"Vote for Jackson!"

While the exact date is not known, the letter above was written from William H. Hunter to Dr. George Anderson during Andrew Jackson’s 1828 campaign for the U.S. Presidency. William H. Hunter was a Democratic member of the 25th U.S. Congress. In his letter to Dr. Anderson, he is hoping to gain support for Jackson in northern Ohio. An article in the American Heritage magazine points out that in 1828, when Jackson ran against John Quincy Adams, Ohio was considered a swing state.

A transcription of Mr. Hunter’s letter appears below:

Dear Sir,

The friends of Genl. Jackson in this place and some of the adjoining townships have thought it advisable to call a meeting of his friends for the purpose of sending delegates to Columbus on the 21st instant. I hope that you will join us and urge the necessity of all attending who are friendly to the cause and can conveniently leave home. The administration is straining every nerve to carry its points. But it must fail. It only requires moderation, union and firmness to carry the old Genl. in. And as it is necessary that Ohio should go along with the other western states let us use some little exertion to carry her along with them. So far as my information extends the friends of the Genl. are rapidly increasing. In this village where at the last election he had not above 6 notes we can calculate upon at least 40 at the next. In other parts of the county I hear almost every day of an accession to our strength.

Fail not if you please to have a notice put in the Clarion of contemplated meeting.

Yours respectfully,

W. H. Hunter

An article in the July 19, 1828 issue of the Sandusky Clarion reported about a Jackson meeting which had been held in Tiffin on July 4, 1828. However in the October 11, 1828 issue of the Sandusky Clarion was an editorial penned by a writer who called himself “Common Sense.” The writer stated, “We are called upon to bow down and worship the military idol of the south, under the seductive appellation of the Tennessee farmer, the hero of New Orleans, the compeer of Washington, the spotless patriot, … and we are denounced as knaves, aristocrats, and the enemies of our country, if we do not.”

While Andrew Jackson was not liked by everyone in the Sandusky area, he did win the election of 1828. Read more about Andrew Jackson at Ohio History Central.

Sandusky High School’s Centennial Reunion

The Centennial Reunion of alumni of Sandusky High School was held on May 28, 1955. Tickets to the banquet were sold for $2.00 per person.

Reunion events included a band concert on the Sandusky High School lawn at 4:00, dinner at the Junior High School at 6:15, a program at Strobel Field at 7:45, and a dance at 9 p.m. at the Junior High featuring the fourteen piece band of Jimmy Dulio. During the program at Strobel Field, several special people were introduced to the crowd.

Charles E. Frohman served as the Master of Ceremonies. Principal Wallace Glenwright and Mayor Richard Fuller both gave remarks of welcome. Former school administrators James T. Begg, Frank J. Prout, Karl E. Whinnery, and Wayne C. Blough were introduced. Retired teachers attending the reunion were Miss Lucy Carter, Miss Elsie Denham, Miss Bessie Taylor, Miss Edith Howell, Miss Berta Jackson, and Miss Marie Reiff. Superintendent Carl L. Mackey spoke to the Sandusky High School alumni, and several musical numbers were presented. Harold C. Kaufman directed the A Cappella Choir and led the choir in three songs, including “Halls of Ivy.” The combined band and choir of Sandusky High School performed the Battle Hymn of the Republic. The program ended with a musical benediction sung by the high school A Cappella Choir.

The Sandusky Register Star News of May 28, 1955 contained a special feature devoted to the Centennial Reunion.

A copy of this special edition newspaper is housed at the Sandusk y Library Archives Research Center. Included in the special feature are pictures of graduating classes, a history of the one hundred years of Sandusky High School, and brief biographical sketches of outstanding graduates of Sandusky High School. An article entitled “A Century Stream of Teaching at Sandusky High” began with this paragraph:

Tennyson’s quotation “Men may come and men may go, but I go on forever,” referred to a little flowing brook, might also be applied to the stream of education which has been flowing through Sandusky High School for the past 100 years, and which, from all indications, will flow on indefinitely.

The newspaper issue contained commemorative ads from many businesses, including this advertisement from the Ohio Bell Telephone Company.

Political Campaign Buttons

The Sandusky Library owns a collection of political campaign buttons, which are housed in the Archives Research Center and the Follett House Museum. Here is a sample of some of them.

William Jennings Bryan ran unsuccessfully for U.S. President three times. Pictured above is a campaign button from his 1900 run against President William McKinley. 

Amos H. Jackson was elected as Representative to the 58^th U.S. Congress, from March 4, 1903 to March 3, 1905. A.H. Jackson is also known for being the founder of the A.H. Jackson Manufacturing Company, which began in Fremont, Ohio, and had a division in Sandusky in the early 1900s.

     

Jay J. Perry served as Erie County Sheriff from 1898-1902 and from 1917-1920. The campaign button featuring an image of Jay J. Perry is most likely from his first campaign.

   Republican Warren G.  Harding, a former newspaper man from Marion, Ohio, defeated Democratic candidate James M. Cox for U.S. President in 1920.

 

This classic red, white, and blue pin promoted Dwight D. Eisenhower and his vice presidential candidate Richard Nixon. This team ran in both the 1950 and 1956 presidential campaigns. Eisenhower defeated Adlai Stevenson in both elections.   

  

Sandusky Register Monument at Oakland Cemetery

In Lot 1 of Block 87 is a monument dedicated to the employees of the Sandusky Register. The November 28, 1885 issue of the Register reports that the proprietors of the newspaper, I.F. and John T. Mack, along with C. C. Keech (the Register’s “Moral Editor”) purchased a lot in Oakland Cemetery. It was adjacent to the G.A.R. lot, in which many Erie County veterans are buried.  The article stated “This lot is a part and parcel of The Register plant, to be handed down to each successive proprietorship with the presses and type and machinery of the office.” The future monument at this cemetery plot was to be “a befitting stone to mark the spot of The Register dead in the long, long future.”

Officers of the “Register Monumental Association” were: President, I.J.P. Tessier; Secretary, W. I. Jackson, and Treasurer, C. C. Hand.  Register employees were to set aside 10 cents from each week’s paycheck, until enough funds were collected to purchase a suitable monument. An article in the November 18, 1959 Sandusky Register tells us that the marble monument was erected in 1887.  The carved likeness of a printer’s mallet and composing stick appear on the monument, above the inscription:  “The dead who lie here toiled for the world’s enlightenment. Erected 1887 by the Sandusky Register Monumental Association in memory of Register employees.”

The first burial in the Sandusky Register lot was Clarence M. Brockway, the former city editor of the Sandusky Register, who died of typhoid. He was buried in Oakland Cemetery on November 7, 1885. Several former employees are buried at this site. The monument, having been in Oakland Cemetery for over one hundred years, truly remains a lovely stone which honors the memory of many Sandusky Register employees.

The Sandusky Division of the A.H. Jackson Manufacturing Company

In 1899 a division of the A.H. Jackson Manufacturing Company opened in Sandusky. The founder of the company was Amos H. Jackson, who served in the U.S. Congress from 1903 to 1905. Mr. Jackson, who settled in Fremont, Ohio in the 1880s, also operated factories in Fremont, Tiffin, and Fostoria. The company, which became known as the “Jackson Underwear Company” manufactured women’s and children’s muslin and flannelette undergarments. Pictured below are a group of men connected with the construction of the Sandusky branch of the Jackson Underwear Company, located at the northeast corner of North Depot and McDonough Streets.

Many of the employees of the Jackson Underwear Company were female.

By 1911 the manufacturing division of the A.H. Jackson Manufacturing Company was still at the northeast corner of North Depot and McDonough Streets, while a retail department was located at the southwest corner of Market and Wayne Streets. An advertisement in the February 11, 1920 issue of the Sandusky Register indicated that beginners would be able to earn a salary while learning on the job.

Amos H. Jackson passed away in Fremont on August 30, 1924. The Jackson Underwear Company ceased operations in Sandusky in the early 1930s.

Jackson's Victory Ball

A ball was held at C. W. Marsh’s Assembly Room on January 8, 1827 in Sandusky, Ohio, to celebrate Andrew Jackson’s victory at New Orleans. The Battle of New Orleans was the final battle in the War of 1812. The invitation below was issued to “Daniel Newton and Lady” on December 26, 1826. Daniel Newton came to Sandusky in 1819, and married Eunice Clemons in 1820. Managers of the Jackson’s Victory Ball were: H. H. Wilcoxon, W. Anderson, B.W. Miller, and S.A. Otis. The original invitation was given to the historical collections of the Sandusky Library by Mrs. William K. Marshall.