The Smith and Schnaitter Families Had Fun Along the Shore

In a previous blog post, we learned that Freeland Smith and his wife, the former Nettie Schnaitter, lived on Perry Street in Sandusky, and that they had a large family of five children. In the picture above, taken about 1910, we see Freeland Smith at the left side of the photo. Next to him is his son James. Moving from left to right, we see Betty Smith and an unidentified woman. Seated on the sand in the middle of the picture is young Frank “Pink” Smith, his uncle Frank Schnaitter, Frank’s wife Helen Schnaitter, and his sister Gertrude Schnaitter. 

Though the children in the picture below have not been identified, it is fun to see the styles of clothing that people wore to the beach in the first half of the twentieth century.

Frank “Pink” Smith and his sister Margaret “Polly” Smith are in the water in this summertime picture.

Members of the Smith-Schnaitter families are enjoying the lovely weather in this picture as well. Most likely the three children are James, Frank “Pink” and Betty Smith, children of Freeland and Nettie Smith.

You can see the skyline of Sandusky in the distance, as a few members of the extended family fishes from the rocks along Sandusky Bay.

We can only imagine that the photographer who took this picture was hoping that the youngsters did not take a tumble into the water, as they gaze at the waves along the shoreline.

We are grateful to the descendants of Mr. and Mrs. Freeland Smith for their generous donation of Smith-Schnaitter family photographs. Because we have these items, we can have a glimpse of what summertime along the shores Lake Erie was like in the early 1900s