A Photo of Family and Friends, and the Birth of Plum Brook Country Club.

In this photographic postcard Elizabeth Marsh and Florence Steinemann are gazing at Edward H. Marsh. Also looking at Mr. Marsh are George C. Steinemann and Lea Marsh. Edward H. Marsh worked with his father in the plaster business. He was a personal friend of William Howard Taft, with whom he attended school. Edward H. Marsh lost his wife Carrie at a young age, and he was left with two very young children to raise.

Lea Marsh was the son of Edward H. Marsh; he married Elizabeth D.G. Moss, the daughter of banker Charles H. Moss. Lea’s good friend was George C. Steinemann, a prominent Sandusky attorney. George was married to Florence Cable, who was the granddaughter of Sandusky businessman Frank Cable.

According to an article in the March 30, 2014 issue of the Sandusky Register, in 1913 Lea Marsh and George C. Steinemann, along with Watson H. Butler, sent out a letter, looking for people to invest in a golf course, to be located on Hayes Avenue and Strub Road, on property owned by August Pfaff. The “Sandusky Golf Club,” sometimes known as the “Auto County Club” was incorporated in 1914. By 1915, land was purchased off Galloway Road, and eventually became the golf course for the Plum Brook Country Club.

By 1930, Lea and Elizabeth Moss had moved to Old Lyme, Connecticut. When George C. Steinemann passed away in 1932, Mr. and Mrs. Lea Marsh traveled back to Ohio for his funeral, where Lea Marsh served as a pallbearer.

Wedding of Elizabeth Schmid and James Summy

On December 8, 1941, Elizabeth Schmid, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Oscar Schmid of Sandusky, married James B. Summy, son of Mr. and Mrs. William Summy. Rev. H.E. Pheiffer officiated.  On the marriage record on file at Erie County Probate Court, James Summy listed his occupation as cook in the United States Navy. Friends of the family said that the couple wanted to wed quickly, as Mr. Summy’s leave from the military service was soon to be ended, and he was needed back in service promptly. The wedding took place at St. Stephen’s Evangelical and Reformed Church, on the day after Pearl Harbor was attacked. President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared our country’s entry into World War II on this couple’s wedding day.

An article in the December 10, 1941 issue of the Sandusky Register gave an account of the wedding. Matron of honor was the bride’s sister, Mrs. Harry Hoelzer. Other bridesmaids included Mary Schmid and Mildred Sissen. Junior bridesmaid was the bride’s niece Audrey May Mears. Joyce Parker was the train bearer. Harry Hoelzer served as best man, and the ushers were Arthur Koewen, James Corley, and Oscar Schmid. A reception was held after the ceremony.

Mrs. Elizabeth Summy died at the age of 45, and was buried at Restlawn Cemetery in Huron, Ohio, now known as Meadow Green Memorial Park Cemetery. Mr. Summy remarried after the death of Elizabeth, and moved to Pennsylvania, where he died in 1999 at age 80.

Doctors Aloysius and Louis Szendery

As seen in the advertisement above, Dr. Aloys (sometimes spelled Aloysius) Szendery and his son Dr. Louis S. Szendery shared an office at 622 Adams Street in Sandusky, Ohio, which is now in the 100 block of East Adams Street, after the street numbering changed in Sandusky in 1915. The ad appeared in the April 10, 1885 issue of the Sandusky Register. 

According to the Alumni Directory for New York University, Dr. Aloysius Szendery was born in Hungary in 1817. By 1860, Dr. Szendery and his wife Anna were residing in Bellevue, Ohio, where he worked as a doctor. They were the parents of four children. The oldest child, Louis S. Szendery, followed his father into the medical field. sadly, by the early 1890s, the younger Dr. Szendery faced serious health issues. He moved to Texas in hopes of his health improving, but he died there in 1896, leaving behind his wife, the former Elizabeth Westerhold, and a young son, Louis E. Szendery. Dr. Louis S. Szendery was only aged 36 at the time of his death.

Dr. Aloysius Szendery passed away at the age of 81 years and 11 months on August 31, 1898. An obituary from the September 1, 1898 issue of the Sandusky Register reported that Dr. Szendery was one of Sandusky’s oldest and well respected citizens. He was widely known, especially among the German residents of the community. During the last ten years of his life, the elder Dr. Szendery was totally blind. His funeral was held at Sts. Peter and Paul Church, and burial was at St. Joseph’s Cemetery in the family lot. A modest tombstone for the elder Dr. Szendery reads simply “Father.”

Anna Szendery, a daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Szendery, lived in Buffalo at the time of her father’s death. She died there in 1942, following a teaching career that spanned over fifty years at the Nardin Academy, which is affiliated with the Daughters of the Heart of Mary.

Louis Eugene Szendery, a grandson of Dr. Aloysius Szendery, and son of Dr. Louis S. Szendery, was trained as a pharmacist. For a time he was in the pharmacy business with Jay Meek. You can barely read the words “Meek & Szendery” in this sign on a building on Decatur Street. (The building no longer stands.) The partnership of Meek & Szendery was in business in Sandusky from 1916 to 1921. Louis E. Szendery eventually left his pharmacist position and became a salesman for a pharmaceutical company.

Louis E. Szendery died in 1974, and is buried at Calvary Cemetery next to his wife Verna (Ringel) Szendery. The name Szendery was familiar in Sandusky for several decades. If you would like to learn more about your own ancestors in Sandusky and Erie County, visit the Sandusky Library Research Center, where many sources related to family history and local history are housed.

Lewis and Dwelle, Grocers

 

From the 1870s through the 1890s, the Lewis and Dwelle grocery store did business at the northeast corner of East Water Street and Columbus Avenue. In 1873 the address was 158 Water Street. By 1880 the street number had changed to 643 Water Street. The proprietors of the store were Lucius W. Lewis and Benjamin F. Dwelle. You can see the building in this 1876 image below, which was taken during the Independence Day celebration in downtown Sandusky. At this time, A.C. Platt had his photographic studio in the upper level of the building.

You can see the location of the grocery store at 643 Water Street in this view from an 1886 Sanborn Map. Railroad Street is now known as Shoreline Drive.

After the death of Lucius W. Lewis in 1889, his son W.L. Lewis took over his father's role in the grocery store. In 1895 the business was known as  Post, Lewis, Radcliffe & Dwelle. By 1896, W.L. Lewis was the sole proprietor. After his retirement, Benjamin Dwelle moved to Port Clinton, where he died in 1903 at age 85.

In Treasure by the Bay, Ellie Damm wrote that this spot was one of the prime locations for commercial property in Sandusky, because people congregated in the square nearby to meet trains or boats. The original building featured a rounded dormer along the roof line, and had a façade that was built in the Romanesque style. The building today has been substantially altered from its original form. From 1919 through the 1950s, the Moose Lodge was at this location. A multi-page advertisement in the October 20, 1938 issue of the Sandusky Register invited area residents to the newly renovated Moose Lodge. The building, which is now 101 East Water Street, is presently occupied by the Landmark Kitchen & Bar.

Damask Rose Parish

 

J.C. Judson wrote about Damask Rose Parish in his history of the First Congregational Church of Sandusky, which he titled Agony and Attainment. According to Mr. Judson, Damask Rose was born in the fall of 1845, and was baptized on August 27, 1846. Her parents were Francis Drake Parish and Mary L. Parish. F.D. Parish was a well known lawyer in Sandusky, and an active participant in the Underground Railroad. They named their child after the late wife of Congregationalist minister Rev. I. A. Hart. Born Damask Rose Frisbie, Mrs. Hart died in 1840, at about 30 years old.

F.D. Parish in his later years

Mr. Judson wrote that Damask Rose Parish was “an unusual, lovely and beautiful child.”

According to records at Oakland Cemetery, Damask Rose Parish died on October 6, 1855, at the age of ten. Her tombstone, which has a rose inscribed under her name, is in Lot 4 of Block 28.  Mr. Parish was greatly saddened when his daughter died, but he was noted for his stoic dedication to his work and community service. 

Hewson Peeke’s book, Stories of Sandusky contains an almost certainly fictional story about Damask Rose Parish. The story tells how Mr. Parish was a friend to fugitive slaves, and suggests that Damask Rose herself took part in helping provide food and water to the fugitives. But J.C. Judson noted that she could not have been old enough to have helped the slaves that were aided by her father in 1845, since she was born that same year.

You can find the grave of Damask Rose Parish at Oakland Cemetery today. Stories of Sandusky and Agony and Attainment can both be found in the Archives Research Center of Sandusky Library. While the Peeke story about Damask Rose may indeed be fiction, there is no question that F. D. Parish was a friend of fugitive slaves. An account of the Underground Railroad of the Firelands is given in the July 1888 issue of the Firelands Pioneer. Rush Sloane, who knew F. D. Parish personally, gives specific dates and places associated with the activities of the Underground Railroad.

Berardi Brothers are Honored in San Marino

 

Photo credit: Dr. Daniele Cesaretti

Roberto and Leonello Berardi were the sons of Adam and Teresa Berardi, natives of the Republic of San Marino. The Berardi family emigrated to the United States in 1927, having left from Genoa, Italy on the ship Conte Biancamao. In 1930 the family was living on McKelvey Street in Sandusky, in a section of town known as “Little Italy.” This area was located along Milan Road, bordered by Finch Street and Boalt Street. 

Sadly, both sons of Mr. and Mrs. Adam Berardi were killed during World War II. Leonello, often called Nello, was killed in action in Italy in 1944. Roberto died in Germany in 1945. A plaque honoring the memory of the Berardi brothers was erected in the Fiorentino Cemetery in San Marino. A front page article in the Sandusky Register of April 5, 1961 reported on the memorial in San Marino.

At the dedication of the marble monument in San Marino on March 25, 1961, Dr. Frederico Bigi stated, “As citizens of the world’s oldest Republic, they took with them the spirit of Liberty as they traveled to the world’s youngest Republic, and showed their devotion to Liberty by laying down their lives to uphold freedom.”

To read more about Roberto Berardi and Leonello Berardi, see the website of the American War Memorials Overseas, Inc. The final resting place of Adam and Teresa Berardi is at St. Joseph’s Cemetery in Sandusky, Ohio.

The Forgotten Sandusky City Greenhouse

Sandusky is proud of its parks system, and particularly the beautiful landscaping and gardens in Washington Park and other locations. The plants for the parks are grown year-round in the Sandusky City Greenhouse at the corner of Franklin and E. Monroe Streets.

 

The first greenhouse at Monroe & Franklin, built 1908

Some Sanduskians might know that this greenhouse has been operating since the first building on that site was completed in 1908. You might even know that a new greenhouse was built there in 1975. Many also "know" that the 1908 greenhouse was the first city greenhouse and represented the start of the horticulture program to support the city's parks. The city's website says, "The City of Sandusky has operated a greenhouse to grow plants and beautify our city since 1908." But that's not quite correct.

Recently a researcher came to the library and asked if we could help confirm or disprove a family story that said his ancestor (a florist by profession) managed the city greenhouse on Shelby Street in the 1890s. Our first reaction was that it couldn't be true -- the city said that the first greenhouse was built on Franklin Street in 1908. So we needed to investigate. . . 

Our first step was finding the ancestor in the historical record. Gabriel Birkenmeier's grave is listed on the Find-A-Grave website; he was born in 1849, and died in Sandusky in 1896. Searching the newspaper, we found articles mentioning Mr. Birkenmeier's work as city parks superintendent, including a report of his illness.

Next we needed to find the greenhouse on Shelby Street. An 1890 article solved that question.

Where exactly was the west battery ground? On Shelby Street, between Tiffin Avenue and Market Street, as seen on this image taken from a 1905 Sanborn Insurance Map. If you look closely, you can see, under the pasted map addition, the faint outline of the original Shelby Street greenhouse, labeled "Municipal green ho." on the map (at the intersection with Lincoln Street). 

This was the actual first city greenhouse, serving the city parks until the new greenhouse was built in 1908.

Sometimes historical "facts" aren't always correct. If not for our researcher and his family lore, we might have continued to forget a piece of Sandusky's history.

James "Bud" Smith in His Youth

In the picture above, James “Bud” Smith is in a homemade go-cart near his home in Sandusky, Ohio about 1914. James was the son of Freeland Smith and his wife, the former Nettie Schnaitter. His siblings were Betty, Frank, Polly and Patricia.  An earlier photograph shows James and his sister Betty sitting on a donkey.

James enjoyed ice boating on the lake during the winter of 1923.

He served as class president during his senior year at Sandusky High School in 1925; He and his fellow class officers, class secretary Helen Wiegand and class vice president Edgar Robinson, appeared in the Sandusky Star Journal on May 23, 1925.

James Freeland Smith graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in engineering. In the 1930s, Mr. Smith was the inspector in charge of dredging projects for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Buffalo, New York. He later became the chief engineer for Union Chain, and its successor Hewitt-Robbins. Later he was head of project sales and engineering for Hewitt-Robbins, and its successor Litton Industries. After retiring from Litton, he served as vice president of North Central Television, Inc., retiring in 1973.

On December 15, 1984 James F. Smith died at the age of 77.  An obituary in the December 16, 1984 issue of the Sandusky Register stated that he had been a member of Grace Episcopal Church, the Sandusky Yacht Club, past president of the Sandusky Sailing Club, and was chairman of the Sandusky Zoning Code Board of Appeals since its inception in the 1950s.

James F. Smith lived an active life, filled with many civic, recreational and educational pursuits. Thanks to the generosity of a Smith family descendant, several photographs of the Smith and Schnaitter families can be seen at the website of the SanduskyLibrary Historical Collections. Original copies of the photographs are held in the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center.

What Inspired Charles E. Frohman to Remain in His Hometown

 

Charles E. Frohman was a noted local historian and author. He wrote several books about Sandusky and Erie County, and the Lake Erie Islands region. He also authored local history articles in historical journals. Throughout his adult life, Mr. Frohman collected items of historical significance, and was considered an authority on the history of Sandusky, Ohio. The Charles E. Frohman index to the Sandusky Register and the Sandusky Star Journal is a valuable resource for anyone who wants to know more about the history of Sandusky. While the original 3 x 5 cards of the index are on file at the R.B. Hayes Presidential Library, a microfilmed copy is available at the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center. It was while browsing through the Frohman index that this bit of information was located, which provides us with the reason Charles E. Frohman stated he wished to work in his home town.

It turns out that while he was in law school at Yale, Charles E. Frohman worked as an assistant to T.T. Morgan, then the treasurer of Good Samaritan Hospital. In earlier years, Mr. Morgan had been the president of the Brown Clutch Company.

 

Mr. Frohman said that he heard T.T. Morgan remark, “Too few Sandusky young men gave their home town a chance, but located elsewhere.”

That remark caused Frohman to turn his application in to the Sandusky law firm of King, Ramsey, Flynn and Pyle. On July 28, 1926, he was hired as an associate in the firm. Sandusky, Ohio is fortunate to claim both T.T. Morgan and Charles E. Frohman as past residents of Sandusky. Both men made significant contributions to the history of their community. While the bulk of the Charles E. Frohman collections were given to the R.B. Hayes Presidential Library and Museums, several books by Mr. Frohman are available at the Sandusky Library.

The Palazzo Family: From Italy to Sandusky, Ohio

Clementi and Marian Palazzo were natives of Italy. On the 1920 U.S. Census Marian stated that she immigrated to the U.S. in 1910, and Clementi first came to the U.S. in 1898. When he died in 1920, from pneumonia, Clementi Palazzo’s death record indicated that his employer had been the Farrell-Cheek Steel Company. Between 1912 and 1918, the Palazzos had six children, three daughters and three sons. So, at the age of 28, Marian found herself a widow with six children. To support the family, by 1930, Marian Palazzo and her two daughters worked as seamstresses at the Jackson Underwear Company in Sandusky.

In the 1940 U.S. Census, Marian did not list an occupation. She was living on Central Avenue with a daughter, two sons and a granddaughter. By the 1950 Census, Marian was living with one son, and she stated her occupation was a “scrub woman” at a local theater. 

Marian Palazzo died in January of 1960, after a lengthy illness. She was survived by her six children, twelve grandchildren, and a brother who lived in Italy. She was buried at St. Joseph’s Cemetery next to her husband Clementi, who was sometimes listed as Charles Palazzo.

Several members of the Palazzo and Sidoti families were associated with the Palazzo Sidoti Sohio Station, and later the Palazzo-Sidoti Motors dealership, on Hayes Avenue.

This is an advertisement from the February 12, 1976 issue of the Sandusky Register for a 1970 Torino for sale at Palazzo-Sidoti Motors, Inc.:

Though Palazzo-Sidoti Motors is no longer in business, most people of a certain age will remember seeing the business on Hayes Avenue for many years. Clementi Palazzo came to the United States for a better life. Though he died in his 30s, his widow and descendants worked hard, and left their mark on Sandusky, Ohio.

If you take a walk through St. Joseph’s Cemetery, you will see the names of many Italian American and Irish American families whose final resting place is in Sandusky.

Horatio and Sarah Louise Linn

Horatio M. Linn was born near Zanesville, Ohio in 1868. He attended college at Muskingum College and Ohio State University. By the late 1890s, he had become the principal of Sandusky High School. In 1900, Mr. Linn resigned as principal to become editor of the Sandusky Star newspaper. Later, Mr. Linn moved to Cleveland, Tennessee to become the editor and proprietor of the Cleveland Journal. In 1916 Mr. Linn moved his family back to Erie County and took up farming.

In 1902, Horatio M. Linn married Sarah Louise Ramsdell, the daughter of Horace Valentine Ramsdell. They had a family of two daughters and a son.

On February 13, 1921, Mr. Linn died at the Mayo Hospital in Rochester, Minnesota at the age of 51. His obituary appeared on the front page of his former newspaper, now called the Sandusky Star Journal. He was considered one of the area’s most prominent men, and his death came as a shock.

The family portrait below was taken, probably around 1910, by Edward H. Schlessman. The children and grandchildren of Horace V. Ramsdell are standing near the Ramsdell home in Bloomingville, which was built in 1832. More details about the history of the Ramsdell family are available online.

The Paradise Inn on Venice Road

From about 1935 to 1939, the Paradise Inn was in business at 3301 Venice Road. The grand opening was advertised in the June 19, 1935 issue of the Sandusky Register. The Paradise Inn had formerly been known as the Boots Inn.

For several years, Urban J. Schwartz was the proprietor and Arnold “Arnie” Lieb was the bartender. The Sandusky Library Archives Research Center has a songbook from the former Paradise Inn. Here are a few of the songs from the songbook:

The building housing the Paradise Inn was listed as vacant in the 1941 city directory, and today it is a private home. Urban J. Schwartz died in 1966, and is buried in the St. Joseph Cemetery in Fremont, Ohio. An obituary for Arnold Lieb, who died in 1995, stated that he had worked at Union Chain for over forty years, retiring as a foreman at the plant.

Dr. Francis Wayland Morley, Early 20th Century Homeopathic Physician

Francis Wayland Morley was born in the state of New York in 1861 to Rev. and Mrs. Butler Morley. In 1884 he graduated from the Cleveland Homeopathic Hospital College; that same year he married Edith Durkee of Michigan. Dr. Morley and his wife had two daughters and one son. Francis Wayland Morley, Jr. followed his father in the medical profession. 

A 1904 publication from the Homeopathic Medical Society of the State of Ohio reported that Dr. F.W. Morley, Sr. had been recognized as one of the leading surgeons of Northern Ohio. Dr. Morley first practiced medicine in Huron, Ohio, and in the 1890s moved his practice to Sandusky. 

This advertisement appeared in the May 31, 1900 issue of the Sandusky Register:

Sadly, Dr. F. W. Morley died at the age of 42 on July 4, 1903. Three Sandusky physicians signed the following resolution which appeared in the Proceedings of the Homeopathic Medical Society of the State of Ohio in 1904.

Dr. F.W. Morley was buried in the family lot at Sandusky’s Oakland Cemetery. Three grandsons of Dr. F.W. Morley followed in their father and grandfather’s footsteps. An excerpt from the obituary of Dr. Buel Morley, stated that the four sons of Dr. F.W. Morley, Jr., had been “raised with a love for learning, a drive for excellence, a devotion to family, and a zest for life.”

What Products did Barney and Ferris Sell?

F.T. Barney and B.F. Ferris owned the Barney and Ferris hardware store at the northeast corner of Jackson and Water Streets in the 1870s and 1880s. The building still stands in Sandusky today. 

The building the housed the former Barney & Ferris store, circa 2016

All varieties of hardware were sold at Barney and Ferris, including nails, paint, mantels, grates, hearths and glass. You could even purchase agricultural implements there. By 1881 the company branched out into selling sporting goods to hunters and fishermen. Several different kinds of gunpowder were sold by Barney and Ferris, many from the Oriental Powder Company.

An advertisement from1886 referred to Barney and Company as the “Old Pioneer Hardware House.” At that time, Barney’s was an agent for products like the Nickle Barn Door Roller and the Eureka Mower.

After the deaths of F.T. Barney and B.F. Ferris, other individuals operated hardware stores at the same site, including Pierre Van Alstyne and members of the Donahue family.

Visit the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center to learn more about the former businesses that were a big part of the lives of the early residents of Erie County, Ohio.

A German Church with Connections to Sandusky

This watercolor painting of a church in Sohnstetten, Germany was created in 1864. It was donated to the historical collections of the Sandusky Library and Follett House Museum from the Lange estate, and is on display in the Follett House Museum. Norbert Lange’s great grandfather Carr (sometimes spelled Karr) was a pastor at this church. The church in Germany, built in 1856, still serves the community in the district of Heidenheim.

This is a portion of Norbert Lange's family tree:

The pastor of the church in Sohnstetten, Germany was the father of Norbert Lange’s paternal grandmother. Bertha Emilie Carr and Franz Robert Lange were married in Erie County, Ohio in 1852, according to Erie County Probate Court records. Both had been born in Germany.

Dr. Norbert Lange was a well respected professor of chemistry at the University of Michigan, Case School of Applied Science, and Western Reserve University. He authored the classic text Handbookof Chemistry. Dr. Lange and his wife Marion Cleaveland Lange were the benefactors of the Lange Trust, which provides for “The promotion of cultural and educational enterprises in the city of Sandusky, Ohio and the adjacent area within Erie County, Ohio.”

Dedication of the Supplementary Education Center at Sandusky High School

Pictured above is Sandusky High School Superintendent Mr. Wallace Glenwright giving a briefing to dignitaries prior to the dedication of the Supplementary Education Center on September 17, 1967.

The Sandusky Register of March 18, 1967 described the forthcoming Center in a feature article.  Funding of the Supplementary Education Center was from a combination of funds from the National Defense Education Act, Title III, which were matched by the Sidney Frohman Foundation, estimated at over $500,000. The five major areas on which the Center focused were: instructional materials, cultural, planetarium, a teacher’s professional library, and an educational resource center. Schools from 30 separate districts, along with students from Bowling Green State University and its Firelands Branch would all have access to the Supplementary Education Center. Several 16mm and 8mm films were available for schools to borrow, while paying only for insurance and postage to and from the Center.

Project coordinator Theodore Seaman spoke at the dedication of the Sandusky Supplementary Center:

The ribbon cutting was performed by Superintendent Glenwright and Elnora (Mrs. Sidney) Frohman.

An American flag was presented to the Supplementary Education Center on behalf of the Commodore Perry Post of the American Legion:

The dedication attracted a number of dignitaries and guests:

The Sandusky Register reported on the Dedication of the Center on September 18, 1967.

While the educational resource center and library are no longer in operation, the Sidney Frohman Planetarium and Sandusky Cultural Center are still serving the educational and cultural needs of the greater Sandusky community.