Isaac F. Mack, Civil War Veteran and Newspaper Publisher

Isaac Foster Mack, Jr. was born in Monroe County, New York on August 1, 1837. He moved with his family to Decatur, Wisconsin in 1848. While attending school at Oberlin College, Mack enlisted in Company C of the Seventh Ohio Infantry. At the battle of Cross Lanes, West Virginia in 1861, Mack was taken prisoner. He was imprisoned at Libby Prison in Richmond, Old Parish Prison at New Orleans, and also at Salisbury, North Carolina. After the war, I.F. Mack, Jr. returned to Oberlin College and completed his education. He read law in Janesville, Wisconsin, and practiced law for a short time. He became associated with the Broadhead Independent newspaper in Wisconsin, and then he moved to Washington D.C. where he worked as a correspondent for several Chicago newspapers. In March, 1869, Mack moved to Sandusky, Ohio where he purchased a half interest in the Register. After two years, he became the sole proprietor of the newspaper. In 1874, his brother John T. Mack joined him as a partner in the Register. This partnership continued until 1909 when Isaac F. Mack retired due to failing health. I.F. Mack, Jr. was a charter member of the Western Associated Press, which went on to become the Associated Press. It was largely due to the efforts of Isaac F. Mack, Jr. that the Ohio Soldiers' and Sailors' Home was located in Erie County, Ohio. The Ohio Veterans Home Museum is now housed in the I.F. Mack Building on the grounds of the Ohio Veterans Home.

In 1892 I.F. Mack, Jr. was elected Commander of the Ohio Department of the Grand Army of the Republic. and for several years he served as president of the Ohio Editorial Association. On September 12, 1912, Isaac F. Mack, Jr. died at the age of 75. He was survived by his wife, the former Mary Foote, and a son and daughter. Burial was in Sandusky's Oakland Cemetery. In 1995 Isaac F. Mack, Jr. was inducted posthumously into the Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame. To read more about the life and career of Isaac F. Mack, Jr., read Sandusky's Editor, by Charles E. Frohman, available at the Sandusky Library.