Women's History Month: Miss Emeline Baumeister, Educator and Author

Emeline Baumeister was the youngest child of Frank and Katherine Baumeister, born in Erie County, Ohio in 1895. She graduated from Sandusky High School and attended Kent State University, earning a lifetime teaching certificate. By 1919, Emeline and her sister Edna were both teachers at Campbell School, also known as the 8th Ward School. By 1927, she was the Principal of the school.

Between 1924 and 1936, Emeline Baumeister, along with school superintendent Frank J. Prout, and Nellie Mischler authored several reading textbooks that were published by the University Publishing Company. Several of the books authored by Dr. Prout, Emeline Baumeister and Nellie Mischler are still found in university libraries throughout the United States today.

An article in the March 14, 1936 issue of the Sandusky Star Journal reported that Miss Baumeister had special lessons with a youngster who had moved to Sandusky from Italy, and who did not speak English. Two-thirds of the way through the school year, young Mariana Cinquanta was speaking and reading English very well, with a slight Italian accent, after special attention from Miss Baumeister.

At the end of the school year in 1946, Miss Baumeister was promoted from Principal of Campbell School to the position of Elementary Supervisor for the entire Sandusky City Schools district. Students and teachers paid tribute to her with gifts and a dinner party.

Miss Baumeister was a popular speaker for women’s organizations in Sandusky. In 1953 she spoke to the Mothers’ Federation along with television star Paige Palmer ("The First Lady of Fitness"), when the ladies met at Osborne School. 

Emeline Baumeister retired from her long career in 1959. She passed away on September 25, 1980. An article in the Sandusky Register of January 9, 1982 reported that she left the Sandusky City Schools over $95,000 in her will (worth about $312,000 today). Miss Baumeister cared about the children of Sandusky during her lifetime, and she made provision for Sandusky students even after her death.

The Sandusky Store Fixture Company

From about 1898 to 1903, the Sandusky Store Fixture Company did business in Sandusky, Ohio. It was the successor to the Sandusky Handle Company, and was located opposite the Lake Shore Railway Depot. 

An article in the August 8, 1898 issue of the Sandusky Star stated that the Sandusky Store Fixture Company had “the best wood, and the biggest load, for the best money.” In October of 1899 the company installed two new bowling alleys for Finley & Greisheimer, a Sandusky saloon on West Market Street. The alleys were regulation size, and made from the best quality maple wood. The company manufactured fixtures for banks, offices, drugstores, bowling alleys, and other businesses. 

For five years, C.A. Muelhauser, an expert in cabinet making, was a superintendent with the company. A.G. Baumeister was manager, and Nicholas Heinz and Otto Baumeister were listed as employees. The front page of the Sandusky Register of March 30, 1963 featured an article which reported that Bellevue veterinarian had recently had two saloon tables refinished, one of which had a label that was clearly inscribed with the words Sandusky Store Fixture Company. 

Elementary Textbooks by Frank J. Prout and Other Sanduskians

Between 1924 and 1936, Frank J. Prout and other local authors produced several reading textbooks that were published by the University Publishing Company, which had offices in Lincoln, Chicago, Dallas and New York.

The book, Thought Test Readers, for First Grade students, is shelved in the Woolworth Bookcase in the Quiet Reading Room of the Sandusky Library. The authors were Frank J. Prout, Emeline Baumeister, and Nellie Mischler, with illustrations by Helen Renner. In 1930, when this title was published, Mr. Prout was the Superintendent of Schools in Sandusky, Emeline Baumeister was a second grade teacher at Campbell School, and Nellie Mischler was a first grade teacher at Barker School. Dr. Prout would later serve as president of Bowling Green State University.

The King's Drum was written in 1937 by Dr. Prout, and Ms. Baumeister, who by this time was the Principal of Campbell School in Sandusky. This title, another in the Thought Test series, was designed for use with students in Grade Four. Ruth Mary Hallock illustrated the book. The illustrations were done in shades of aqua, green, and orange.

Included in this book were fictional stories, tales from other lands, stories about numbers, citizenship, and animals. Chapter 10 was entitled “Song and Story” and featured background information about familiar songs. To view this title, which is located in the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center, inquire at the Reference Desk of the Sandusky Library.

Copies of books written by Frank Jay Prout, Emeline Baumeister, and Nellie Mischler are found at several colleges in Ohio, the Library of the R. B. Hayes Presidential Center, the Ohioana Library in Columbus, Ohio, and the Library of Congress. A Thought Test Reader is also housed at The Richard L. Venezky Collection of 19^th and 20^th Century American Primers and Readers at Stanford University in California.

Leisure Moments in Sandusky and Erie County

       

In the collection of historical pictures at the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center are several photos of people enjoying their leisure time. Men are pictured above relaxing in a garden in Sandusky in the early twentieth century. While not all the men have been identified, some of the men in the photograph are: Charles Metzger, Harry Green, Christy Koehler, Ossi Baumeister and Gus Schoepfle. 

A freelance photographer took this picture of two unidentified children playing dress up on Reese Street in 1912:

About 1920 the Sprau family gathered at Winnebago Park, now known as Lions Park. You can see Sandusky Bay in the background:

Members of the Sandusky Daily News baseball team posed for a picture at Huron Park in May, 1937:

  

   

These men are fishing at the Rockwell Trout Stream in Castalia in 1940:

  

This candid picture was taken at  the Boy with the Boot fountain in Washington Park on July 28, 1955:

Nettie Baumeister Buder, Popular Performer

Pictured above is Nettie Baumeister at the age of 21. Miss Nettie Baumeister was born on January 27, 1899 in Sandusky, Ohio to Albert and Laura Baumeister. She graduated from Sandusky High School in 1917. Nettie studied vocal music with Alma Harris Rogers, and she was a featured singer in several recitals. In the early 1920s Nettie was a popular performer in local amateur theatrical productions sponsored by the Kiwanis, Elks, church groups, and other civic organizations. At a large meeting of the Sandusky Chamber of Commerce in the spring of 1920, Nettie sang a solo, and she was forced to sing two encores, because the crowd enjoyed her performance so well! For many years Nettie was a secretary/receptionist for the Erie County Farm Extension Bureau.

On June 4, 1924, Nettie Baumeister married Edwin J. Buder. They had two sons, one of whom died while still in elementary school. Nettie Baumeister Buder was a lifelong member of Grace Episcopal Church, and she volunteered for forty years at the Grace Church Thrift Shop. She taught bridge, and was twice elected as president of the Women’s Association of the Plum Brook Country Club. Nettie was once honored for her many years of service in the former Memorial Hospital Guild. On November 30, 1996, Nettie Baumeister Buder died at the age of 97. She was buried at Oakland Cemetery, next to her husband Edwin, who had died in 1980. Nettie was survived by her son, Dr. Joseph Buder, four grandchildren, ten great grandchildren, and a step-grandson. Nettie Baumeister Buder lived a rich life, having brought joy to hundreds through her musical talent and many years of community service.

Sandusky High School Class of 1913

Philip Weisberg is pictured below. Mr. Weisberg graduated from Sandusky High School
in 1913. He was an avid patron of the arts. Today, in the library, you will find his collection of art books, which he donated to the Sandusky Library. The Weisberg collection is shelved in the Lower Level of the library.

Two classmates of Philip Weisberg became authors. Corydon W. Bell authored several books, including The Wonder of Snow, Thunderstorm, and The Riddle of Time. In 1937 Emeline Baumeister was the co-author of a fourth grade reader entitled The King's Drum. A copy of this book is located in the Archives Research Center of the Sandusky Library.

In 1916 three members of the Sandusky High School class of 1913 were attending the University of Michigan.
In this picture of the Sandusky Club at the University of Michigan, circa 1916, Philip Weisberg is number 8; Wilbur Schoepfle is number 10; and Elmer Wirth is number 13. (Norbert Lange, who translated Sandusky Then and Now is number 15.)

In the early 1950’s the Class of 1913 had a reunion at Cedar Point. Pictured below are three members of the class, identified only by their first names: Gertrude, Verna, and Miriam, with their former teacher Miss Taylor.
The Sandusky High School Alumni Directory lists the maiden names of these 1913 graduates as: Gertrude Sartoris, Verna Payne, and Miriam Fitz.

Three Aspiring Entertainers

Nettie Baumeister Buder, Heenan Elliott, and Helen Fisher are pictured below in front of a stage backdrop from a play in which they were performing at Cedar Point, around 1918.
Sadly, Helen Fisher, who later married George Reynolds, died in 1922 at the age of 25.

Nettie Baumeister married Edwin Buder, and was the mother of Dr. Joseph and Thomas Buder. She was a lifetime resident of Sandusky, and was involved in many local musicals and civic affairs. She was a 50-year member of Grace Junior League, volunteered at the Grace Church Thrift Shop, and was a member of the former Memorial Hospital Guild. Nettie lived until the age of 97.

Heenan Elliott was the husband of Freda Black Jenkins, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Leslie Black. Heenan Elliott appeared on television shows, and was in several movies. He also traveled as a speaker with the Chautauqua Circuit. In 1926 Heenan Elliott was the secretary of the Catawba Candy Co., where his father-in-law, Leslie Black, served as company president. Heenan and Freda eventually moved to California, where Heenan served as president of the San Fernando Valley Real Estate Board. The Elliotts lived in California until their deaths in the 1970s.
Above is a photograph of a man driving a wagon from the Catawba Candy Company, which operated in Sandusky from 1905 until 1933.