Once again, October is Archives Month, and the Sandusky Library will be offering several local history events in commemoration.This year's theme is "Elections in the Archives." Therefore we'll start the month with a program on Saturday, October 4, at 2PM in the library program room, where we will have a sort of "show and tell" from the library's archival collections, describing elections and the electoral process in Sandusky, from the very first local election in 1824 to more recent times. There will be plenty of artifacts and historical documents to view, and we might even talk a little about Archives Month and the importance of archives in our lives.
I work on a voting records project for the American Antiquarian Society based out of the Tufts University Digital Collections and Archives and wanted to let you know a little info. You mention the first local election from 1824. Yet on page 146 of Twentieth Century History of Sandusky County, Ohio by Basil Meek (pub. 1909), it mentions the first elections in Sandusky County were held on 3 April, 1820, in the townships of Sandusky and Croghan for the offices of sheriff, commissioner and coroner. Willis E. Brown was elected sheriff, Oliver Granger was elected coroner and on 4 April, 1820, Morris A. Newman and Jeremiah Everett were sworn in as the first county commissioners.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment. I think we are both right, but we are in different locations. There is a Sandusky Township in Sandusky County, but it is not the same as the city of Sandusky. The city of Sandusky is not, nor has ever been, in Sandusky County. From the time of its founding in 1818 (and earlier as Portland Township) until 1838, Sandusky city was in Huron County; since 1838 it has been a part of Erie County.
ReplyDeleteThe name Sandusky is a frequent source of confusion because of the many localities and landmarks in this region that have Sandusky in their names (e.g., Sandusky County, Upper Sandusky, Lower Sandusky [no longer used], Sandusky Township, etc.). You would think that the city of Sandusky would be in Sandusky County, but that is not the case.
Thanks again for your message, and if you find other information about elections in Sandusky, we'd be glad to hear about it. I'm certainly not an expert in that subject.