Judge E.B. Sadler’s Memories in Rhyme

The Honorable Ebenezer Brown Sadler was Erie County Common Pleas Judge from 1845 to 1851, and he also served as Mayor and Postmaster of Sandusky, Ohio during his long years of public service.

In the Sunday February 14, 1885 edition of the Sandusky Register there appeared a poem by Judge Sadler entitled “Memories in Rhyme.”

Judge Sadler married Emily Webb in 1843 in West Bloomfield, New York. Mrs. Emily Webb Sadler died of cholera in 1849, and Judge Sadler never re-married. By reading Judge Sadler’s poem, it is clear that his love for Emily did not wane, though she died after they had been married for only a few years. A transcription of “Memories in Rhyme” reads:

Memories in Rhyme – Judge Sadler

Between Bloomfield and Lima, there flows a small stream.

Along a deep valley, from Lake Honeyeye [sic];

I remember the time when ‘twas like a sweet dream,

In its waters to bathe, when I was a boy.

I remember full well, the Hutchinson mill,

With all its surroundings, its bridge, and its race;

And oft do I wonder, it is standing there still;

Or have other structures been raised in its place.

Then there’s old Jockey Hill I can never forget.

Nor the beautiful maiden I there made my bride:

In my dreams, I oft fancy I see her there still,

Lovingly smiling, sitting close by my side.

She departed long since, through the shadowy vale,

The messenger, Death, having claimed her his own:

She ascended to Heaven, where joys never fail,

And left me to travel life’s journey alone.

The dear friends of my childhood have all passed away,

And left me alone in the twilight of years;

Then why should I linger, wishing longer to stay,

To drag out a life in this valley of tears.

Dear friend, please excuse this sorrowful strain,

So foreign to nature, so gloomy in tone;

But I often indulge in a mournful refrain,

When sitting and musing in my office alone.

I have passed through life’s journey with my share of bliss,

And thankful that I’ve ‘scaped its troubles so well;

Will my life in the next world be pleasant as this,

I ask myself often, but no mortal can tell.

My journey of life will soon come to an end,

Its pleasures and sorrows will soon pass away;

There is much in my life I would gladly commend,

And some to condemn, I am sorry to say.

Our progress through life is midst trouble and care;

And God’s Golden Rule should be well understood.

If the greatest enjoyment in life we would share,

We must strive to do right and seek to be good.

Judge E.B. Sadler passed away on March 25, 1888, just a few years after he penned this rhyme. He was buried in Oakland Cemetery, next to his beloved wife Emily.