Sandusky and the Great Influenza of 1918

As we are living through a world-wide pandemic today, so were the people living in 1918. What is often called the Great Influenza struck the nation, and the world, briefly in the Spring of 1918, and returned with a vengeance in the early Fall. In all, between 50 million and 100 million people died worldwide as a result of the flu, with both the old and the young as its victims. In fact, except for children under five years old, the death rates were highest for people between age 25 and 50. 

The people of Sandusky, and all over the United States, faced multiple challenges at that time: first, a world war that began in 1914, with Americans joining in 1917, and then, as that war was waning, a new war against a killer virus. Sanduskians fought both wars.

Many of the nation's earliest victims were soldiers sent to training camps for the war. (It is believed by some experts that Ground Zero for the 1918 outbreak was in Kansas, probably spreading to a military base there.) The high concentration of soldiers on bases and in transport to battle zones allowed the virus to travel at great speed. And soldiers returning home often unknowingly brought the influenza with them.

Sandusky and Erie County faced a large outbreak, responding in many ways that our similar to our response today. Many events were cancelled and businesses were ordered to close; some that could stay open were under strict rules regarding personal contact. A temporary emergency hospital was opened in the newly constructed Elks Lodge on Adams Street.

The exact number of Erie County residents who died from the flu in 1918-19 is uncertain, but it was at least in the hundreds. The influenza hospital operated for about two months, serving 95 patients with 19 deaths (a mortality rate of 20%). By the Summer of 1919, about 32,000 Ohioans died from influenza, about 25,000 more than would have been expected. Nationally, about 675,000 Americans died from the Great Influenza. 

Of course, we hope the current pandemic will not compare to 1918, but we will need to be vigilant. To keep abreast with the Coronavirus in Ohio, follow https://coronavirus.ohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/covid-19/.

Farrell-Cheek Foundry Baseball Teams

This picture of a Farrell-Cheek baseball team is undated, and unfortunately, we do not know the name of any of the men in the photo. An article in the Sandusky Star Journal of July 8, 1916, reported that there was a series of ball games between the African American and white baseball teams, both made up of Farrell-Cheek employees. The games were often played at Huron Park. A star player on Farrell-Cheek's African American team was center fielder John Moses. 

In the 1920s, a team from Farrell-Cheek participated in the Factory Leagues. Below is a listing of the games played, as well as batting averages for the Farrell Cheek team up to June, 1920.

A cartoon of the cover of this Farrell-Cheek newsletter noted that their team won the baseball championships in the Factory League in 1919 and 1920.

In the 1940s, Granville “Red” Haley was the manager of Farrell-Cheek’s African American ball team.  He had previously played on an integrated baseball team in Bismarck, North Dakota, where one of his teammates was Satchel Paige. 

While we do not have detailed records of the local baseball teams in Sandusky, it is clear that the sport was enjoyed by many of the hard working men who put in long hours of work at local factories during their shifts. Many of the factory men could be seen heading to the ball park on their nights off and weekends.

Christ Miller, Farrell Cheek Employee

In the November, 1920 issue of the Farrell-Cheek News, a biographical sketch about Christ Miller stated that he was the oldest worker employed at the Farrell Cheek Foundry at that time, at the age of 76. His job was to fire the Core Ovens and keep them in “ship-shape” order. The article said that Christ showed so much pep and ambition, that he made some of the young men feel ashamed.

Christopher Miller was born in 1844 to Edward and Lida (Merm) Miller in Connecticut. During the Civil War, he enlisted in Company I of the Third U.S.C.T. Christ fought in battles at Morris Island and Honey Hill during the Civil War. On September 23, 1914, Christ Miller was admitted to the Ohio Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Home in Erie County, Ohio. He died on January 14, 1932 at the Ohio Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Home, and was buried at the veterans cemetery located at the Home, now known as the Ohio Veterans Home. According to the Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System, the name of Christopher Miller appears on Plaque A-9 of the African American Civil War Memorial.

The Farrell-Cheek Steel Company

A native of Nashville, Tennessee, Herbert Farrell arrived in Sandusky and founded the Farrell-Cheek Steel Company in 1910. The firm manufactured small and medium weight steel castings, which were used “to meet specific requirements for automotive, truck, railroad, mining machinery and structural industry uses.” Cheek was the name of Herbert Farrell’s father-in-law, Joel O. Cheek, who was best-known as the founder and owner of the Maxwell House Coffee Company.

Farrell-Cheek provided employment for hundreds of individuals, including many who moved here from the Southern states to find a better life. At its peak, the factory employed over eight hundred local residents.

The World War II era was an eventful time for the company. During the war, many women were hired to work at the plant, as local men were called to serve in the Armed Forces. Because many of the products manufactured at Farrell-Cheek were essential to the war effort, in 1944 the federal government briefly took control of operations in the factory, in response to a labor dispute. Also during the war, Dr. Lyle Steen Hill, a Sandusky radiologist, worked as a physician during the day, and worked third shift in the engineering department of Farrell-Cheek, testing the steel products in the lab. He joined Farrell-Cheek in November 1942, expressly to help in the war effert. Dr. Hill was an electrical engineer, as well as a physician and radiologist.

Beginning in January of 1920, the company started publishing the “Farrell Cheek News.” (An example is shown above.) The newsletter offered biographies of employees, cartoons, recipes, along with tips for health and safety. Later the publication was called “Sparks from the Ladle.” (You can find Dr. Hill's story in the October 29, 1943 issue.)

The Farrell Cheek newsletters are part of the Business Collection of the Archives Research Center of the Sandusky Library. If you have company publications from local businesses of the past or present, consider donating them to the Archives Research Center so others can learn more of the local history of Sandusky and Erie County.