George Reber’s Homes on West Washington Street

According to Helen Hansen’s book At Home in Early Sandusky, the materials and workmanship were “of the finest” quality when George Reber built this stone house at what is now 803 West Washington Street. Reber was born in Lancaster, Ohio in 1809, and he moved to Sandusky in 1838. He was a prominent attorney in Sandusky for many years. His home at 803 West Washington Street was built about 1849. The home originally featured a large entrance hall, and a stairway made of cherry wood. An earlier residence was located at 603 West Washington Street, built in about 1846. The Rebers’ next door neighbors at their earlier residence were Mr. and Mrs. William Townsend, who died in the 1849 cholera epidemic.

During the years of litigation among the early proprietors of the city of Sandusky, George Reber served as one of the lawyers. After the suits were settled, Mr. Reber secured a large amount of real estate, which he improved and then left to his family after his death in 1885. He was married twice, first to the former Amanda Boalt, and secondly to Nancy Stiles Kilbourne, the widow of James Kilbourne. One of George Reber’s daughters, Sallie Reber, was a popular singer on the New York stage. A grandson, Reber Nettleton Johnson, became a well known violinist, and later was on the faculty of the Oberlin Conservatory.

You can read more about the residences of more early Sandusky residents in At Home in Early Sandusky. The book was based on a series of historical articles by Mrs. Hansen which appeared in the Sandusky Register in 1958 and 1959.