Second Baptist Church: Sandusky's Pioneer African American Church

 In May 1949, the Second Baptist Church, then led by the Rev. R.T. Booker, celebrated its centennial anniversary of service to the African American community in Sandusky. (The Sandusky Library Archives Research Center holds a copy of the commemorative program, as well as one for the 150th anniversary in 1999.) 

Rev. Booker, with wife Bernice and son Robert

The church, on Decatur Street in downtown Sandusky, was founded in 1849 by Sandusky residents, including Maria Winifred French, Laurence Johnston, and Mr. and Mrs. Nathaniel Jones. At first called Zion Baptist Church, it soon became known as the Anti-Slavery Baptist Church, until 1920 when the church was incorporated under its present name. Early members, most notably George J. Reynolds, were active in the Underground Railroad, aiding many people to escape to Canada.

The original building (pictured above) was acquired by church members, and it served as the house of worship until 1934, when the present church was constructed around the frame of the earlier building. 

As the church grew and became self-sustaining, members were able to hire their first pastor in 1856, Rev. Israel Campbell. The longest serving pastor at Second Baptist was Rev. W. Benson Stephens, who served from 1972 to 2008.

Rev. Stephens and Family in 1999

The church continues to serve the community more than 170 years after its founders established the church as a weapon against slavery and a beacon to those seeking freedom and faith.

The Bully Roarer Songster

In 1848, the publisher D. Campbell & Sons of Sandusky, Ohio produced a comic songbook, the third in a series of publications. David Campbell established the Sandusky Clarion in 1822, which was a predecessor of the Sandusky Register.

On pages 76 through 78 is a song called Umbrella Courtship, about a man named Simon who steals kisses from the belle he is courting, but only when it is raining. They got married on a rainy day, and had eight children, all who were marked with umbrellas.

A version of the Umbrella Courtship is also found at the Lester S. Levy Collection of Sheet Music from the Johns Hopkins University’s Sheridan Library. 

The comical song found on pages 82 and 83 of the Bully Roarer was about two Irish men who were fighting over the same young lady.

This publication is in the collections of the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center.

Historical Receipts from Sandusky Newspapers

In April, 1822, David Campbell issued the first copy of the Sandusky Clarion, a predecessor of the Sandusky Register. The paper was renamed the Daily Register after Earl Bill and Clark Waggoner took over as editors of the paper in 1851. Eventually Henry D. Cooke became associated with the business. The newspaper firm was owned by Bill, Cooke and Company when this receipt was issued to David Campbell in 1853.

Hewson Peeke wrote in A Standard History of Erie County, Ohio (Lewis Publishing Co., 1916) that the Register changed hands three or four times between 1855 and 1869. It was after Isaac Foster Mack became half-owner in the newspaper in 1869 that the local newspaper in Sandusky became known as the Sandusky Register.  In this 1872 receipt, signed by I.F. Mack, the paper was known as the Sandusky Daily Register, under the proprietorship of the Register Printing Company.

According to the letterhead on this receipt from August 3, 1889, at that time the Sandusky Register had a daily, tri-weekly, weekly, and Sunday edition. I.F. Mack and Brother were the publishers of the Sandusky Register in 1889.

 Though the names changed slightly throughout the years, the Sandusky Register has a long history with the residents of Sandusky and Erie County. Visit the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center to view historical copies of Sandusky newspapers on microfilm. There was you will also find  an interesting biography of I.F. Mack by Charles E. Frohman, entitled Sandusky's Editor.

Miss America of 1922 Had Ties to Sandusky

One hundred years after David Campbell founded the Sandusky Clarion, his great great granddaughter Mary Katherine Campbell was named Miss America in Atlantic City. A former “Miss Columbus,” she won the title in both 1922 and 1923. The clipping above appeared in the Sandusky Register on August 24, 1924. Miss Campbell had been invited to Sandusky’s Centennial Celebration. (It is unknown if she actually attended the celebration in Sandusky.) Mary Katherine was the daughter of H.R. Campbell, who worked for several years in Ohio governmental offices, including the State Auditor and the Ohio Bureau of Inspection. The grandfather of Mary Katherine Campbell was Frank Little Campbell, former owner of the Blue Limestone Company. Mary Katherine’s great grandfather was George W. Campbell.

Before moving to Delaware, Ohio, George W. Campbell worked for several years with his father in the newspaper publishing business in Sandusky. His father, and great great grandfather of Mary Katherine Campbell was David Campbell, who died in Sandusky in 1861. An inscription on Mr. Campbell’s tombstone in Sandusky's Oakland Cemetery reads: “An Honest Man.”

George W. Campbell and His Letter to Mrs. Hubbard

George W. Campbell was born in the state of New York to David and Mary Jones Todd Campbell on January 12, 1817. In the early 1820s he moved with his parents to Sandusky, Ohio, where his father published the Sandusky Clarion. The Clarion was the first newspaper published in the Firelands area, and was the predecessor of the Sandusky Register. Mr. Campbell worked with his father in the publishing business in Sandusky, until he relocated to Delaware, Ohio in 1849. In Delaware, he worked in the mercantile business. Later he devoted his pursuits to the propagation of a wide variety of fruits, and he became well known as a horticulturist. Mr. Campbell was best known for his promotion of the Delaware grape. The popular Delaware grape was known for its hardiness, productivity, and unsurpassed flavor and quality. 

George W. Campbell died on July 15, 1898 and was buried at Oak Grove Cemetery in Delaware County, Ohio. He was survived by his widow, the former Elizabeth Little. He had been president of the Ohio Horticultural Society and was appointed by President Rutherford B. Hayes as United States Commissioner to the Paris Exposition of 1878.  In 2002 an Ohio historic marker was dedicated at the former Campbell home, now the Delaware County Cultural Arts Center.

A letter from George W. Campbell to Mrs. Jennie West Hubbard is housed at the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center. Mrs. Hubbard was working on a project to collect biographical information about women who resided in the Western Reserve before 1850. She was hoping that her relative, Mr. Campbell, could tell her some of the birth and death dates of their mutual female relatives. It turns out that he did not recall the dates exactly, but he did remember with fondness the work that several Sandusky ladies did when creating a banner for the visit of William Henry Harrison to Sandusky. The letter and transcription are below.

Delaware, O., June 3, 1896

My dear Jennie:

            I am really ashamed of myself for allowing your letter of last March to remain so long unanswered, asking for information about the pioneer women of the Western Reserve; and I now regret that I am unable to give you so little of interest. I have somewhere, a book of records of my father’s family; but it has been mislaid, and I have been unable to find it; but I am not certain that it contains much. I have filled out the blank record of names you sent me, as far as I can. I have not the date of Aunt Eleanor’s birth or death – but I think they are recorded on her headstone in the cemetery of Sandusky. Of Wealthy’s record, I have only the state of her marriage to brother Henry.

            As to that flag, I am sorry my memory is so indistinct. I feel certain that Aunt Eleanor did work on a flag, and I think I saw the design; but cannot recall much about it. I was under the impression that it was modeled in whole or in part from the inclosed picture which I drew for the heading of a little campaign paper printed in the days of “Tippecanoe and Tyler too,” and had engraved at Buffalo by Mr. J.W. Orr. If you find the design on the flag is the same, or substantially so, you may be pretty sure that it is the same upon which Aunt Eleanor and other ladies worked. When I come to Sandusky, as I hope to do sometime this season I will investigate it and I think the sight of the flag will enable me to mark the names on the printed list which enclose also. When I am in Sandusky, perhaps I may be able to give you some items of interest with your assistance in prompting me as to what you would like to have.

            We are in health about as usual. Weather has been pleasant generally, with play of rain and sunshine; and lately cool, but without frost. Everything sure now must propicous for a fruitful answer, if we are not visited by storms or hail or cyclones. I sincerely hope you and your family and all the connections are well and happy, and that you and your mother – my sweet little Auntie had a delightful visit at Cincinnati. With kindred love from both, at this end of the line. I am affectionately and truly yours.

                                                            George W. Campbell

The Ivonhoe Theatre

In 1914 and 1915, Charles L. Blatz was the owner and manager of the Ivonhoe Theatre, located on the west side of Jackson Street between Market and Washington Streets. An advertisement for the theatre stated that it was “built to conform to the Ohio State code, is absolutely fire and panic proof.”  Music was provided by a special musical instrument, the “American Photo Player,” which combined piano, organ, and musical and sound effects in one unit. In the lobby of the Ivanhoe, hung a painting by Ralph S. Tebbutt, said to be a rendition of a "Native American maiden." The model for the painting was Mr. Blatz’s niece, Ivon Gamble. Ivon was about nineteen years of age when Tebbutt did the painting.  

Ivon Gamble married Augustus Feick in September of 1921. Following the death of Mr. Feick in 1938, Ivon married John W. Campbell. Mrs. Ivon Gamble Feick Campbell passed away in 1985 at the age of 90. She is buried in Oakland Cemetery next to her first husband, Augustus Feick. Mrs. Ivon Campbell is pictured below in her later years.

Mr. Norbert Erney wrote a piece of sheet music entitled “Ivonhoe,” in honor of the theater. The sheet music is now located in the Arts Collection of the Sandusky Library Archives Research  Center. By 1916, the theater on Jackson Street became known as the Plaza Theater.

Research Using Erie County Cemetery Interment Cards

A valuable source of genealogical information is housed at the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center. In the 1980s, in preparation for the book Erie County,Ohio Cemetery Census Before 1909, volunteers from all townships of Erie County created note cards with interment information about the individuals buried in Erie County cemeteries. While the book features inscriptions about graves up to the year 1908, the index cards provide information about burials up to the decade of the 1980s. These hundreds of index cards were microfilmed, and are now found in the second drawer of the third section of the microfilm cabinet in the Archives Research Center.

When you load the microfilm onto the microfilm reader/scanner, remember to set the size to 16mm, as these films are a smaller size than the standard 35mm size microfilm.

Below is a copy of Anne Hubbard Butler’s interment card. The inscription that is on her tombstone is provided, as well as her birth and death years, and also noted is the fact that she was from Pennsylvania. Anne, who died when she was only eight years old, is buried in Block 61, Lot 14 at Oakland Cemetery. The inscription on her stone reads: Adored daughter of Watson Hubbard Butler and Susan Quay Butler. A little child shall lead them.

David Campbell, 1816 – 1855, was most likely a close relative of the David Campbell who founded Sandusky’s first newspaper, which eventually became the Register. This particular David Campbell was born in Homer, New York in 1816 and died in Delaware, Ohio in 1855. Though he was not born in Sandusky, Ohio, and he did not die in Sandusky, he was laid to rest in Sandusky, Ohio to be in the family lot at Oakland Cemetery.

By viewing the microfilmed interment cards, you can glean details about your ancestors beyond what appears on their tombstone, such as family relationships, military service, and place of residence. Visit the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center to dig into your own family history. 

David Campbell, Founder of Sandusky's First Newspaper

David Campbell was born on May 8, 1794 in Cherry Valley, New York. He moved to Sandusky, Ohio in 1821, and in May of 1822 he founded the Sandusky Clarion, the first newspaper of the Firelands area. Originally Adonijah Champlin was to have been David Campbell’s partner, but because he was detained in New York, he never joined Mr. Campbell in the venture.

When the Clarion was  first published, Sandusky had a population of about three hundred, and there were only about forty buildings in the town. A portion of a letter from Eleutheros Cooke to David Campbell, reprinted in the Firelands Pioneer, said about the Clarion, in part: “…the publication of your paper has been hailed as an event conducive to the general advancement of knowledge and auspicious to the prosperity of the country.” In 1816, Campbell married Mary Jones Todd. They were the parents of three sons. After the death of Mary Jones Todd Campbell, he married Matilda West, the sister of W.T. and A.K. West. In 1828 he was elected a member of the Ohio Senate, where he served for two years. David Campbell labored earnestly in his twenty nine years at the Sandusky Clarion. In May of 1841, Mr. Campbell retired, and Earl Bill and Clark Waggoner took over the newspaper.

David Campbell died at his home in Sandusky on July 28, 1861, at the age of 68, after having been in poor health for the past two years. A lengthy obituary appeared in the Sandusky Register of July 29, 1861. The concluding paragraph stated about Mr. Campbell, “In private life he was scrupulously just; in his domestic and social relations, affectionate and sincere; in his daily intercourse, always amiable and unassuming; in his whole life a fit model for the imitation of the just, and in death, lamented and cherished with affection by all who knew him well.” He was buried in Block 24 of Oakland Cemetery. On his tombstone is the inscription, “An honest man.”

1874 Sandusky City Directory

The 1874 Sandusky City Directory was published by I. F. Mack & Brother. The introductory remarks state that Sandusky “has become about as much a point of interest to summer travelers in search of health and recreation as Niagara Falls, the Mountains of New England, or the Adirondacks of New York.”

Included in this directory are twenty pages of historical sketches. City founders Zalmon Wildman and Isaac Mills are discussed in a paragraph about “Ogontz Place,” which was an early name for Sandusky. Several “firsts” are mentioned, including the first frame building, the first frame dwelling, the first stone dwelling, first jewelers, first tavern keepers, first bakers, and first butcher. The first doctor was Dr. George Anderson and the first lawyer was Eleutheros Cooke.

On page 14 of the 1874 Directory is a listing of the householders in 1829. This information is helpful for persons researching early area residents. Erie County was not formed until 1838, so these residents were living in what was then a part of Huron County.

An article about the first Sandusky newspapers appears on page 17. David Campbell, who settled in Sandusky about 1821, was associated with several early newspapers with varying names. The tombstone of David Campbell, at Oakland Cemetery, is pictured below.

On page 18 is an interesting article about homicides in Sandusky. Lester Cone was murdered in 1835. A tailor named Evans shot Mr. Ritter, a saloon keeper, in 1840. Azo Philo was killed in 1848, by a man named Gilchrist. Mr. Gilchrist committed suicide shortly after being sentenced to the penitentiary.

Many interesting items can be found in early city directories. The following acrostic poem also appears in this directory:

S andusky City- in Ohio State -


A history claimeth but of modern date:


N obler by far – she ever strove to rise


D ependent on her peoples’ enterprise-


U ntil she now stands forth a city made,


S econd to few, so young in build and trade


K eenly alive her interests to defend,


Y ears yet to dawn shall see her high ascend.

The Young Men’s Debating Association of Sandusky

The secretary’s book containing the minutes of the Young Men’s Debating Association is housed in the Archives Research Center of the Sandusky Library. The group was organized in 1840 and was later called the Philomathesian Society (a precursor of the Sandusky Library). The back of the book contains a listing of the questions which were debated as well as the bylaws, constitution, treasurers’ accounts, and a record of fines that were collected. The book was donated by Thomas B. Hoxsey. According to notes found with the secretary’s book, the group’s motto was “Knowledge is power.”

In the beginning, only the surnames of the members were given. Early members were: Mr. Lockwood, Mr. Campbell, Mr. Camp, Mr. Vrooman, Mr. McGee, Mr. Cooke, Mr. Mills, and Mr. Davidson. H. D. Cooke, brother of Jay Cooke, served as the Secretary-Treasurer in August 1840. A different member served as president of each meeting.

On October 7, 1840, the Young Men’s Debating Association met in Sandusky. Mr. J. Vrooman served as president, as the person who was designated to serve as president was absent. Attending the meeting were: Jacob A. Camp, William S. Mills, J. H .Lockwood, J. Steiner, E. B. Goodrich, J. S. Vrooman, and James McGee. The members debated the question: “Which is more desirable knowledge or fame?” The minutes read that “after a long and extremely animating debate” the president awarded the honor to both parties. The question for the next meeting was “Should fiction ever be considered as a vehicle for truth?”

Other questions debated were:

“Which affords the greatest field for eloquence, the pulpit or the bar?”
“Which has been the most benefit to mankind, invention or discovery?”
“Was Columbus the first discoverer of America?”
“Is conscience an innate principle?”

The final entry in the minutes book of the Young Men’s Debating Society is dated April 13, 1841. Jacob A. Camp was serving as the Secretary-Treasurer at this time, and Mr. Vrooman chaired the meeting.

Long before radio, television, cell phones, and the Internet, debating served as an enjoyable pastime for Sandusky’s young men. Visit the Sandusky Library’s Archives Research Center to view the minutes of the Young Men’s Debating Association.