Dr. Bartel H. Reinheimer, Episcopal Bishop

 

Sandusky High School graduation photo

Born in Sandusky in 1889, Bartel H. Reinheimer was the son of Alfred and Beatrice Reinheimer. Alfred was the son of German immigrants, and made his living by manufacturing cigars.

 

Sandusky High School Class of 1907

In his youth, Reinheimer spelled his first name Bartelle. He graduated from Sandusky High School in 1907, where he served as editor in chief of the Fram in his senior year. The verse below lists his many high school activities:

 

“Here is Reinheimer – sure you know him! Twice “of course,”

You’ve heard “rooters” yell for him ‘till they were hoarse?

A “star” in athletics, a Scrooge in the play,

Brimful of school spirit-whatever you say.

A strong voice the chorus, now head of the Fram,

He’s able to play either lion or lamb.

Though now he is aiming to be a school teacher,

Some day our Bartele may become a great preacher

Then we to his parish will speedily go

To hear and rejoice with an “I told you so!”

Bartel Reinheimer graduated from Kenyon College in 1911, and Bexley Hall Divinity School in 1914. He indeed did become a minister, serving churches in Shelby and Dayton, Ohio, before being appointed as the executive secretary of the General Episcopalian Council in New York City. Rev. Reinheimer served as Bishop of the Diocese of Rochester from 1938 through 1949. When he was consecrated as Bishop, the services were broadcast by WTAM Radio of Cleveland, Ohio. He also was a trustee of the University of Rochester, and had been a chancellor of Hobart College. He died in Rochester, New York in 1949, shortly after he retired his duties as Bishop.

While a student at Sandusky High School, he was a member of the football team, shown here in 1906. 

Rev. George H. Peeke

George Hewson Peeke was born on March 18, 1833 in Rotterdam, New York. He graduated from Rutgers College in 1857, and from the Reformed Dutch Theologial Seminary in 1860. Rev. Peeke’s active years of ministry spanned fifty-five years. He served as the minister of churches in New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Iowa, and Ohio. From 1883 until 1890, he was the pastor of the First Congregational Church in Sandusky, Ohio. Rev. Peeke was the first clergyman in Sandusky to advocate prohibition of liquor. 

In 1884, Rev. Peeke was selected to be the speaker at Sandusky’s Memorial Day ceremony at Oakland Cemetery. The Sandusky Library Archives Research Center has a small collection of documents from Rev. Peeke's life's work, including life memberships in the American Bible Society, American Tract Society, and the American Home Missionary Society. When Rev. Peeke left the Sandusky Congregational Church, he went on to serve as the minister of the Congregational Church in Brooklyn, Ohio. He often came back to Sandusky to officiate at funerals, and speak at local churches.

Rev. Peeke and his wife Margaret Bloodgood Peeke had six children; their eldest son, Hewson L. Peeke, was a well known attorney and local historian in Sandusky.  

On December 28, 1915, Rev. George H. Peeke died after suffering a stroke.  Funeral services were held at the home of his son, attorney Hewson L. Peeke. The three pastors who officiated at the funeral services were: Rev. Keller of the Presbyterian Church, Rev. Ross Sanderson of the First Congregational Church, and Rev. Hilberry of Trinity Methodist Church. Burial was in Sandusky’s Oakland Cemetery. A lengthy obituary appeared in the December 29, 1915 issue of the Sandusky Register.

Rev. Jacob Dornbirer, Pastor of Zion Lutheran Church

Jacob Dornbirer was born in Switzerland on July 31, 1825. He came to the United States in 1855, where he settled in Fremont, Ohio. For a time he worked at the June Engine Works, where he met the Rev. Henry Lang. Rev. Lang encouraged him to enter the Lutheran ministry. In 1858, Rev. Jacob Dornbirer was ordained as a Lutheran minister, and in the same year he married Elizabeth Trott. In his early ministry, Rev. Dornbirer served at churches in Thompson Township, Bellevue, Venice, and Loudonville. 

From 1879 until his death in 1891, Rev. Dornbirer was the pastor at Sandusky’s Zion Lutheran Church. While he was pastor, the church met in the former Beatty Church in Washington Square.

According to an article in the Lutheran Standard of May 2, 1891, during his years in the ministry, Rev. Dornbirer preached over one thousand sermons, baptized 1217 infants, confirmed 530 young people, married 315 couples, and officiated at 397 funerals. 

In April of 1891, Rev. Jacob Dornbirer suffered serious injuries when he was thrown from his buggy, by the falling of his horse. He died on April 12, 1891. Funeral services for Rev. Jacob Dornbirer were held at Zion Lutheran Church in April 16, 1891. There was such a large turnout for the services, that only a portion of those who wished to attend could be accommodated in the church. At the time of his death, Rev. Dornbirer was survived by twelve children; he had lost both an infant son and his wife Elizabeth in 1883. 

Two of Rev. Dornbirer's sons became Lutheran pastors, and four of his daughters married Lutheran pastors. He was the maternal grandfather of Rev. Theodore Stellhorn, Jr., who served in the Lutheran ministry for over sixty years. Rev. Stellhorn was assistant pastor of Zion Lutheran Church from 1928 – 1949, main pastor from 1949 – 1955, and senior pastor of Zion from 1956 – 1969.  

Rev. Jacob Dornbirer was buried at Sandusky’s Oakland Cemetery, next to his wife Elizabeth.

To learn more about the history of Zion Lutheran Church, as well as several area churches, visit the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center.

Rev. John G. Ensslin

According to his death certificate, John George Ensslin was born in Bopfingen, Germany on September 9, 1840 to Casper and Mary Ensslin. Rev. Ensslin’s surname was spelled many different ways through the years, including Enszlin, Enslin, and Ennslin. After studying for six years at the Mission Institute at Basil, Switzerland, John G. Ensslin was ordained in 1868. In that same year Rev. Ensslin emigrated to the United States. After serving as a minister at two different churches in Michigan, Rev. Ensslin began his ministry at Sandusky’s Emmanuel Church on May 1, 1876.

Rev. Ensslin served as the pastor at Emmanuel Church for over thirty five years, officiating at many baptisms, funerals, weddings, and confirmations. Due to declining health, he resigned from active ministry in January of 1912. At that time he was the oldest active member of the clergy in Sandusky, Ohio. For eleven years, Rev. Ensslin also had charge of St. John’s Evangelical Church in Oxford Township. On January 6, 1914, Rev. John G. Ensslin died at his Jackson Street home in Sandusky. He was survived by three daughters and three sons. Mrs. Ensslin had predeceased him in 1910. Funeral services for Rev. Ensslin were held on Friday, January 9, 1914, at Emmanuel Church, under the direction of Rev. Theo. Eisen. Several clergymen from other cities were also in attendance. Burial was at Sandusky’s Oakland Cemetery. 

Leonard B. Gurley, Pioneer Poet

In honor of National Poetry Month, a story about Sandusky's pioneer poet:

Leonard Beatty Gurley was born in Connecticut to Rev. William Gurley and Susannah Beatty. His uncle, John Beatty, was the Mayor of Sandusky from 1833-1836, and his cousin, also named John Beatty, was a Brigadier General in the Civil War.  The Gurley family moved to the Firelands in the early 1800’s. Both Leonard B. Gurley and his father were Methodist preachers.  In the earliest days, they were “circuit riders,” riding on horseback to preach to the settlers. Rev. Leonard B. Gurley served as pastor of Sandusky’s Trinity Methodist Church from 1867 through 1869. Rev. Gurley was well known in Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana.

Though he is not credited in the newspaper, L.B. Gurley wrote what some consider to be the first poem published in Northwestern Ohio. Rev. Nathaniel B. C. Love wrote an article about Leonard B. Gurley in volume 10 of the Ohio Archaeological and Historical Society Publication.  The poem Thy Plains Sandusky begins:

Thy Plains Sandusky, and thy green retreats,

Thy perfum’d flowers, & they op’ning sweets,

How bright the scene to fancy’s richer glow,

True colors  deepen’d, void of airy show.

Dr. Love says of Leonard B. Gurley, “His imagery is so true to nature that one continually recognizes it as something seen, heard, felt in the observations and experiences of life.” Besides writing many poems and sermons, Rev. Gurley also wrote a biography of his father, The Memoir of  Rev. William Gurley, which is available for reading full-text at Google Books.

Rev. Leonard B. Gurley was a minister for over fifty years. His obituary in the March 29, 1880 Sandusky Register states that Rev. Gurley was “full of kindness for his neighbors, he was an excellent citizen, a faithful friend and brother adviser.” Though beloved by his family and friends, there is another side of Rev. Gurley.  A young woman named Mary Monnett came under the guidance of Rev. Leonard B. Gurley. Though she was in love with a male seminarian at Ohio Wesleyan University, Rev. Gurley convinced Mary that she should not pursue the romance. The story, which is available online, ends with Mary losing her money and living in an asylum.

Accounts of Rev. William Gurley, Rev. L. B. Gurley, and many other early settlers of Erie and Huron counties can be read in the Firelands Pioneer, available at the Archives Research Center of the Sandusky Library. 

James Monroe (1821-1898), Reformer and Abolitionist

James Monroe was born in 1821 in Connecticut to Quaker parents. He graduated from Oberlin College in 1846, and he earned his theology degree from Oberlin College in 1849. Monroe taught at Oberlin College from 1849 to 1862. From 1856 to 1859, he served in the Ohio House of Representatives, and was in the Ohio Senate from 1860 to 1862. From March 1871 to March 1881, James Monroe was a Representative to the United States Congress. According to the book James Monroe: Oberlin's Christian Statesman and Reformer, 1821-1898, he was a minister in Sandusky, Ohio during the winter of 1848-1849. 

James Monroe was known for his strong abolitionist views. His former home can be toured in Oberlin, Ohio, where the story of his abolition activities is told. Mrs. John Mack donated the portrait of Professor Monroe to the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center. Sandusky had many ties to Oberlin throughout the years. Former Sandusky resident, Francis Drake Parish was a trustee of Oberlin College from 1839 to 1878, and longtime newspaper editor, I.F. Mack was a graduate of Oberlin College.

Letter from Rev. Leverett Hull in 1850

On April 27, 1850, Rev. Leverett Hull wrote a letter to his wife’s parents about the birth of their little girl. At first Rev. and Mrs. Hull were going to name their daughter Belinda, but it turned out they named her Puella Follett Hull, after the name of the daughter of Oran Follett, a dear friend of Rev. Hull. In 1925, the original letter was donated to the historical collections of the Sandusky Library, now the Archives Research Center, by Puella Follett Hull Mason, the little girl whose birth brought such joy to her parents.

Here is a transcript of a portion of the letter:

We are all well at home except Mother, and she is not so unwell but that she has been able to take another boarder. Now as this this boarder is a somewhat remarkable personage. I will try to give you some description of her – she has dark hair and very ruddy complexion and is altogether a fine smart girl, all the neighbors say – Her name is “Belinda Susanah Linda Luta Grindor (or something else) Hull,” youngest daughter of Leverett and Sarah Hull, all of this place. Now don’t be scared about this – because Mother and Belinda are getting along first rate – and Mrs. Bell says Belinda (i.e. Miss Hull)-looks like a baby a week old and we only took her in last Saturday at 7 o’clock in the morning and this is Monday. So she is now just two days old – all this I read with not a little surprise and joy as you doubtless will and made the best of my way home and found it ever so –

Sadly, Rev. Leverett Hull died of cholera on September 3, 1852.
Following the death of Rev. Hull, Mrs. Hull and the children moved to the Cincinnati area. Puella Follett Hull married William L. Mason in 1878. Mrs. Mason wrote two books about genealogy: A Record of the Descendants of Richard Hull of New Haven, Conn. and Lineage of the Tracy Family with Notes of the Lord, Garrett, Russell, and Other Intermarrying Families. Both titles are available full text on Heritage Quest, a database to which the Sandusky Library has a subscription.

To access Heritage Quest, go to the website: www.oplin.org/databases. You will be asked to enter the name your library as well as your Sandusky Library card number. Heritage Quest is available to all Sandusky Library card holders, and is accessible from your home computer.