William P. Chapman, Pioneer Settler of Sandusky

William Pendleton Chapman was born in 1808, the son of Timothy Chapman and Nancy Pendleton, who were natives of Rhode Island. In 1834, William P. Chapman married Eliza Cross Pendleton in New London, Connecticut. Shortly after they were married, Mr. and Mrs. Chapman moved to Sandusky, where Mr. Chapman was the proprietor of a forwarding and shipping business. By 1862, he was the treasurer of the Sandusky, Mansfield and Newark Railroad. His name was listed in a Railway Directory in 1862.

While serving as treasurer of the Sandusky, Mansfield and Newark Railroad, Mr. Chapman and his family were given several railroad passes from several different railroads.

       

Besides being a busy business man, Mr. Chapman was active in the Grace Episcopal Church, where he had served on the very first church vestry. When church records began being kept for Grace Episcopal Church, it was William P. Chapman who painstakingly wrote them by hand.

When the church celebrated its fiftieth anniversary in 1885, Chapman, along with Rice Harper, wrote a history of the congregation, which was partially reprinted in Hewson Peeke’s A Standard History of Erie County, Ohio (Lewis Publishing Company, 1916.) 

By 1869 William P. Chapman had entered into the wholesale fish business with John Strickland. Mrs. Eliza Chapman died in 1891, and Mr. Chapman died in 1893. Both were buried in the family lot at Sandusky’s Oakland Cemetery. 

To learn more about William P. Chapman and his extended family, visit the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center, which holds letters from the Chapman and Pendleton families dating from 1843 to 1870. 

New Finding Aids for Old Collections

I know this is coming a little late (the work was finished in August), but I would like to recognize and publicize some new resources produced by our summer intern this year. He created several new finding aids for materials that had been "buried" in the archives, because they had not been fully described as distinct collections. We're hopeful that these new information sources will bring increased attention to some interesting historical items, and provide more information of value to researchers. Although none of these collections is very big, there will certainly be some bits of information useful to genealogists, local historians, and others with an interest in history and culture.

Many of these new finding aids describe collections of papers and artifacts produced and gathered by local families and individuals. The Stubig Family Collection (1852-1926) contains materials relating to the life and times of Christian Stubig, a German immigrant to Sandusky, and his son Carl Stubig, a newspaper reporter and local political figure. Among the items in this collection are letters written in German between family members and Stubig's Weekly, a political newspaper published by Carl Stubig, 1915-1918.

The Wilbor & Wilcox Family Collections (bulk 1848-1873) provide insight into business and personal activities in 19th-century Sandusky. The collection contains records of dry goods business transactions and personal correspondence among family members.

The Cable Family Collection (bulk 1895-1916) offers a description of the business activities of Laurence Cable and his sons Edward and Frank, including legal documents and correspondence, some relating to the Cable Park residential development in Sandusky.

The John F. McCrystal, Sr. Papers (bulk 1893-1925) include approximately 175 items relating to Mr. McCrystal's participation in legal and civic issues, particularly during his time as chairman of Sandusky's Legal Advisory Board in the World War I period.

The Frohman Family Collection (1891-1990) is a small collection of memorabilia relating to the Sandusky family, beginning with brothers David and Henry, who arrived in the 1850s, to Charles Frohman, the businessman and local historian who died in 1976.

The Chapman and Pendleton Family Correspondence consists of 120 letters sent between family members between 1843 and 1870. They offer a rich description of life of that time, including reports of travel and migration, diseases, death and other hardships, as well as other personal matters that help to describe the era.

Also, the library holds several small collections relating to local businesses. Although none of these collections represent the complete records of a company (or even a significant portion), they offer perpectives of various local industries. Included are: the Hinde and Dauch Company Collection (1894-1995), consisting primarily of advertisements and other business ephemera; the American Crayon - Prang Collection (1878-1980), containing advertising, some correspondence, catalogs, and secondary articles relating to the company's activities; and the M. Hommel Winery Collection (bulk 1897-1915), including records of the company relating to competitions at international expositions and fairs, some business records, and advertising materials.

For more information about these collections, or any other collections in the Archives Research Center, please contact the Sandusky Library, via phone (419-625-3834) or email, or come in and visit the library.