Rollin B. Hubbard, Pioneer Citizen of Sandusky

Rollin B. Hubbard was a pioneer in the lumber industry in both Ohio and Michigan. He was born in Connecticut in 1817 to John Mills Hubbard, and his wife, the former Mabel Barnard. As a young man, Rollin made his way from Connecticut to Ohio, and he settled in Sandusky. 

In the 1840s, he purchased timber land in what is now Sanilac County, Michigan. He operated saw mills in Michigan. Later he went into business with his cousins Langdon Hubbard and Watson Hubbard. They operated R.B. Hubbard and Company, a large lumber business on the waterfront in Sandusky, Ohio. By 1886, the company had become known as R.B. Hubbard and Son. The 1886 Sanborn Map shows the lumber yard south of Water Street, between Lawrence and Fulton Streets, and the planing mill was located on the north side of Water Street.

R.B. Hubbard once served as president of the Second National Bank, and he served for several years on the Board of Education. Mr. Hubbard was very active in Grace Episcopal Church, where he served as a vestryman. Mr. Hubbard’s first wife was Anne Massey, who died in 1871; he married Dorothea Hoffman in 1881. 

Rollin B. Hubbard died on May 18, 1904, after a lengthy illness. An obituary for R.B. Hubbard, which appeared in the May 19, 1904 issue of the Sandusky Register, read in part, “A man of fine presence and bearing; a gentleman of the old school in all that means in high character and intelligence; wise in counsel, charitable in judgment; closely identified through a long and successful career with the commercial and educational interests of Sandusky, Rollin B. Hubbard has left his impress on this community and it is an impress for good.” You can read much more about the history of the Hubbard family in the book One Thousand Years of Hubbard History, compiled by Edward Warren Day (Harlan Page Hubbard, 1895) available at the Internet Archive.

R.B. Hubbard was buried next to his first wife in the Hubbard family lot at Oakland Cemetery.

Watson Hubbard, Sandusky Businessman

Watson Hubbard was born in Bloomfield, Connecticut on July 11, 1819. He married Georgiana A. Holcomb in 1845. Mr. and Mrs. Watson Hubbard, along with Watson’s brother Langdon, moved to Lexington, Michigan in 1848, where the brothers began work in the lumber business. The lumber business they founded developed into the firm of R.B. Hubbard and Company. 

Watson Hubbard moved to Sandusky, Ohio in 1860, where he lived with his family in the West House for eight years. He had a house built at the northwest corner of Wayne and Jefferson Streets, just down the block from the home of his cousin, Lester S.Hubbard. Watson Hubbard served as Director and Vice President of the Second National Bank, and he was on the Board of Directors of the Sandusky Plow Company and the Nes Silicon Steel Works. He was among the earliest contributors to Good Samaritan Hospital. 

Watson and Georgiana Hubbard had three children, but only one survived to adulthood, Elizabeth Hubbard. Elizabeth married Jay Caldwell Butler, a Civil War Veteran who ran a business in Sandusky that manufactured sashes, doors, blinds and other wooden items. Pictured below are the daughter and granddaughter of Mr. and Mrs. Watson Hubbard, Mrs. Elizabeth Hubbard Butler and Mrs. Elizabeth Butler Harten.

In 1955, the former home of Watson Hubbard and his descendants, at 429 Wayne Street, was razed, to make room for an office for the telephone company. Before the house was razed, a neighbor, Mary Dauch, made this sketch of the home at 429 Wayne Street.

To read a biographical sketch about Watson Hubbard, written by his daughter Elizabeth, see the April 1925 issue of the FirelandsPioneer.

Sandusky Coal Company

In the early 1890’s, the Sandusky Coal Company had its offices at R. B. Hubbard & Son. Mr. Rollin B. Hubbard and his son were wholesale lumber dealers, located at 903 Water Street in downtown Sandusky.

The 1890 Sandusky City Directory lists R. B. Hubbard as president of The Sandusky Coal Company, as well as the proprietor of R. B. Hubbard & Son. Rollin’s son, Shannon B. Hubbard was the treasurer and manager of The Sandusky Coal Company.

An article that appeared in the November 21, 1889 issue of the Sandusky Register reported that Jackson Hill coal was being transported by barge from Sandusky to Port Huron, Michigan, for the Sandusky Coal Company. The “Big Four” railway transported Jackson Hill Coal from southern Ohio to the railway derricks in Sandusky. Jackson Hill Coal was considered one of the best domestic and steam coals mined in the state of Ohio.

At some point in time the Sandusky Coal Company was called the Hubbard Coal Company. The ruler below advertised that Jackson Coal was the "Best Steam Coal Mined."

Besides running the lumber business, Rollin B. Hubbard was also associated with the Second National Bank in Sandusky. His son S.B. Hubbard died at the age of 37, in 1894.