Oakland Cemetery Deed from 1856

On December 13, 1856, a deed for Lot 8, Block 9 of Oakland Cemetery was issued to H. H. Eldis. The burial lot was purchased at a cost of $15.00. The document was signed by Sandusky Mayor Charles Cross. It appears that Samuel Lewis, Recorder, signed the document on May 12, 1854. (This date may be a clerical error.)

Henry H. Eldis was the son of early German settlers Martin and Louisa Eldis. According to According to the History of Erie County, edited by Lewis Cass Aldrich, Martin Eldis settled in Portland Township, Sandusky, and opened a bakery and provision store on Water Street in the Spring of 1828. Martin Eldis died on November 28, 1852, "leaving to his wife and children an abundant share of earthly goods."

Mrs. Eldis (pictured above) told of her early years in Sandusky:

"We were not welcomed. On our arrival sixty years ago [1828], we were advised to better move on; if it had not have been for the steamboat trade, we never could have made a living in the first year or two. By and by though, the inborn element became more friendly to us, and learned to respect our ways. For nearly four years we were the only German family in this hamlet, and in all probability in the county."

The death record of Henry H. Eldis states that he died on August 16, 1892, at the age of 63. He had been employed as a railroad clerk. Henry H. Eldis was buried in Lot 8, Block 9, of Oakland Cemetery in the family lot, near his parents Martin and Louisa Eldis. To learn more about the early German settlers in Sandusky, read Sandusky Then and Now by Ernst Von Schulenburg.