John Dean's Pew at Grace Church

 This is the deed to pew number 67 in Grace Episcopal Church, issued by the parish to John Dean on August 27, 1866, granting him and his heirs the right to exclusive use of the pew in perpetuity, for a payment of fifty dollars (equivalent to a little more than $1000 today). It was common through the nineteenth century for churches to sell access to specific pews, to raise funds for the church and to recognize the prominence of certain parishioners. 

Grace Episcopal Church was founded in Sandusky in 1835, and has the oldest church building in the city. The original version of the building was completed in 1843; The towers, as seen in the photo above (circa 1870), were constructed in 1858. Other modifications have been made to the church over the years, and can be recognized by the difference in colors of stone.

John Dean, the owner of pew #67, had a productive life in Sandusky. He was born in 1835 in Tydd St. Mary, Lincolnshire, England, and came to Sandusky as a boy with his parents, William and Susannah Dean. He married Susan Belton in Sandusky on New Year's Day 1859, and together they had four sons and three daughters. He served two years in the United States Army during the Civil War years. He was a fisherman by profession. He died in 1892 and is buried with his wife in Oakland Cemetery.

Wildman & Mills Deeded Property to Martin Eldis in 1841

On August 14, 1841, several members of the Wildman and Mills families deeded property to Martin Eldis. (Zalman Wildman and Isaac Mills were original property owners, and are considered founders of the city of Sandusky.) The property was No. 29 Water Street, which was in the city of Sandusky, bounded to the north by Water Street, to the east by Lot 28, to the south by Lot 22, and to the west by Lot 30. 

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The property sold for $2, 082.83. A fee of ten cents was paid to the Erie County Auditor, Orlando McKnight. The deed was recorded in Volume 2 of the Records of Erie County, on pages 258 and 259. Horace Aplin was Erie County Recorder in 1841.

The deed was witnessed by Mayor S.B. Caldwell and by Associate Judge Moors Farwell.

The names of several pioneer residents of Sandusky appear on this deed. F.D. Parish, well known abolitionist, served as the attorney for Julia Ann Wildman and Mary Starr. Isaac A. Mills, attorney for Abigail Mills, was the son of one of the proprietors of Sandusky, also named Isaac Mills. Martin Eldis and his wife, the former Louisa Guckenberger, were among the earliest Sandusky settlers of German descent. They ran a bakery, which was taken over by Mrs. Eldis after the death of her husband in 1852.

Mrs. Louise Guckenberger Eldis

To read more about Mr. and Mrs. Martin Eldis, see page 94 of Sandusky Then and Now, available at the Sandusky Library.