Christopher Reeve’s Connection to Sandusky

Most of us remember Christopher Reeve as the not-quite-original movie Superman. But what's more interesting from our perspective is his "relationship" to Sandusky: Christopher Reeve’s maternal grandfather was a native-born Sanduskian. Horace R. Lamb, was born in Sandusky in 1892, the son of Burt I. Lamb and Harriet “Hattie” Davis Lamb. Before he married, Horace Lamb lived in Huron County for several years, eventually settling in Connecticut.

In the late 1890’s Burt I. Lamb advertised his tailoring business in the Sandusky Register.

Mr. and Mrs. Burt I. Lamb are buried in the North Ridge of Sandusky’s Oakland Cemetery.

Hattie Davis Lamb was the daughter of Ira T. Davis and Eunice Woolsey Davis Lamb.

Ira T. Davis came to Sandusky in 1852. He had a grocery store on Columbus Avenue and later was involved in the real estate and limestone business. He married Eunice Woolsey in 1856, and the couple had five children born and raised in Sandusky. Mr. & Mrs. Davis are also buried in Oakland Cemetery. You can read more about the family in Article 30 of Helen Hansen’s At Home in Early Sandusky and in Hewson Peeke’s Standard History of Erie County.

Christopher Reeve mentioned Sandusky in his biography Still Me: A Life. He wrote about his grandfather Horace Lamb’s roots from a working class family in Sandusky.

Visit the Sandusky Library’s Archives Research Center to learn more about Christopher Reeve’s Sandusky ancestors, and perhaps your own ancestors as well.

The Lamb Brothers and Their Many Businesses

The business ventures of three Lamb brothers graced the cover of the 1880-81 Sandusky City Directory. G.W. C. Lamb stated that he was a consulting engineer and a mechanical expert. He was proprietor of the Lamb Steam Plow and Company. A Lamb mower took first premium at the Sandusky County Fair in 1877, according to an article in the Ohio Practical Farmer from October, 1877. In the late 1890s, G.W. C. was instrumental in designing several steam canal boats for use on the Miami Canal, between Cincinnati and Toledo. 

Brothers Anson C. Lamb and Virgil M. Lamb advertised their sign painting and decorating business, also on the cover of the 1880-81 Sandusky City Directory. The ad stated that the Lamb brothers were sign writers and fresco artists. They also did house painting and paper hanging. 

Anson C. Lamb saved several thousand dollars that he earned while working as a painter and decorator in Sandusky, and eventually became a successful stock broker. Embarking on yet a third career, he served as President of the Federal Casket Company. One of his patents was for a casket that looked like a couch, but when closed, became a fully functional casket. 

He hoped to “avoid, insofar as is reasonably possible, the usual background associated with the presence of death, and to retain with appropriate dignity the normal atmosphere of the household.” 

Anson C. Lamb lived to the age of 93, dying in 1949; he was buried in Riverside Cemetery in Cuyahoga County. Virgil M. Lamb had passed away at the age of 73 in 1933. Though the Lamb brothers did not in Sandusky their entire lives, they were quite productive when did live here. Below you can see the listings for the Lamb surname on page 62 of the 1880- 1881 Sandusky City Directory.

Burt I. Lamb, Sandusky Tailor

Burt I. Lamb was featured in the 1895 booklet entitled Men of Sandusky, a small publication which was printed by I. F. Mack and Bro., Printers. The booklet includes several photographs, a history of Sandusky, an article about the Soldiers and Sailors Home, and a page of interesting facts and statistics.
Mr. Lamb’s advertisement on page 65 of “Men of Sandusky” states that he “gives the highest grade of goods for the lowest grade prices in Sandusky. He does his work scientifically, studies the art of tailoring, is always up to date in style, and does honest work at honest figures, and guarantees absolute satisfaction in every case.” His tailor shop was in the Mahala Block, on E. Washington Row.

Horace Rand Lamb, the son of Burt I. Lamb and Hattie Davis, served as a First Lieutenant in World War One.
Hattie Davis Lamb’s father, Ira T. Davis, had a grocery store on Columbus Avenue and later was involved in the real estate and limestone business.

A genealogical web site indicates that Horace Rand Lamb was the grandfather of actor Christopher Reeve. Therefore, Burt I. Lamb and Ira T. Davis were Christopher Reeve’s great-grandfathers.

You can read more about the family of Ira T. Davis in Article 30 of Helen Hansen’s At Home in Early Sandusky and in Hewson Peeke’s Standard History of Erie County. Christopher Reeve mentioned Sandusky in his biography Still Me: A Life. He wrote about his grandfather Horace Lamb’s roots from a working class family in Sandusky.

Visit the Sandusky Library’s Archives Research Center to learn more about Christopher Reeve’s Sandusky ancestors, and perhaps your own ancestors as well.