“Ye Oak Meadow” Farm and Gun Club

Between 1907 and 1919, Mr. and Mrs. Ira C. Krupp lived on South Hayes Avenue, on the property formerly owned by the Palmerton family. (Ira Krupp’s mother Ida Palmerton Krupp was the daughter of J. E. Palmerton.)  The Palmerton property in 1896 is pictured below:

Ira C. Krupp, son of local undertaker Charles J. Krupp, operated a dairy farm at this location in the 1910’s. 

In June of 1911 Ira Krupp was a founding member of  “Ye Oak Meadow Gun Club,” which was organized at the Sunyendeand Club. The officers were: August Kuebeler, President; Lea Marsh, Vice President; W.A. Magoon, Secretary; Dr. J. K. Douglass, Treasurer; Ira Krupp, Manager; and Dr. J. D. Parker, Captain. According to the June 6, 1911 Sandusky Register the membership was made up of the best trap shooters in Erie County. Roy Parker, also known as Leroy Parker, had the high score at the regular shoot at the Gun Club on August 26, 1911.  He was an Erie County Commissioner from 1920 through 1924. 

C. Webb Sadler was also a member of  the club.

He was the grandson of Judge E. B. Sadler, and was associated with many other area clubs, including the Blue Hole, Castalia Farms, and the Rockwell Trout Club. According to Helen Hansen’s At Home in Early Sandusky, C. Webb Sadler was the driving force behind the development of Battery Park. 

A large turkey shoot was held in November 1911. By this time the grounds included a club house and a firing range. Mrs. Ira Krupp, the former Emeline Moss, was hostess for a bridge party and luncheon in December 1911.Around 1919 news articles about Ye Oak Meadow Gun Club ceased, and in the 1920’s  Mr. and Mrs. Krupp moved to Connecticut. While they were in Erie County, however, they were very active in the social and agricultural circles of the area.

Frederick Douglass Spoke in Sandusky in 1864

On March 16, 1864, Frederick Douglass spoke in Sandusky at Norman Hall, located on Water Street. His topic was the “Mission of the War.”

An article which appeared in the March 17, 1864 issue of the Sandusky Daily Commercial Register read in part:

Norman Hall was filled with an appreciative and highly delighted audience last evening to listen to Fred. Douglass’ lecture on the “Mission of the War.” As this was the first time the speaker ever addressed a Sandusky audience, the attendance as well as the often-repeated expressions of approbation, were flattering to the speaker and betokened a public sentiment in sympathy with his views of the mission of the present great struggle…Suffice it to say that it was a masterly effort – both as to matter and manner was worthy of the speaker’s reputation as one of the first orators in our country. It evidenced logical thought, abounded in nice points, well put, and was delivered in most choice and chaste language, and with an air of ease and dignity which belongs to the graver debates in the Senate chamber, but which is too rarely seen there or elsewhere

 A copy of “The Mission of the War,” as presented by Mr. Douglass in Philadelphia in 1863 can be viewed at The Frederick Douglass Papers at the Library of Congress.

East Side of Columbus Avenue in the Early Twentieth Century

The picture above shows the east side of Columbus Avenue between Washington Row and Market Street in the first decade of the twentieth century. At the southeast corner of Columbus and Market is the Mayer Lebensburger Company, which sold men’s clothing and hats. The overcoat department was on the upper level of the store. John A. Giedeman’s shoe and boot store was next to Lebensburger's. Mr. Giedeman had a shoe store in Sandusky for several years, with a variety of locations and business partners. The bookseller S.T. Lemley took over the bookstore that was formerly owned by Mr. Huntington. S.T. Lemley sold books and stationery, and offered a picture framing service.  According to the 1908 Sandusky City Directory, Amelia Homegardner and Helen Zimmerman sold art and needlework supplies at the A. Zimmerman & Company. S.D. Arvanite was a manufacturer and jobber of confectionery and ice cream in the building just north of the Kingsbury Block. Oliver Marble, architect, had his office in the upper level a storefront on Columbus Avenue, and so did two dentists, J.E. Herman and H.S. Rogers. In the Kingsbury Block, Doctors D.D. Smith and J.K. Douglass also had busy dental offices. The Kingsbury Block was located at the northeast corner of Columbus Avenue and Washington Row from 1894 until the early 1920s. We do not know positively what band is playing in the parade down Columbus Avenue. At the time this photograph was taken, the streetcar was a popular mode of transportation, but area residents still used the horse and buggy as well.

Visit the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center to view this and several thousand more vintage photographs of Sandusky and Erie County.