A Teacher's Notebook

Lora A. Bing, who resided at 804 Mills Street in the early twentieth century, was a teacher in the Perkins and Margaretta Schools in 1901 and 1902. (Her brother was George J. Bing, a carriage maker in Sandusky in the early 1900s, the subject of a previous blog post.) In the Schools Collection of the Follett House Museum, is a notebook that Miss Bing used at that time. Most likely she taught a variety of subjects to her students. 

Here is a page from Miss Bing’s notebook which covers highlights of the various Presidents of the United States. Her notes end with the Presidency of Theodore Roosevelt, the current President at the time of her writing.

This description of a “Peculiar Sunset” was dated September 15, 1902:

This page has prompts for students, which provided the youngsters with suggestions for their writing assignment.

In this “tense tree,” the teacher describes various examples of past, present and future tense.

After Lora Bing married Paul Retzke in 1907, the couple moved to Toledo, Ohio, where she became a teacher in the Toledo Public Schools. 

Pictorial Section from The Bell in 1931

Students at St. Mary’s High School in Sandusky published a journal called The Bell (now a yearbook). A copy of the May, 1931 edition is housed in the Schools Collection of the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center. At the top of the front page of the pictorial section of this issue is a picture of Rev. William C. Zierolf as well as a scene taken at dismissal time at the end of the school day. The faculty is pictured at the bottom of the page (below). From left to right are: Miss Evelyn Bing, Miss Lillian Fievet, Mr. Ramond Helmer and Miss Olga Gundlach.

Pictured below in a scene from the annual St. Mary’s High School play are: Paul Hemrick, Dorothy Riesterer, Eula Sheets, Charles LeClair, Elizabeth Donahue, Geraldine Mack and Kenneth Polta.

Individual pictures of members of the St. Mary’s 1931 graduating class are pictured on page 2. Several of the young ladies appear to have a hairstyle known as the “Marcel Wave,” which was very popular in the 1920s and 1930s.

216 Erie County Residents Owned Automobiles in 1911

An article which appeared in the May 13, 1911 issue of the Sandusky Star Journal listed the names of the 216 Erie County residents who owned automobiles. The Erie County Clerk’s office kept a listing of the names of the owners of automobiles, the registration number, the owner’s address, and the make of car. In 1911, G.A. Boeckling owned an Oldsmobile. L.J. Parker owned a Buick. Dr. Merz drove an Overland. George Schade owned three vehicles, a Brush, a Speedwell, and a Cadillac. Though we do not know what type of vehicle George J. Bing is driving in the picture below, in 1911 he owned a Zimmerman, and he was an agent for Paterson roadsters and touring cars at his business on Tiffin Avenue.

Elmore automobiles sold for $1750 in 1911. Below is an Elmore from 1912.

   

The Star Garage sold an E-M-F “30” for $1100, at the corner of Market and Decatur Streets. Model T Fords were also sold there.

Many of the types of automobiles sold in Sandusky in 1911 are unknown to us today. The auto industry was then in its infancy, and was changing rapidly. If you would like to read the entire article about Sandusky’s automobile drivers in 1911, visit the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center, where several decades of local newspapers are found on microfilm.

John Bing, Veteran of the First World War

John G. Bing was born in Sandusky in 1889 to Philip and Rachel Bing. During World War I, he served as a pilot in the Enlisted Reserve Corps, training at Souther Field Flying School in Americus, Georgia. He achieved the rank of Lieutenant, and was honorably discharged on December 6, 1918.  After military service, he moved to Omaha, Nebraska, where he worked as western manager of the Carney Cement Company. An article which appeared in the August 20, 1922 issue of the Sandusky Register, told of Mr. Bing’s marriage to a young lady from Omaha, Nebraska.

The article stated that the couple had a “church choir romance.” John G. Bing married Miss Martha J. Barsch on August 10, 1922 at the First Congregational Church of Omaha, Nebraska. Later the couple moved to Cuyahoga County, Ohio, where they raised their two daughters. Mr. Bing died on October 25, 1967 at the age of 78, and was buried in Omaha, Nebraska, his wife’s home town. Mrs. Martha Barsch Bing lived to age of 102. She died on June 28, 2004, and was buried next to her husband.

Businesses on Tiffin Avenue

The 1855 Sandusky City Directory lists several businesses on Tiffin Avenue, including a barber, cooper, blacksmith, and a grocer. David Bruckner and Florian Ulmer had a blacksmith shop on Tiffin Avenue near Monroe Street in the 1880s.

Mrs. Conrad Frank’s bakery was located first at Tiffin Avenue, but later moved to Columbus Avenue.

The Kuebeler brewing plant was built on Tiffin Avenue near Broadway Street in 1893, after the previous brewery was destroyed in a fire. In 1896 the Kuebeler and Stang breweries merged to form the Kuebeler-Stang Brewing Company. Two years later the Kuebeler- Stang Brewery became part of the Cleveland and Sandusky Brewing Company. Most of the breweries in Sandusky closed during Prohibition. One of the Kuebeler-Stang plants survived by making soft drinks, but it too closed in 1935, and all remaining beer production moved to Cleveland.

The Industrial Nut Corporation, which began as the Brightman Nut and Manufacturing Company, has been located on Tiffin Avenue for one hundred years.

George J. Bing built carriages at his garage on Tiffin Avenue in the early twentieth century, before his untimely death in 1914.

Many businesses have come and gone (and many still remain) on Tiffin Avenue, including Kerber’s Marine Grocery, Pietschman’s Shoes, and a variety of restaurants, gas stations, drugstores, and other businesses. A major Erie County employer, Ford Motor Company, now known as Automotive Components Holdings, opened an assembly plant on Tiffin Avenue in 1955. The picture below shows local Ford employees working in the 1960s.

Postcards from Laura Bing Retzke

On July 23, 1909, Sandusky resident Emelia Bing sent a postcard to her sister in law, Lora Bing Retzke in Toledo. Pictured on the front of the postcard is Emelia’s husband, George J. Bing, an early aviator and carriage maker.

 In the message on the post card, Emelia asked Lora if would be possible for her  to spend the night with Lora’s family, as Emelia and her daughter Myrtle were planning a trip to Toledo and Delta in the next few days.

On September 18, 1914, Emelia sent a postcard to her mother in law, Pauline Bing, in Toledo, Ohio. She discussed the future of a grocery store in Sandusky which was run by the Bing family.

Most likely the children in the Bing vehicle pictured above are the three oldest children of Emelia and George J. Bing, named Myrtle, Arthur, and Ruth. Sadly, George J. Bing was killed in an automobile accident on September 23, 1914. Emelia’s youngest child Josephine Bing was not born until after the death of her father.

 Emelia remarried, to Mr. William H. Bradley, in 1920. After her marriage to Mr. Bradley, the children included both the surname of their father and stepfather in their names. Myrtle Bing Bradley went on to become known as “the girl evangelist from Ohio.”

If you have vintage postcards from the Sandusky or Erie County area, please consider donating them to the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center. Postcards can provide interesting details about the daily lives of individuals, giving life to the names and dates found on vital records and census listings.

George J. Bing, Carriage Maker and Biplane Builder

George J. Bing and his friends are pictured above with a biplane that George was towing to the frozen Sandusky Bay to test. Bing’s attempts to fly this plane failed.

Bing was one of Sandusky’s most prominent businessmen. He had a carriage shop on Tiffin Avenue. He outgrew his original shop, and constructed a large brick garage at 131 Tiffin Avenue, where he also sold and repaired automobiles. This building still stands today. (Currently the address is 317 Tiffin Avenue.)

An article in the September 21, 1906 Sandusky Register reported that Bing’s shop was “modern in every respect.” Bing’s motto was “Honesty is the best policy.”

George J. Bing attained the rank of sergeant in the Spanish American War, serving in the Ohio National Guard. George and Amelia Bing were married about 1907, and they had three children, Myrtle, Arthur and Ruth.

Sadly, George J. Bing and two other men died in an automobile accident on September 23, 1914, following a trip to the Sandusky County Fair in Fremont, Ohio. You can see more photographs of George J. Bing online at Lake Erie’s Yesterdays and the Ohio Memory Online Scrapbook.