Theodore Roosevelt on the Campaign Trail in Sandusky in 1912

On May 15, 1912, Theodore Roosevelt spoke in Sandusky, Ohio while he was campaigning for president on the Progressive (Bull Moose) Party ticket. Roosevelt had already served as United States President for two terms, from 1901 to 1909, following the assassination of President William McKinley.

In this closer view, you can see TR addressing the crowd from a platform at the foot of Columbus Avenue:

According to the May 16, 1912 issue of the Sandusky Register, about 2,500 people were in the crowd. Roosevelt arrived by train in Sandusky on Wednesday morning, May 15, 1912. Ackley’s Band entertained the crowd until his arrival. The train, consisting of two Pullmans and a day coach, was due at 8:45, but did not get to town until 9 a.m. Roy H. Williams introduced Mr. Roosevelt. When Roosevelt saw veterans from the Ohio Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Home, he addressed them as “boys” and “comrades.”

In the picture below, Theodore Roosevelt can be seen raising his hat with his typical enthusiasm:

Sandusky Mayor George T. Lehrer is seated on the left of the platform. According to the Oyster Bay Historical Society, Mr. Roosevelt’s speech in Sandusky was one of fourteen speeches he gave in Ohio in May 15.

President William Howard Taft also visited Sandusky, Ohio on May 15, 1912. President Taft spoke from 8:30 to 10:30 p.m. to an enthusiastic audience at the Sandusky Theatre. The theater held 1,500 people, but it was estimated that several thousand people cheered and applauded Taft as they waited outside the theater for a glimpse of President Taft.

Though Theodore Roosevelt and President William Howard Taft campaigned vigorously in 1912, in November of 1912, Woodrow Wilson became the 28th United States President. On May 12, 2012, Gib Young portrayed Theodore Roosevelt at the foot of Columbus Avenue, re-enacting the visit of TR one hundred years after his original visit

Mock GOP Convention at Jackson Junior High School

Notes in the historical files of the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center indicate that Mock GOP Conventions were held at Jackson Junior High School in 1936 or 1940. The photo above depicts one of those events. Patriotic bunting decorated the gymnasium at Jackson Junior High, and several signs representing states of the U.S. were scattered throughout the room. There were two bands providing musical entertainment for the event. 

An article in the May 20, 1936 issue of the Sandusky Register reported that on May 19, the convention selected Alfred M. Landon as candidate for President, and Frank Knox for Vice President “amid scenes of wild excitement.” Besides the Sandusky High School Civics students of Mr. Earle Seidner, about five hundred individuals attended the 1936 Convention. In the actual 1936 Presidential Election, Alf  Landon was defeated by Franklin Roosevelt. 

In 1940 over four hundred people attended another Mock GOP Convention held at Jackson Junior High School. Sidney Frohman presented a nominating speech for Thomas E. Dewey, but at the end of the evening, Arthur H. Vandenburg was elected as the candidate for President. The May 14, 1940 issue of the Sandusky Register reported that for over three hours, the students loudly alternated between cheering and booing. Throughout the evening, Byron Aldrich conducted the Sandusky High School Band, and J.L. Hoffman directed the Erie County Band. Crabill Clauer was the chairman of the Mock Convention. In the actual 1940 Presidential Election, President Roosevelt was re-elected, defeating Wendell Wilkie. Articles about the 1936 and 1940 Mock GOP Conventions were featured in both Sandusky Register and Star Journal, both available for viewing on microfilm at the Sandusky Library 

The Liberty Party in Erie County

According to the Firelands Pioneer, attorney F.D. Parish was the unsuccessful candidate for the Liberty Party in the 1844 Election. He had hoped to be elected to the 28^th U.S. Congress. Hewson L. Peeke wrote in his book Standard History of Erie County, I (Lewis Pub. Co., 1916) that Parish helped to organize the Liberty Party in Erie County. This announcement appeared in the Sandusky Clarion on September 26, 1845. “Liberty men” were instructed to assemble at Berlin Center on October 10, 1845, for the purpose of renewing and increasing the efforts to redeem the country from “the disgrace of the system of American slavery, and to extend the blessings of liberty to all the people of the land.”

The names of the members of the Liberty Party in Erie County were listed in the May 28, 1849 issue of the Sandusky Clarion. They were:

M.  Farwell                 F.D. Parish

W.S. Mills                  G,.Osborne

Charles Cochrane       H. Curtis

L.S. Beecher               John Hughes

P.M. Ring                    H.J. Childs

F.T. Barney                  John Everitt

O. McKnight               Wm. Dildine

H.P. Radcliffe              G. Hughes

Wm.A. Bill                  Thomas Porter

S.E. Hitchcock             J. Neal

Wm. P. Chapman         J.B. Hughes

Wm. St. John               Samuel Hughes

Thos. Hughes              Thomas McFall

Edwin Forman             Jacob M. Colver

W.A. Simpson             S. DeWitt

John Wheeler              J.N. Davidson

C. Hadley                    John Irvine

S.M. Barber                Alexander Boyd

H. Johnson                  John Barr

A.H. Barber                Henry B. Green

Jas. D. Whitney          John Carson

Horatio Osborn           J.M. Goodman

D.C. Henderson          W.H. Clark

E.G. Ross                    John McEldowney

L.P. Clark                    H.H. Jennings

S. Ross                        W.C. Pettibone

Samuel Cochrane        Johan D. Whitney

J.H. Graham                P.B. Berry

E.P. Jones                    J.C. Mitchell

George Morris             G.W. Prichard

H.F. Merry                  Josiah Fowler

Several of the individuals whose names were listed as members of the Liberty Party in Erie County were also active participants in the Underground Railroad, the loosely knit network of people who assisted fugitive slaves to reach freedom in Canada