The Reminiscences of Herman and Hedwig Zistel

In Archival Box G-14, folder 14 at the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center  is a wonderful piece of local history. The complete title reads: The Reminiscences of Herman Zistel: Memories of a German-American family in Nineteenth-Century Sandusky, Ohio to which are appended The Childhood Memories of Hedwig Zistel, edited by David P. Harris (2006, 2009.) The first part includes remembrances of Herman Zistel, who was born to Louis and Anna (Rosenkranz) Zistel in 1867. Herman’s parents were both natives of Germany.  Herman’s reminiscences were put on paper because his daughter, Era Zistel Posselt, wanted to hear memories of the older generations of her family. David P. Harris was a great nephew of Herman Zistel, and he edited the memories from a typewritten transcript of the original family letters. Herman tells about losing his mother at a young age, and having a new stepmother whom the children called “Grandma.” He described living in Sandusky, Ohio in the 1860s and 1870s, close to the waterfront and spending time at his father’s business known as the Atlantic Gardens. Herman survived an attack by the bear that lived in a cage at the Atlantic Gardens.

An interior scene at the Atlantic Pleasure Gardens in the 1870s

When he was old enough, Herman took one of his father’s boats out on Sandusky Bay for fishing parties. Then in the 1880s he left home on the train and headed west where he worked on a cattle ranch. Eventually he moved back to Ohio and married Mary Rodecker. They had two daughters, and resided in Cuyahoga County, where Herman worked in the shoe business. 

In the portion of the notebook which includes memories of Hedwig Zistel are Hedwig’s recollections of life in Sandusky in the 1800s. She recalled that the Great Western Band used to have a concert every Wednesday night at the Atlantic Gardens.

Stereographic Image of Great Western Band circa 1880

Her job was to clean the chimneys. Hedwig, also known as Hettie or Hattie, told about her father inventing a rustic cash register, and an ice elevator. She also recalled her brother Oscar’s inventions, especially the live fish car. Hettie became an apprentice seamstress, after leaving school at a young age. In 1891, she married Charles Schippel. Hettie lived to the age of 91, passing away in January of 1962. This notebook of recollections of Herman and Hedwig Zistel is fascinating to read. It takes one back to a day before television and automobiles, and gives details about what everyday life was like in Sandusky, Ohio from a long gone era.