Whiskey Run Sewer

 

Hewson Peeke wrote in A Standard History of Erie County (Lewis Publishing, 1916) that Vincent Kerber finished construction of the Whisky Run sewer in 1875. This sewer line ran along Mills Street from the railroad track to the Sandusky Bay. The walls were fifteen feet high. .  (You can see the approximate location of the Whiskey Run sewer at the rose colored pigmentation along Mills Street on the map above.)

After Sandusky experienced cholera epidemics in 1849, 1852, and 1854, the English physician John Snow discovered in 1854 that the cause of the spread of cholera was due to the contaminated water supply in wells. In 1876, after much debate, Sandusky constructed a large water works plant that began filtering and pumping water to most homes and businesses in the city. 

 

While conducting maintenance on the Whiskey Run sewer in June of 1876, workers Patrick McNamee and John Randolph were seriously injured in an explosion. Patrick McNamee died from his injuries on June 14, 1876. He was buried at St. Joseph’s Cemetery, not far from the site of the dreadful accident.

When there was a leak in the old Whiskey Run sewer, an article by Charlie Lewis in the September 16, 1972 issue of the Sandusky Register gave some historical speculation about the sewer. It is said to have been a hiding place of whiskey runners during Prohibition -- but even if the story is true, it would not explain the name, which had been in use since at least 1862. The location of nearby breweries and wineries, whose waste products emptied into the Whiskey Run sewer, may have been a possible reason for its name, but even that is pure speculation. It is not unusual for the source of a place name to be forgotten.

A monument at the St. Mary’s Cemetery, which honors the memory of the daughters of Vincent Kerber, overlooks Mills Street, under which the Whiskey Run sewer once flowed.

The Other Kerber Grocery

Many people in Sandusky are familiar with Kerber Marine Grocery located on Tiffin Avenue, but not many people know there was another Kerber grocery business on the east side of town.

Albert Kerber was born in 1861 in Ehrenstten, Baden near the city of Freiburg. His parents were Anton Kerber and Cecelia Bauman. Anton Kerber’s brother Vincent Kerber immigrated to Sandusky in 1849 and ran several well-known businesses. He was a masonry contractor whose projects included the Water Works, Barker School, Standard Wheel Company, and several social halls. Later in life Vincent collaborated with his sons in a number of businesses including Consumer Ice Company and a grain and feed business on Water Street.

Records show Albert immigrated in 1880. He was listed in the 1880 census as living with his uncle Vincent on Ogontz Street. Albert then settled on Middle Bass Island and worked for the Golden Eagle Wine Cellars.

While on Middle Bass he met Augusta Kubach who was born in Sandusky in 1865. Augusta’s father John Kubach was born on the Steamer Albany during the family’s immigration to the United States. Albert and Augusta were married in July 1884.

Albert and Augusta moved to Sandusky in 1887. They built a store and residence at the corner of First and McEwen Streets in the east end, near Alberts’s uncle and cousins. The photo below was taken around 1891 and shows Albert and his brother-in-law Andrew Kubach in front of the store. One sign in the window advertises a steamer trip to Cleveland on Thursday June 25, 1891, for fifty cents. The other sign advertises Arbuckle’s Coffee.

Albert’s brother Lawrence (Lorenz) Kerber was born in 1862. In 1888 he founded Kerber Marine Grocery. Lawrence unfortunately died young at just the age of 30 in 1892.

Sometime around 1900 Albert expanded the grocery store to include a saloon. The picture below taken around 1905 shows the store and saloon. Standing in front of the store are Alberts’s sons, Millard and Carlisle and another brother-in-law, Clyde Kubach.

Like many businesses of the era, the saloon issued tokens. Shown below are the two sides of a 5-cent token.

Albert was active in the community and there were numerous listings in the Sandusky Register about hosting social events, sponsoring visiting musicians and travels to visit friends and relatives. One brief article in the Register noted “A young son of Albert Kerber, the Huron Ave and McEwen Street grocer, was struck by an automobile in Huron Ave, Thursday night but escaped serious injury.” The article implies there was a second grocery on Huron Ave, but no records were available.

Albert died on March 13, 1911. His obituary indicates funeral was conducted by Sandusky Lodge No. 669 International Order of Odd Fellows. Burial was in Oakland Cemetery.

The building at the corner of First and McEwen Streets stands today as shown below.

The Vincent Kerber Family

Vincent Kerber came from Germany to the United States in 1849. For a number of years he worked as a building contractor in Sandusky. Later he worked with his sons in the ice business, as well as a flour and feed business. Pictured below is V. Kerber & Sons feed and flour store, located at 619 Water Street around 1890. Some of the brands they carried were Pillbury’s Best and Gold Dust Flour. Vincent’s sons Edward and John Kerber continued in the ice business for several years.

Vincent Kerber and Constantina (Eckert) Kerber had a large family of four sons and two daughters. Mrs. Kerber died in Germany in 1889. After Constantina died, he married again, during a trip to his homeland in Baden, Germany. Vincent Kerber died in September 1898.

Peeke’s A Standard History of Erie County, Ohio contains biographies of John and Edward Kerber. Vincent Kerber’s obituary is found in the September 18, 1898 issue of the Sandusky Daily Register. The article says that he was “one of the best known and most highly respected of Sandusky’s residents.” It continues “his works, in and about the city, bear silent testimony of his skill and the thoroughness with which he did whatever he undertook.”

At St. Mary’s Cemetery, an angel adorns the monument in memory of Louise Kerber and Pauline Kerber Heiberger, the two daughters of Mr. and Mrs. Vincent Kerber.

Lawrence V. Kerber, Aeronautical Engineer

Lawrence Vincent Kerber was born in Sandusky, Ohio in 1895 to John and Christina (Knauer) Kerber. He graduated from Sandusky High School in 1913. After attending Kenyon College for a time, he graduated with high honors from the University of Michigan in 1918, with a Bachelor’s Degree in mechanical engineering. From 1927 to 1929, he was the Daniel Guggenheim Professor of Applied Aeronautics at the University of Michigan. Mr. Kerber was a pioneer in the aviation industry, and he wrote several aeronautical textbooks and flight manuals. He also published technical reports on airplane performance.  

In his work at McCook Field in Dayton, he designed three pursuit planes. In 1921 John A. Macready achieved an altitude record of 34,509 feet in an airplane designed by Kerber. Later, for several years Mr. Kerber served as president of Spartan Aircraft Corporation. 

After a lengthy illness, Lawrence V. Kerber passed away in California on August 2, 1971. An obituary appeared in the August 17, 1971 issue of the Sandusky Register.

Kerber’s Marine Grocery on Tiffin Avenue

Now home to Divine Awakenings, the former Kerber’s Marine Grocery was in business on Tiffin Avenue in Sandusky for many years. Lorenz Kerber built this building in 1888 as a grocery store that took supplies to coal, ore and grain boats in Sandusky, Huron and Marblehead. Ellie Damm wrote in her book Treasure by the Bay that Kerber’s sent out supply boats to meet the grocery needs of the big freighters. For a few years, Lorenz Kerber was in a partnership with Charles Miller. Sadly, Lorenz Kerber died at the age of 30 in 1892. His sons continued in the family grocery business. An article in the Sandusky Register of February 6, 1911 stated that the partnership between Charles F. Miller, F.A. Kerber and O.J. Kerber was dissolved, but the business apparently continued. 

This earthenware jug was a holiday item from the 1910s, when F.A. and O.J. Kerber were running Kerber’s Marine Grocery:

The grocery business remained in the hands of the Kerber family until the 1970s. In the mid-1980s, the business was known as the Sandusky Marine Grocery. After the grocery ceased operation, a children’s clothing consignment shop was in the building for several years. In 2018, the Divine Awakenings shop is now at 1006 Tiffin Avenue. When you drive down Tiffin Avenue, you can still see the name L.A. Kerber at the top portion of the storefront, reminding of us of the roots of this long standing place of business in Sandusky

Dr. Dewey Duane Smith, DDS

Dewey Duane Smith was born in Gratiot County, Michigan in 1878. He was educated at Albion College, the University of Michigan, and Ohio State University’s College of Dentistry. He is pictured above with his wife Alma Smith and daughters Elizabeth and Marjorie. Sadly, Alma died shortly after the birth of her third child, Dewey Duane Smith, Jr.,  in 1925. He later married Etta Detleftsen.

In 1904 Dr. D.D. Smith moved to Sandusky, where he opened a dental office in the Kingsbury Block.

Dr. Smith took advantage of the fact that his initials were the same as the acronym for Doctor of Dental Surgery, as seen in the advertisement below from the August 31, 1905 issue of the Sandusky Star Journal.

Dr. Smith specialized in orthodontia. In the 1920s, he moved his dental practice to 130 East Market Street. 

Besides having a very busy dental practice in Sandusky for over fifty years, Dr. D. D. Smith, Sr. was also very involved in the community. He was a member of Grace Episcopal Church and the Masons. He served on the Council of the Boy Scouts of America for the local district, and he was instrumental in organizing Sandusky’s “Flicker Club,” a group of individuals interested in the promotion of amateur home movies.  Dr. Smith once served as secretary of the Northern Ohio Dental Association and was a member of the Erie County Medical Advisory Board. For eight years he served on the Ad Interim Committee, House of Delegates of the Ohio State Dental Society. 

Dr. D.D. Smith, Sr. died on May 1, 1959. He was survived by his wife Etta; daughter, Mrs. Walter Kerber; and son Dr. Dewey Duane Smith, Jr, who was also a dentist. Dr. Smith’s daughter Marjorie Kahn had died in 1956. Dr. Smith, Sr. was buried in Sandusky’s Oakland Cemetery.

Sandusky High School Football Team of 1914

Pictured above are some of the members of the 1914 Sandusky High School football team. Notes on the original item, part of the Norbert A. Lange Collection, have identified the team players. In front from left to right, are: Bill Meese, Carl Kerber, Clarence Homberger, Herb Taylor, Amandus Smith, Bill Busch, and Joe Page. In the back from left to right are: Eugene Close, Hans Slackford, Bill Boehm, and Bill Smith. At the far right, Coach Bill Kinder is standing. In Northern Ohio League play in 1914 Sandusky won three out of four league games, including a win of 35 to 0 over the Fremont Little Giants. 

In 1914 Sandusky High School was still located on Adams Street, and future congressman James T. Begg was the school superintendent.

Coach Kinder went on to serve as an ambulance driver for the American Field Service during World War I. He then went back to seminary in order to become a clergyman. Rev. William Kinder became a well-known rector in the Episcopal Church in Detroit, Michigan and Youngstown, Ohio. 

Sandusky High School Orchestra in 1910

In 1910 the Sandusky High School Orchestra was directed by Eugene B. Ackley, a well known musician and band leader. Several of the students in the school’s orchestra became prominent individuals in a number of different fields. Edward Hastings Vietmeier became the president of the Sandusky Sash and Door Company. Dr. Elmer H. Wirth was a professor at the University of Illinois from 1922 through1947, serving as Head of the Department of Pharmacognosy for several years. He was the author of seven books and more than 300 articles on pharmacy. Dr. Norbert Lange was a chemistry professor at Western Reserve University, who is known for writing the classic text Handbook of Chemistry. Dr. Lange and his wife were the benefactors for The Norbert A. and Marion Cleaveland Lange Trust of Sandusky Library, which has provided cultural and educational programs for Erie County residents for over twenty five years. Leonard Osberg served three two year terms as the Mayor of Vermilion in the 1940s. Corydon Bell, along with his wife Thelma, wrote several children’s books in the 1940s and 1950s. William Kerber lived to be 96 years of age. Mr. Kerber was a steel executive who managed the country's pig iron production during World War II. He died in Washington D.C. in April, 1990. These men, who achieved great things, got their start in Sandusky. Visit the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center to learn more about the lives of the individuals who called Sandusky home.

Frank "Casey" Casserly

On December 29, 1890, Frank J. Casserly was born in Sandusky, Ohio, to Michael and Julia Casserly, who were both natives of Ireland. Frank Casserly was the manager of the Shamrocks baseball team in Sandusky in the 1910’s. The picture above is a portion of the 1914 championship team photo. Below is a postcard of the Shamrocks team, though Baldy Platt appears to be wearing a jersey from the Sandusky Tool Company team.

Front row: Walter Wendt, Whitey Metzgar, Manager Frank “Casey” Casserly, George Kimball and Elmer Brengardner

Back row: Butch Eckler, George Dahm, Walter Appel, Norm Troike, team secretary-treasurer, Alde Broderson, Gordon Osgood, Baldy Platt, and Roy Kerber

An article in the August 26, 1911 issue of the Sandusky Star Journal referred to Manager Casserly as “the Connie Mack of Sandusky.” In the 1930’s he managed the Eagles baseball team, and he coached area football teams as well. In the Spring of 1935, Frank Casserly was struck by an automobile, and was hospitalized for several weeks. The Eagles sponsored a benefit to help with his medical expenses. In the 1940’s and early 1950’s, he was a popular bartender at Stone’s Grill and Jax Bar on Columbus Avenue.

On November 20, 1954, Frank J. “Casey” Casserly died after a lengthy illness. At the time of his death he was secretary-treasurer of the Bartenders Local No. 804. He was past president of the Eagles Lodge. Mr. Casserly was survived by his wife Minnie, and two daughters, Nancy and Julia. Charles J. Andres Sons’ was in charge of funeral arrangements, and burial was at St. Joseph Cemetery.