J.N. Victor’s Cash Book

J.N. Victor’s cash book was donated to the Sandusky Library 1928. Dates recorded in the book span from 1852 through 1854. While the specific business with which Mr. Victor was associated is not noted on the item, merchandise that was sold includes: wool, pig iron, nails and a variety of foods. Some entries record payment for freight charges only. As he was only 17 in 1852, he may have been a clerk for a railroad or other shipping company at this time.

The page below, from May 5 through December 20, 1852, is a record of payment from architect Sheldon Smith, who purchased molasses and sugar.

Sales of barley and wheat were recorded from July through December of 1854.

 By  1861, J.N. Victor was employed at the general freight office of the Sandusky, Dayton and Cincinnati Rail Road Company in Sandusky, Ohio. He went on to become the superintendent of the California Southern Railroad Company. The town of Victorville, California was named in his honor.

Jacob Nash Victor was the son of Henry Clay Victor and the former Gertrude Nash; his brother was author and editor Orville James Victor.

Harrison Ball, 1840

An invitation to the Harrison Ball of 1840 is on file at the Archives Research Center of the Sandusky Library. The ball was to be held at H. Victor’s Assembly Room on Thursday, December 31 at 5 p.m. This New Year's Eve festivity was in honor of William Henry Harrison, a fellow Ohioan, elected President earlier that year.

The managers of the ball were:

Maj. John G. Camp                 Henry D. Ward

Dr. Daniel Tilden                    Ebenezer B. Sadler

Oran Follett                             Charles Barney

Josiah W. Hollister                  Wm. Durbin, Jr.

Freeland T. Barney                 John M. Boalt

Sidney S. Hosmer                   Jno. G. Poole

Marshall Burton                      Lester S. Hubbard

Henry P Radcliff                    Theodore Hosmer

Davis Miller                            Alex. A. Camp

Dewitt C. Henderson              Jno. G. Camp, Jr.

Wm. A. Simpson                     Joseph B. Higbee

The list of names of people serving as managers of the Harrison Ball reads like a “Who’s Who” of early Sandusky. Major John G. Camp, Sr. fought in the War of 1812, and was active in the early years of Sandusky. Helen Hansen wrote in her book At Home in Early Sandusky, that Major Camp, along with Isaac Mills, Thomas Neill, and William Reese, laid out the addition known as “Southwark,” which was south of Monroe Street and west of Sycamore Line. John G. Camp, Jr. was an attorney in Sandusky, and he devoted a great deal of time negotiating plans for early railroad transportation in Ohio.

Dr. Daniel Tilden was a local physician who also was involved in the Underground Railroad:

Sidney S. Hosmer was an early Sandusky merchant, while his son Theodore Hosmer went west and became the first mayor of Tacoma Washington. 

Oran Follett was a prominent publisher in New York and Ohio, and his former home is now The Follett House Museum:

Ebenezer B. Sadler was a well liked early judge in Erie County:

Lester S.  Hubbard was a banker and prosperous businessman in Sandusky. Henry Clay Victor, whose Assembly Room was the location of the ball, was the father of Orville James Victor, author and editor.

To learn more about these and many other early residents of Sandusky and Erie County, visit the Archives Research Center. Here you will find county histories, historical journal and newspaper articles, and finding aids to the many archival resources available at the Sandusky Library.

Gertrude Victor’s Tribute to the Month of May

The essay below was a tribute to the month of May by Gertrude Victor. Gertrude Victor, born Gertrude Nash, was the wife of Sandusky tavern keeper, Henry Victor. She was the mother of author and editor, Orville James Victor. Gertrude Nash Victor died in 1882, and she is buried in Sandusky’s Oakland Cemetery. 

Hail lovely maid!

We thy fond even passions

now before thee with humble reverence bearing flowers we approach

thee for they are first emblems of your own freshness and bloom; yet although

at present like these, we fondly hope that your fate may not be as evenot ___

& transient as theirs – for the evening sun shining on them, their tints &

colors will be fading’ wilst the morrow’s sun will see them with

ired and dead forever – but for you, fondly do we hope that the future may

but add new grasses to the changes of the present and that the fruit

may e’en be fairer than the flower. With faces bedecked with smiles

and wreathed with flowers we salute thee our melody created sovereign.

True sovereign of our hearts, for thou art the sovereign of our love. Isle

among sovereigns dost thou sustain they power, and by force but by the

soft voice of kindness & charity which, as the warm rays of the sun do

melt by their soft and genial influence, the icy mounts which but presented

a firmer & more solid frost, as the ____ of North writing blast razed in

___ jury against them, but which, losing their rugged temper before the

mild & insinuating embraces of the genial sun, repent, after and dissolve

themselves into tears of sorrow for their own ungovernable temper, penetrate

and instill into our hearts the soothing feelings of love’s youth is the

season of flowers and with us all is gaiety and joy. The dark clouds of adieu

____ may in the future lower over our paths – but even so why trouble the

happiness of the present with dark forebodings of the future – why dim the

mirror of childhood with the shadow of age – Nay! Nay! Far from us let us drive

all such chilling thoughts for in nature also it is the season of happiness

and bloom. Removed alike from the chilling frosts of winter and

the arid beats of summer nature himself is bedecked and wreathed with

flowering smiles; - and the earth sends up her flowery messengers to

welcome the advent of spring in as she comes tripping along

thousands of perfumed harebells & primroses & daisies spring forth

to catch our glance of her bewitching eye, and to inhale the cheering

incense of her fragrant breath. Thus in the season of Nature’s

bloom, have met to enjoy our innocent pleasures and to

check our queen of May- Then bend your head sweet maid

and on our your fair brows, I will place in the name of my companions,

a flowery crown, that which there are none less weights &

less free of care, and which we fondly hope will be as it

has been in the past & present, the emblem of your future life – and thus crown

thee queen of May –

            Salute, dear friends, our beauteous queen,

            The fairest I know that e’er we’ve seen:

            Crowned with flowers and wreathed with smiles

The ___ of Nture the fairest child.

May the bloom in thy cheek n’er fade

May sorrow n’er visit the dear Maid

But as the sparkling rays of a sunny day

So mays’t they future be, the Queen of May!

                                                G.H. Victor

Gertrude Victor’s Tribute to the Month of May

The essay below was a tribute to the month of May by Gertrude Victor. Gertrude Victor, born Gertrude Nash, was the wife of Sandusky tavern keeper, Henry Victor. She was the mother of author and editor Orville James Victor. Gertrude Nash Victor died in 1882, and is buried in Sandusky’s Oakland Cemetery.

Hail lovely maid!

We thy fond even passions

now before thee with humble reverence bearing flowers we approach

thee for they are first emblems of your own freshness and bloom; yet although

at present like these, we fondly hope that your fate may not be as evenot ___

& transient as theirs – for the evening sun shining on them, their tints &

colors will be fading’ wilst the morrow’s sun will see them with

ired and dead forever – but for you, fondly do we hope that the future may

but add new grasses to the changes of the present and that the fruit

may e’en be fairer than the flower. With faces bedecked with smiles

and wreathed with flowers we salute thee our melody created sovereign.

True sovereign of our hearts, for thou art the sovereign of our love. Isle

among sovereigns dost thou sustain they power, and by force but by the

soft voice of kindness & charity which, as the warm rays of the sun do

melt by their soft and genial influence, the icy mounts which but presented

a firmer & more solid frost, as the ____ of North writing blast razed in

___ jury against them, but which, losing their rugged temper before the

mild & insinuating embraces of the genial sun, repent, after and dissolve

themselves into tears of sorrow for their own ungovernable temper, penetrate

and instill into our hearts the soothing feelings of love’s youth is the

season of flowers and with us all is gaiety and joy. The dark clouds of adieu

____ may in the future lower over our paths – but even so why trouble the

happiness of the present with dark forebodings of the future – why dim the

mirror of childhood with the shadow of age – Nay! Nay! Far from us let us drive

all such chilling thoughts for in nature also it is the season of happiness

and bloom. Removed alike from the chilling frosts of winter and

the arid beats of summer nature himself is bedecked and wreathed with

flowering smiles; - and the earth sends up her flowery messengers to

welcome the advent of spring in as she comes tripping along

thousands of perfumed harebells & primroses & daisies spring forth

to catch our glance of her bewitching eye, and to inhale the cheering

incense of her fragrant breath. Thus in the season of Nature’s

bloom, have met to enjoy our innocent pleasures and to

check our queen of May- Then bend your head sweet maid

and on our your fair brows, I will place in the name of my companions,

a flowery crown, that which there are none less weights &

less free of care, and which we fondly hope will be as it

has been in the past & present, the emblem of your future life – and thus crown

thee queen of May –



Salute, dear friends, our beauteous queen,

The fairest I know that e’er we’ve seen:

Crowned with flowers and wreathed with smiles

The ___ of Nture the fairest child.

May the bloom in thy cheek n’er fade

May sorrow n’er visit the dear Maid

But as the sparkling rays of a sunny day

So mays’t they future be, the Queen of May!



G.H. Victor

Washington Ball in 1830

Miss Florence Victor donated an invitation to the Washington Ball held on February 22, 1830, to the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center. Florence’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Victor, invited several individuals to the celebration, which was held in honor of George Washington’s birthday. The event was held at Obadiah Jenney’s Assembly Room in Norwalk, Ohio. Managers of the Washington Ball were: W.F. Kittredge, F.F. Hamilton, G.A. Boalt, B. Carkhuff, and D.A. Baker.

The back of the invitation indicates that Mr. Henry Victor did attend the Washington Ball.

Obadiah Jenney was an early hotel proprietor in Norwalk, Ohio, while Henry Victor operated a hotel in Sandusky in the 1820s. The son of Henry and Gertrude Victor, Orville J. Victor was an associate editor of the Sandusky Daily Register from 1851 to 1856. Orville J. Victor also wrote a four volume set of books entitled The Civil, Political and Military History of the Southern Rebellion, which is housed in the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center.

New Year's Party at the Townsend House in 1855

On the evening of Monday, January 1, 1855, a New Year’s Party was held at the Townsend House in Sandusky, Ohio. Many prominent early Sandusky residents served as managers of the event, including Major John G. Camp and his son, John G. Camp, Jr. Jay Cooke’s father Eleutheros Cooke, and his brother Pitt Cooke, were also managers of the party.

Serving on the Committee of Arrangements was Orville J. Victor, who would become well known as an author and editor. R.T. Greene, who also served on the Committee of Arrangements, was a close friend of Herman Melville. The character of Toby, in Melville’s novel Typee, was based on the life of Richard Tobias Greene. In the early 1850’s, R. T. Greene was associated with the Sandusky Mirror newspaper, a competitor of the Sandusky Register. According to the book Herman Melville's Whaling Years, Mr. Greene was also instrumental in the opening of the first telegraph office in Sandusky, Ohio.

1809 Sampler by Gertrude Nash

According to records at the Follett House Museum, this sampler was handstitched by Gertrude Nash in 1809. Gertrude Nash was an early resident of southern Ohio. Hewson Peeke wrote in his book A Standard History of Erie County that Gertrude’s maternal grandfather, Major Horton, served in the Revolutionary War. In 1818, Gertrude married a Mr. Cook, who died young. She later married Henry Clay Victor, who was once a tavern keeper in Erie County, Ohio. One of the sons of Henry Clay and Gertrude Nash Victor, Orville James Victor, became a well known author and editor. Henry Clay Victor and his family lived in Erie County, Huron County, and Seneca County. By 1860, Gertrude was a widow, and she moved back to Sandusky, Ohio. Gertrude Nash Victor died in 1882, and she is buried in Sandusky’s Oakland Cemetery.

Orville James Victor, Author and Editor

A four volume set of books by Orville J. Victor, entitled The Civil, Political & Military History of the Southern Rebellion is found in the Archives Research Center of the Sandusky Library. Charles E. Frohman wrote in his book Sandusky Potpourri, that Orville J. Victor spent five years of his life devoted to writing this set of books, and in 1866 it was pronounced “one of the ablest treatises on the war that has ever been published.” Orville James Victor was born in Sandusky, Ohio on October 23, 1827. His parents were Henry Clay Victor and Gertrude Nash Victor. Henry Clay Victor moved to Sandusky in 1823, where he operated a hotel, then known as the Mansion House, on the northwest corner of Decatur and Market Streets. Hewson Peeke wrote in his 1916 book A Standard History of Erie County, that Mr. and Mrs. Henry Clay Victor were the parents of eight children. Henry Clay Victor died in 1848, after having moved to Seneca County and then to Huron County. Mrs. Gertrude Victor lived in Sandusky in the later years of her life. She died in 1882, and is buried in Oakland Cemetery.

From 1851 to 1856, Orville J. Victor was an associate editor of the Sandusky Daily Register. He married Metta Victoria Fuller in 1856. In 1857, the Victors moved to New York City, where Orville was in charge of the Cosmopolitan Art Journal, which ceased publication at the outbreak of the Civil War. Orville J. Victor became well known as an author and editor of “dime novels.” The 2000 edition of the American Heritage Dictionary defines dime novels as: “a melodramatic novel of romance or adventure, usually in paperback.” Victor was the main editor for the House of Beadle and Adams, publisher of dime novels from 1861 through 1897. Hewson Peeke wrote an article entitled “The Dime Novel and the Firelands,” which is found in the June 1937 issue of the Firelands Pioneer.

Metta Victoria Fuller Victor had a long, very successful career as an author. Writing under the name “Seeley Regester,” Metta published The Dead Letter in 1866, which is often considered one of the first American detective novels. An online exhibit from the library of Northern Illinois University features Metta Victoria Fuller. Poems written by Metta Fuller Victor and her sister Frances Fuller Victor appear in the article “Early Authors of the Firelands,” in the June 1899 issue of the Firelands Pioneer.

Metta Fuller Victor died on June 26, 1885. Orville James Victor died in 1910. His obituary was carried in the March 18, 1910 New York Times. Mr. and Mrs. Orville Victor are buried in the family plot of the Valleau Cemetery in Hohokus, New Jersey.