Merlin Wolcott, Library Director in Several Ohio Libraries

Merlin Wolcott in the 1950 BGSU Key

Merlin Wolcott was a son of Melvin and Adelia Wolcott. He and his twin sister Merriam Wolcott Washburn were born in 1920; they grew up on Shelby Street in Sandusky. As a youngster, Merlin was a frequent patron of the Sandusky Library, and worked one summer at the library during his college years. 

After earning a library degree at Kent State University, Mr. Wolcott went on to become the director of several Ohio libraries including Elyria, Avon Lake, and Canton. As part of his requirements for the degree of Master of Arts from Kent State University, he wrote a thesis titled The History and Development of the Sandusky Library Association, Sandusky, Ohio in 1953. A bound copy is on file at the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center.

The thesis covered the history, growth and development of the Sandusky Library from its earliest years to the early 1950s. In the publication, he pointed out that the Sandusky Library, which opened on July 3, 1901, looked similar to a medieval castle. He stated that the library represented the ultimate ideal of the “university of the common man.”  Mr. Wolcott also discusses the earliest libraries in Sandusky, including the Portland Library Association and the Lyceum from the 1820s, and the Philomathesian Society that grew out of the Young Men’s Debating Association in 1840. He went on to cover the Ladies Library Association that met in 1870 for the purpose of forming a library association, and the Library Association of Sandusky which was incorporated in 1895.  In 1896 the Ladies Building Fund Association was organized, and two years later the Association purchased property at the corner of Columbus Avenue and Adams Street. The philanthropist Andrew Carnegie gave $50,000 for the library building and equipment, with the stipulation that no part was to be used for maintenance.  The original building was constructed with blue limestone from the Wagner Quarries, caps and sills in Berea sandstone, and the base in Columbus limestone.

Mr. Wolcott provided statistics about the Sandusky Library between 1921 and 1951. Today the Sandusky Library owns over 200,000 items, which include books, periodicals, DVDs, compact discs, books on tape, and e-books.  A host of online research databases provide instant access to information to library patrons twenty four hours a day.

Merlin Wolcott died in 1993 at the age of 73. He was a World War II Army Veteran, a member of Grace Episcopal Church, the Mayflower Society, the Descendants of Henry Wolcott, Masonic Lodge, the American Library Association and the Ohio Library Association. Mr. Wolcott had a deep interest in family and local history. He was a direct descendant of Benajah Wolcott, the first keeper of the Marblehead Lighthouse.

Hewson L. Peeke, Lawyer and Author

Hewson Lindsley Peeke was born on April 21, 1861 in South Bend, Indiana to the Reverend George Hewson and Margaret Bloodgood Peeke. He graduated from Williams College in Massachusetts.

After teaching school in Illinois, he moved west to the Dakota territory where he was admitted to the bar in 1883. In about 1885, when his father was assigned as Pastor of the Congregational Church in Sandusky, he moved to Sandusky as well.

After being admitted to the Ohio Bar, he practiced law in Sandusky for many years. His obituary, in the 1942 Obituary Notebook (in the Sandusky Library), stated that he was known as the “dean of the County Bar Association” in Erie County. Mr. Peeke was admitted to the United States District Court in 1895; U.S. Court of Appeals in 1905; and to the Supreme Court of the United States in 1918. 

In 1902 and 1906, he ran unsuccessfully for Representative of the 13^th District, under the Prohibition ticket. He was a staunch follower of the old Prohibition Party, following the motto “The Wets Cannot Win.”

Local history was a favorite topic of his. He was the author of two histories of Erie County, A Standard History of Erie County, Ohio, published in 1916, and The Centennial History of Erie County, published in 1925. He also wrote Stories of Sandusky, which most people consider to be fictionalized accounts of people and incidents in Sandusky, Ohio. Mr. Peeke also served as the President of the Firelands Historical Society for a number of years.

An important issue in the life of Hewson L. Peeke was the idea of Temperance. He wrote a comprehensive study of the history of drunkenness in 1917, entitled:  Americana Ebrietatis: The Favorite Tipple of Our Forefathers and the Laws and Customs Relating Thereto. George Sargent, an editor from the Boston Evening Transcript newspaper praised Peeke’s book. He wrote in an article, which was reprinted in the November 20, 1917 Sandusky Register, that Peeke was “as impartial as the apostles in dealing with this subject and leaves his witnesses to be examined and cross-examined by either side. The collection of material which he has gathered gives a history of drunkenness and drinking customs in America, and while it is not the only one in the country, it is probably the finest in existence in private hands.” A copy of this unique title is in the Local Authors Collection of the Archives Research Center of the Sandusky Library.

Hewson L. Peeke died on February 17, 1942. His funeral was held at the First Congregational Church, and he was buried at Oakland Cemetery. The entire local bar association attended the rites, and the active pallbearers were: Judge E. H. Savord, Judge W. L. Fiesinger, and Attorneys Earl Webster, C.E. Moyer, James Flynn and Wilbert Schwer.

Hewson L. Peeke, Lawyer and Author

Hewson Lindsley Peeke was born on April 21, 1861 in South Bend, Indiana to George Hewson and Margaret Bloodgood Peeke. He graduated from Williams College in Massachusetts.

After teaching school in Illinois, Hewson Peeke moved west to the Dakota Territory where he was admitted to the bar in 1883. In about 1885, when his father, the Rev. George H. Peeke was assigned as Pastor of the Congregational Church in Sandusky, Hewson Peeke moved to Sandusky as well.

Hewson Peeke was admitted to the Ohio Bar, and practiced law in Sandusky for many years. His obituary, in the 1942 Obituary Notebook, stated that he was known as the “dean of the County Bar Association” in Erie County. Mr. Peeke was admitted to the United States District Court in 1895; U.S. Court of Appeals in 1905; and to the Supreme Court of the United States in 1918. In 1902 and 1906, Hewson L. Peeke ran unsuccessfully for Representative of the 13th District, under the Prohibition ticket. He was a staunch follower of the old Prohibition Party, following the motto “The Wets Cannot Win.”

Local history was a favorite topic of Hewson Peeke. He was the author of two histories of Erie County, A Standard History of Erie County, Ohio, published in 1916, and The Centennial History of Erie County, published in 1925. Another book he wrote was Stories of Sandusky, which many consider to be fictionalized accounts of people and incidents in Sandusky, Ohio. Mr. Peeke also served as the President of the Firelands Historical Society for several years.

Peeke wrote acomprehensive study of the history of drunkenness in 1917, Americana Ebrietatis: The Favorite Tipple of Our Forefathers and the Laws and Customs Relating Thereto. George Sargent, an editor from the Boston Evening Transcript praised Peeke’s book. He wrote in an article which was reprinted in the November 20, 1917 Sandusky Register that Hewson L. Peeke was “as impartial as the apostles in dealing with this subject and leaves his witnesses to be examined and cross-examined by either side. The collection of material which he has gathered gives a history of drunkenness and drinking customs in America, and while it is not the only one in the country, it is probably the finest in existence in private hands.” A copy of this unique title is found in the Local Authors Collection of the Archives Research Center of the Sandusky Library.

Hewson L. Peeke died on February 17, 1942. His funeral was held at the First Congregational Church, and he was buried at Oakland Cemetery. The entire local bar association attended the rites, and the active pallbearers were: Judge E. H. Savord, Judge W. L. Fiesinger, and Attorneys Earl Webster, C.E. Moyer, James Flynn and Wilbert Schwer.

Sandusky Then and Now

Ernst Von Schulenburg was both a minister and a physician in Sandusky, Ohio. He was born in Berlin in 1849, and settled in Sandusky in the 1870s. In 1872 he was the pastor of Emmanuel German Evangelical Protestant Church, and later he served as pastor of the St. Stephen’s German Evangelical Protestant Church. He is perhaps best remembered today as the author of the book, Sandusky Then and Now.

The author wrote the book in his native German language; the original title is Sandusky "Einst und Jetzt" : Mit Besonderer Berücksichtigung der Deutschen Localen Verhältnisse, which in English translates to Sandusky Then and Now: With Special Regard to Local, German Situations. In his book, Dr. Von Schulenburg discusses the political life of Germans in Sandusky, as well as German culture, customs, and business ventures. It includes biographies of several Sandusky German settlers, including their dates of migration. The book also provides a history of early Erie County and Sandusky, and includes an entire chapter on the cholera epidemics of 1849, 1852, and 1854.

In the preface to this book, originally published in 1889 , Dr. Von Schulenburg noted that “although the German population of Sandusky seems almost the same as that of the native-born and has become a powerful factor in the religious, political and social life of the city, yet it is surely striking that in all the local histories which I have seen, the German element was either completely ignored or at best treated as a step child.”

In 1959 Dr. Norbert A. and Marion Cleaveland Lange, chemistry professors who resided in Sandusky, translated Dr. Von Schulenburg’s book. It was published as Publication 114 of the Western Reserve Historical Society.

To read Sandusky Then and Now (in the English translation or in the original German) visit the Sandusky Library’s Reference Services area on the lower level of the Sandusky Library.