.B.A. president John V. Clinnin linked the gold championship belt around the winner’s waist.

George “Johnny” Nichols was born in Sandusky to Italian immigrant parents. He did much of his boxing in Buffalo. The Sandusky Register Star News said in a 1957 article that Johnny Nichols fought from 1927 through 1937, sat out a year, and had one final fight in 1939. Nichols had boxed in many towns including Boston, Miami, Los Angeles, Denver, and Houston.

Finding vital records about George Nichols proved to be a challenge. The May 10, 1957 Sandusky Register Star News stated that Johnny Nichols was born June 9, 1908. However, the Social Security Death Index gave July 10, 1907 as the birth date for John Nichols who died in 1986 in Sandusky, Ohio. The birth record at Erie County Probate Court (Volume 4, page 98) lists “Philip Joseph Nicolasi” being born Jul7 10, 1907 to Thomas Nicolasi and Ida Demmas Nicolasi. (Ida’s maiden name was probably Demma.)

The obituary of John G. Nichols in the September 27, 1986 Sandusky Register listed John G. Nichols’ parents as Thomas and Ida Nichols, and his wife as the former Bertie Horn. The 1910 U.S. lists his parents as Thomas and Ida Nicholas; but the 1910 Sandusky City Directory contains a listing for Thomas and Agata Nicolosi.

Variations in given names, surnames, and birth dates are all too familiar in family history research. Don’t rule out any data. The best thing to do is to keep a record of all the dates and spellings that are found, and document the source of each. Johnny Nichols was definitely born in Sandusky to Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Nicholas, but through the years names were changed. Johnny’s mother name was listed as Mrs. Ida Nicholas in her 1936 obituary, but Johnny’s name was listed as John G. Nichols with the Ohio Department of Vital Statistics at the time of his death in 1986.

An interesting sideline about Johnny Nichols is his brief marriage to Kit Klein. The New York Times reported in 1935 that the national speed skating champion had married George Nichols, a boxer from Sandusky, but they had never actually lived together.

Whigs in Sandusky

For those of you not tired of politics yet. . . .

The Whig Party was active in the United States from 1834–1856, having been formed by those who were strongly opposed to the tyrannical leadership of Andrew Jackson. The Whigs elected two American Presidents, William Henry Harrison in 1841, and Zachary Taylor in 1849. Both Presidents died before their terms ended.

Several Erie County residents were active in the Whig Party. Joseph M. Root, who held many political offices throughout his career, was elected as a Whig to the twenty-ninth Congress of the United States. Judge E. B. Sadler and Homer Goodwin, a well known Sandusky lawyer, both started out their careers as members of the Whig Party.

Newspaper editor Oran Follett, pictured below, was a staunch Whig leader in the 1840’s.
Sandusky’s first lawyer, Eleutheros Cooke, was elected to Congress as an anti-Jacksonian (later, Whig), serving from 1831 through 1833.
An earlier blog entry describes William Henry Harrison’s visit to Sandusky in 1840 when he was the Whig presidential candidate. The ladies of the town created a special banner in his honor. The October 5, 1852 issue of the Daily Commercial Register lists the names of fifty members of the Common Council of the city of Sandusky, who were planning a reception for General Winfield Scott. The council members, without regard to party, planned to welcome General Scott to the “hospitalities of the city, on the occasion of his approaching visit.” Though Scott lost the election, he had a multitude of supporters in Sandusky.

Eventually the Whig Party fell apart due to disunity on the issue of slavery. Most Whigs in the Northern United States joined the newly formed Republican Party. An excellent article about early Ohio political life is found in Edgar Allen Holt’s “Party Politics in Ohio: 1840-1850” available online through the Ohio Historical Society.

Mystery Photos: Guess the Location

We haven't had a Mystery Photos posting in a long time, so let's have one now. Here is a photo of a railroad crossing in Sandusky. Do you recognize the location?Here are a couple of other scenes, in the same area. (I covered over the street signs in one picture, so you can't cheat!)
Feel free to take your guess in the comments section. I will post the answer in the comments within a few days.

The answer is in the comments section.

George J. Bing, Carriage Maker and Biplane Builder

George J. Bing and his friends are pictured above with a biplane that George was towing to the frozen Sandusky Bay to test. Bing’s attempts to fly this plane failed.

Bing was one of Sandusky’s most prominent businessmen. He had a carriage shop on Tiffin Avenue. He outgrew his original shop, and constructed a large brick garage at 131 Tiffin Avenue, where he also sold and repaired automobiles. This building still stands today. (Currently the address is 317 Tiffin Avenue.)

An article in the September 21, 1906 Sandusky Register reported that Bing’s shop was “modern in every respect.” Bing’s motto was “Honesty is the best policy.”

George J. Bing attained the rank of sergeant in the Spanish American War, serving in the Ohio National Guard. George and Amelia Bing were married about 1907, and they had three children, Myrtle, Arthur and Ruth.

Sadly, George J. Bing and two other men died in an automobile accident on September 23, 1914, following a trip to the Sandusky County Fair in Fremont, Ohio. You can see more photographs of George J. Bing online at Lake Erie’s Yesterdays and the Ohio Memory Online Scrapbook.

Olde Broderson, Baseball Player

Olde Broderson was born in Germany in August of 1888 to Carsten and Catherine Hansen Broderson. The family emigrated to the United States in 1890. By 1900 the Brodersons had a family of eight children and resided in Sandusky.
Olde’s job was at the car shops of the New York Central Railroad, but in his free time he loved to play baseball. He was a member of several different area teams throughout the years, playing for the Shamrocks from about 1911 through 1914. A columnist for the Sandusky Star Journal wrote in 1921 when Olde played for the Griswold-Wags team, “We’ve been watching Broderson play ball for several years, been amazed at the unusual sight of seeing a man improve with every season and often wondered if 'Brod' hadn’t discovered that spring of perpetual youth that Balboa, or maybe it was Ponce De Leon, went after.”

On the afternoon of Sunday, June 21, 1925, Olde Broderson was in the lineup as catcher for the Kelleys Island baseball team the Chinks. In the seventh inning, Suhr, the third baseman for the opposing team, was on third base, and attempted to slide home on a base hit. Olde was trying to block Suhr’s run for a score, and the two players collided. Olde received internal injuries from this accident. His teammates escorted him home on the steamer Chippewa. Olde remained in constant pain, and died the following day.

Olde’s obituary said that he was “one of Sandusky’s oldest active baseball players.” Six members of the Chinks team served as pallbearers at the funeral. Representatives from all Sandusky baseball teams attended the funeral services, where a huge floral tribute honored Olde.

Olde Broderson is buried at Oakland Cemetery. He was survived by his wife and three sons, seven siblings, and both his parents. He was sadly missed by his family and friends.