Christopher Reeve’s Connection to Sandusky

Most of us remember Christopher Reeve as the not-quite-original movie Superman. But what's more interesting from our perspective is his "relationship" to Sandusky: Christopher Reeve’s maternal grandfather was a native-born Sanduskian. Horace R. Lamb, was born in Sandusky in 1892, the son of Burt I. Lamb and Harriet “Hattie” Davis Lamb. Before he married, Horace Lamb lived in Huron County for several years, eventually settling in Connecticut.

In the late 1890’s Burt I. Lamb advertised his tailoring business in the Sandusky Register.

Mr. and Mrs. Burt I. Lamb are buried in the North Ridge of Sandusky’s Oakland Cemetery.

Hattie Davis Lamb was the daughter of Ira T. Davis and Eunice Woolsey Davis Lamb.

Ira T. Davis came to Sandusky in 1852. He had a grocery store on Columbus Avenue and later was involved in the real estate and limestone business. He married Eunice Woolsey in 1856, and the couple had five children born and raised in Sandusky. Mr. & Mrs. Davis are also buried in Oakland Cemetery. You can read more about the family in Article 30 of Helen Hansen’s At Home in Early Sandusky and in Hewson Peeke’s Standard History of Erie County.

Christopher Reeve mentioned Sandusky in his biography Still Me: A Life. He wrote about his grandfather Horace Lamb’s roots from a working class family in Sandusky.

Visit the Sandusky Library’s Archives Research Center to learn more about Christopher Reeve’s Sandusky ancestors, and perhaps your own ancestors as well.

Picnickers at Cedar Point in the Early Years

A group of family and friends gathered for this group photograph while at a picnic at Cedar Point in the 1890s. It was probably taken in a photo studio on the park grounds. The names of the individuals in the picture were listed on notes with the original item. In the first row are: Lee A. Woolsey, Jessie Anthony, Louise Alvord and Charles Schuck. In the second row are: Frank Sawyer, Ida Woolsey, Minnie Sawyer, Martha Anthony, and M. Scranton. In the third row are:  Jessie Jay, J.L. Anthony, Elsie K. and Lydia Scranton. After looking through several genealogical databases and obituaries, we have determined that Ida Woolsey, Minnie Sawyer, Martha Anthony, and J.L. Anthony are all children of Lorenzo Dow Anthony, the first commandant of the Sandusky Yacht Club. Most likely the individuals not related to members of the Anthony family are close family friends. Though this picture is not of perfect quality, it is interesting to see a group of people gathered together from an era long ago.

The picture above (taken circa 1906) probably represents a typical picnic scene at Cedar Point during that era. The people in this photo are unidentified.

"Happy New Year to the Ladies of Sandusky"

In 1877 eight gentlemen from Sandusky wished the “Ladies of Sandusky” a Happy New Year. Possibly this was in conjunction with a party or dance that was held to celebrate the New Year. We do not know details about all the men, but some of the surnames included in the group come from families that were prominent in the early years of Sandusky’s history. In the 1870s  Fred M. Woolsey worked with his father, J.V. Woolsey in a factory that made wagon and carriage wheels. Charles L. Mills and Grayson Mills were both grandsons of Isaac Mills, who was one of the co-founders of the city of Sandusky. Fred Woolsey and C.L. Mills are two of the men in the picture below (at a "leap year party" the previous January); unfortunately we do not know which ones they were.

Edward H. Marsh was involved in the plaster business in this area.  He was a personal friend of President William Howard Taft. You can see Edward H. Marsh in a white jacket in the picture below, when future President Taft was campaigning in Sandusky in 1908.

A Wading Party at Bay Point

On October 1, 1916, a group of Sandusky residents had a picnic on the Sand Beach at Bay Point, in Ottawa County, Ohio. Below is a key which identifies the people in the picture.

Willard A. Bishop was a longtime Sandusky photographer. Phil Beery was a broker in Sandusky for over twenty years. Among the group were four sisters: Martha Anthony Brewer, Ida Anthony Woolsey, Jessie E. Anthony, and Minnie Sawyer, all daughters of pioneer Sandusky residents Mr. and Mrs. Lorenzo Dow Anthony. At the time of this gathering the Sandusky Bay Bridge had not yet been built, so it is likely that the group traveled from Sandusky to Bay Point aboard a steamer. Ferries traveled back and forth between Sandusky and Bay Point, where a rail connection to Toledo was available.

The Woolsey Wheel Company

The Woolsey Wheel Company was located for many years at the northwest corner of Water and Fulton Streets. Harlan Hatcher wrote in his book The Western Reserve, that Sandusky wheel factories “turned out more carriage and wagon wheels” than the factories of any other town in the Western Reserve. In the 1850’s, the business began as Pierce, Woolsey & Co. The company manufactured components for wagon and carriage wheels. In the 1860’s, Charles and Rollin Hubbard joined the firm and it was then known as Hubbards and Woolsey.

In 1875, when Fred Woolsey, son of Johnston V. Woolsey, joined the company, the named changed to J. V. Woolsey & Son. Later the business name was changed to the Woolsey Wheel Company, and even later, the business was known as the Woolsey Spoke and Wheel Co. Eventually the business moved to the foot of First Street. The company ceased operations after a fire in 1905.

J.V. Woolsey was listed as the president of the J. W. Woolsey Wheel Company in the 1882-1883 Sandusky City Directory. He was born in New York State, and moved to Sandusky about 1851. J. V. Woolsey died in 1893. He is buried with his wife Ann in Sandusky’s Oakland Cemetery.
J. V. Woolsey filed for several patents. Patent Number 156449, for An Improvement in Wheels for Vehicles, was filed on May 16, 1874. A search for Woolsey and Sandusky in Google Patents will result in several patent applications filed by J. V. Woolsey between 1867 and 1880.

Picture below is the home of Fred M. Woolsey, around 1890, at the southwest corner of Huron Avenue and Adams Street. Though they are barely visible, Lee and Lucille Woolsey are in the horse and cart with their neighbor Jenna Hubbard, and Leontine Woolsey is on the bicycle. Lee, Lucille and Leontine are all children of Fred and Ida Woolsey, and grandchildren of Mr. and Mrs. J. V. Woolsey.

Happy Leap Year!

As you know, 2008 is a leap year, when we have an extra day on the calendar, February 29. Some also recognize these years as a time for certain quadrennial events, such as the Olympics and the presidential campaign season. (Although nowadays the campaigns seem to not just occur every four years, but to last for four years.)

In the nineteenth century, in particular, it was also the time for Leap Year Parties. Here is a scene from a Leap Year Party held in Sandusky 142 years ago, on Friday, January 21, 1876. Unfortunately, we do not have much detail on the party itself. The photograph was donated to the library in 1928 by Fred Woolsey, who is seated at the left in the picture. He went on to become the owner of the Woolsey Wheel Company in Sandusky. The other men are: Charles Mills, Albert Rosenbaum, Charles Johnson, Dr. Gibson, Sam Ferris, and D.W.C. Brown, Jr. Why these men are wearing ribbons and handkerchiefs fastened to their clothes is unclear, but it might have something to do with a leap year tradition. . . .

Legend holds that on leap year days (some say the entire leap year), it was socially acceptable for women to propose marriage to men; any other time of the year, etiquette and custom dictated that only men were allowed to propose marriage. Also, it became a tradition to have Leap Year parties, where the women invited the men to be their dates and dance partners, and were in charge of the festivities. (Some claim that that is where the idea for Sadie Hawkins dances came from.) We can only speculate, but perhaps the handkerchiefs and ribbons symbolize the men's position as secondary to the women on that day. Any thoughts?