At Home in Early Sandusky, by Helen Hansen

On April 15, 1975, James R. Brown, then managing editor of the Sandusky Register, presented a copy of the book At Home in Early Sandusky to Virginia Altstaetter, president of the Board of Trustees of the Sandusky Library. The book’s author Helen Hansen and Barbara Wendt looked on.

Mrs. Hansen autographed books at a reception at the Follett House on May 4, 1975, in commemoration of the book’s publication. The Register made a generous contribution in financing the publication costs, in memory of former Register publisher, Dudley A. White, who had supported the idea that the Follett House could be restored as a living memorial to Sandusky’s past. The Follett House was placed on the National Register of Historic Landmarks on December 31, 1974, and opened to the public as a museum in early July of 1976, the summer that the United States Bicentennial was celebrated.

At Home in Early Sandusky was based on a series of articles in the Sandusky Register by Helen Hansen in 1958 and 1959, known as “Stately Old Homes.” Mrs. Hansen provided historical details for over a hundred of the older homes in Sandusky, illustrated with photographs. The first article in the book was devoted to the Oran Follett House. In Article 12, she wrote about the Joseph M. Root home on Adams Street.

Joseph Root house, 231 E. Adams St.

An index in the back of the book lists the individuals and businesses mentioned in the book. All proceeds from the sale of At Home in Early Sandusky went to the restoration of the Follett House Museum.

Because of Helen Hansen’s devotion to local history, we can learn a great deal about the homes and people of Sandusky’s past. Mrs. Hansen and Virginia Steinemann co-authored two volumes of  From the Widow’s Walk: A View of Sandusky, with even more historical information about Sandusky and Erie County. Visit the Sandusky Library to view these informative local history books.

The Nineteenth Annual Meeting of the Firelands Historical Society, 1875

The nineteenth annual meeting of the Firelands Historical Society was to be held in Norwalk on June 30, 1875, according to the Sandusky Weekly Register of June 23, 1875. Former Governor and soon-to-be President Rutherford B. Hayes addressed the group during its afternoon session. An excerpt of his address appears below:

The early history and reminiscences of the Fire Lands have been collected and preserved. Here are your volumes which tell you what you want to know- what these men and women have done who first came to the Fire Lands. 

I have succeeded in getting all these volumes and read every word of them. Your Society has done efficient and noble service, and I trust you will go on in this work. You have made an important addition to it to-day in the record of the old lawyers of the Fire Lands. 

All this is interesting now, and far, far more so will it be in the future. Next year we are to celebrate the one hundredth anniversary since we became a nation, and now can you find anybody who can show any relic or scrap of history showing what his father or grandfather did one hundred years ago that will not point to it with satisfaction and pride? And this is what you are doing to-day – collecting and preserving the interesting history and relics of the past for your children and posterity. This is not only accomplished by these social gatherings, but socially they prove a great benefit by mingling together of the people, and this social feature is in itself a sufficient object for societies of this kind. We Americans have not too many holidays, when we can meet the young and old – men of various ideas and descriptions – and mingle and consult together. The more of these meetings you can have of the old inhabitants and others, the better. I trust you may have many of them.

You can read the full text of future President Hayes’ speech to the members of the Firelands Historical Society in September 1876 issue of the Firelands Pioneer. Several volumes of the Firelands Pioneer are housed in the lower level of the Sandusky Library. This resource contains dozens of historical and biographical articles about the earliest settlers of Erie and Huron Counties. It is clear through he words that R.B. Hayes saw the historical significance of this publication.  

On the same day that Governor Hayes spoke, another presenter was Sandusky attorney J.M. Root, who spoke about “The Old Lawyers of the Firelands.”

In his talk, he mentioned several Sandusky lawyers, including F.D. Parish, Eleutheros Cooke, and Lucas Beecher. You can read Mr. Root’s speech online.

I.F. Mack’s Address on “The Four Pioneers”

On June 8, 1881, I.F. Mack, the well-known publisher of the Sandusky Register, gave an address at the twenty fifth annual meeting of the Firelands Historical Society in Norwalk, Ohio.

His address, entitled “The Four Pioneers,” featured sketches of four well known pioneer attorneys in the Firelands area.

In the eight years prior to the 1881 meeting, four respected judges from Erie County had passed away. They were: Walter F. Stone, William G. Lane, Joseph M. Root, and Cooper K. Watson. Mr. Mack had known each of these men personally. He gave a brief biography of each of the deceased attorneys, and then he examined the character of each of the men. According to Mack, Walter F. Stone was very gentle in nature, and was a man of peace. “He was a gentleman always, in the practice of his profession as well as social life.”  

William G. Lane was described as having the combination of diffidence, mental strength, fidelity to the highest duty, patience and courage. Mr. Mack also said that Judge Lane had “sincerity, coupled with unquestioned purity of thought and feeling,” and claimed that he was the “wisest counsellor we ever had at our bar.” 

About Joseph M. Root, I.F. Mack said that he was sincere, honest, and brave, but “his prejudices were too intense to make him an agreeable social companion.” When someone disagreed with Joseph M. Root, his wrath was often excited and he was known to “draw forth a torrent of abuse.” Mr. Mack said simply that Root “was not a great lawyer.”

According to Mack, Cooper K. Watson “possessed legal ability of the highest order.” He had a consummate knowledge of the laws, and a thorough understanding of the intricate rules and modes of practice, and was known to be severe in the sentencing of criminals. Mack wrote that Judge Watson “read books, law, theology, poetry, history, romance, and science greedily, remembered what he read, and made it useful, in the practice of his profession and in his intercourse with friends.”

Mr. Mack concluded by stating that all four of the pioneer lawyers were regarded as honest men, in a profession popularly believed to contain its full share of dishonest men. He stressed the importance of honesty and integrity as the chief cornerstone of character, to be regarded as more important than owning lands, stocks and bonds. 

To read I.F. Mack’s address “The Four Pioneers,” see the Firelands Pioneer of June 1882. His address is found on pages 62 to 70. You can see a framed picture of each of the four attorneys discussed in Mack’s speech on the third floor of the Erie County Courthouse.

Opening Day at Cedar Point, 1968

This picture, from the Thomas F. Root collection of aerial photographs, taken between 1949 and 2000, shows a view of the Midway at Cedar Point on May 25, 1968. For opening day, four thousand high school band members marched through the Midway. The New Christy Minstrels performed, and there was a fireworks display after dark. You can see the Mill Race and Turnpike Cars on the left side of the picture, and the Coliseum and Kiddie Land on the right side of the picture. 

Aerial View of Sandusky in 1958

On August 3, 1958, photographer Thomas F. Root took this aerial photograph of Sandusky, looking toward the shoreline and Columbus Avenue. Several Sandusky landmarks which still stand can be seen in this picture. Saints Peter and Paul Church and Zion Lutheran Church are to the south of the Erie County Courthouse. Towards the east, the Feick Building and the Masonic Temple are visible. The familiar I.O.O.F. building, Stone’s block, and Hubbard’s block are located in Sandusky’s downtown. One building in this picture that no longer stands is the old City Hall, north of the courthouse, on West Market Street. (Two towers of different heights can be seen on the former city building.) City Hall was built in 1890 to serve as the city’s central fire and police station, and went to serve as Sandusky’s City Building from 1915 to 1958. An image of the old city building graces the cover of the Downtown Architectural Walking Tour of the Old House Guild of Sandusky. The Downtown Architectural Walking Tour features brief descriptions of 48 historic buildings in Sandusky. To learn more about the historic architecture of Sandusky, see Treasure by the Bay, by Ellie Damm, in the Sandusky Library’s local history book collection.

Aerial View of the Sandusky Plaza in 1956

Tom Root took this aerial picture of the Sandusky Plaza, located off Cleveland Road West, just east of Sycamore Line, on May 3, 1956, before it was opened. The Sandusky Plaza was formally dedicated on Thursday, November 1, 1956. Mayor Richard Fuller cut the ribbon, and he called the shopping center “a great asset to the community, and service to the citizens.” Several stores had free treats and samples during Opening Week. There was a drawing for a number grand prizes, which included one thousand dollars in cash, a 17 inch Philco television set, a shotgun, three bicycles, and several appliances. Free entry blanks to be entered into the drawing were distributed by these stores, all located in the Sandusky Plaza: Howard Johnson’s, Pick-n-Pay, Sloane Bar and Grill, Lee’s Barber Shop, Cleveland Fabric Shop, Plaza Hardware, Sterling Carpet, F.W. Woolworth Co., Norman Shoe Store, Zucker’s Store for Men, the Cohn Store, W.T. Grant Co., Thom McCan, Van’s Clear Sylk, Plaza Meats, Gray Drug Store, Moore’s Store, French Tex Cleaners, and Kroger’s. A circus monkey made an appearance, and there were free bus rides to the new Sandusky Plaza. The parking lot of the new plaza offered free parking for 1,200 cars.

Aerial View of Cleveland Road from 1955

This aerial image was taken by photographer and pilot Tom Root in October of 1955. Several houses can be seen on Avondale Street, south of Cleveland Road. What is now the Sandusky Inn and Suites at 1530 Cleveland Road was the Siesta Motel in 1955. Right across the street from the Siesta Motel was Foster Chevrolet, Inc. Lake Erie Gifts & Décor is now located at the site of the former Foster Chevrolet location. Awnings can be seen on the front of the Pfefferkorn Awning Co., located at 1610 Cleveland Rd. (Several businesses are located at the site of the former Pfefferkorn Awning Co. today.) To the east of Pfefferkorn Awning was the Hickory Barbecue, at 1616 Cleveland Road, which no longer stands.

Thomas F. Root, a self taught photographer from Plymouth, Ohio, took aerial photographs in northwest Ohio for more than sixty years. After renting a plane for several years, Mr. Root purchased his own plane in 1968. Root would open the window of the airplane, bank the plane, and take the photographs out of the side of the plane. Tom Root retired in 2001, and in 2008, he transferred a portion of his collection to the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center.

Joseph M. Root, Anti-Slavery Activist

Joseph M. Root was born in Cayuga County, New York in 1807, and moved to Ohio in 1829. Mr. Root was Sandusky’s Mayor in 1832 and 1833. In 1837 he was the prosecuting attorney of Huron County. Mr. Root was Representative to Congress from Ohio in the 29th, 30th, and 31st U.S. Congresses, and also served as a member of the Ohio State Senate for several terms.

In 1835, Joseph M. Root and Mary S. Buckingham were married in Norwalk, Ohio. They had five daughters. By 1850, the Root family was living in Sandusky, Ohio. Rush Sloane, in an address to the Firelands Historical Society, named J. M. Root among the “early and earnest friends” on the Underground Railroad in the Firelands. In 1848, Joseph M. Root had introduced a resolution to Congress which recommended that New Mexico and California have Territorial governments, but slavery was to be excluded in those new territories.

It has long been believed that the Root home at 231 East Adams Street was a “safe house” during the Underground Railroad. The Root home is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Mrs. Mary S. Root died in 1876, and Joseph M. Root died in 1879. Both are buried in Oakland Cemetery with several of their daughters. Martha and Sarah Root were in the first graduating class of Sandusky High School. According to the 1914 Fram, Elizabeth B. Root taught in Chicago for forty years, and was considered to be the “Mother of Illinois’ first Teacher’s Pension Law.” You can read a biography and memoir of Joseph M. Root in the 1882 Firelands Pioneer, located in the Archives Research Center of the Sandusky Library. Book Three of Just Like Old Times, by Henry R. Timman also contains an excellent article about J. M. Root.

Whigs in Sandusky

For those of you not tired of politics yet. . . .

The Whig Party was active in the United States from 1834–1856, having been formed by those who were strongly opposed to the tyrannical leadership of Andrew Jackson. The Whigs elected two American Presidents, William Henry Harrison in 1841, and Zachary Taylor in 1849. Both Presidents died before their terms ended.

Several Erie County residents were active in the Whig Party. Joseph M. Root, who held many political offices throughout his career, was elected as a Whig to the twenty-ninth Congress of the United States. Judge E. B. Sadler and Homer Goodwin, a well known Sandusky lawyer, both started out their careers as members of the Whig Party.

Newspaper editor Oran Follett, pictured below, was a staunch Whig leader in the 1840’s.
Sandusky’s first lawyer, Eleutheros Cooke, was elected to Congress as an anti-Jacksonian (later, Whig), serving from 1831 through 1833.
An earlier blog entry describes William Henry Harrison’s visit to Sandusky in 1840 when he was the Whig presidential candidate. The ladies of the town created a special banner in his honor. The October 5, 1852 issue of the Daily Commercial Register lists the names of fifty members of the Common Council of the city of Sandusky, who were planning a reception for General Winfield Scott. The council members, without regard to party, planned to welcome General Scott to the “hospitalities of the city, on the occasion of his approaching visit.” Though Scott lost the election, he had a multitude of supporters in Sandusky.

Eventually the Whig Party fell apart due to disunity on the issue of slavery. Most Whigs in the Northern United States joined the newly formed Republican Party. An excellent article about early Ohio political life is found in Edgar Allen Holt’s “Party Politics in Ohio: 1840-1850” available online through the Ohio Historical Society.