The Graduating Class of Sandusky High School, 1872

Pictured above are several members of Sandusky High School’s graduating class of 1872. In the front row are: Lula Hayes; Sarah Lawler; Charles McLouth and Antonia Springer. In the middle row are: Hattie Miller; Frank Barker; Emma Hages; Robert Walsh and Eunice Williams. In the back row are: Ella Rayl ; Alex Camp; Emma Alder; Hattie Keech; Henry Moore; Laura Wetherell; Alice Kinney and Ella Kelham. 

By 1876, Ella Kelham was an elementary school teacher for Sandusky City Schools. Frank Barker became the city clerk of Sandusky, and he married Laura Cooke, the niece of Civil War financier Jay Cooke. (Barker Street in Sandusky was named for Frank Barker’s ancestors.) Hattie Keech was the daughter of Sandusky businessman and philanthropist, C.C. Keech. She would go on to marry Edmund H. Zurhorst, who was very active in politics in Sandusky. Alice Kinney was the daughter of newspaper publisher J.C. Kinney, and Alex Camp’s ancestors were instrumental in the founding of the city of Sandusky. These students were all born before the Civil War, and most lived well into the twentieth century.  They saw many changes in technology in their lifetimes. 

To see more historical photographs from Sandusky and Erie County, visit the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center, on the lower level of the Sandusky Library.

Interior Views of the John C. Kinney Home

Around 1884, prominent Sandusky photographer C.W. Platt took two photographs of a bay window at the home of John C. and Amelia (Clara) Kinney’s home at 710 Wayne Street in Sandusky. The Kinney home represented the decorating style of the Victorian era, which was noted for a great deal of ornamentation in the interior rooms of homes. An article in the January-February 2005 issue of the Old House Journal entitled “Bringing the Outdoors In,” stated that Victorians felt that bringing elements of nature indoors was important for health and emotional well-being. Indoor potted plants and climbing vines were very popular in the nineteenth century. Another view of the Kinney home shows a birdcage and family portraits. Even the pattern of the floor is ornate.

From 1866 until 1879, John C. Kinney was associated with the publishing of the Sandusky Journal newspaper. After his health began to fail, he took a position as a court stenographer. On February 1, 1888, John C. Kinney died at the age of 58. His funeral took place at his home at 710 Wayne Street. Burial was at Sandusky’s Oakland Cemetery.

The Public Life of Captain John Brown, by James Redpath

In 1928, Harry Dane,  chief clerk in the Erie County Probate Court, donated the book The Public Life of Captain John Brown to the Sandusky Library.

The preface states that the title was the 41st edition of James Redpath’s biography of John Brown. An association of African American residents in Sandusky was responsible for securing the reprinting of this edition, which was published locally by the Kinney Brothers in 1872. (John C. Kinney and Addison D. Kinney were also the publishers of the Sandusky Journal.) Profits from the sale of the book were to be devoted to the erection of a monument to John Brown, the radical abolitionist. Despite their efforts, the monument was never built.

James Redpath was born in Scotland. After coming to America as a young man, he became an author, editor, and social reformer. He ran the Boston Lyceum Bureau which was an agency that booked popular lecturers, such as Mark Twain and Susan B. Anthony. Redpath became a friend of John Brown, and shared his abolitionist sentiments. During the Civil War, James Redpath traveled throughout the Southern states interviewing slaves. He published the book The Roving Editor in 1859, based on his travels. He grew to despise slavery as a result of his experiences in the South.

No documents have survived which would have provided us with the names of the Sandusky residents who were responsible for the 1872 reprinting of The Public Life of Captain John Brown. By doing an advanced search in Ancestry Library Edition, over 100 names of African American residents are listed in Sandusky,  residing primarily in Wards 2, 3, and 4 of the city. Many Erie County residents throughout the years were active in antislavery activities, including helping fugitive slaves make their way to freedom in Canada via the Underground Railroad. A sculpture honoring Sandusky’s efforts in the Underground Railroad was dedicated in November, 2007.