Columbian Session of the Ohio State Grange

 

On December 12, 13, and 14, 1893, the 21^st Annual Session of the Ohio State Grange, Patrons of Husbandry met in Sandusky. It was called the “Columbian Session” in reference to the World’s Columbian Exposition, which was held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400^th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s arrival in the New World.

Sessions for the Grange members were held at Biemiller’s Opera House in downtown Sandusky. Chairman of the evening session on December 12 was James D. Parker. According to the December 13, 1893 issue of the Sandusky Register, the Opera House was decorated with palms and sheaves of wheat. Mr. Parker told the audience that he had drafted some of the children of Erie County Grange members to participate in the entertainment portion of the evening’s events. His son and daughter, Eva and Jay Parker performed a vocal solo. Another daughter, Jessie Parker, played instrumental duets with Nellie Taylor and Will Gurley. Several other solos and recitations were performed.  Joseph H. Brigham, Master of the National Grange, gave the main address. Other speakers of the evening were Rev. Mr. Hart, J.F. Greene, F.A. Derthick, and S.H. Ellis, Past Master Ohio State Grange. Miss Hattie White recited “The First Settler’s Story” and Mrs. Emma Rood Tuttle recited “Mother and Poet” by Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

The Columbian Session of the Ohio State Grange was the topic of a lengthy front page article in the December 13, 1893 issue of the Sandusky Register.  The Register extended hospitality to all the visiting Grange members, and the headline stated that “brilliant oratory” had graced the opening session. Pictured below is the Nielsen Opera House, which had originally opened as the Biemiller Opera House in 1877. The Opera House was the site of many of the sessions held by Ohio State Grange’s annual meeting in 1893.

Sandusky High School’s Centennial Reunion

The Centennial Reunion of alumni of Sandusky High School was held on May 28, 1955. Tickets to the banquet were sold for $2.00 per person.

Reunion events included a band concert on the Sandusky High School lawn at 4:00, dinner at the Junior High School at 6:15, a program at Strobel Field at 7:45, and a dance at 9 p.m. at the Junior High featuring the fourteen piece band of Jimmy Dulio. During the program at Strobel Field, several special people were introduced to the crowd.

Charles E. Frohman served as the Master of Ceremonies. Principal Wallace Glenwright and Mayor Richard Fuller both gave remarks of welcome. Former school administrators James T. Begg, Frank J. Prout, Karl E. Whinnery, and Wayne C. Blough were introduced. Retired teachers attending the reunion were Miss Lucy Carter, Miss Elsie Denham, Miss Bessie Taylor, Miss Edith Howell, Miss Berta Jackson, and Miss Marie Reiff. Superintendent Carl L. Mackey spoke to the Sandusky High School alumni, and several musical numbers were presented. Harold C. Kaufman directed the A Cappella Choir and led the choir in three songs, including “Halls of Ivy.” The combined band and choir of Sandusky High School performed the Battle Hymn of the Republic. The program ended with a musical benediction sung by the high school A Cappella Choir.

The Sandusky Register Star News of May 28, 1955 contained a special feature devoted to the Centennial Reunion.

A copy of this special edition newspaper is housed at the Sandusk y Library Archives Research Center. Included in the special feature are pictures of graduating classes, a history of the one hundred years of Sandusky High School, and brief biographical sketches of outstanding graduates of Sandusky High School. An article entitled “A Century Stream of Teaching at Sandusky High” began with this paragraph:

Tennyson’s quotation “Men may come and men may go, but I go on forever,” referred to a little flowing brook, might also be applied to the stream of education which has been flowing through Sandusky High School for the past 100 years, and which, from all indications, will flow on indefinitely.

The newspaper issue contained commemorative ads from many businesses, including this advertisement from the Ohio Bell Telephone Company.

Teacher and Students of a One Room Schoolhouse in Perkins Township

In about 1899, Miss Gertrude Taylor was the teacher at a one room schoolhouse in Perkins Township, on Columbus Avenue, south of Taylor Road. The picture was taken by Pascoe’s Gallery of Sandusky, Ohio.

Pictured in the photograph are: back row, Miss Gertrude Taylor, Mary Michel, Marie Strickfaden, John Von Eitzen, Morris Hills, Ethel House, Byron House, Henry Merriam, Vincent Morris, Ollie Merriam, Willie Michel; front row, Annabel House, Carl Oswald, Susanna Strickfaden, Edith Michel, Lloyd Hills, Beulah Taylor, August Von Eitzen, and Pauline Von Eitzen. The 1896 Erie County Atlas shows that the Taylor, House, and Hills families all lived very close to the school, so the children did not have far to walk to get to the schoolhouse.

Ethel House would go on to become very active in the Daughters of the American Revolution, serving as Regent of the organization for a time. Her first husband was former prosecuting attorney and judge, Claude J. Minor. Following his death, Ethel became the wife of Bowling Green State University president, Dr. Frank Prout. When Lloyd Hills had completed his school years, he became the owner and operator of the Hills’ Supply Company, which dealt in paints and automobile accessories. Susanna and Marie Strickfaden were the sisters of Joseph Strickfaden, who operated a garden center in Perkins Township for fifty years. Visit the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center to view this and hundreds of other archival photographs relating to Sandusky and Erie County, Ohio.

Miss Taylor’s Reflections on Sandusky High School in 1905

In the Sandusky Register Star News of May 28, 1955, retired teacher Bessie Taylor gave an account of her remembrances of Sandusky High School from 1905. At that time all pupils had a seat in the large assembly room in the second floor. There was a grand piano in the assembly room, and there  were enough seats for 200 pupils. An electric push button on the front wall was rung at the close of each study period by the teacher in charge. There were also four classrooms on the second floor of the high school. On the third floor were four more classrooms, a laboratory, and a biology museum. On the first floor was a large office for the principal.

Freshmen were called “first year students.”  They were required to take geography, physiology, mathematics, and a language. The language choices were: German, Latin, or a special study of fundamental English. Second year students were required to take Biology, taught by Professor E.L. Moseley. His scientific museum featured stuffed birds, animals and snakes - and sometimes live animals.

On more than one occasion, a live snake or turtle escaped and wandered about the school, most likely with some assistance from a prankster. 

A highlight of spring and fall were the series of biology excursions. Led by Professor Moseley, the excursions took place on Saturdays when the weather permitted. The students roamed around fields in Milan, the Huron River, Berlin Heights, and Castalia, viewing the natural plants and animals of these areas. The final biology outing led to Kelleys Island and Put in Bay. Professor Moseley insisted that the students had the realization that they were there to learn.

The principal, George Dietrich, taught geography and physiology to the first year students, and he taught English literature to the seniors. Miss Taylor stated in her article about the principal, “Just how one man could do all the studies that fell to him is rather difficult to recall.”  Miss Taylor recalled that the orchestra in 1905 was considered an extra-curricular activity. Members met after school and were led by E.B. Ackley. Football and baseball games in 1905 were played at the old fairgrounds on Columbus Avenue, close to Perkins Avenue. Basketball games were played at a building on Lawrence Street, just north of Market Street.

If you would like to read the entire article by  Miss Bessie Taylor, you can find it on microfilm at the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center.

People Living in Non-Traditional Homes Described in U.S. Census Records

When searching for ancestors in United States Census records, you may find them residing in a location other than a traditional family home. Since 1888, many U.S. Veterans have made their home at the Ohio Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Home, now known as the Ohio Veterans Home. Below is a portion of the 1910 Census Page for this Home, in Perkins Township, Erie County, Ohio. In these listings, you find the person’s name, place of birth, and occupation, and information about where their parents were born.

For many years, the Children’s Home provided a home for children in Erie County whose parents could not adequately provide for them.

Census records enumerated in 1910, 1920, 1930 and 1940 list the residents of the Erie County Children’s Home on the day of the enumeration. Some of the residents of the Home are listed below in the 1920 U.S. Census. Listings include staff members, as well as the names of  the children for whom they cared.

In 1930, Sheriff John W. Taylor and his family lived at the Erie County Jail, which now is a part of the Sandusky Library. The Census shows John W. Parker, occupation Sheriff, along with his wife and three children. The names of the prisoners residing at the Erie County Jail at the time of the 1930 Census enumeration are provided on the next page.

Other types of facilities that included in the U.S. Census are hospitals, mental institutions, boarding schools, county homes, convents and monasteries, just to name a few. Don’t give up on finding your ancestor in the Census, if they do not turn where you expect to find them. In nineteenth century census records, teenagers and young adults often worked as farm hands or domestic employees, and were enumerated with the families who provided them with a home.

Sandusky High School Football Team of 1914

Pictured above are some of the members of the 1914 Sandusky High School football team. Notes on the original item, part of the Norbert A. Lange Collection, have identified the team players. In front from left to right, are: Bill Meese, Carl Kerber, Clarence Homberger, Herb Taylor, Amandus Smith, Bill Busch, and Joe Page. In the back from left to right are: Eugene Close, Hans Slackford, Bill Boehm, and Bill Smith. At the far right, Coach Bill Kinder is standing. In Northern Ohio League play in 1914 Sandusky won three out of four league games, including a win of 35 to 0 over the Fremont Little Giants. 

In 1914 Sandusky High School was still located on Adams Street, and future congressman James T. Begg was the school superintendent.

Coach Kinder went on to serve as an ambulance driver for the American Field Service during World War I. He then went back to seminary in order to become a clergyman. Rev. William Kinder became a well-known rector in the Episcopal Church in Detroit, Michigan and Youngstown, Ohio. 

The Theatorium Movie Theater

Karl Kurtz wrote in the July 23, 1977 issue of the Sandusky Register in his “Elderlies” column that the first silent movie shown in the Sandusky area was The Great Train Robbery. Veteran Sandusky newspaper man and showman Dave Wood brought the celluloid melodrama to Sandusky in 1905 and showed it at Cedar Point. The first motion picture house in Sandusky was called the Theatorium, established in 1906. It was located on West Market Street between the old Post Office and the Firehouse.

Charles Reark was the first manager of the Theatorium. He showed first-run silent movies, with eight changes a week. An article from a 1909 issue of The Moving Picture World stated that “Proprietors of moving picture theatres throughout Ohio who have visited Mr. Reark's cozy theatre state that he has the brightest and clearest pictures in the State. Ushers seat the patrons, a new light system has been installed, and no expense is spared to give the amusement goers of Sandusky the best of entertainment at this theatre for five cents admission.” Five Hallberg arc lamps “turned night into day” at the front of the theater. An article from the Sandusky Register of February 6, 1927, reported that the Theatorium was a long narrow room, with low ceilings and poor ventilation. By January 1907, the Theatorium had 140 seats which were all elevated. Besides the main feature of a silent movie, audiences were often treated to the attraction of an illustrated song. A soloist would sing the song played by the pianist, as colored slides were projected on the big screen. The singer would repeat the same song to several audiences each day.

For many years, Manager Charles Reark had a special program at the Theatorium for members of the Sandusky Newsboys’ Association. On Thanksgiving, the newsboys were treated to a silent movie at the Theatorium between 10 a.m. and noon. The newsboys just had to show a badge or membership card for admission to the free show. On Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in 1907, souvenir Christmas cards were given away to everyone in the audience. Songs were performed by A.L. Taylor and George Upp. The movies shown that Christmas were The Wonderful Mirror, The Dog Hero, and Thieves Caught in Their Own Trap.  Later owners of the Theatorium included Gustavus Dildine and Voltaire Schweinfurth. The Theatorium closed in May of 1917, but it brought many an evening of entertainment for residents of the Sandusky area for over ten years.

History of the Western Reserve, by Harriet Taylor Upton

In 1910, Harriet Taylor Upton, along with H. G. Cutler and the collaboration of “a staff of leading citizens,” wrote a three volume set of books entitled History of the Western Reserve. It was published by the Lewis Publishing Company of Chicago and New York. In the introduction Mrs. Upton stated: “In writing this homely history of a vigorous, prosperous people, the author has purposely kept away from usual lines. The reader will find little geology, topography, or zoology; little of that which is military or political, but instead, the home life of the pioneers and the domestic conditions of today are treated in great fullness.” Mrs. Upton felt that women should be represented in her book, because “women, as well as men, laid the foundation of Western Reserve and helped build its walls….” She spent two years researching and writing the book, which is available in the Archives Research Center of the Sandusky Library, and is also found full text on Google Books. An Every-Name Index to the History of the Western Reserve, a project of the Lake County Genealogical Society, provides ease in searching the three volume set.

In Volume 1, Mrs. Upton wrote about the pioneers and surveyors of the Western Reserve, as well as roadways, mail routes, religious organizations, the press, cemeteries, and schools of the region. Also included in Volume 1 is a chapter devoted to each of the twelve counties of the Western Reserve, including: Trumbull County, Lorain County, Lake County, Geauga County, Summit County, Medina County, Erie County, Huron County, Cuyahoga County, Ashtabula County, Mahoning County, and Portage County.

In Volumes 2 and 3 are biographical sketches about hundreds of residents of the twelve counties of the Western Reserve. Many biographies also include photographs. Volume 3 of History of the Western Reserve features a biographical sketch and photograph of Erie County residents J. J. Dauch and Carrie Chase Davis. See the Every-Name Index to check for other names.

According to Ohio Authors and Their Books, Harriet Taylor Upton was born about 1861. She was the wife of a Warren lawyer, George M. Upton. Mrs. Upton was president of the Ohio Woman Suffrage Association for eighteen years, between 1899 and 1920. She was appointed vice-chairperson of the Republican National Executive Committee under President Harding. Besides knowing President Harding, Harriet Taylor Upton also personally knew President Hayes, President Garfield, President McKinley and President Hoover. Harriet Taylor Upton was named to the Ohio Women’s Hall of Fame in 1981. Harriet’s home for sixty years, the Upton House in Warren, Ohio is continuing to undergo restoration, and achieved National Historic Landmark status in 1993.

Mrs. Alice Kelley Hertlein wrote about Mrs. Upton’s encouragement in the Erie County women’s activities in the Women’s Suffrage movement. Mrs. Hertlein’s article appears in the January 1921 issue of the Firelands Pioneer. An earlier blog post recalls the first female jury in Erie County, on which Alice Hertlein served.

Bessie Taylor, Teacher at Sandusky High

Miss Bessie Taylor taught at Sandusky High School for thirty four years. She began teaching Latin in 1904. In 1917, Miss Taylor was selected to become the dramatic coach. During her years at Sandusky High, Miss Taylor directed at least forty graduation plays and several other student dramatic productions. Below is an article from the January 20, 1920 Sandusky Star Journal. Miss Taylor was to direct the play “She Stoops to Conquer” at the February commencement exercises. (In the early years of the twentieth century there were two graduation ceremonies held at Sandusky High School, one in the winter, and one in June.)

The newspaper article reported, “The comedy is dainty and charming, abounding in humorous situations, and the lines are clever and give wide opportunity for the young actors.” Appearing in the cast were: Milton Schiller, Carl Appell, Glenn Rose, Harold Homberger, Ernest Dean, Roland Schemenauer, Sydney Knehr, George Hertlein, Albert Esch, Esther Knupke, Inga Nielsen, Elizabeth Schaub, Viola Bing, and Rae Frohman. Similar accounts of many of the plays directed by Miss Bessie Taylor are found in the microfilmed copies of the Sandusky Register and the Sandusky Star Journal, available in the Archives Research Center of the Sandusky Library.

On July 30, 1960, Miss Bessie Taylor died at Good Samaritan Hospital, following a lengthy illness. An obituary for Bessie Taylor was carried in the July 30, 1960 Sandusky Register. An account of Miss Taylor’s long career as an educator was given. Miss Taylor was also very active in her church, Trinity Methodist Church, where she served as the financial secretary. Miss Taylor was a former member of the board of Trustees of the Library Association of Sandusky, and was active in the Red Cross during World War Two. Bessie Taylor was survived by two brothers, a sister, and several nieces and nephews. She was buried in the Union Cemetery in Columbus, Ohio.

Miss Taylor is pictured below with fellow faculty members of Sandusky High School in the 1930’s. The photograph was taken on the steps of what is now the Adams Junior High School.

James W. Taylor: The American That Canadians Loved

James Wickes Taylor was born in Yates County, New York on November 6, 1819. After graduating from Hamilton College and studying law under his father, he moved to Cincinnati. In 1842 he became associated with the law firm of Salmon P. Chase and Flamen Ball.

Turning next to journalistic endeavors, James W. Taylor established the Cincinnati Morning Signal. In 1852 Taylor became editor of the Sandusky Democratic Mirror. He was the Erie County delegate to the Ohio Constitutional Convention, 1850-1851.
From 1852 to 1856 Taylor was the State Librarian for Ohio. During his tenure he took measures to “preserve every pamphlet printed in the State, no matter the topic.” He authored a book on the History of the State of Ohio as well as a manual on the Ohio School System, and several other books and reports.

From 1859 to 1869, Taylor served as a special agent of the U.S. Treasury. In 1870 he was appointed American Consul to Winnipeg. He held this position until his death in 1893. He was a staunch supporter of the province of Manitoba, promoting trade, railways, and natural resources. When he died in April 28, 1893, Queen Victoria directed that the British flag be placed at half mast at Windsor Castle.

How They Earned Their First Dollar

In the first half of the twentieth century Sandusky newspapers often featured articles which gave an account of how prominent area residents earned their first dollar. Eugene McFall told reporters in the Dec. 17, 1904 Sandusky Daily Register that he earned his first dollar at A. J. Mowry’s general store in Milan. McFall was general manager of the Sandusky Steamboat and Peninsula Steamboat companies in 1904.

“My First Dollar: How I Earned It” was title of a column by F. Holt for the Sandusky Star Journal in 1921.
Sheriff John B. Taylor, pictured above, went to work at a Sandusky wheel company at the age of 13, where he received payment of forty cents a day. Most of his money went to help support his mother and the rest of the Taylor family. Sheriff Taylor later introduced the science of fingerprinting to Erie County.
John Himmelein was Mayor of Sandusky in 1921 and owned three theaters. He told Mr. Holt that his first job was washing bottles for the Kelleys Island Wine Company. He spent his first dollar at the county fair. F. Holt reports “Probably it was the thrills he experienced in every show on the fair grounds that put the show business bug in his ear…”
G.A. Boeckling, who managed Cedar Point in the twenties, said his first dollar was earned in Michigan City, Indiana, where he was the bookkeeper and janitor of a dry goods store. Boeckling said that “the proudest moment of his life” came when he bought Mother Boeckling a kerosene lamp with the first money he ever earned.

You can read many more human interest stories about Sandusky residents at the Archives Research Center of the Sandusky Library, which houses several decades of Sandusky newspapers on microfilm.

Connecticut Yankees in Perkins Township

Truman B. Taylor was a pioneer Erie County citizen, farmer, and financier. For many years he was the president of Citizens National Bank. He was born on February 10, 1846 to Dennis and Phoebe Wright Taylor. His grandfather Jesse Taylor was an early settler from Connecticut. Truman B. Taylor married Mary Jane Eddy in 1872, and to them were born three children, Carrie, Burt, and Nelle, who became Mrs. C. W. Hord. Mrs. Taylor died on April 6, 1914. Truman Taylor died on May 28, 1930 and is buried in Oakland Cemetery.

In the Firelands Pioneer of June, 1865, Truman Taylor tells of his grandmother’s reminiscences of the settlement of Perkins Township. John Beatty had inspected the land in Ohio in 1814, and came back with a favorable report. In the fall of 1815, fourteen families from Glastonbury, Connecticut loaded their goods into “Yankee wagons” and headed west. Oxen and horses pulled the wagons. The journey was begun on September 5, the trip taking forty-nine days of traveling along seven hundred miles of unbroken roads. Along the way they had to buy provisions. When clothing was laundered, they had to dry the clothes on piles of brush if no fence was to be found. One youngster accidentally fell out of the wagon, and though the wheels passed over his body, he survived to live a long life.

Truman’s great-uncle Julius House was so sick with fever, that they had to leave him with relatives in Pennsylvania for a time. When they reached Cleveland there were only a few frame buildings and some log cabins. The settlers were all Methodist and they formed a “Methodist class,” later building a church where circuit riders would preach.

Once in Perkins Township, which was part of the “Firelands” of the Connecticut Western Reserve, the settlers had to clear the woodland. The prairie grass was so high that a man could sit on a horse and tie the grass over the top of his head. Fires often threatened their homes, and the sod proved difficult to break up. Through hard work and perseverance the settlers built homes, raised families, started business ventures, and eventually had thriving farms.

Most of the settlers were buried in Perkins Township. In 1941 when the government purchased 9000 acres of township land to build a munitions plant, the cemetery had to be relocated. In 2002 the Ohio Historical Society placed a marker telling the story of the Perkins Cemetery.

Hewson Peeke says in his 1916 HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY, ”The Taylors and their associates in pioneer settlement were all people of substantial New England stock, moral and upright and thrifty, and in many ways the influences and results of their lives can be traced in the history of Erie County.”

You can read many narratives of the early settlers of Erie and Huron Counties in the Firelands Pioneer at the Archives Research Center of the Sandusky Library.