Otto Schimansky, Member of the Grand Army of the Republic

In 1890 Otto Schimansky (sometimes spelled Shimansky) was the General Manager of the D. J. Brown Manufacturing Co., a company which manufactured hoops for barrels.

He was born in Germany, and settled in Oak Harbor, Ohio. He served in the Third Ohio Cavalry during the Civil War. In 1884, the Schimansky family moved to Sandusky. Otto held several patents, including a patent for cutting hoops, planing hoops, and pointing hoops.

Otto Schimansky and his wife Elizabeth were married for fifty-seven years. They were the parents of Dr. C. A. Schimansky and O. K. Schimansky, former publisher of the Cleveland Leader and Times. Otto was a member of the McMeens Post of the G.A.R. (serving as Inspector General), the Perseverance Lodge, and the First Congregational Church. 

When he died in November of 1928,  his sons received a condolence telegraph from General G. M. Saltzgaber, past commander-in-chief of the G.A.R. It began with “My heart was filled with grief on learning of the death of your noble father. He served with me during the great Civil War in the Third Ohio Veteran Volunteer Cavalry. Under the great Lincoln he was one of those fine young Americans who endured suffering and gave his great strength to recement our glorious union…”

Otto Schimansky and his wife and sons are buried in the family plot in Oakland Cemetery.

Here is a photograph of the 24th Reunion of the Third Ohio Cavalry held at Cedar Point: