An Area Known as Mustcash

According to The History of the Fire Lands by W. W. Williams (Leader Printing Co., 1879), the area known as Mustcash or Muscash was located in the northwest section of Margaretta Township in Erie County, Ohio. Some of the families who lived in this area included the Prentice, Wadsworth and Neill families. A description of Mustcash is found on page 37 of History of the Descendants of the Families of Ira Barnes, Hiram Barnes, Richard Wadsworth and Levi Prentice of Mustcash, Ohio : From 1817 to 1913, by N.E. Prentice,  (Payne, Ohio, 1913). the author describes the area as “the point of land that extends into Sandusky Bay on the south shore.”  It was first called Mustcash Point, and then the word “Point” was dropped. 

The area considered Mustcash eventually included the land of the families living further back from the water, along what is now Wahl Road. (Note: People have argued about the exact location of Mustcash for over one hundred years.) This brief article from the September 13, 1876 issue of the Sandusky Register tells us that the Margaretta Hayes Wheeler and Foster Club was to meet at Neill’s school house in Mustcash to discuss the election of 1876.  Rutherford B. Hayes did indeed win the presidential election, with William A. Wheeler serving as his Vice President. Republican Charles Foster served four terms in the House of Representatives, and later he was Ohio’s Governor, in office from 1880 to 1884.

In the late 1800s, there was a small Lutheran church in Mustcash served by Rev. Jacob Dornbirer, who later was the pastor of Zion Lutheran Church in Sandusky. This picture from History of Zion Lutheran Church shows the interior of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church at Mustcash:

The Mustcash congregation was later combined with the Lutheran church in Castalia, now Grace Lutheran Church. 

The (possibly apocryphal) origin of the name Mustcash/Muscash is explained briefly in Hewson Peeke’s Standard History of Erie County (Lewis Publishing Co., 1916):  “The name Muscash is said to be of Indian derivation, and arose from the fact that the tribes brought their skins here for barter, and not being able to speak English, and wanting money instead of produce, insisted on "Muscash" or must cash.”

In this map of Castalia from the 1896 Erie County Atlas, you can see Mustcash Road leading in the northwest direction, away from the village of Castalia:

Rev. Jacob Dornbirer, Pastor of Zion Lutheran Church

Jacob Dornbirer was born in Switzerland on July 31, 1825. He came to the United States in 1855, where he settled in Fremont, Ohio. For a time he worked at the June Engine Works, where he met the Rev. Henry Lang. Rev. Lang encouraged him to enter the Lutheran ministry. In 1858, Rev. Jacob Dornbirer was ordained as a Lutheran minister, and in the same year he married Elizabeth Trott. In his early ministry, Rev. Dornbirer served at churches in Thompson Township, Bellevue, Venice, and Loudonville. 

From 1879 until his death in 1891, Rev. Dornbirer was the pastor at Sandusky’s Zion Lutheran Church. While he was pastor, the church met in the former Beatty Church in Washington Square.

According to an article in the Lutheran Standard of May 2, 1891, during his years in the ministry, Rev. Dornbirer preached over one thousand sermons, baptized 1217 infants, confirmed 530 young people, married 315 couples, and officiated at 397 funerals. 

In April of 1891, Rev. Jacob Dornbirer suffered serious injuries when he was thrown from his buggy, by the falling of his horse. He died on April 12, 1891. Funeral services for Rev. Jacob Dornbirer were held at Zion Lutheran Church in April 16, 1891. There was such a large turnout for the services, that only a portion of those who wished to attend could be accommodated in the church. At the time of his death, Rev. Dornbirer was survived by twelve children; he had lost both an infant son and his wife Elizabeth in 1883. 

Two of Rev. Dornbirer's sons became Lutheran pastors, and four of his daughters married Lutheran pastors. He was the maternal grandfather of Rev. Theodore Stellhorn, Jr., who served in the Lutheran ministry for over sixty years. Rev. Stellhorn was assistant pastor of Zion Lutheran Church from 1928 – 1949, main pastor from 1949 – 1955, and senior pastor of Zion from 1956 – 1969.  

Rev. Jacob Dornbirer was buried at Sandusky’s Oakland Cemetery, next to his wife Elizabeth.

To learn more about the history of Zion Lutheran Church, as well as several area churches, visit the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center.