A Love Letter to Dr. Lauderdale

A letter and envelope once intended for Dr. Edward Lauderdale is now in the historical files of the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center.

Here is a transcription of the letter:

Gretna Green

My Dear Sir,

I sigh for thee, I sigh for thee,

And oh you may depend on me –

I’ll weep for thee, I’ll die for thee;

And that will be the end of me.

Long has this tender feeling dissolved my heart. Long have I sighed to call thee mine – can tears avail? Our ingon patch is broad and long – Can sweetness touch thy heart? Our lasses tub is deep and full -Have soft petitions power to move? Come to the mush pot on our stove.

And if with these I now can charm thee,

Come quickly with thy love to arm me –

That I may conquer every foe,

And call thee mine, while winds do blow.

Molly Sweet

Though Dr. Lauderdale never married, it appears that long ago a young lady was quite fond of him. The letter was from someone who called herself Molly Sweet, from Gretna Green. Learning more about Gretna Green and its symbolism, we have to wonder if there was a cryptic message that goes deeper than a simple love letter: the original Gretna Green is a location in Scotland along the border with England, where English couples would go to get secretly married to avoid certain restrictions in England (e.g., age limits, parental consent). "Gretna Green" eventually became adopted as a slang term for any location that allowed marriages for non-residents. Of course, "Molly Sweet" (if that was her real name) could have been writing from Scotland, but is that likely? We actually do not know if the letter was ever delivered, or what Molly's true motives were. 

Dr. Edward Lauderdale was a physician who became noted for caring for Sandusky patients who were stricken with cholera during the epidemic of 1849. Dr. Lauderdale’s office was in the old Post Office. In 1850 Dr. Lauderdale moved to Detroit, Michigan, and served as Detroit’s city physician, Wayne County Coroner, and later as Assistant Surgeon in the 24th Michigan Infantry during the Civil War. Dr. Lauderdale died in Pontiac, Michigan in 1883, and he was buried in the family lot in Temple Hill Cemetery in Livingston County, New York. 

Dr. Lauderdale’s name is included on the historic marker at the Cholera Cemetery which lists the names of the doctors who helped Sandusky residents during the dreaded cholera epidemic of 1849.

Poems of Eternal Value by Elizabeth Browning Kelham

 

Elizabeth Browning Kelham was born in 1893 to William and Sarah (Durkee) Kelham of Sandusky, Ohio. She graduated from Sandusky High School in 1913. Miss Kelham was a teacher with the Sandusky City Schools for thirty-seven years. In the 1930s, Miss Kelham taught classes for visually impaired students at Barker School. She made soup or cocoa for the students to have with their lunches during the cold weather months, according to an article in the Sandusky Star Journal.

In 1939 she wrote a book entitled Poems of Eternal Value. It was dedicated to her mother Sarah D. Kelham, and in memory of her father, William R. Kelham. The small book was printed by the Stutz Printing Co. of Sandusky, Ohio. The poems were inspirational, with topics such as faith, peace, friendship, and prayer.

Miss Elizabeth B. Kelham lived until the age of 90. She died in Upper Sandusky, Ohio, and was buried at Sandusky’s Oakland Cemetery. Below is a picture of the Sandusky High School Bible Class from 1911-1912, of which Elizabeth Kelham was a member.

Poem by Confederate Lieutenant S. Boyer Davis, imprisoned at Johnson's Island

According to the book Rebels on Lake Erie, by Charles E. Frohman, Samuel Boyer Davis was sentenced, as a spy, to be executed by hanging on February 17, 1865, at Johnson’s Island Prison. According to a note written on the back page, the poem was given to "Pri. M. Hebblethwaite, USA" (possibly a guard at the prison?) on February 11, 1865, "on condition . . . that they are never made public." After 156 years, we think Lt. Davis would not mind the recognition we give him. 

Fate was kind to Lt. Davis, however, as President Abraham Lincoln commuted his sentence from execution to imprisonment for the duration of the war, with the prisoner only learning of his fate on the very day that the execution was to be carried out. He was transferred to a prison at Fort Delaware, on the Delaware River. 

Transcribed, the poem reads:

 

A Soldier boy from “Dixie” lay dreaming in his cell

He was far from home & kindred & those that he loved well

His feet were sore & weary & bound by iron chains

He dreamt of Far off Richmond lovely Richmond on the James.

 

No Sister sat beside him to sooth his troubled brow

No comrade now bent o’er him to whisper words of cheer

But his Soldier heart was fearless, Twas got him there had chained

And he dreamt of one in Richmond dear Richmond on the James.

 

He walked or thought he walked the old familiar path

He talked or thought he talked with friends of days gone past

But at each & every moment the clanging of his chains

Told he was far from Richmond old Richmond on the James.

 

He thought of those who loved him what pain they would endure

When they heard that he was missing from the old Potomac Shore

And Oh! it will be deeper when they hear he’s bound by chains

The sorrow at old Richmond at Richmond on the James.

 

He wakes! The light is growing dim darkness is falling fast

Another night of sorrow & anguish must be past.

How many many moments must he spend thus bound by chains

E’re again he goes to Richmond, to Richmond on the James.

 

After the war, Samuel Boyer Davis was released. He married Anna Mason, and died on September 14, 1914. They are buried at Ivy Hill Cemetery in Alexandria, Virginia.

Castalia, by Burton Frye

Born in Huron, Ohio in 1920, from the age of nine, Burton Frye lived in Castalia, Ohio with his parents Roy and Mary Frye and his older sister Bernetta. He graduated from Margaretta High School, served in the U.S. Army during World War II, and was a graduate of Miami University.  He worked in the literary field as a writer, publisher, and a book reviewer.

Most of the books Burton Frye wrote were works of poetry, although his thesis on file at Miami University Libraries was a book of short stories, titled Stories of Soldiers and Italy. On February 12, 1949, The Book Shop, at 115 West Monroe Street in Sandusky, gave an autograph party in his honor.  Mr. Frye signed copies of his book, Castalia, a book of poetry. Although he had connections to Castalia, Ohio, he titled he book Castalia for the celebrated fountain in Greece. It is said that the waters found at the Castalian Spring inspired those who drank of them with poetic power.

The first poem in Castalia reads:

Who’s afraid to turn a word 

Into a scarlet-breasted bird,

Or bounce a statement quick as light

Into the brawl of wrong and right.

In the winter of 1950 Mr. Frye lectured at several schools in Erie County. He spoke on “Ballads and Ballad Makers” and “Modern Poetry: For or Against Us.” In his presentations, Mr. Frye sang ballads in both English and Italian, and recited lyric poetry. In an article in the February 17, 1955 issue of the New Orleans State newspaper, he was described as a "troubadour," who was performing in the city during Mardi Gras season.

Burton Frye passed away June 10, 1982 in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. He was survived by his wife, the former Virginia Chapin. 

“The Most Approved Toilets”

 

One of the definitions of toilet, according to The New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary (Oxford University Press, 1993) is: the articles required or used in applying make-up, arranging the hair, dressing, etc. A handwritten booklet entitled The Toilet was a gift to Louise Newton in 1827. It appears to have been written by Elizabeth Marie Kemper, and was presented to Louise by her cousins in Ohio. The words Missionary Society of the Protestant Episcopal Church appears on the title page of the booklet. The booklet discusses virtuous qualities that a young lady should have, comparing these attributes to rouge, lip salve, and other accessories that a girl or woman would use in getting dressed. 

On the page entitled “The Enchanting Mirror” is the verse:

This curious glass will bring your faults to light

Present your virtues more transcendant bright,

Your neighbour’s failings gently cover o-er

And on your heart a sweet reflection pour.

Under the glass in the mirror is the word: Humility.

On page 4 of the booklet is a drawing of a decorative container holding a “Universal Beautifier.”

Under the container is the verse:

With this choice liquid gently touch the mouth,

It spreads oe’er all the face the charm of youth.

If you lift up the lid of the container, you will find the words good humor.

A drawing of earrings in the shape of two bunches of grapes are found on page 11 of the booklet.

At the top of the page is the heading A Matchless Pair of Ear Rings. This verse appears below the drawing:

With these dear drops appended to the ear

Instructive lessons you will gladly bear.

The words Attention and Retention are found under the clasp of each earring.

The Toilet takes us back to a time when virtuous living was a key component of child rearing. 

According to the book, Newton Genealogy, Eunice Louise Newton was the daughter of Daniel and Eunice (Clemons) Newton. She was born on July 1, 1826. In 1847 she married Orlando Ransom. Sadly, Louise Newton died young, on November 12, 1851.

Marjorie Anderson: Professor, Librarian, Poet and Author

Dr. Marjorie Anderson was born in 1892 to George F. Anderson and Mary Kingsbury West Anderson. She was the great granddaughter of Dr. George Anderson, an early Sandusky physician who died of cholera in 1834.

Marjorie Anderson graduated from Sandusky High School in 1909.

Marjorie received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Smith College in 1913, and her Master’s degree from Columbia University in 1916. She then studied at Johns Hopkins University, and obtained a Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of Chicago in 1923. 

Dr. Anderson taught in the Department of English at Hunter College from 1927 until her death in 1954. She was considered an expert in Chaucerian literature, and wrote several magazine articles on Chaucer. Marjorie collaborated with Blanche Colton Williams in writing An Old English Handbook, published in 1935.

In 1920 Marjorie was an Assistant Librarian at the Carnegie Library in Sandusky.

Below is a poem entitled “In a Public Library,” from her book A Web of Thoughts.

In a tribute to her in the New York Times, Lillian Gottesman said that Dr. Anderson was as great a teacher as she was a scholar. She continued “I shall always remember the brilliant mind, gentle voice, smiling face and sweet humility which combined to make the beloved Marjorie Anderson.”

Dr. Anderson’s book is part of the local authors collection of the Archives Research Center of the Sandusky Library.

Mary Elizabeth Seibert Fernau

Below is a tintype of Mary Elizabeth Seibert, who was born in Sandusky about 1865.

By 1904, Mary Elizabeth Seibert had become the wife of Henry Fernau, who was a painter and interior decorator. They lived at what is now 620 East Adams Street.

Descendants of Mary Elizabeth and Henry Fernau donated several family photographs to the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center, allowing us to have a visual record of Mrs. Fernau throughout several years.

The funeral card for Mrs. Fernau, who passed away on January 6, 1925, features a touching poem.

A precious one from us has gone

            A voice we love is stilled:

A place is vacant in our home,

            Which never can be filled.

God in his wisdom has recalled,

            The boon his love had given.

And though the body slumbers here

            The soul is safe in heaven.

An obituary for Mary Elizabeth Fernau, found in the 1925 Obituary Notebook at the Sandusky Library, stated that she was “a woman of estimable traits and many relatives and friends will mourn her departure.” Funeral services for Mary Elizabeth Fernau were held at the family residence on Adams Street, and burial was in Oakland Cemetery.

Charles P. Caldwell's Farewell Poem

On page 11 of the 1924 Obituary Notebook at the Sandusky Library is the final farewell of Charles P. Caldwell to his family and friends. Mr. Caldwell was a veteran journalist who worked for the Sandusky Register for several years. He was born in Bristol, Ohio in 1852, and attended Hiram College when James A. Garfield was on the faculty. After working on newspapers in Warren and Cleveland, he came to Sandusky in 1872, to work under I.F. Mack at the Sandusky Register. 

In his early years at the Register, Mr. Caldwell was reporter, local news editor, telegraph editor and proofreader, all at the same time. While at the Register he met many well-known people, including James Blaine, William McKinley, Senators Foracker and Sherman, President R.B. Hayes, Governor Charles Foster, Jay Cooke, and Andrew Carnegie. Two of his earliest stories at the Sandusky Register were the notorious lynching of William Taylor in 1878 and the 1882 American Eagle disaster. In 1892, Mr. Caldwell was appointed Deputy Collector of Customs. He continued to work in the Customs office until 1919, when he was transferred to Dayton. He retired in 1922, and moved back to Sandusky, where he resided until his death on February 10, 1924. 

 After Mr. Caldwell died, a poem was found in his pocket, which he had written on July 4, 1922. He asked that the poem by printed in the Sandusky Register after his death. The poem read:

FAREWELL

By Chas. P. Caldwell

It is a solemn thought as death draws near

That I must part from those I hold most dear.

‘Tis certain when I came upon this earth

I had no choice whatever as to birth,

And, likewise, to my last expiring breath,

I’ll helpless be to stay the hand of Death,

For He who gave us life alone controls

The destinies of our immortal souls.

Death is the common end of all mankind,

And to that fate ‘tis best to be resigned.

So live that when the end of life draws nigh

You’ll not be stricken with the fear to die.

The light grows dim! Shades of eternal night

Foretell my soul is soon to take its flight;

And ere these final parting lines are read

The writer will be numbered with the dead.

Life will have vanished like a passing dream,

And left Death’s awful hush to reign supreme-

When all that’s mortal to my grave descends,

‘Twill be a mute farewell to kin and friends.

The rains and snows will beat upon my tomb;

The brightest sun cannot dispel its gloom.

When in the darkness of unending night,

I lie at rest, obscured from human sight,

I hope that you may sometimes be inclined

To hold a friendly thought of me in mind.

A Victorian-Era Valentine

This ornate card is housed in the historical collections of the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center. It is decorated with flowers and lace, which is typical of the Victorian era. Inside the card is a verse that reads:

Return My Love

Love is dangerous, they say;

But what am I to do-

When you and I met the other day,

I fell in love with you.

But if you will return my love,

I don’t mind what they say;

Our vows will be registered above-

So name the happy day.

The card was sent to Miss Capitola E. Rockwell of Prout’s Station, Erie County, Ohio. The small envelope is embossed with a floral design. The one-cent Benjamin Franklin stamp was first issued in 1870.

By searching the name of Capitola Rockwell in the FamilySearch database, we learn that she married Charles O. Merry in Erie County, Ohio, on April 3, 1879.  Their marriage license was filed at Probate Court of the Erie County Courthouse.

            

Charles and Capitola Merry were married for sixty-five years. They had four children, and several grandchildren and great grandchildren. You can read much more about both Charles and Capitola Merry on pages 1051-1053 of Hewson Peeke’s book A Standard History of Erie County, Ohio (Lewis Publishing Company, 1916.)  The lovely card which was sent to Capitola before she wed was not signed, so we do not know if it was sent by her future husband or by another suitor.

“A Woman’s Club”

A poem titled “A Woman’s Club” appeared in the Sandusky Register on August 13, 1899. Written by Sarah Palmer, and originally appearing in the periodical Club Woman, the poem was said then to have been the best club poem ever written. The first twelve lines are:

What is a woman’s club? A meeting ground
For those of purpose great and broad and strong.
Whose aim is toward the stars: who ever long
To make the patient, listening world resound
With sweeter music, purer, nobler tones.
A place where kindly, helpful words are said
And kindlier deeds are done; where hearts are fed:
Where wealth of brain and poverty atones
And hand grasps hand, and souls find touch with soul.
Where victors in the race for fame power
Look backward even in their triumph hour,
To beckon others toward the shining goal.

Women in Sandusky and Erie County have met together informally as well as in clubs and organizations for many years. Hewson Peeke wrote about local women’s clubs in Chapter 23 of his book, A Standard History of Erie County, Ohio. During the Civil War, the Ladies Aid Society of Grace Church sent food to soldiers in need. The Ladies’ Library Association of Sandusky worked diligently to raise funds for the building of a public library in Sandusky.

Members of the Benevolent Society of the First Congregational Church of Sandusky are participating in a quilting bee in the late nineteenth century in the image below.

Here is a photograph of Mrs. Charles Emrich’s Reading Club:

The Pythian Sisters decorated a car with a patriotic theme in an unidentified parade:

Five Red Cross volunteers are pictured at the corner of Wayne and Jefferson Streets during World War One.

Visit the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center to view historic photographs and documents relating to women’s organizations in Sandusky and Erie County. Included in the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center are records from the Erie County Federation of Women’s Clubs, the Martha Pitkin Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, Art Study Club, the Nineteenth Century Club, Business Women’s Club, United Ladies Sewing Circle, College Women’s Club, and the Catholic Women’s Study Club, and others.

Judge E.B. Sadler’s Memories in Rhyme

The Honorable Ebenezer Brown Sadler was Erie County Common Pleas Judge from 1845 to 1851, and he also served as Mayor and Postmaster of Sandusky, Ohio during his long years of public service.

In the Sunday February 14, 1885 edition of the Sandusky Register there appeared a poem by Judge Sadler entitled “Memories in Rhyme.”

Judge Sadler married Emily Webb in 1843 in West Bloomfield, New York. Mrs. Emily Webb Sadler died of cholera in 1849, and Judge Sadler never re-married. By reading Judge Sadler’s poem, it is clear that his love for Emily did not wane, though she died after they had been married for only a few years. A transcription of “Memories in Rhyme” reads:

Memories in Rhyme – Judge Sadler

Between Bloomfield and Lima, there flows a small stream.

Along a deep valley, from Lake Honeyeye [sic];

I remember the time when ‘twas like a sweet dream,

In its waters to bathe, when I was a boy.

I remember full well, the Hutchinson mill,

With all its surroundings, its bridge, and its race;

And oft do I wonder, it is standing there still;

Or have other structures been raised in its place.

Then there’s old Jockey Hill I can never forget.

Nor the beautiful maiden I there made my bride:

In my dreams, I oft fancy I see her there still,

Lovingly smiling, sitting close by my side.

She departed long since, through the shadowy vale,

The messenger, Death, having claimed her his own:

She ascended to Heaven, where joys never fail,

And left me to travel life’s journey alone.

The dear friends of my childhood have all passed away,

And left me alone in the twilight of years;

Then why should I linger, wishing longer to stay,

To drag out a life in this valley of tears.

Dear friend, please excuse this sorrowful strain,

So foreign to nature, so gloomy in tone;

But I often indulge in a mournful refrain,

When sitting and musing in my office alone.

I have passed through life’s journey with my share of bliss,

And thankful that I’ve ‘scaped its troubles so well;

Will my life in the next world be pleasant as this,

I ask myself often, but no mortal can tell.

My journey of life will soon come to an end,

Its pleasures and sorrows will soon pass away;

There is much in my life I would gladly commend,

And some to condemn, I am sorry to say.

Our progress through life is midst trouble and care;

And God’s Golden Rule should be well understood.

If the greatest enjoyment in life we would share,

We must strive to do right and seek to be good.

Judge E.B. Sadler passed away on March 25, 1888, just a few years after he penned this rhyme. He was buried in Oakland Cemetery, next to his beloved wife Emily.

Valentine from 1856

This charming Valentine with scalloped edges is dated February 14, 1856. It was donated to the former historical room of the Sandusky Library by George Anderson, and now is in the historical collections of the Follett House Museum. Inside the oval decorated with flowers is this inscription:

A bouquet of flowers

already press'd

Fresh from the bowers
with this single request.

That reading each one

by the language expressed.

The secret you'll have

that lives in my breast. 

The above is original,

Jane, so get your language

of flowers and translate them. 

Secret.

While we do not know who wrote the verse on the Valentine, it was given to a female named Jane. In looking at the 1920 U.S. Census, we see that Jane Coan was residing in the household of her nephew, George F. Anderson. Most likely, George F. Anderson donated the Valentine to the Sandusky Library’s historical room after his Aunt Jane died in 1920. Jane Coan’s great grandmother was Abigail Kelley, who was a part of the Kelley family for whom Kelleys Island is named. 

Poem about Sandusky in the Columbian Register in 1818

A poem enticing residents of New Haven, Connecticut to consider moving to the city of Sandusky was printed in a newspaper, the Columbian Register of April 25, 1818. Mrs. Evangeline Vinton Bouton presented a copy of this item to the historical room of the Sandusky Library in 1928. Unfortunately the original item has disintegrated, and only a photocopy of the poem remains in our collection.

A transcription of the entire poem reads:

Come on my good neighbors who live in the East,

Who wish for less winter and snow,

Come join with your friend, and we'll move to the West,

To Sandusky New City we'll go. 

If commerce you choose, where it's not overdone,

(And many like trading, I know;)

Come join with your friend, and prepare to go on;

To Sandusky New City we’ll go

If fishing and fowling your fancy should take,

The half of each summer, or so,

To find rich employment on Erie's proud Lake;

To the Bay of Sandusky we'll go.

 If farming should please us, and please us it must,

Where wealth, fame and luxury flow,

From tilling the soil as we find in the west,

To the Land of Sandusky we'll go.

Ye friends of good dairy, with your dairy wives,

Who like some fine cheeses and so,

To make up your fortune, and lead easy lives,

To Sandusky Prairies must go.

You who have no land, but have many fine boys, 

Tom, Andrew, John, Dick, Bob and Joe,

To get them good farms and increase your own joys,

To the Land of Sandusky should go.

To charming Ohio, by thousands are gone,

The best of our young men you know,

Who spurning dependence, by prospect led on,

To the new world had spirit to go.

Then we who have daughters, young, blooming and fair,

As roses and lilies can grow,

To marry them well and relieve tender care,

To the Land of Sandusky will go.

Now Mary, dear Mary, what think you of this?

Shall we move to the westward or no?

I’ll take a sweet kiss, while your lips answer yes,

To Sandusky New City we’ll go.

Readers of the Columbian Register were urged to consider moving to Sandusky for its fishing, wildlife, and business prospects. At that time, Sandusky, Ohio was considered to be in the west. Of course, thousands of residents of New England did move to northern Ohio in the early 1800s. You can see still the influence of New England in Ohio to this day. If you would like to read a first-hand account of a group of people who traveled from Glastonbury, Connecticut to Perkins Township in the fall of 1815, see the June, 1865 issue of the Firelands Pioneer, available online and at the Sandusky Library.

Gertrude Victor’s Tribute to the Month of May

The essay below was a tribute to the month of May by Gertrude Victor. Gertrude Victor, born Gertrude Nash, was the wife of Sandusky tavern keeper, Henry Victor. She was the mother of author and editor, Orville James Victor. Gertrude Nash Victor died in 1882, and she is buried in Sandusky’s Oakland Cemetery. 

Hail lovely maid!

We thy fond even passions

now before thee with humble reverence bearing flowers we approach

thee for they are first emblems of your own freshness and bloom; yet although

at present like these, we fondly hope that your fate may not be as evenot ___

& transient as theirs – for the evening sun shining on them, their tints &

colors will be fading’ wilst the morrow’s sun will see them with

ired and dead forever – but for you, fondly do we hope that the future may

but add new grasses to the changes of the present and that the fruit

may e’en be fairer than the flower. With faces bedecked with smiles

and wreathed with flowers we salute thee our melody created sovereign.

True sovereign of our hearts, for thou art the sovereign of our love. Isle

among sovereigns dost thou sustain they power, and by force but by the

soft voice of kindness & charity which, as the warm rays of the sun do

melt by their soft and genial influence, the icy mounts which but presented

a firmer & more solid frost, as the ____ of North writing blast razed in

___ jury against them, but which, losing their rugged temper before the

mild & insinuating embraces of the genial sun, repent, after and dissolve

themselves into tears of sorrow for their own ungovernable temper, penetrate

and instill into our hearts the soothing feelings of love’s youth is the

season of flowers and with us all is gaiety and joy. The dark clouds of adieu

____ may in the future lower over our paths – but even so why trouble the

happiness of the present with dark forebodings of the future – why dim the

mirror of childhood with the shadow of age – Nay! Nay! Far from us let us drive

all such chilling thoughts for in nature also it is the season of happiness

and bloom. Removed alike from the chilling frosts of winter and

the arid beats of summer nature himself is bedecked and wreathed with

flowering smiles; - and the earth sends up her flowery messengers to

welcome the advent of spring in as she comes tripping along

thousands of perfumed harebells & primroses & daisies spring forth

to catch our glance of her bewitching eye, and to inhale the cheering

incense of her fragrant breath. Thus in the season of Nature’s

bloom, have met to enjoy our innocent pleasures and to

check our queen of May- Then bend your head sweet maid

and on our your fair brows, I will place in the name of my companions,

a flowery crown, that which there are none less weights &

less free of care, and which we fondly hope will be as it

has been in the past & present, the emblem of your future life – and thus crown

thee queen of May –

            Salute, dear friends, our beauteous queen,

            The fairest I know that e’er we’ve seen:

            Crowned with flowers and wreathed with smiles

The ___ of Nture the fairest child.

May the bloom in thy cheek n’er fade

May sorrow n’er visit the dear Maid

But as the sparkling rays of a sunny day

So mays’t they future be, the Queen of May!

                                                G.H. Victor