Judge Thomas M. Sloane

Thomas Morrison Sloane was the son of Rush R. Sloane and his wife, the former Sarah E. Morrison, born in Sandusky on July 28, 1854. He graduated from Harvard University in 1877. After he studied law with Homer and L. H. Goodwin, he entered law school at the University and Michigan, where he received his law degree in 1880. He was associated for a time with Judge E. B. King. On June 22, 1881, Thomas M. Sloane married Sarah Maria Carswell Cooke, the daughter of Pitt Cooke, and his wife, the former Mary E. Townsend. Sarah Cooke was a granddaughter of Eleutheros Cooke, the first lawyer in Sandusky, and a niece of Jay Cooke, the Civil War financier. Mrs. Thomas M. Sloane is pictured below with sons Rush Sloane and Thomas M. Sloane, Jr. about 1893.

Judge and Mrs. Thomas M. Sloane and their family lived at the lovely home located at what is now 1415 Columbus Avenue. The home was originally built for Eleutheros Cooke in 1843-1844, and stood at the northwest corner of Columbus Avenue and Washington Row. Rush Sloane acquired the house in the late 1870’s, and he had the house taken down, and rebuilt at 1415 Columbus Avenue. It was given to Thomas and Sarah Sloane as a wedding gift. Pictured below is the Sloane’s home on Columbus Avenue, which is now known as the Cooke House.

In 1905, Thomas M. Sloane was elected Judge of Erie County Probate Court, and he was re-elected to this position twice. Judge Sloane was also very active in the civic affairs of Sandusky and Erie County. He served on City Council, the Sandusky Board of Education, the Board of Trade, Businessmen’s Association, and he was secretary-treasurer of the Good Samaritan Hospital. Mr. Sloane was instrumental in the organization of the Sunyendeand Club and was a member and past president of the Men’s Literary Club. Judge Sloane was also a leading layman in the Protestant Episcopal Church of Northern Ohio, and was Adjutant General of the Sixteenth Regiment of the Ohio National Guard for several years.

Thomas Morrison Sloane died on March 23, 1920, after a lingering illness. He was only 65 years of age at the time of his death. Funeral services were held at Grace Episcopal Church, and burial at Oakland Cemetery. Articles about the death of Judge Sloane were carried in the Sandusky Register and the Sandusky Star Journal on March 23, 1920. A tribute from the Erie County Bar Association was published in the March 28 issue of the Sandusky Register. The Register article stated that Judge Sloane was a man show life “was devoted entirely to the service of others…..He won many honors and distinctions but instead of making him boastful and proud, the noble humility with which he bore them but enhanced their value in the eyes of others upon who they were conferred.”

The tribute from the Bar Association concluded with these words: “So has passed from the ranks of our profession this whole souled, genial and pure minded member of our profession. These few words fall far short of enumerating his many excellencies, but after all his best epitaph is the love and respect his numberless friends and relatives.”