Cora Gated, the Child of Hinde and Dauch

While not human, “Cora Gated” was a female who was often seen in Sandusky in the 1950’s. “Cora Gated” was a trademark of the Hinde and Dauch Paper Company, as seen on this silver lighter, which is now in the collections of The Follett House Museum.

On February 24, 1953,  the company filed for a trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.  “Cora Gated” was a representation of a woman wearing a cardboard box hat and clothing in the shape of a corrugated box, one of the primary products manufactured by Hinde and Dauch. The trademark was registered on April 27, 1954.

Below are the several design codes associated with the “Cora Gated” trademark, which had the serial number 716442639.

Design Search Code

02.03.16 - Hats (women wearing); Women wearing hats 02.03.26 - Grotesque women formed by letters, numbers, punctuation or geometric shapes 04.07.02 - Objects forming a person; Person formed by objects 19.07.09 - Boxes, bread; Boxes, jewelry; Boxes, take out food; Boxes, tissue; Recipe boxes 26.05.02 - Plain single line triangles; Triangles, plain single line 26.05.13 - Triangles, exactly two triangles; Two triangles 26.05.21 - Triangles that are completely or partially shaded

 “Cora Gated” is no longer an active trademark, but she brings back memories of days gone by

in Sandusky.

Lawrence V. Kerber, Aeronautical Engineer

Lawrence Vincent Kerber was born in Sandusky, Ohio in 1895 to John and Christina (Knauer) Kerber. He graduated from Sandusky High School in 1913. After attending Kenyon College for a time, he graduated with high honors from the University of Michigan in 1918, with a Bachelor’s Degree in mechanical engineering. From 1927 to 1929, he was the Daniel Guggenheim Professor of Applied Aeronautics at the University of Michigan. Mr. Kerber was a pioneer in the aviation industry, and he wrote several aeronautical textbooks and flight manuals. He also published technical reports on airplane performance.  

In his work at McCook Field in Dayton, he designed three pursuit planes. In 1921 John A. Macready achieved an altitude record of 34,509 feet in an airplane designed by Kerber. Later, for several years Mr. Kerber served as president of Spartan Aircraft Corporation. 

After a lengthy illness, Lawrence V. Kerber passed away in California on August 2, 1971. An obituary appeared in the August 17, 1971 issue of the Sandusky Register.

Roosevelt Birthday Balls Held in Sandusky

From 1934 through 1942, balls in honor of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s birthday were held in Sandusky, Ohio. Sponsored by the National Committee for Birthday Balls, a portion of the proceeds from the dances went to the Warm Springs Foundation for their work for the sufferers of infantile paralysis, a disease that had had seriously impacted President Roosevelt himself. 

In 1934 and 1935, the National Birthday Ball for the President was held at Jackson Junior High School. The gymnasium was decorated to resemble the Georgia Hall at Warm Springs. On the morning of January 31, 1934, assemblies were held in Sandusky schools, to educate the students about the history and work of the Warm Springs Foundation. Each youngster was asked to donate one penny as a contribution to the Foundation.

In 1934, Sandusky residents raised $623 at the Roosevelt Birthday Ball. Nationwide there were 600 celebrations, which raised over one million dollars for the Warm Springs Foundation. Beginning in 1936, and continuing until 1942, most years the Roosevelt Birthday Balls were held at the Elks and Eagles Lodges. In 1942, the Plum Brook Ordnance Works sponsored a Birthday Ball for the President at Rainbow Garden in Fremont.  Irving Berlin composed a song in 1942 in honor of the President’s Birthday. Below is a copy of an announcement for the 1940 President’s Birthday Ball from the January 27, 1940 issue of the Sandusky Register.

Today the March of Dimes Foundation continues to raise funds used to improve the health of women and infants.

Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Greenfelder, Jr.

Jacob Greenfelder, Jr. was born in Sandusky, Ohio in 1851, shortly after his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Greenfelder, Sr., emigrated from Bavaria to the United States. Jacob, Jr. worked for many years as a traveling sales agent for the Kuebeler Brewery (pictured below). He was a charter member of the Western Reserve Lodge No. 128, Knights of Pythias.

In 1874 Jacob Greenfelder,Jr. married Henrietta Lange, the daugher of well known Sandusky druggist, F.R. Lange. Dr. Ernst von Schulenberg was the officiating minister.

Henrietta Lange, often known as “Aunt Hattie,” was born in Sandusky in 1854, to F.R. and Emilie Lange. Henrietta’s mother died when she was young.

In the early 1890s, Henrietta Lange Greenfelder and Mrs. William Altstaetter co-founded the German Ladies’ Sewing Circle, later known as the United Ladies’ Sewing Circle. The ladies met weekly. Members sewed bedding for local hospitals, and made charitable contributions for those in need in the community, especially women and children. Though she had moved to Cincinnati by 1916, Mrs. Greenfelder came back to Sandusky when the United Ladies’ Sewing Circle celebrated their twenty-fifth anniversary. An article in the January 26, 1916 issue of the Sandusky Star Journal reported that “many burdens have been lightened and hearts made glad” by the work and thoughtfulness of the members of the United Ladies’ Sewing Circle. 

Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Greenfelder, Jr. moved to Cincinnati in 1897, where the both died in 1925; they were buried in Spring Grove Cemetery. Many friends and family still living in Sandusky mourned their loss.

J. E. Bragg’s Address on the Centralization of Township Schools

John E. Bragg served as a legislator in the Ohio General Assembly during 82^nd, 83^rd, and 85^th sessions (1917-1921; 1923-1925). He was a fifty-year member of the Margaretta Grange, a charter member of the Ohio Farm Bureau, and a lifetime member of the Woodmen of the World. John Bragg married Zella Deyo in 1893, and they were married for over sixty-three years. Both the Bragg and Deyo families have roads named for them in Erie County.  On January 24, 1947, Mr. A. B. Graham, who is considered the “father” of 4-H programs in the United States, sent a letter to the Sandusky Library. Under separate cover, Mr. Graham mailed a publication containing the address by J. E. Bragg on the topic of “Centralization of Township Schools: The Transportation Problem.” The address was given in Sandusky County on March 28, 1908.

 In his address, Mr. Bragg promotes the centralization of rural schools. He discussed the process of bidding for transportation provides and gave examples of how other Ohio school districts handled centralizing their township schools.  He went to cover discipline of the students, safety issues, and the quality of the construction of school vehicles. At the time of the publication, horse drawn vehicles were still in use. Pictured in a page below is a photograph of children arriving at school, circa 1908.

  

Mr. Bragg concluded his address with: “Friends and neighbors, study this school problem, both centralization and transportation, and I doubt not if you will let the torch of reason burn, you will soon agree with me if you do not today, when I say the little red school house has outlived its usefulness, and it is high time that were beginning to enlarge its walls.” Of course, today the one room schoolhouse in Ohio is now the exception, and many schools do have centralized transportation plans. Mr. Bragg’s address is found in the Schools Collection of the Archives Research Center of the Sandusky Library. You can read Mr. Bragg’s obituary in the November 12, 1956 issue of the Sandusky Register. It is interesting to read about the political thoughts regarding education from over one hundred years ago.

Memories from a 1963 Sandusky Telephone Directory

Housed in Archival Box D-14 is this Sandusky Telephone Directory, published by Ohio Bell Telephone in 1963. A princess phone graces the cover of the directory. Special features of the princess phone was its petite size and light-up dial.

A relatively new function of telephones in the Ohio Bell system in 1963 was the ability to dial long distance phone calls directly, using the digit 1 and the area phone before the regular telephone number. As you can see in the alphabetical listings of telephone numbers, Sandusky Library had the same telephone number that it has today: 419-625-3834.

Many residents will recall the International College of Beauty, owned and operated by Jon Knapp, who was the hairdresser of Miss America 1963, Jackie Mayer.

Before Standard Oil was bought out by British Petroleum, Baxter’s Sohio station offered round the class road services for automobile drivers. There were several service stations located at the intersection of Tiffin Avenue and Venice Road in the 1960s.

  

Surfside 66, a seafood and steak restaurant at Battery Park offered drive-in as well as boat-in service to customers.

Long before online shopping and cell phones were widely available, Ohio Bell’s slogan was “Let your fingers do the walking!”

Visit the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center to see this vintage telephone directory, and many, many more resources which document the history of Sandusky and Erie County.

Sandusky Police Department Vehicles from the 1920s and 1930s

Officer Chris Sehlmeyer of the Sandusky Police Department is pictured above at the seat of a new police emergency vehicle. It appears that the car is on an assembly line or testing facility. (We don't know the details.) Note the spare tire, located right on the outside of the car door. 

In 1931, Chris stood in front of another new police vehicle.

   

Christian J. Sehlmeyer held many positions with the Sandusky Police Department, where he worked from the 1920s through 1944. He was a traffic officer, detective, and achieved the rank of Sergeant. He died on May 22, 1971, and he was survived by his wife, three sons, and five grandchildren. Below is a group photograph of members of the Sandusky Police Department in 1937. Sergeant Sehlmeyer is in uniform near the center of the front row.

   

Notes on the original picture identify each person.

To learn more about the past members of the Sandusky Police Department, you can view the historical roster at the city of Sandusky’s website.

Law Partnership of F.D. Parish and E.B. Sadler

Two of Sandusky's most prominent early lawyers, F.D. Parish and E.B. Sadler were partners in a legal office in Sandusky, Ohio. Hewson Peeke wrote in A Standard History of Erie County, Ohio (Lewis Publishing Company, 1916), that F.D. Parish was the second lawyer in Erie County, following Eleutheros Cooke. In 1836 F.D. Parish went into a legal partnership with E.B. Sadler. Their office was on Public Square in Sandusky, near the old Courthouse, often known as the Academy because it once served as a school.

It appears that F.D. Parish was the senior partner, because his name always appeared first in the listing.

The partnership continued until 1847, when Mr. Sadler left to take the position of presiding judge of the Court of Common Pleas of the 13th Judicial Circuit, which then included the counties of Erie, Huron, Sandusky, Ottawa, Lucas, Wood and Henry. On February 15, 1847, the partnership between F.D. Parish and E.B. Sadler was dissolved.

A copy of the dissolution notice is found in the historical files of the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center. Though the partnership ended, it appears that E.B. Sadler was trying to tie up loose ends. In the letter below from Mr. Sadler to a “Brother Norman,” E.B. Sadler requested that fees owed in some recent legal matters were to be paid.

F.D. Parish went to become well known as an abolitionist who took an active part in the Underground Railroad. E.B. Sadler served as Mayor of Sandusky from 1844 to 1845.

Frank Cable and Family

The Frank Cable family is pictured above in the late 1890s. Frank’s wife was the former Ida Schwind. Their daughters were Clara, Florence and Stella. Frank, along with his father Laurence Cable and his brother Edward, was active in real estate development in Sandusky in the early twentieth century. The Cable family developed Cable Park, a residential neighborhood on Sandusky’s Wayne Street, and they were key donors to the former Providence Hospital. Below we see Frank Cable standing outside the home in which he grew up, at the southwest corner of Central Avenue and Monroe Street.

Frank and Ida’s daughter Clara Cable married Leo Wagner, who operated a florist shop in Sandusky for many years on Columbus Avenue.

Clara Cable Wagner

 Florence Cable married attorney George C. Steinemann.

Florence Cable Steinemann

Youngest daughter Stella went on to marry Dr. M.A. Wagner. After the the doctor's death, Stella wed Roman Burnor, and they made their home in Toledo, Ohio.

Mrs. Ida Schwind Cable died at the young age of 40, in a hospital in San Antonio, Texas following a serious illness. The telegram announcing her death was delivered to the Cable family on the very day that the Providence Hospital dedication took place, in April 1904. The original Providence Hospital had once been the home of C.C. Keech on Hayes Avenue.

  

Frank Laurence Cable died at the Sawyer Sanitarium in Marion, Ohio on December 14, 1913. Sadly, his brother Edward Cable had died just a few weeks earlier. The Cable family left their mark on Sandusky, Ohio. If you would like to learn more about this family and their many contributions to our community, visit the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center, where you can view the Cable Family Collection.

Mrs. George Thornton, Daughter of Oran Follett

Nancy Filer Follett was the youngest child of Oran Follett and his first wife, Nancy Filer.

In 1830, when young Nancy was just an infant, her mother died. Her father married Eliza Gill Ward on November 22, 1832, so it seems likely that Eliza Follett was the only mother that Nancy Filer Follett ever knew. By 1840, Oran and Eliza Follett and several Follett children, including Nancy, were living in Sandusky, in their lovely home on Wayne Street.

In 1853 Nancy Follett married George Thornton, a successful businessman in Sandusky. George and Nancy Thornton had two children, a son Ralph, and a daughter Mary. Ralph Thornton died in Sandusky, at age 5, and Mary survived until only age 22.  

Nancy Follett Thornton served on the first Board of Managers of the Library Association of Sandusky, known fondly as the "Ladies' Library Association." The December 1900 issue of the Firelands Pioneer stated that Mrs. George Thornton was the kind adviser and secretary of the Ladies Library Association. She made several strong appeals to the residents of Sandusky for financial support for the library. (A brief history of the Sandusky Library is found at the library’s website.) After residing in Sandusky from the 1850's through the 1870's, George and Nancy Thornton moved to the Cincinnati area. George Thornton died in 1890, and Nancy passed away in 1896. They are buried in Spring Grove Cemetery in Hamilton County, Ohio. Nancy Filer Follett Thornton was a vibrant woman, working for community causes, in spite of suffering deep personal losses. She outlived her parents, her husband, and both of her children.