Wedding of Elizabeth Schmid and James Summy

On December 8, 1941, Elizabeth Schmid, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Oscar Schmid of Sandusky, married James B. Summy, son of Mr. and Mrs. William Summy. Rev. H.E. Pheiffer officiated.  On the marriage record on file at Erie County Probate Court, James Summy listed his occupation as cook in the United States Navy. Friends of the family said that the couple wanted to wed quickly, as Mr. Summy’s leave from the military service was soon to be ended, and he was needed back in service promptly. The wedding took place at St. Stephen’s Evangelical and Reformed Church, on the day after Pearl Harbor was attacked. President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared our country’s entry into World War II on this couple’s wedding day.

An article in the December 10, 1941 issue of the Sandusky Register gave an account of the wedding. Matron of honor was the bride’s sister, Mrs. Harry Hoelzer. Other bridesmaids included Mary Schmid and Mildred Sissen. Junior bridesmaid was the bride’s niece Audrey May Mears. Joyce Parker was the train bearer. Harry Hoelzer served as best man, and the ushers were Arthur Koewen, James Corley, and Oscar Schmid. A reception was held after the ceremony.

Mrs. Elizabeth Summy died at the age of 45, and was buried at Restlawn Cemetery in Huron, Ohio, now known as Meadow Green Memorial Park Cemetery. Mr. Summy remarried after the death of Elizabeth, and moved to Pennsylvania, where he died in 1999 at age 80.

Admiral Byrd In Sandusky

On December 12, 1930, The famous explorer Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd spoke to a crowd of 1200 at Sandusky Junior High School, under the auspices of the senior class at Sandusky High School. He was delayed in Cleveland, but he finally arrived on the New York Central train in Sandusky. Due to the delay, the parade that had been planned for him was cancelled, but crowds of people greeted the Admiral as he arrived at the Sloane House Hotel. 

In his talk, Rear Admiral Byrd spoke about his recent expedition to the Antarctic. Byrd and his men experienced temperatures ranging from 50 degrees below zero to 70 below zero. They wore garments made from reindeer skin, and had sleeping bags made from fur. During his talk, he showed motion pictures that had been taken during the two year expedition.

While in Sandusky, Admiral Byrd visited the Parker Air Field, where he signed the register. During his visit here, he suggested that the Air Field be lighted. 

Sheriff John Parker can be seen in the picture below with the Admiral.

 John W. Parker and Lucius Parker operated the first airport in Sandusky from about 1927 to 1937, when it was sold to the city. It became the Griffing Sandusky Airport until it was closed in 2013.

Airplane at Parker Air Field in 1930

Byrd left Sandusky the next morning in a  Ford tri-motor plane that had been supplied by Edsel Ford. Admiral Byrd was to give a lecture in Detroit, Michigan.

A brief film clip entitled With Byrd at the South Pole can be viewed at Turner Classic Movies.

Thankful Cooke, Pioneer Resident

Thankful Parker Cooke (sometimes listed as Cook) was born in 1792 to Asaph Cook and his wife Thankful Parker, who were residents of Wallingford, New Haven County, in Connecticut. Asaph Cook served in the Revolutionary War. (The first name “Thankful” is an example of the early American practice of naming daughters with reference to terms of comfort and consolation, while males were often named after men from the Bible.) In 1818, the Asaph Cook family moved to an area known as “Four Corners” in Huron County, Ohio, close to what is now the intersection of Route 99 and Route 113, in North Monroeville. Today, this area is at the boundary between Erie and Huron Counties.

Thankful P. Cooke died in 1858 at the age of 66, and she was buried in the family lot in North Monroeville Cemetery. Her sister Sarah was the first wife of Moors Farwell, the first Mayor of Sandusky. Her brother, Eleutheros Cooke, was Sandusky’s first lawyer. Her nephew Jay Cooke was a major financier of the Civil War.

You can read genealogical details about the Cook/Cooke family in the book The History of Wallingford, Connecticut, written by Charles Stanley Henry Davis in 1870. A portion of page 684 can be viewed below.

To learn more about the early residents of Erie and Huron Counties, visit the Sandusky Library, where several local history books are housed.

Bogarts Corners

Pictured above is an undated photograph of a tavern located at Bogarts Corners, probably from the late 1800s or early 1900s.

The United States Geological Survey places Bogart, formerly known as Bogarts Corners, at the intersection of Milan Road and Bogart Road in Perkins Township. Hewson Peeke wrote in A Standard History of Erie County (Lewis Publishing, 1916) that “The hamlet of Bogart is located…at the junction of the roads leading to Sandusky, Huron, Milan, Bloomingville, and Castalia.”

Image courtesy USGS

In the very early years of Perkins Township, several roads crossed Bogart Road, which caused Bogarts Corners to become a center of business. John Beatty, who purchased much of the land in what is now Perkins Township, sold lots to several buyers from Connecticut. He led an oxen train of fifteen families from Glastonbury, Connecticut to Perkins Township in 1815. Mr. Beatty built a stone house near Bogarts Corners, and he ran a tavern and a small store at this location. His home served as a stop on the stagecoach line from Mansfield to Sandusky.

The Beatty house in 1980

John Beatty was the first Postmaster of Perkins Township, and he was known as a friend to fugitive slaves escaping to freedom on the Underground Railroad. Mr. Johnson ran a blacksmith shop, and Rev. William Gurley ran a silversmith business. A cooper shop was operated by Mr. Kellogg, and John Broadhead was a carpenter. Later, James Daniel Parker had a general store at Bogart and served as Postmaster. (The elder James Daniel Parker was the father of Dr. J.D. Parker, and grandfather of Dr. Watson Parker and Dr. Lester Parker.) In 1902, the Post Office was moved to the Ohio Soldiers and Sailors Home, while many area residents received their mail by rural delivery. The majority of the residents in and around Bogarts Corners were engaged in farming.

On January 26, 1888, the Sandusky Register ran a column featuring Bogart in its neighboring communities page. A writer known as “Plato” wrote this column:

In 1893, Bogart was a stop on the Sandusky, Milan and Norwalk Electric Railway, and later on the Lake Shore Electric Railway.

from Wikipedia

A Methodist Society was organized in Perkins Township, not far from Bogarts Corners, and in the 1800s, circuit riders preached at the church services. Later the Perkins Methodist Church merged with Trinity Methodist Church in Sandusky. 

Former Perkins Township Trustee, Glenn Parker, lived in a home in what was known as Bogarts Corners from the 1940s through the 1960s. Glenn was a descendant of pioneer settlers of Perkins Township.

Now many hotels, restaurants, and other businesses are located near the intersection of Bogart Road and Milan Road. You can read much more about the early years of Bogarts Corners and Perkins Township in chapter 10 of Hewson Peeke’s Standard History of Erie County (Lewis Publishing, 1916).

Columbian Session of the Ohio State Grange

 

On December 12, 13, and 14, 1893, the 21^st Annual Session of the Ohio State Grange, Patrons of Husbandry met in Sandusky. It was called the “Columbian Session” in reference to the World’s Columbian Exposition, which was held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400^th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s arrival in the New World.

Sessions for the Grange members were held at Biemiller’s Opera House in downtown Sandusky. Chairman of the evening session on December 12 was James D. Parker. According to the December 13, 1893 issue of the Sandusky Register, the Opera House was decorated with palms and sheaves of wheat. Mr. Parker told the audience that he had drafted some of the children of Erie County Grange members to participate in the entertainment portion of the evening’s events. His son and daughter, Eva and Jay Parker performed a vocal solo. Another daughter, Jessie Parker, played instrumental duets with Nellie Taylor and Will Gurley. Several other solos and recitations were performed.  Joseph H. Brigham, Master of the National Grange, gave the main address. Other speakers of the evening were Rev. Mr. Hart, J.F. Greene, F.A. Derthick, and S.H. Ellis, Past Master Ohio State Grange. Miss Hattie White recited “The First Settler’s Story” and Mrs. Emma Rood Tuttle recited “Mother and Poet” by Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

The Columbian Session of the Ohio State Grange was the topic of a lengthy front page article in the December 13, 1893 issue of the Sandusky Register.  The Register extended hospitality to all the visiting Grange members, and the headline stated that “brilliant oratory” had graced the opening session. Pictured below is the Nielsen Opera House, which had originally opened as the Biemiller Opera House in 1877. The Opera House was the site of many of the sessions held by Ohio State Grange’s annual meeting in 1893.

“Ye Oak Meadow” Farm and Gun Club

Between 1907 and 1919, Mr. and Mrs. Ira C. Krupp lived on South Hayes Avenue, on the property formerly owned by the Palmerton family. (Ira Krupp’s mother Ida Palmerton Krupp was the daughter of J. E. Palmerton.)  The Palmerton property in 1896 is pictured below:

Ira C. Krupp, son of local undertaker Charles J. Krupp, operated a dairy farm at this location in the 1910’s. 

In June of 1911 Ira Krupp was a founding member of  “Ye Oak Meadow Gun Club,” which was organized at the Sunyendeand Club. The officers were: August Kuebeler, President; Lea Marsh, Vice President; W.A. Magoon, Secretary; Dr. J. K. Douglass, Treasurer; Ira Krupp, Manager; and Dr. J. D. Parker, Captain. According to the June 6, 1911 Sandusky Register the membership was made up of the best trap shooters in Erie County. Roy Parker, also known as Leroy Parker, had the high score at the regular shoot at the Gun Club on August 26, 1911.  He was an Erie County Commissioner from 1920 through 1924. 

C. Webb Sadler was also a member of  the club.

He was the grandson of Judge E. B. Sadler, and was associated with many other area clubs, including the Blue Hole, Castalia Farms, and the Rockwell Trout Club. According to Helen Hansen’s At Home in Early Sandusky, C. Webb Sadler was the driving force behind the development of Battery Park. 

A large turkey shoot was held in November 1911. By this time the grounds included a club house and a firing range. Mrs. Ira Krupp, the former Emeline Moss, was hostess for a bridge party and luncheon in December 1911.Around 1919 news articles about Ye Oak Meadow Gun Club ceased, and in the 1920’s  Mr. and Mrs. Krupp moved to Connecticut. While they were in Erie County, however, they were very active in the social and agricultural circles of the area.

The “All Nation’s Pageant” in 1932

Several ladies from the Sandusky and Erie County Federation of Women’s Clubs participated in the Cleveland Plain Dealer’s “All Nation’s Pageant”, held at Cleveland’s Public Hall. This event was part of the International Exposition presented in Cleveland from November 19 to 28, 1932. While thirty-eight women participated, only sixteen were present for the photograph above. 

Pictured are: Back Row: Ada Parker, Leona Love, Carrie Beatty, Nettie Beatty, Ms. Drummond, Emma Phillips, Dorothy Drummond, Adeline Rosekelly, Florence Wright. Front Row: Mary Louise Blanckey, Annette Lockwood, Lois Miller, Attie Hawley, Harriet Ruggles, Virginia Caswell, and Marie Harris. 

Several scrapbooks, membership lists, secretary’s record book and photographs from both the Erie County and Sandusky Federation of Women’s Clubs are housed in the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center.

Sandusky Library’s Bookmobile

From the late 1940s through the 1980s, the Sandusky Library operated a Bookmobile to bring library services to rural areas and housing developments in Sandusky and Erie County. Pictured above in this 1949 photo in front of the Erie County Courthouse are:  Ray Speers, County Commissioner; Mary McCann, head librarian; Mrs. Leland Spore, president of the Library Board of Trustees; L.G. Parker, County Commissioner, and Robert Crecelius, County Commissioner. Though Miss Mary McCann was the Head Librarian, on occasion she worked on the Bookmobile. She is the first person on the left on this interior view of the Bookmobile.

Area residents of all ages enjoyed the convenience of checking out items on the Bookmobile! 

Though we no longer have a Bookmobile, anyone with a Sandusky Library card can get free and easy delivery of books, streaming videos, music and recorded books through Clevnet's eMedia offerings and Hoopla. Check out the Quick Start guides at the home page of the Sandusky Library to learn more about getting started with digital downloads.

216 Erie County Residents Owned Automobiles in 1911

An article which appeared in the May 13, 1911 issue of the Sandusky Star Journal listed the names of the 216 Erie County residents who owned automobiles. The Erie County Clerk’s office kept a listing of the names of the owners of automobiles, the registration number, the owner’s address, and the make of car. In 1911, G.A. Boeckling owned an Oldsmobile. L.J. Parker owned a Buick. Dr. Merz drove an Overland. George Schade owned three vehicles, a Brush, a Speedwell, and a Cadillac. Though we do not know what type of vehicle George J. Bing is driving in the picture below, in 1911 he owned a Zimmerman, and he was an agent for Paterson roadsters and touring cars at his business on Tiffin Avenue.

Elmore automobiles sold for $1750 in 1911. Below is an Elmore from 1912.

   

The Star Garage sold an E-M-F “30” for $1100, at the corner of Market and Decatur Streets. Model T Fords were also sold there.

Many of the types of automobiles sold in Sandusky in 1911 are unknown to us today. The auto industry was then in its infancy, and was changing rapidly. If you would like to read the entire article about Sandusky’s automobile drivers in 1911, visit the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center, where several decades of local newspapers are found on microfilm.

The Village of Enterprise

The small community of Enterprise was located in the southern section of Section 1 of Oxford Township, Erie County, Ohio, just north of the Huron River, as seen below on a portion of an historic map from the website of the Erie County Auditor.

The 1896 Erie County Atlas featured a small map of the village of Enterprise, which is now in  an area of rural Oxford Township. The village is no longer in existence. Some of the individuals who resided in or near Enterprise in 1896 were W.H. Newton, Urban Livengood, P. Huber and H. Root.

According to the Erie County Cemetery Census, Before 1909, there is a graveyard in the woods near the former village of Enterprise (now on private property.)  Only one stone remains intact - that of Clarinda Sayer, wife of Jedediah Sayer, who died May 22, 1841, at age 55 years. Others who are reported to have been buried in the graveyard in the woods near Enterprise include Jedediah Sayer, died 1841; Capt. Charles Parker, died 1812; Ira Parker, died 1812; and Samuel Seymour, died 1812.  

An article in the November 24, 1947 issue of the Sandusky Register Star News provides some history about some of the events of 1812, in an interesting history of the Milan area. There was once a military blockhouse near Enterprise, at the former farm of Charles Parker. It was there that, it is said, Samuel Seymour was murdered by Native Americans in the fall of 1812. Though the Village of Enterprise no longer remains, it once was a lively small community in the heartland of northern Ohio.

Erie County Farmers’ Institute in 1912

Farmers’ Institutes were modeled after the popular Teachers’ Institutes in the mid-1800s for the purpose of disseminating information to farmers about the latest developments in farm management. Dr. Norton S. Townshend former secretary of the Ohio Board of Agriculture, promoted Farmers’ Institutes in Ohio. In an address at the annual meeting of the State Board of Agriculture in 1874, Dr. Townshend said, "What we want is to abandon the old idea that farming has no higher aim than getting a living, and instead of it to adopt the better one that the chief end of farming is the culture and improvement of the farmer and his family; and while it does this, it should, as a secondary result, give support and pay expenses. Farming needs a new departure, or to take a new start, and with a higher aim and purpose, so that it may secure to the farmer the same improvement in intellectual and social position that men expect to secure through the professions of law or medicine. These professions educate men by their daily work, and so will farming when taken hold of in earnest and in the right way."  The Farmers’ Institutes were held in most Ohio counties during the winter months, for two or three days. Lectures were presented by state agricultural leaders, followed by open discussions among the local farmers. On January 1 and 2, 1912, the Erie County Farmer’s Institute was held at the Perkins Methodist Church.

 Ross D.L. Ransom was the president of the Institute, with Charles F. Steen as vice president, Harry E. Storrs as treasurer, and L.J. Parker serving as secretary.

 Several lectures were given, covering topics such as soil needs, the consumers’ dollar, use and value of lime, corn growing, and pruning of nursery stock. Interspersed among the lectures and discussions were musical numbers by area residents. The Ladies’ Aid Society of the Perkins Methodist Church provided dinner in the church basement for twenty five cents. Clifford King donated four programs from Erie County Farmers’ Institutes, from 1911 to 1914. 

Visit the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center if you would like to view this historical items, which are housed in archival box E-6, folder 5. A chapter about Ohio’s Farmers’ Institutes is found in the Farmer's Centennial History of Ohio, online at the InternetArchive. Agriculture continues to be an important component of Ohio’s economy, with one in seven Ohioans employed in agriculture or an agricultural related business. 

Zion Lutheran Church Choir

Members of the Zion Lutheran Church Choir are pictured above in front of the organ pipes. The photograph, by Mound Studio in Sandusky, was taken between 1945 and 1955. Lovely stained glass windows are located on either side of the organ pipes. Harold Parker is in the front center of the picture. Mr. Parker, a well known Sandusky architect, directed the church choir at Zion Lutheran Church for twenty five years. The church building, at 503 Columbus Avenue, was dedicated on Sunday, November 12, 1899. The architect and builder of Zion Lutheran was George Feick.

Two histories of Sandusky’s Zion Lutheran Church are found in the local history section of the Sandusky Library. While the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center does not have an extensive history of every church in Erie County, Ohio, five archival boxes are devote to church histories in the Churches Collection of the Archives. Included in these files are histories of two African American churches, the Oheb Shalom Temple, along with historical information from several Catholic, Episcopal, Lutheran, Methodist, United Church of Christ, Presbyterian, and Unitarian churches in the area. Church records are available on microfilm at the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center for these churches:

Holy Angels Catholic Church

Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church

St. Mary’s Catholic Church

St. Anthony Catholic Church (Milan)

Calvary Episcopal Church

St. John Lutheran Church

First Presbyterian Church

St. Stephen’s United Church of Christ

First Congregational Church of Christ

Erie County, Ohio is rich in church history, from circuit riding Methodists, to abolitionist Congregationalists, to German Lutherans and Catholic roots going back to Father J.P. Machbeuf. St. Stephen A.M.E. church was begun by several individuals who had previously been enslaved. Four churches can be seen in the picture below of Columbus Avenue, taken in the first half of the twentieth century. 

Visit the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center to view the Finding Aid for the Churches Collection.

John W. Parker, The Flying Sheriff

A newspaper article in the November 18, 1930 issue of the Sandusky Star Journal, reported on Sheriff John W. Parker’s flight from Sandusky to the State Penitentiary. On November 17 Sheriff Parker transported two prisoners from Erie County to the penitentiary aboard a Stinson four passenger airplane. John W. Parker served as Erie County Sheriff from 1928 to 1932.  While he was still the sheriff-elect, Parker stated that he would only use one of his planes when it was deemed necessary in the line of duty in the Sheriff’s office. In 1924, John W. Parker and his brother Lucius G. “Lute” Parker started an airplane club in Sandusky. They started a flying school in 1928, and they were instrumental in starting Sandusky’s first airport. From the 1950s through the 1970s, John W. Parker was the Commandant of the Ohio Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Home, now known as the Ohio Veterans Home. John W. Parker died on December 7, 1987. He was a veteran of both World War I and World War II. Mr. Parker was survived by his wife, three daughters, a son, and several grandchildren and great grandchildren. To learn more about Erie County’s elected officials, see Patty Pascoe’s book, Elected to Serve, available at the Sandusky Library.

Mystery Photo -- Solved! (Steen Leroy Parker)

This portrait was taken about 1911 by C.W. Platt in Sandusky, Ohio. It was filed in a collection of unidentified photographs at the Archives Research Center of the Sandusky Library, but was recently identified as being a photo of Steen Leroy Parker, by a family member.

Steen Leroy Parker was born January 30, 1908 in Sandusky, Ohio, to Leroy and Ada (Steen) Parker. His first name was the family name of his mother’s family of Irish heritage. Steen’s siblings were Glenn, Janet, and Paul Parker. Steen Parker’s family had a farm in Perkins Township, which had to be vacated when the U.S. Government built the Plum Brook Ordnance Works in Perkins Township in 1940. Besides working on the family farm, Leroy Parker was also a concessionaire at Cedar Point, fondly remembered for working many hours at Noah’s Ark, one of the attractions operated by the Concourse Amusement Company.

In the 1920’s Steen graduated from Sandusky High School. He served in the Seabees during World War Two. Steen Leroy Parker is pictured below with his first wife, Doris Wheeler Parker.

After the death of Doris, Steen married Ruth Renwand. He died in 1949, leaving his widow, five children, and two grandchildren.

If you have vintage photographs of your family members, consider donating them to the Archives Research Center of the Sandusky Library for future generations to enjoy.