Charles W. and Alberta Walker French, a Family Tragedy, and Questionable Business Practices

Portraits of Charles Walker Wallace French and his wife, the former Miss Alberta Walker, were donated to the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center by a relative of Mrs. French. The photos were taken in Mansfield about 1902.

Charles W. French was born near Wakeman, Ohio in 1862. A lengthy biography of Mr. French appeared in the book A Centennial Biographical History of Richland County, edited by A. J. Baughman in 1901. In 1888, Mr. French worked in Sandusky, with an excavation contracting business. Alberta Walker was private secretary and bookkeeper for the business, which was operating in an upstairs floor of a building on Columbus Avenue. 

Tragedy struck the family on Thanksgiving morning, November 29, 1888, when Alberta’s father, Albert Walker, was killed in an explosion. Mr. French’s firm had been given a contract to excavate the cellar of the Odd Fellows building under construction on Washington Row. 

Mr. Walker was the foreman for the job. Albert had picked up six sticks of dynamite from Mr. French’s dynamite storage house on Perkins Avenue, and placed them on the stove of the office to thaw out. When the paper on the outside of the sticks of dynamite caught fire, Albert Walker rushed four of the sticks to the washstand to try to put out the caps. In the process, the dynamite exploded and Albert Walker was fatally injured. Mr. Walker died while on the way to the hospital.

On June 21, 1890, Charles W. French married Alberta Walker. By 1900, Mr. and Mrs. French were living in the Mansfield area, where he worked with several short line railroads (many of which failed), as well as serving as president of the Baker Stone Company; Mrs. French was the secretary of the company. 

About 1902, Charles and Alberta French moved to California, where Charles promoted a steel company and a railroad. He was involved with several schemes that did not come to fruition.  A New York Times article from August 25, 1921 reported that he was being investigated for securities fraud, and the September 3, 1921 issue of the Sandusky Register reported that he was arrested for fraud as a result of his failed schemes. He had been implicated in a widespread mail fraud scheme.

Mrs. Alberta French passed away in California in 1929, but to date we do not know when Charles W. French died. An article from the Los Angeles Times on August 31, 1921 stated that “Charles W. French is a financial hypnotist, wielding a strange, compelling power over a wealthy man, able to talk thousands of dollars out of a man against his own better judgment.”

Prof. Richard Wallace, Prince of Clairvoyants

While we do not know the exact date that “Professor Richard Wallace” appeared at 930 Adams Street in Sandusky, his poster proclaimed that he was a professor of occult science. He claimed to be able to foretell future spouses, locate hidden treasure, and help customers have success in business, love, and lawsuits.

According to an advertisement in the Sandusky Register, Madame and Elfrida Jarbeau, Oracles of Prophecy, gave advice on love, courtship, marriage and divorce. They offered reasonable prices, for a short time only, at 930 Adams Street. The address was a popular location for traveling clairvoyants in Sandusky. Scientific Palmists Edwin M. Goodspeed and Queenie Romaine read cards and told fortunes for a 25 cent fee there in September of 1901. 

The building's days as the center of occult science in Sandusky may have been short-lived: in the November 28, 1911 issue of the Sandusky Register, J.M. French advertised a two story house for rent at 930 Adams Street, “with conveniences for rooming and board.”

Fisk Jubilee Singers Performed in Sandusky

On February 13, 1901, the Fisk Jubilee Singers appeared at the Congregational Church in Sandusky. Members of the congregation hosted the singers at their homes. Mr. and Mrs. John Work were the guests of Dr. and Mrs. Steiner; Miss Napier and Miss Hayes were the guests of Mrs.  P. R. Muenscher; Miss Nettie Crump and Miss Grant were the guests of Mrs. Thomas Pate; Mr. Walker Rider and Mr. Giddens were the guests of Judge Merrill; and Mrs. Spence, the group’s chaperone, was the guest of Mrs. Huntington.

Sandusky businessman James M. French was host to Mr. Fred J. Work.

The Fisk Jubilee Singers, vocal students at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, have been traveling and singing worldwide since 1871. A photograph of the Fisk Jubilee Singers in Sandusky is displayed on the website of the Special Collections of the Fisk UniversityLibrary.

Sandusky High School Class of 1884

Through the generous donation of local donors, the Archives Research Center of the Sandusky Library has a complete set of photographs of the Sandusky High School graduating class of 1884. The students’ photographs were taken by the studio of Bishop & Veitch. Willard A. Bishop and James H. Veitch had a photography studio opposite the Post Office in the Stone Block.

Charles F. Selkirk was the son of Clerk of Courts George O. Selkirk. When Charles passed away April 1931, his obituary was headlined with the words “Poet and Friend of Poets.” Charles F. Selkirk wrote many poems, some of which were published in the Sandusky Register by the pen name of “Solkirke.” You can read more about Charles F. Selkirk in Helen Hansen’s book AT HOME IN EARLY SANDUSKY, available at the Sandusky Library.

Sarah Howard was the first African American female graduate of Sandusky High School. She was born in Perkins Township to John and Abby Howard. Sarah taught school in Kentucky and Texas for seventeen years. She married Thomas Lawson and they moved to Ontario, Canada. Sarah died in Windsor at the age of 54, survived by her husband Thomas and son Clarence. You can read Sarah Lawson’s obituary in the Sandusky Star Journal of September 26, 1917.

Evelina Ball was the daughter of Katharine Follett Ball and Flamen Ball III, and the granddaughter of Oran and Eliza Follett. She married George Walbridge Perkins, a partner of J. P. Morgan. In 1903 G. W. Perkins purchased the Wave Hill House, a former summer home of the Theodore Roosevelt family. Wave Hill House is now part of a botanical garden in the Riverdale neighborhood of the Bronx. Evelina was born at The Follett House in 1865, and lived in Sandusky while she attended Sandusky High School. When Katharine Follett Ball was dying in 1909, news of Evelina rushing to be near her mother’s side was printed in the New York Times.

James M. French was a very successful businessman in Sandusky, active in the insurance business, real estate, the local Red Cross, and many other civic activities. Mr. French’s obituary is found in the 1922 Obituary Notebook, located in the Archives Research Center. The community was greatly saddened at the death of James M. French. Classmate Charles F. Selkirk was an honorary pallbearer at his funeral, as was Congressman James T. Begg. There were so many attendees at the funeral that the First Congregational Church could not hold them all. The African American Boy Scout troop, which Mr. French helped to organize, stood at attention as the casket was taken to the hearse.

These are just a few profiles of the many graduates of Sandusky High School. Visit the Sandusky Library to learn more about early residents of our community.

James M. French: Businessman, Community Activist

Born in Sandusky around 1866 (believed to be the son of a former slave), James M. French achieved substantial success in the real estate and insurance professions, overcoming the obstacle of racial discrimination. Mr. French used his wealth and influence to serve the community and African-American youth.
The image above shows James French in his service to the community during the First World War, as a member of the Red Cross Committee of the Erie County Joint Defense Council. Additionally, among other activities, he was president of the local council of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the Loyal Legion of Labor, and the Negro Welfare League. He also helped to found an African-American Boy Scout troop in Sandusky, and was an active member (and treasurer) of the First Congregational Church. In 1895, he gave a eulogy at the funeral of John Brown, Jr., at Put-in-Bay.

James French died suddenly of a heart attack, shortly after conducting business at the courthouse, in August 1922, at age 56. The local newspaper report claimed that his funeral was attended by thousands, including a local congressman, county and city officials, and representatives of many civic and charitable organizations. In his will, he left the bulk of his estate (valued at between $75,000 and $100,000 -- a rather large sum at that time) to Oberlin College, for the benefit of "deserving Afro-American students," a gesture that was recognized by the author James Weldon Johnson in an essay ("A Negro Benefactor") a few weeks later.
The graduation photo of James M. French, Sandusky High School, 1884.