Portraits of Walter and Edwin Sprau

Walter Sprau gave this picture of himself to his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Edward C. Sprau, on Christmas Day in 1915, when he was eleven years old. Walter was very active in Grace Episcopal Church, and he may be wearing a church choir robe in his portrait.  Walter’s brother Edwin gave his parents this picture on Christmas Day in 1916.

 Mr. and Mrs. Edward C. Sprau were the parents of three sons. Walter and Edwin had a younger brother named Emmett. The Sprau family owned and operated a grocery store at the northeast corner of Camp and Jefferson Street from the early 1900s to the 1950s. Edwin and Emmett helped their father in the family business. The E.C. Sprau grocery store is pictured below in 1908, with two of the Sprau boys standing in front of the door of the grocery store.

      

Sadly, Edwin Sprau died at the age of 39 in 1942. He had been very active in baseball circles. He was secretary of the Sandusky Baseball Federation, secretary-treasurer of the Northern Ohio Baseball League, and had also been associated with the Firelands Baseball League, the Junior Leagues of Sandusky, and the Church Indoor League. Walter Sprau died in 1964 at the age of 60. Walter and his brother Emmett were both employed by the Erie Proving Grounds in Ottawa County.  The Sandusky Library Archives Research Center is fortunate to have hundreds of historical pictures of Sandusky families and businesses in its collections.