Mary Schott's Autograph Album

The Sandusky Library Archives Research Center has in its collections an autograph book owned by Sandusky resident Mary Schott, with autographs collected when she was a young woman. She was born in 1860; the album covers the years 1881 and 1882. By looking through the pages of the album, one can learn about her friends and acquaintances, as well as discover the style of writing and humor of the late nineteenth century, often known as the "Victorian Era."

On June 9, 1881, Mary’s friend Teresa Missig wrote to Mary:

“There is no death of kindness

In this world of ours,

Only in often blindness

We gather thorns for flowers.”

 Beside Teresa’s poem is a sentence written in the shape of an anchor:

“May Faith Hope and Charity Anchor thee safe into eternity.”

 

Lizzie Zipfel, later Lizzie Feick, wrote a verse to Mary on Oct. 12, 1881:

 

“Don’t forget me when you are happy,

Keep for me one little spot,

In the depths of thy affection,

Plant one sweet “forget me not.”

Lizzie Zipfel was about 17 when she wrote her message to Mary. She is pictured here later, when she was Mrs. Feick

Fred Westerhold wrote to Mary on March 4, 1882:

 

“On life’s rugged road,

As we journey each day

Far, far more of sunshine

Would brighten the way.

If, forgetful of self

And our troubles, we had

 

The will, and would try

To make other hearts glad.”

 

Sometime after 1882, Mary Schott married Mr. Joseph Robertson, but by 1900 she was widowed, and living with her sister, Eva Schott Missig. Mrs. Mary Robertson died on her 90^th birthday in 1950. She had been a lifelong member of St. Mary’s Church.

Stone Houses Owned by Eleutheros Cooke

Between 1827 and 1835 several structures in the 400 block of Columbus Avenue were built by Eleutheros Cooke, Sandusky’s first lawyer.  You can see the properties on the 1893 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map.

You can still see the brackets along the top of the home, under which are geometric designs.

On the porch of the home that is now 410 Columbus Avenue, General William Henry Harrison was presented with a flag made by the ladies of Sandusky. That flag is now in the historical collections of the Follett House Museum.

This home is considered to be Sandusky’s oldest standing house, according to the Ohio Historic Places Dictionary. It was built in the Greek Revival style of architecture in 1821. In the 1890s, Dr. C.T. Stroud and his son had their dental offices at this location. An advertisement which appeared in the Sandusky Register Star News of April 4, 1945 indicates that a beauty shop and “normalizing salon” was in business here.

Through the years, several different medical practices were in business at his location. 

Just to the south of 410 Columbus Avenue is a double stone house, built from limestone, now with the address of 412-414 Columbus Avenue. William Robertson purchased this property in 1865 from the Cooke estate. For many years this structure has been used as apartments. There are doors on either side, at the street level and lower level.

The third stone building, now 416 Columbus Avenue, was razed in 1918 to make way for a Bell Telephone Company office building. The United Way now has its offices at this location. 

To learn much more about the many historic homes and businesses in Sandusky, see At Home in Early Sandusky by Helen Hansen, and Treasure by the Bay, by Ellie Damm, both available at the Sandusky Library. 

Levi Till, Builder and Architect

Levi Till was born in Staffordshire, England in 1826 or 1827. (Sources vary.) He studied architecture in England, and later with an uncle in Mansfield, Ohio. By 1849, he was residing in Sandusky. Mr. Till is credited with designing and building the former home of Thomas C. McGee at 536 E. Washington Street in Sandusky.

While in some census records Mr. Till listed his occupation as carpenter, in the 1870 U.S. Census he stated he worked as a “builder and architect.” At this time, he and his wife Anna had four children in their home, ranging in age from 9 to 18.

 An article which appeared in the Sandusky Register of August 9, 1873, reported that “One of the finest jobs in iron work to be found in this or any other city” had just been completed at the residence of Rush R. Sloane. Mr. Sloane’s home was built in the 1850s by Samuel Torry, and was sold to Rush Sloane in 1854. In 1873, Levi Till designed the tower, cornices and piazza of Rush Sloane’s residence, with the construction work carried out by J.B. Weis and Company, of Sandusky.

In 1878, Levi Till designed of the former home of William Robertson, Jr., a Sandusky grocer.

    

Helen Hansen wrote in At Home in Early Sandusky, that “Neither time nor money was spared” in the building of this house. Charles Bauman painted each room in a different color, and the newel post and stairway came from Cincinnati. The original home had chandeliers made of cut glass and the hardware on the doors was made from triple plated silver. 

Another building that Levi Till designed was the old Number Three Fire Station on Meigs Street, which is now a law office.

Levi Till died on January 28, 1901 at his Meigs Street home in Sandusky. Funeral services were held ad the family residence, and burial was at Oakland Cemetery. 

To read more about the many historic buildings and homes in Sandusky, Ohio, visit the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center.

The Granary Building at 149 East Water Street

Now home to the offices of Dr. James Gallagher and Dr. Susan Gallagher, the building at 149 East Water Street in Sandusky has had a long history as a commercial property. From 1860 to the late 1880s, William Robertson (and later his sons) ran a wholesale grocery store at what was once known as 611 and 613 Water Steet.  While Mr. Robertson was originally from Northumberland, England, his neighbors in 1886 were of German descent. The Active Turners met on the second floor of  Fisher’s Hall to the east of Robertson’s Grocery, and the Turner Hall Hotel was just down the street, as seen in this 1886 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map.

In the early 1890s, George and John Esch ran a store that sold draperies and carpets at 611 and 613 Water Street.  From 1898 to 1908, T.C. Adams, and later his son Robert Adams, sold flour and feed at 611 Water Street. Many  local residents will recall that the Gallagher Brothers ran a granary at this location from about 1911 until 1950. The business operated as an outlet for Gallagher’s Mill in Venice, Ohio. In 1915 the street number was changed to 149 East Water Street.  From the mid 1950s to the mid 1970s the Merrill Mank Plumbing Company was in business here. For a time, Lake Erie Rusco sold storm doors and windows at this location. 

Ellie Damm wrote in her book Treasure by the Bay that the building was built in the High Victorian style. The foundation is stone, and the main portion of the structure is limestone covered with mastic. You can learn more about many of Sandusky’s historic buildings in the Ohio Historic Inventory for Erie County, shelved behind the Reference Services desk in the Lower Level of the Sandusky Library.