John Dean's Pew at Grace Church

 This is the deed to pew number 67 in Grace Episcopal Church, issued by the parish to John Dean on August 27, 1866, granting him and his heirs the right to exclusive use of the pew in perpetuity, for a payment of fifty dollars (equivalent to a little more than $1000 today). It was common through the nineteenth century for churches to sell access to specific pews, to raise funds for the church and to recognize the prominence of certain parishioners. 

Grace Episcopal Church was founded in Sandusky in 1835, and has the oldest church building in the city. The original version of the building was completed in 1843; The towers, as seen in the photo above (circa 1870), were constructed in 1858. Other modifications have been made to the church over the years, and can be recognized by the difference in colors of stone.

John Dean, the owner of pew #67, had a productive life in Sandusky. He was born in 1835 in Tydd St. Mary, Lincolnshire, England, and came to Sandusky as a boy with his parents, William and Susannah Dean. He married Susan Belton in Sandusky on New Year's Day 1859, and together they had four sons and three daughters. He served two years in the United States Army during the Civil War years. He was a fisherman by profession. He died in 1892 and is buried with his wife in Oakland Cemetery.

Happy Thanksgiving

This is a repost from 2006

As many of you might remember learning in grade school, the first "official" Thanksgiving was proclaimed by President Abraham Lincoln during the height of the Civil War, in 1863, in honor of the first Thanksgiving held by the pilgrims in Plymouth during the 17th century. But even before President Lincoln made Thanksgiving a holiday, it was traditionally celebrated by many people. The first letter below is evidence of that:

In this letter, Judge Samuel Caldwell of Sandusky has invited Samuel Butler and his wife Clara to his home for Thanksgiving dinner. (We know pumpkin pie was on the menu!) The date of the letter is November 23, 1846, nearly twenty years before the national holiday was observed. (It is also interesting to note that even then Thanksgiving was celebrated on a Thursday in November -- nobody seems to know for sure why this day was chosen.)

The second letter is from Eliza Follett, the wife of Oran Follett, requesting contributions from local residents to provide Thanksgiving food to the wives and children of soldiers serving in the Civil War. Mrs. Follett was very active in community service and charitable work, as can be inferred from this letter.

Have a happy Thanksgiving. . .

John V. Brost, Marble Worker

John V. Brost was born in Germany in 1811, to Jacob and Sophy Brost. His wife was the former Christina Meck. By 1860 John and Christina Brost and several children were residing in Sandusky, Erie County, Ohio, where John was employed as a marble cutter. Their five children ranged in age from one to seventeen. When Sandusky resident Henry Walter died in 1863, John V. Brost created this monument for him. Mr. Walter’s tombstone can be seen at Oakland Cemetery.

He signed the tombstone as J.V. Brost.

In the 1880 U.S. Census, he listed his occupation as wine dealer, but the J.V. Brost and Son Marble Works was still in business, as recorded in the 1882 city directory.

According to Erie County Probate Court death records, John V. Brost died on September 21, 1889 due to "old age."

Ironically, although he worked as a marble cutter most of his life, the monument for John and Christina Brost at Oakland Cemetery is metal, made of zinc, most likely manufactured at a foundry outside of Sandusky and shipped to the cemetery.

Sandusky and Vacationland in WPA Guides

 

The Federal Writers’ Project was a part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s W.P.A. - known as the Works Progress Administration from 1935 to 1939, and the Work Projects Administration from 1939 to its conclusion in 1943. Guides to each of the then 48 states in the U.S., as well as Alaska, Puerto Rico and Washington D.C., were written during these years, along with guides to smaller regions, including "Vacationland," a term used at the time for the Lake Erie Islands region (including Sandusky). 

The WPA Guide to Ohio featured three sections: general background, cities, and tours. Sandusky was one of the featured cities in the Ohio Guide. 

On page 308 of the book, the authors described Sandusky as “a magical place, when its numerous parks and old shade trees shower their colors everywhere, its limestone buildings take on a regal dignity, its bay quickens with the touch-and-go of barges, tugs, pleasure boats and freighters, and thousands of brightly dressed tourists overrun the city.”

The section of the book on Sandusky continues with historical facts about the city, along with a description of local industries. The Oran Follett House was listed as one of the “Points of Interest” in Sandusky.

The Lake Erie Vacationland in Ohio book offered descriptions of Ohio's Lake Erie islands and communities in Erie and Ottawa Counties, and some suggested tour routes.

It also included a number of photographs and a map of the region.

In November, 1941, the Sandusky Library celebrated American Guide Week, with a display of books from the American Guide Week series.

The Ohio Guide can be borrowed through the Hoopla digital service, or a print copy can be requested through Clevnet. A reprint copy of the Vacationland book can be checked out from the Sandusky Library, or you can view an original copy in the library's Archives Research Center to learn more about our region as it looked in the 1930s.

The Dorastus Snow Family and a Wartime Raid in Margaretta Township

 According to the September 1860 Firelands Pioneer, Dorastus P. Snow was the first white settler in Margaretta Township. He built a log house and also constructed a grist mill on Cold Creek. In 1813, there were three families living in the area of Cold Creek, those of Dorastus P. Snow, and the families of Mr. Butler and Mr. Putnam.

A copy of the map of Dorastus Snow's property along Cold Creek in 1823

In June of 1813, while the men were in the fields, the women and children of the families were attacked by sixteen Odawa (Ottawa) men allied with the British who controlled Fort Detroit during the War of 1812. The women were told they would be taken to Detroit. Mrs. Hannah Snow, however, was physically unable to travel due to an illness (or pregnancy), so she and three of the children were killed, while the rest of the group was taken to Detroit and given over to the British agent named Ironside. All the survivors were eventually returned to safety by the Fall of the same year, when United States forces established contact with the British in Detroit.

After life returned to normal at the end of the war, Dorastus Snow married Anna Faulk in 1818, and they had a son named Charles Snow. (After Mr. Snow’s death in 1824, Anna married Philip Cowell, and they had several children.) The Firelands Pioneer lists the children of Dorastus Snow from his first marriage as: Henry, Alanson, Willard, Electa, and Laura. 

Charles and Willard Snow are both buried in the Castalia Cemetery of Margaretta Township.  The inscription on Willard Snow's tombstone (pictured below) is in memory of his mother and brother who were murdered in 1813. (Though the stone reads 1812, all other sources indicate that the killings took place in 1813.) Willard Snow died on January 22, 1875. He was a Veteran of the Civil War, having served in the 40^th Illinois Volunteer Infantry.

 

There are several accounts of the Snow Massacre. You can read about it in Lewis Cass Aldrich’s A Standard History of Erie County, Ohio, as well as The History of the Firelands, by W. W. Williams, both available at the Archives Research Center of the Sandusky Library.

The Tragic Life and Death of George Scudder

 

According to an article in the August 11, 1884 issue of the Sandusky Register, George T. Scudder took his own life on August 9, 1884. The article states that George shot himself on Friday evening, and died early Saturday morning. He left a letter, but according to the Register, it was “too sacred to be published in full.” In the letter he left his property to his sisters and bid them good bye. 

In the 1880 U.S. Census, George was age 16, and lived with his widowed mother, and his older brother and sisters Sandusky, Ohio. The 1867 Sandusky City Directory listed the occupation of George's father, William H. Scudder, as a grape grower. William Scudder died in 1874; his wife Louise died in 1880. By 1884, with both parents deceased, George and his brother Arthur R. Scudder were working as clerks at the B & O Railroad freight office on Water Street. They resided at 1115 Washington Street with their sisters Minnie (Mary) and Kate (Katherine). 

This bill for the tombstone of George Scudder is on file in the historical collections of the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center. His sister Minnie Scudder bought the stone from A. Hornig of the Sandusky Steam Marble and Granite Works on Columbus Avenue and Campbell Street, at a total cost of $16.50 ($539 in present value).

The Scudder family monument is located at Block 26 at Sandusky's Oakland Cemetery.

The names of George's parents, William H. Scudder, who died on February 12, 1874 and Louise Russell Scudder, who died on December 28, 1880 appear together on the side of the monument that faces west. The names of George's sisters, Mary Louise Scudder and Katherine S. Scudder appear together on the side of the Scudder family monument which faces east. The name of a member of the Russell family, Mary A. Russell (1802-1883) is on the side of the monument which faces north. George T. Scudder’s name appears on the side of the monument which faces south (seen above). While we know that M. L. Scudder purchased a tombstone in 1885 in honor of George T. Scudder, it seems likely that the family monument presently at Oakland Cemetery, along with several separate stones in memory of individual Scudder and Russell family members, were purchased at a later date.

School Children 100+ Years Ago

 

Pictured above is a group of children from classes 3-A and 4-B at Sycamore School in 1919. Most of the young people look very serious. While the students have not been identified, we know that Polly Smith is among the children in the picture. Sycamore School was built in 1876, and hosted students for more than 100 years, until the building was repurposed into apartments in 1984.

The four young men above were on the second team of the Eagles basketball team in 1920. (We don't have information about the team, but it may have been in a recreational/intramural league.) The surnames of the boys were listed on the back of the original picture. From left to right are: Meinzer, Schemenaur, Stephens, and Pusateri.

The students above were in class 3-B from Campbell School in 1919. There are 45 children in the group, but only one person has been identified. Thomas Rotsinger, the donor of the photograph, is the fourth person from the left, second row from bottom.

The Eighth Ward School, later known as Campbell School, was built in 1885 by Adam Feick and brothers and designed by J.C. Johnson. The building is now home to Nehemiah Partners of Sandusky, a nonprofit group that serves area youth.

The students above were in the first grade class at Monroe School (Ninth Ward) in 1911. The Monroe School was built in 1894 to serve the students of what was then the Ninth Ward of Sandusky.

Sandusky Downtown Street Fair 1960

 

In 1960, the downtown merchants of Sandusky hosted a street fair, which was held on July 28, 29 and 30. A committee of thirteen men planned the details for the event.

Four blocks of the downtown area were closed to auto traffic from 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. each day. Merchants were encouraged to dress in old fashioned clothing, and the stores offered sale prices throughout the 3-day event. The W.S. Frankel Company provided 10,000 balloons for the children. Mr. William Barratt from Joseph’s clothing store arranged for special insurance coverage and early truck deliveries. Nicholas Carter from Kresge’s was in charge of giveaway promotional items. Entertainment was provided during each day of the street fair.

Cleveland television personality and performer at Cedar Point Jungle Larry appeared in person on Friday during the Street Fair.

On Friday night, Marilee and Joe Santoro, from the Arthur Murray Dance Studios, gave a dancing exhibition at the intersection of Columbus Avenue and Market Street.

Saturday’s entertainment included a performance by the Perkins High School Dance Band, strolling clowns, and a square dance in the street, called by Jerome Gravenhorst.

An article in the July 30, 1960 issue of the Sandusky Register reported that an estimated 10,000 people attended the Street Fair on Friday night, and several merchants stated that “the crowds were larger Thursday and Friday then for any event they could recall in the past.”

Sandusky held several street fairs through the years. Your parents or grandparents could probably tell you stories about their experiences in downtown Sandusky at the Street Fairs.

Rosemary Schultz Riccardi, aka Xavora Pove

Rosemary Schultz became a talented pianist at a very young age. She was the daughter of Sandusky residents Frank and Mary Schultz. Her mother, the former Mary Walker, had been an opera singer. At the age of three, Rosemary studied piano with Paul Browne Patterson, who operated a music school in Sandusky and founded the Sandusky Choral Society. Later she studied under the popular Swiss musician, Rudoph Ganz. At the age of five, she appeared at the Masonic Auditorium in Cleveland before an audience of 4,000. 

Here she is (center) pictured below with local performer Bonnie Schwerer (left) and another unidentified woman:  

After graduating from St. Mary’s High School, Rosemary moved to New York, where she continued working as a pianist, and took up modeling. In the 1960s, she wrote an astrology column for Harper’s Bazaar, under the pen name Xavora Pove. The following article about Rosemary appeared in the Sandusky Register of January 14, 1967.

In 1968, she helped develop a television game show “Guess My Sign,” which aired in New York City. Through the years Rosemary entertained people throughout the Midwest., and eventually she moved back to Sandusky. She passed away on November 27, 2016, and was survived by her son David. Her husband Patsy Riccardi predeceased Rosemary and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Morris Platte: Baseball Star, Soldier in War, Victim of Influenza

 

On the left of this photograph of the Shamrocks baseball team is Morris "Baldy" Platte, star pitcher for the 1914 Sandusky city champions. He accomplished much in his tragically short life.

Born in Sandusky in 1891, the son of Adolph and Mary, Morris Platte married Elsie Ramm when they were both teenagers. The couple had their first child in 1911, before he had turned twenty years old, and they had three more children in quick succession. (Sadly, their second child died at birth.) He supported his family in jobs that included delivering ice for the City Ice Company in town. But life wasn't all work; he had a passion for baseball, and played for teams including the Sandusky Tool Company team (below) and the Shamrocks, where he helped lead the team from the mound to the city championship.

But after the United States entered the Great War, Morris Platte chose to serve his country and joined the Army. He went to Camp Sherman in Chillicothe for training in July 1918, and quickly advanced up the ranks to Sergeant. Later, he was transferred to Fort Benjamin Harrison for continued training. It was there that he faced the enemy that would defeat him.

During the First World War, nearly as many servicemen died from influenza as from war wounds. Approximately 45,000 died from the flu; 53,400 died in combat. Sadly, Morris Platte was one of the 45,000; he died on base in Indianapolis on October 9, 1918, about one month before the end of the war.