Nearly All of the Loeffler Family Died in the 1849 Cholera

St. Joseph's Cemetery, Sandusky

According to the book, Sandusky Then and Now, in the course of a few days, John Loeffler, his wife Catherine, and four children all died from cholera in the summer of 1849. The only member of the family to survive was the youngest child, Johannes/John Loeffler, Local residents took the young child in, and the younger John Loeffler lived in Sandusky until his death in 1928 at age 82. He never married, and he worked as a gardener, tending to gardens and lawns all over Sandusky.

The elder John Loeffler came from Rentheim, Baden, Germany to Sandusky in 1835. He married Catherine that same year. Eventually, he ran a tailoring business, in conjunction with a tavern and grocery store at the corner of Fulton and Market Streets. John Loeffler was the first in the family to die from cholera, on July 24, 1849. On July 26, Catherine, Frank and George died. The last child to die was Conrad, who passed away on July 28, 1849.

John Loeffler, the young child who survived the deadly epidemic, made a career as a caretaker of lawns and gardens, and was buried at St. Mary’s Cemetery in Sandusky in 1928.

Though no stones have been located, St. Joseph’s Cemetery records list all six members of the Loeffler family as having been buried in Section B at St. Joseph’s Cemetery. A total of 357 persons died from cholera in 1849, and smaller epidemics took place in 1852 and 1854. While many have tombstones at Oakland Cemetery and St. Joseph’s Cemetery, most victims were laid to rest at the Cholera Cemetery on Harrison Street. An historical marker was placed at the Cholera Cemetery in 1966.

You can read more about the cholera epidemic in Sandusky in Hewson Peeke’s book, A Standard History of Erie County, Ohio (Lewis Pub. Co., 1916.)

Kriss Auto Bus

 

In the 1920s and 1930s, Randall F. Kriss ran a trucking and moving business. The vehicle pictured above is a Kriss Auto Bus that was built by J.A.Loeffler. Mr. Kriss’s early advertisements stated that “auto busses” were available for hire for any occasion. In 1922 the Kriss Auto Bus took passengers from Sandusky’s Washington Park to the Rye Beach Dance Pavilion on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays, with free rides for ladies on Wednesdays. The ad from the  November 2, 1922 issue of the Sandusky Star Journal indicated that the Kriss Auto Bus had had a heating system installed, for the comfort its pasengers.

For a time Mr. Kriss also operated an automobile garage and restaurant, but after 1936, he was no longer operating any businesses in Sandusky. 

At the time of his death in 1957, Randall Kriss had been been employed at Bargain Fair. He was married to the former Vera Starr, the sister of Beryl Starr.

Sandusky Baking Company

The Sandusky Baking Company was incorporated in 1900, succeeding the former Sandusky Steam Baking Company which began in the 1890s at the southeast corner of Carr and Osborne Streets. The picture above was taken in 1913. Several employees and horse drawn delivery wagons can be seen in front of the bakery.  In 1917 Frank Windisch took over the Sandusky Baking Company, after having been the proprietor of a grocery store.

Soon after Windisch took over the business, he began plans for a new building to be constructed at the site of the old bakery. According to the January 4, 1920 issue of the Sandusky Register, the new building was set to open on January 8. The two story brick building had the most up to date equipment. An electric hoist carried sacks of flour to the storage area on the second floor. Each white tile oven in the bake room could bake over two hundred loaves of bread at one time. The company’s office and store room occupied the front portion of the building. In 1920 the Sandusky Baking Company was one of the largest bakeries between Cleveland and Toledo. Horse drawn delivery wagons were replaced with modern vehicles in the 1920s and 1930s. This delivery truck was built by J.A. Loeffler.

This picture was taken inside the bakery in the early 1920s. Manager Frank Windisch is on the left side of the picture. One of the bakers is Earl Sharp. Salesman Elmer Meyers is also in the picture.

In October of 1930, local Camp Fire Girls sold Sandusky Baking Company’s donuts for twenty five cents a dozen as a fund raising project. The company sponsored an episode of the “Baker’s Broadcast” on WJR Radio, featuring Joe Penner, in February, 1935.  Later that Spring, Apricot Delight pie and Cherry Carnival cake were favorites at the bakery. A product introduced by the Sandusky Baking Company in 1938 was “Sandusky Gold Bread.”  The Sandusky Baking Company closed in January, 1974, after its parent company, the Laub Baking Company of Cleveland decided to close its Sandusky location. The Sandusky Register of February 11, 1974 reported that all the contents of the West Osborne Street location were going to be auctioned off, as well as the East Market Street facility, which stored delivery vehicles.  This link to Google Maps will take you to a current view of the corner of Osborne and Carr Streets, where the Sandusky Baking Company stood for most of the twentieth century. From the Karl A. Hengel Collection of the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center, we find a group picture from the Sandusky Baking Company’s family picnic held on August 8, 1909. Karl’s father Joseph Hengel was employed by the bakery at this time.

John A. Loeffler, Auto Body Manufacturer

John A. Loeffler was born in June 1875, to Lucas and Catherine Loeffler. Lucas Loeffler was a native of Germany, and he came to the U.S. in 1869, according to the 1900 U.S. Census for Erie County. By browsing through several years of Sandusky City Directories, we read that John A. Loeffler was in business in Sandusky for over fifty years. Starting as early as 1902, he was employed at his father’s blacksmith business at 131 Tiffin Avenue. By 1910, John was listed as wagon maker, with his business and home located at 101 Lincoln Avenue. Later, John’s occupation was “Manufacturer of Automobile Bodies.” He had a shop at 1412 Lincoln Avenue for many years, but from 1925 through 1936, the business was located at 1102-1104 West Washington Street. The 1954 Sandusky City Directory finds John A. Loeffler as a blacksmith again, at 1412 Lincoln Avenue.

Below is Margaretta Township School bus Number 7, built by J. A. Loeffler.

This 1924 vehicle was built by J. A. Loeffler for the Erney Tire Company in Sandusky. Norbert G. Erney was the President and General Manager of the Erney Tire Company, located at 919 W. Washington Street in 1930.

When the Loeffler shop was on Lincoln Avenue, Mr. Loeffler offered Spring Service.

John A. Loeffler died in 1955, and is buried in St. Mary’s Cemetery in Sandusky.