The Martins and Manhattans

In Sandusky in the 1910’s, the Martins and Manhattans were two popular city baseball teams that often played each other at Sandusky’s Huron Park. Sandusky photographer N. J. Abele, who lived at 311 Huron Avenue, took the picture below. The Martins were sponsored by Martin’s Confectionery, a Sandusky business owned by Fred Martin that sold ice cream and other confections.

While not everyone in the photo postcard above have been identified, notes on the original item indicate that manager Pat Murray is in the dark suit in the back row, and the player who is the second from the right in the front row is Ed Oesterle. The first young man in the back row is Moses Thompson. A news article which appeared on the sports page of the October 7, 1912 issue of the Sandusky Register reported that Moses Thompson played “sensationally” against the Manhattans at Huron Park on October 6, 1912. He got a home run in the first inning, and later participated in a double play with a player by the name of Meyers. The final score of the game was the Martins with four runs, and the Manhattans with two runs.

The Manhattans team, sponsored by the Manhattan Clothing Emporium, is pictured below. The only person who has been identified is manager Ralph Roesch, in the dark suit in the center of the back row. Players who played for the Manhattans during the October 6, 1912 game with the Martins included: Fred Kubach, Charles “Pink” Bogert, and old Sandusky favorite ball players with last names Blancke and McConville.

On September 18, 1940 an article in the Sandusky Star Journal covered a baseball game to be held at the Ohio Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Home between the baseball teams sponsored by the Clover Leaf Dairy and the Farrell Cheek Foundry. Carl Bloker managed the Clover Leaf Dairy ball club, while Moses Thompson managed the Farrell Cheek team. Carl Bloker and Moses Thompson had both played with the Martins in the 1910’s.

Moses Thompson was the brother of Sandusky-born physician, Dr. Clarence Thompson. Previous blog entries about baseball in Sandusky discussed Clarence Howard of the Sandusky Crescents, Olde Broderson, and Frank “Casey” Casserly, manager of the Shamrocks baseball team.

Edwin B. Gerald, Sign Painter

Edwin B. Gerald was born on September 10, 1882, in Brooklyn, New York. He married Wilma Gossman in Ohio in 1906. In 1910, Edwin Gerald and his wife were residing in Fort Wayne, Indiana. At this time Edwin stated his occupation as being in the advertising business, specifically dealing in electric signs. About 1918, Mr. and Mrs. Edwin B. Gerald moved to Sandusky, where Mr. Gerald worked as a self-employed sign painter.

The business known as Gerald Sign Service advertised that signs painted by Mr. Gerald would prove to be “business builders.” Edwin B. Gerald was the owner of Gerald Sign Service, but often the names Gerald and Abele appeared on his signs. To date, we have not discovered the significance of the name Abele in connection with Gerald Sign Service.

In 1974, George W. Bailey donated several photographs of advertising signs which had been painted by Edwin B. Gerald. Mr. Gerald may be the individual pictured below beside the sign advertising Cedar Point.

Edwin Gerald painted signs which advertised a variety of area businesses in Erie County.

In the photograph below, Mr. Gerald’s ladder and paint cans are visible.

Edwin B. Gerald died in Sandusky in October of 1957. Thanks to the generous donation of photographs of his signs, we can see a “slice of life” of local advertising in our community during the first half of the twentieth century.

Semiannual Encampment of the Ohio G.A.R., 1869

Several Sandusky residents, along with two hundred fifty delegates to the Semi-Annual Encampment of the Ohio Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.) took a trip to Put-In-Bay on July 22, 1869. The steamers “Evening Star” and “Reindeer” transported the excursionists, commanded by Captains Kirby and Orr. The Sandusky Register of July 23, 1869 reported: “It was noticeable that the entire party, fully one-third of which was ladies, were in the best of spirits. The occasion was a joyous one, and the weather was as perfect as could be desired. The citizens present vied with each other to make the occasion a memorable one in the annals of the Grand Army of Ohio…”

During the Ohio Encampment, several speakers were heard. Gen. J. Warren Keifer made an address in Sandusky on July 21st, which was published in the July 22, 1869 Sandusky Register.
When Gov. R. B. Hayes spoke, “he assured the audience that the speakers present had been warned not to occupy more than five minutes.” An important topic of the encampment was the necessity of establishing a children’s home for the orphans of veterans.

The McMeens Post of the G.A.R. was the topic of a previous blog entry. Post 19 was named in honor of Dr. Robert McMeens, a Civil War Physician. Larry Stevens, in his Ohio in the Civil War web page, lists these Erie County posts of the G.A.R.:

McMeens Post 19 --- Sandusky
Arthur Cranston Post 73 --- Milan
Gen. M.F. Force Post 142 --- Ohio Soldiers' & Sailors' Home
Geo. E. Fowler Post 153 --- Berlin Heights
Thomas Neill Post 423 --- Castalia
H.G. Delker Post 428 --- Vermillion
Sam Edwards Post (611) --- Sand Hill
Moses Martin Post 649 --- Huron
J.T. Toland Post (695) --- Sandusky - Ohio Soldiers Home

While not all details are known about these Erie County Posts of the G.A.R., some details have been gleaned from historical newspaper articles. The General Manning Force Post 142, at the Ohio Soldiers and Sailors Home was named for General Manning F. Force, an officer in the Civil War, who was Commandant of the Ohio Soldiers Home from 1888 until his death in 1899.
The J. T. Toland Post 695, also located at the Ohio Soldiers Home, was named for Colonel John T. Toland, of the 34th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, who was killed at Wytheville, Virginia on July 18, 1863. The George Fowler Post 153 was most likely named for a corporal in Company G of the Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Arthur Cranston, namesake of Milan Post 73, began service as a private during the Civil War, later appointed a cadet at West Point. and was a lieutenant when he was killed in the Modoc War in 1872. The H. G. Delker Post 428 was named for prominent Vermilion business man Henry G. Delker. The Sam Edwards Post 611 at Sand Hill, Moses Martin Post 649 at Huron, and the Thomas Neill Post 423 the Thomas Neill Post were all named for Civil War Veterans who lost their lives during wartime service. Thomas Neill, Jr. and his brother Foster Neill, both in Co. G of the Ohio 123rd Infantry, were imprisoned at Andersonville, Georgia, during the Civil War. Foster Neill was part of a prisoner exchange, and he was returned North during the war, but his brother, Thomas Neill Jr., died while he was being held prisoner at Andersonville.

While these Erie County Posts of the G.A.R. are no longer active, the Thomas Neill Woman’s Relief Corps, No. 275 is still active in Castalia, Ohio. The members of the group provide an annual scholarship to a graduating senior at Margaretta High School, and members place flags on the graves of area veterans prior to Memorial Day.

It's Baseball Season!

Baseball has long been a popular sport in Sandusky. It was played by both the prisoners and the guards at Johnson’s Island Prison during the Civil War. The Bay City Baseball League was organized here in April 1868, while in March 1886 William J. Stoffel purchased several lots bordering Central Ave., Osborn and Prospect Streets to be fitted up as a baseball park. The streetcar line ran close to these grounds, so fans could come to the games from far and near. Here is a view of the Central Park ballfield around 1940:

The Detroit Tigers of the American League were the opposition for the Sandusky team when League Park opened at the corner of Columbus and Perkins Avenues on April 22, 1907; future Hall of Famer Ty Cobb played right field for the Tigers. An estimated crowd of 2200 fans were at the game that day. Herman Schleman’s “Sanduskys” were defeated 18 to 1 by the Detroit team. Herman Schleman later went on to manage the Telling Strollers in Cleveland.

Elmer Smith, a Sandusky native, hit the first grand slam home run in World Series history when he played for the Cleveland Indians in 1920. Other major league baseball players born in Sandusky are George “Jerry” Upp, Elmer Miller, and Alva “Al” Halt (pictured below, at around age 20, with the Sandusky BPOE Elks Team in 1910, four years before he entered the major leagues; unfortunately, although we know the names of the players, we do not know which person is which).

The Martins and Shamrocks were popular baseball teams in Sandusky in the 1910’s. (Below: the Shamrock baseball team, Sandusky city champions, 1912.)

Ernie Nimmons, an outstanding Sandusky High School athlete in the late 1940’s, played for the Indianapolis Clowns in 1952.

Baseball continues to be played in Sandusky in several area leagues, with youngsters as young as age five playing T-ball. To read more about baseball in Sandusky, you can view the sports pages from our local newspapers in the Archives Research Center.

Baseball on the beach at Cedar Point, date unknown.