Harry L. Cole, Erie County Sheriff

Harry Lewis Cole was born in Huron, Ohio in 1879 to Mr. and Mrs. Angus Cole. For twenty years, he was a conductor on the Lake Shore Electric Railway.

Lake Shore Electric Railway Car No. 41 near Sandusky Car Barns

From 1924 to 1929, Harry L. Cole served as the Erie County Sheriff. As this term was during Prohibition, often he was called on to arrest those who were engaged in consuming or selling intoxicating liquor. An article which appeared in the February 22, 1925 issue of the Sandusky Star Journal reported that Sheriff Cole had started “relentless warfare against the flask, jug or bottle toter.”

On January 1, 1929, the Sandusky Star Journal featured a summary of Sheriff Cole’s accomplishments during his final year as Erie County Sheriff. In 1928, there had been over 300 prisoners at the Erie County Jail.

During Sheriff Cole’s term the County Jail was on West Adams Street

The article also stated that number of automobile accidents had been reduced in Erie County during 1928. After his term as Sheriff ended, he founded the Harry L. Cole Insurance Agency. Mr. Cole died on May 27, 1960. He and his wife M. Viola Cole, who survived her husband until 1977, were buried at the Scott Union Cemetery.

To learn more about the many elected officials of Erie County, Ohio, see the book Elected to Serve Erie County, Ohio, 1838-2003 by Patty Dahm Pascoe. It is housed in the Reference Services area of the Sandusky Library.

Freedom Fighters

It has been only relatively recently that the service of African-American soldiers in the Civil War has been adequately recognized. In the Sandusky area during the war, fifteen African-American men volunteered for service in Company I of the 55th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. The men were mustered into service in May and June of 1863 at Camp Meigs in Readville, Massachusetts.

In January 1863, Governor John Andrew of Massachusetts received permission to recruit an African-American regiment to fight for the Union. The 55th was a sister regiment to the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, whose heroic service in the war was featured in the movie, Glory. This second unit was formed due to the overwhelming response from men who sought to serve in the 54th. A total of 222 men from Ohio served in the Massachusetts 55th.

Among the Sanduskians who served, William H. Johnson was killed in battle on July 2, 1864 at James Island, South Carolina. Morris Darnell and Elijah J. Brown
returned home to Sandusky after the war, and are buried in Oakland Cemetery; Frank Gardner, Joshua Cole, and Thomas Robinson are buried at the Ohio Veterans Home.


African American soldiers comprised over ten percent of the Union Army, and over 18,000 African-American men served in the Navy. You can read an article about the Sandusky recruits in the June 2, 1863 issue of the Sandusky Daily Commercial Register, available on microfilm in the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center. Military records from the Civil War and other wars may be found on the Ancestry Library Edition research database, which can be accessed from within the library.