E.B. Ackley — Musician, Bandleader

In Sandusky, E.B. Ackley is fondly remembered as a band leader. He led a rich life that took him all over the country before finally settling in Sandusky. He was born November 1, 1871 in Illinois. Ackley came from a musical family, and took up the cornet at 12. He studied with Carl Kaltenborn of New York who had been the solo cornetist with Gilmore’s famous band for 12 years. At one time, Ackley enjoyed the reputation of being one of the best B flat cornetists in the country.

Before arriving in Sandusky, Ackley traveled the continent with different groups. He spent a season with the Hattie Bernard Chase Company and a season with the Great Eastern Show, a season with the Floyd Concert Company. He spent a season in Omaha, Nebraska with the Farnham Street Theater, as well as a season in Youngstown at the Grand opera House. When he came to Sandusky he spent several seasons at the Nielson Opera House.

As a young man, he worked for the Gorman Minstrel Show and traveled all over the country. Fred Baumann, of the Great Western Band, heard Ackley Perform and brought him to Sandusky. This was shortly before the Great Western Band dissolved. Ackley then created his own band. He arrived in Sandusky in 1893 and worked as the director of music at Cedar Point and as the instructor of the Sandusky Band and Orchestra. He wrote the Cedar Point March in 1902, the first piece of music dedicated to the resort.

In 1898, Eugene Ackley joined Professor Leon’s Military Band of Toledo and took part in the inaugural exercises in Columbus at the State Capital for the inaugural exercises of the second term governor Asa Bushnell.

E.B. Ackley married Ida Frohman in 1904. For many years, he ran a successful billiard parlor equipped with twelve tables. At the time of his death in 1957, he was the chairman of the board of the Western Security Bank. He is buried at Oakland Cemetery.

Who Are the Men in the Under the Baton Banner?

The Sandusky Library is pleased to announce the documentary film Under the Baton: Music at Old Cedar Point. The premiere screening will take place on Friday, November 1 at 7:15 p.m., with additional presentations on Thursday, November 7 at 6:30 p.m., Thursday, November 14 at 10:30 a.m., and Friday, November 15 at 1:30 p.m., all at the Sandusky Library’s Program Room. The television premiere will be on November 14 at 8:00 p.m. on WGTE, Toledo.

You may be wondering about the names of the men featured in the picture of Ackley’s Band, which appears on the promotional flyers related to the documentary:

This photograph of Ackley’s Band was taken in the early 1900s. From left to right in the back row are: Ed Senne, John Bauman, M. McAdams, A. Becker, William Hauser, J. Thomas, F. Ortman, and F.W. Bauer. In the front row are: N. Bergmoser, Elmer Center, W. Scott, J. Samsel, F. Bauman, George Godfrey, C. Schaufelberger, and E.B. Ackley.  We know more details about some of the band members than others. Ed Senne played in several local musical groups, including the Great Western Band, Dials Concert Orchestra, and in the orchestra of the Lakeside Association, besides playing in Ackley’s Band. William Hauser, an uncle of Dr. Norbert Lange, also played in several bands through the years, and survived the tornado of 1924; he was inside his home, which was seriously damaged, but he was not injured. There were three members of the Bauman family in Ackley’s Band. Elmer Center was in the plumbing business for over thirty years, and he also operated the Center Hotel. F.W. Bauer went on to serve as Erie County Auditor, and he was instrumental in the founding of Winnebago Park, now known as Lions Park.

George Godfrey conducted a series of free concerts at the Big Store in the spring of 1902.  Mr. Godfrey’s musical composition entitled Sandusky’s Big Store March and Two-Step was published by the C.L. Engels Company in Sandusky, Ohio.

 E.B. Ackley was well known as a band leader and musician.

He also published postcards, operated a billiards parlor, was director of music at Cedar Point and served as the instructor of the Sandusky Band and Orchestra. He wrote the Cedar Point March in 1902, the first piece of music dedicated to the resort. Ackley’s Band contributed greatly to the cultural heritage of Cedar Point and Sandusky. Many of our grandparents and great grandparents had the pleasure of hearing them play, when live music was a significant form of entertainment, before radio and television brought music to the masses.

Michael A. McAdams, Musician and Printer

Michael A. McAdams was born in Quebec, Canada in 1856. He came to Sandusky, Ohio in 1891 to play with the Cedar Point band. He can be seen with his tuba in the back row of the Ackley Band at Cedar Point in the picture below; he was a member of the band for more than twenty years.

During the winter seasons, Mr. McAdams traveled as a musician with several theatrical groups, including Howe and White’s Circus, the Buffalo Bill tent show, and Bailey & Myers tent show. 

Besides being a popular musician, Michael McAdams also was employed as a printer for several years by the Register Publishing Company. Around 1918 his eyesight began to fail. An article in the March 13, 1924 issue of the Sandusky Register featured an article about a benefit concert performed on his behalf by the Ackley Band. The article stated, in part, “From the moment the conductor raised his baton for the first note of the Sousa March ‘Fairest of the Fair’ till the echoes from the last notes of the ‘The Star Spangled Banner’ died away in the final offering, the program was one of artistic portrayal and mastery of detail.” Mr. McAdams surprised the audience by coming onto the stage and playing a tuba solo, “My Old Kentucky Home,” and “Asleep in the Deep.” This was his first appearance in a public concert in a number of years, and the audience was delighted with his performance. The Register article said that McAdams showed “old time expertness that always made him a favored player in the days of Sandusky’s crack bass bands.”  

On April 18, 1928, Michael A. McAdams died at the Union Printers’ Home in Denver, Colorado.  An obituary, found in the 1928 Obituary Notebook at the Sandusky Library, stated that McAdams had remained friends with E.B. Ackley and other Sandusky musicians throughout the years. The printers’ union as well as several benefit band concerts for Mr. McAdams, aided in making his last days more comfortable.

Music and Musicians at Cedar Point

(Reposted) The premiere of the video presentation, Under the Baton: Music at Old Cedar Point, will be at the Sandusky Library on Friday, November 1, at 7PM; a lecture on the subject by Dr. Steven Plank, Oberlin College, with a question & answer session, will follow. 

Since the late nineteenth century, a variety of bands, orchestras, and singers have been associated with Cedar Point.  Highlighted in this post are just a few of the individuals and groups associated with the resort's long, rich musical history. Charles Baetz an early general manager at Cedar Point, founded the Great Western Band in 1867. Baetz was born in Renghausen, Germany in 1836, where he learned the violin and cornet as a young man.  In 1854 he immigrated to the United States. He was the principal musician for Company A of the 128th Ohio Volunteer Infantry during the Civil War.  He participated in seven battles, and then returned home where he directed the military band at the federal prison on Johnson's Island, which was just across the bay from Sandusky.

The Great Western Band performed at Cedar Point for concerts and dances until about 1892.

The Ackley Band, founded by E.B. Ackley, was the successor to the Great Western Band.

E.B. Ackley came to Sandusky in 1893. He was the instructor of the Sandusky Band and Orchestra, and he also worked as the director of music at Cedar Point. Several members of Ackley's Band appear in the picture below, taken at Cedar Point.

In 1902, E.B. Ackley published the Cedar Point Two-Step. The music was arranged for Band, Orchestra, Mandolin and Guitar, and was dedicated to the Cedar Point Pleasure Resort Company.

Other compositions of sheet music dedicated to Cedar Point include Cedar Point March, by Francesco P. Russo (1910), the Cedar Point March composed by T. J. Martin (no date listed),  and Cedar Point That’s the Place, composed in honor of G.A. Boeckling by J. Otto Martin in 1922.

Charles Bauman was a member of both the Great Western Band and Ackley's Band.

From 1914 to 1919, Leopold Adler was the popular director of the orchestra at Cedar Point. He conducted hundreds of concerts in the Coliseum.

 Leopold Adler composed the G.A. Boeckling March in 1916. The G.A. Boeckling March was played in the Coliseum at every concert directed by Leopold Adler.

During the Great Depression and World War Two, big bands performed in the Coliseum's Grand Ballroom. Bands included: Woody Herman, Blue Barron, Guy Lombardo, Benny Goodman, and Ozzie Nelson’s band.

Today several venues at Cedar Point offer live musical performances throughout the park's season. To read more about the history of Cedar Point, see the book Cedar Point: The Queen of American Watering Places, by David W. and Diane DeMali Francis (Amusement Park Books, 1995), available at the Sandusky Library.

William Hauser, Musician

William Hauser was born in 1858 to John and Margaret (Schmidt) Hauser. When he was age 15, he became a member of the Great Western Band in Sandusky. When the Great Western Band disbanded, he became associated with Ackley’s Band. William Hauser can be seen on the far right in the back row, in the picture of Ackley’s Band below.

Mr. Hauser was among the musicians who took part in the dedication of the first Water Works in Sandusky in 1876.

When the 1924 tornado struck in Sandusky, William Hauser was inside his residence at 622 East Market Street in Sandusky. Though the house was destroyed, he survived the tornado with just a few minor injuries.

William Hauser continued as a musician throughout his life. When the Sandusky Musical Union put on a performance of Max Bruch’s oratorio Odysseus, he played the viola in the orchestra.

On November 13, 1928 William Hauser died after suffering a heart attack, at the home of his sister Mrs. Emma Wirth. He was survived by two sisters and a brother. He was laid to rest in the family lot at Sandusky’s Oakland Cemetery. A nephew who survived him was Dr. Norbert A. Lange, a chemistry professor at Western Reserve University, who is known for writing the classic text Handbook of Chemistry. Dr. Lange and his wife were the benefactors for The Norbert A. and Marion Cleaveland Lange Trust of Sandusky Library, which has provided cultural and educational programs for Erie County residents for over twenty five years. Dr. Norbert Lange and Marion Cleaveland Lange translated into English the book Sandusky "Einst und Jetzt" which was originally written in the German language by Rev. Ernst Von Schulenburg. Members of both the Hauser and Lange families contributed greatly to the rich cultural heritage of Sandusky and Erie County.

Ohio’s Lake Erie Vacationland Postcards

Several postcards published by E.B. Ackley, a popular musician and band leader in Sandusky, are in the collection of historical postcards at the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center. These four postcards are from the Ohio’s Lake Erie Vacationland series. Notes on the items indicate that they were Art-Colortone postcards printed by the Curt Teich Company in Chicago, Illinois. The Cedar Point pier is featured on the first postcard.

The Sandusky Yacht Club is the topic of this postcard.

Multi-colored lights enhance the water in the Boy with the Boot Fountain, in a night time view of Sandusky’s Washington Park.

A daytime view of the Erie County Courthouse and the Boy with the Boot Fountain is the focus of this postcard.

While we do not know the exact dates of these Ackley postcards, they were most likely created in the 1930s.

Sandusky High School Orchestra in 1910

In 1910 the Sandusky High School Orchestra was directed by Eugene B. Ackley, a well known musician and band leader. Several of the students in the school’s orchestra became prominent individuals in a number of different fields. Edward Hastings Vietmeier became the president of the Sandusky Sash and Door Company. Dr. Elmer H. Wirth was a professor at the University of Illinois from 1922 through1947, serving as Head of the Department of Pharmacognosy for several years. He was the author of seven books and more than 300 articles on pharmacy. Dr. Norbert Lange was a chemistry professor at Western Reserve University, who is known for writing the classic text Handbook of Chemistry. Dr. Lange and his wife were the benefactors for The Norbert A. and Marion Cleaveland Lange Trust of Sandusky Library, which has provided cultural and educational programs for Erie County residents for over twenty five years. Leonard Osberg served three two year terms as the Mayor of Vermilion in the 1940s. Corydon Bell, along with his wife Thelma, wrote several children’s books in the 1940s and 1950s. William Kerber lived to be 96 years of age. Mr. Kerber was a steel executive who managed the country's pig iron production during World War II. He died in Washington D.C. in April, 1990. These men, who achieved great things, got their start in Sandusky. Visit the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center to learn more about the lives of the individuals who called Sandusky home.

Professor Ferdinand Puehringer, Conductor and Composer

Ferdinand Puehringer led a band at Cedar Point in the 1880s. He is pictured below with several  band members, including Fred Bauman, Maxwell Godfrey, J. Bolton, Ed Pelding, M. McAdams, Joseph Bock, and Max Wintrich. (Fred Bauman was a pioneer musician in Sandusky, having also been director of the Great Western Band and a member of Ackley’s Band. Read more about Fred Bauman in the 1922 Obituary Notebook, located in the Archives Research Center.)

Before moving to Cleveland in 1872, Ferdinand Puehringer was a professor at Wittenberg College. While in Cleveland, he was associated with many musical groups, including the Boys Band, a singing and orchestra school, and the Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1889, Professor Puehringer accepted a position with the S. Brainard Sons Company, a musical publishing house in Chicago. He wrote the Chicago Life Waltz in 1890, and also produced several operas, including The Czar and Zimmerman, and The Bohemian Girl.

Ferdinand Puehringer died in 1930, and his wife Mary Emich Puehringer died in 1938. They left behind a daughter Ritta Caldwell. 

(*Note: As often is the case in the spelling of surnames of European origin, Ferdinand’s last name was alternatively spelled Pueringer or Pureinger.)