A Sandusky Native’s Connection to President Lincoln

 

Howard Hill Morton was born in Sandusky, Ohio in 1840, to Dr. and Mrs. George R. Morton. When Howard was a young man, he and George Doll published a small leaflet which they called The Sandusky Gazette. In 1860 he moved to Washington, D.C. where he worked in a print shop, and published a small periodical about various governmental agencies, then from 1862 to 1869, he worked as a clerk in the Treasury Department. Later he transferred to the Department of  Internal Revenue.  On July 10, 1864, H.H. Morton married his wife Annie in Cincinnati, Ohio. After the wedding, the couple moved back to the nation’s capital. During the Civil War, Mr. Morton was a war correspondent for the Cincinnati Enquirer and other newspapers.  After his father’s death in 1875, Mr. and Mrs. H.H. Morton and their family moved to North Bass Island. Howard H. Morton died on September 30, 1888, and he was buried in Sandusky’s Oakland Cemetery.

The Sandusky Register and the Sandusky Star Journal both featured articles in February of 1922  in which Mrs. Annie Morton discussed her experiences from her years in Washington D.C.

Mrs. Morton and her husband often attended the Saturday receptions at the White House when President Lincoln was in office. Mrs. Morton said that Lincoln was friendly towards everyone, and often tried to make people smile. She said that while Lincoln was not a handsome man, she was struck by the kindness in his face and the strength of his handshake. Mrs. Morton wore a rose and azure blue gown to President Lincoln’s first and second inaugural balls. She was quite a petite lady, and she could still fit in the gown in 1922 when she was aged 79. Annie Morton died on January 8, 1925. At the time of her death, she was the only living Sandusky resident who had been a guest at Lincoln’s inaugural balls. 

To read more about the Morton family, see Hewson Peeke’s book The Centennial History of Erie County, Ohio ((Penton Press, 1925.)  Biographical sketches of Howard H. Morton, his father Dr. George R. Morton, and his son Lawrence D. Morton are found in Mr. Peeke’s 1925 book.

Jennie Lincoln in the Civil War

 

Photo credit: Jennie Lincoln at about age 12; from Pierson Family Papers, 1821-1996
Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan

The name of Miss Jennie E. Lincoln appeared several times in the Sandusky Register in 1863 and 1864. She served as the Secretary and Treasurer of the Relief Society. The Relief Society gathered donations of food and money, to provide aid to Civil War soldiers, as well as to the families on the home front.

 An article which appeared in the December 1, 1863 issue of the Sandusky Register reported on donations of food and money which were collected from the residents of Sandusky, Perkins Township, Castalia, Oxford Township, Kelleys Island and Put in Bay. One hundred six families, including three families of color, were provided food from the generous donations of local residents. All the families to whom food was given had either a son or husband who was in military service for the Union.  A portion of the article appears below:

In January of 1864, several soldiers from the 122^nd New York Volunteer Infantry arrived in Ohio, where they would become guards at the Confederate Prison at Johnson’s Island.

Some of the citizens of Sandusky housed the soldiers from New York. The Relief Society prepared a banquet for the soldiers. Captain Lucius Abel Dillingham, of Company I of the New York 122^nd Volunteers, fell in love with the secretary of the Relief Society, Jennie Lincoln.

Capt. Lucius Abel Dillingham
Photo Credit: Archives of Michigan 

 Lucius A. Dillingham and Jennie E. Lincoln were wed in Sandusky, Ohio, in November, 1865, after the close of the Civil War. By 1880, Mr. and Mrs. Dillingham resided in Coldwater Michigan with their daughter Clara. Clara Dillingham, later Mrs. John Pierson, became well known as the author of several children’s books.

Capt. Lucius Abel Dillingham died in Stanton, Michigan in 1911, and his wife Jennie passed away in 1916. Both are buried at the Forest Hill Cemetery in Stanton, Michigan.

George J. Lehrer as Abraham Lincoln

From the 1940s through the 1960s, Sandusky resident George J. Lehrer toured the United States portraying former President Abraham Lincoln. Mr. Lehrer’s tall, thin frame, and his excellent voice made him an ideal Lincoln impersonator. Besides his portrayal of Lincoln, George J. Lehrer also gave other educational, patriotic, and inspirational presentations. When George J. Lehrer presented the Gettysburg Address at Cedar Point on Memorial Day of 1962, all the amusement parks rides were stopped during his performance, in honor of Lehrer’s portrayal of Abraham Lincoln.

In 1906 George J. Lehrer produced a Sandusky High School play entitled “Every Man,” which was performed at the Sandusky Library’s Carnegie Hall. Mr. Lehrer was a charter member of the Actors Equity Association, and a member of the Association of Directors of the Actors Guild. He acted on Broadway, and for a time he was associated with the Lloyd-George Studios, which created stage scenery and costumes. On August 25, 1966, George J. Lehrer passed away at the age of 77. At his death, he was survived by his wife, three sons, a daughter, and nine grandchildren. George J. Lehrer’s father, George T. Lehrer was a former Mayor of Sandusky.

Lincoln Funeral Train at Cleveland

Longtime Great Lakes Captain Frank Hamilton donated the above photograph to the historical collections of the Sandusky Library. The Lincoln Funeral Train carried the body of slain President Abraham Lincoln from Washington D. C. to Springfield, Illinois, from April 21 through May 3, 1865. Along the 1,650 mile route, the train would stop at key cities in seven separate states.

After leaving Buffalo, the Lincoln Funeral Train arrived in Cleveland, Ohio on April 28, 1865 at 6:50 a.m. Over 100,000 people filed through Public Square to pay their respects to Lincoln. The catafalque holding Lincoln’s coffin was shaped like a pagoda, and allowed for two lines to pass through simultaneously. Members of the 29th Ohio National Guard and the Veteran Reserve Corps troops stood guard over President Lincoln’s remains. The weather remained rainy the entire day of April 28th. At 10:00 p.m., the casket was closed, and police led the procession to Union Depot. The Lincoln Funeral Train arrived at Columbus, Ohio at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday, April 29, 1865.

Several photographs of the Lincoln Funeral Train in Ohio can be seen at the Ohio Memory Online Scrapbook.