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.

Deputy Sheriff A.A. “Pete” Killian

From about 1936 to 1948, Alfred A. “Pete” Killian worked as a Deputy Sheriff for the Erie County Sheriff’s Department. Pete Killian is the man standing on the left in the picture above. Wanted posters can be seen on the walls of the office. When Pete worked for the Sheriff’s Department, it was located inside the Erie County Jail on West Adams Street, now a part of the Sandusky Library.

Deputy Killian took special training in fingerprinting and identification at the Institute of Applied Science and at the University of Oklahoma. In 1937 he was elected to be a trustee of the Ohio State Association of Identification. Throughout his law enforcement career, Deputy Killian spoke about the science of fingerprinting to several local civic organizations. When he spoke to the Exchange Club in 1946, he pointed out that in collecting millions of fingerprints over fifty years, no two were ever found to be identical.  An article which appeared in the February 24, 1938 issue of the Sandusky Star Journal reported that Deputy Killian had 2,500 fingerprints that had been collected over a ten year period.

A.A. “Pete” Killian died at Providence Hospital in Sandusky on December 7, 1962, at the age of 71. He was survived by his wife, nieces and nephews. We do not know the details of why Deputy Killian is pictured behind "bars" (as a joke by/for friends?), but this photograph is housed in the historical photograph collections of the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center.

Interior Views of the Erie County Courthouse

In the picture above, taken in 1938, George P. Lydens, Deputy Clerk for Erie County Clerk of Courts, is seen in the Clerk of Courts office. Below is a view of the Common Pleas Courtroom at the Erie County Courthouse from the summer of 1952.

     

Here is how a Common Pleas courtroom looked shortly after the courthouse was built in 1874:

Have you ever heard that there is a tunnel that leads from the Erie County Courthouse to the old Erie County Jail? You can see the close proximity of the two buildings in this picture, taken sometime before the renovation of the Erie County Courthouse in the 1930s.

 

According to an article which appeared in the Sandusky Register of February 11, 1992, there is indeed a tunnel that connects the Erie County Courthouse to the old jail building. However, Erie County employee Bill Higgins told the Register reporter that the tunnel contains the service water main. The tunnel is inspected by maintenance crews every year, and the height of the tunnel is only four feet by four feet. Most likely, prisoners were never transported through the tunnel because of the very small space it occupies.

Looking Towards Sandusky Bay from St. Mary’s Steeple, Circa 1920

Robert Frank donated this photograph which features the view from the steeple of St. Mary’s Church, looking down Central Avenue towards Sandusky Bay about 1920.  Many landmarks (some no longer standing) are visible in the picture. At the top left of the picture is the Sloane House. To the right of the Sloane House (across Columbus Avenue) is the Kingsbury Block, shortly before a portion of it was replaced by the Commercial National Bank building. In the far distance, northeast of the Kingsbury Block, are storage silos and buildings in the waterfront district of Sandusky, close to the B & O Railroad tracks. The Erie County Courthouse is in the same location as it is today, but in 1920 it had not yet been remodeled in the Art Deco style, which was a WPA project in the 1930s.  You can see Sandusky High School to the east of the Courthouse, before it was expanded. (This building later became Adams Junior High School.) The steeple of Emmanuel Church is visible, at the northeast corner of Columbus Avenue and Adams Street. Only the rooftop of the Sandusky Library can be seen, opposite the Courthouse on Adams Street, which is very close to the Erie County Jail. A private residence and later Dr. J.D. Parker’s office, stood between the library and the jail for many years. At the upper right of the picture is the smokestack of the Water Works. Apartment buildings and businesses are seen along Central Avenue. The diagonal direction of Central Avenue forms a portion of the Masonic emblem. Hector Kilbourne laid the city of Sandusky out in the shape of the square and compasses of the Masonic emblem.

  

This historical marker in Washington Park honors Hector Kilbourne, the surveyor who laid out the original plat of Sandusky in 1816.

Alton T. Young, Erie County Sheriff

Alton T. Young, known as “Al,” served as Erie County Sheriff for four terms, from 1948 to 1964. During Sheriff Young’s tenure, he was connected with several interesting ways to enforce the law. He formed the Erie County Sheriff’s Posse in 1962. Volunteers on horseback assisted in conducing manhunts and missing people searches. He also employed a canine “snooper,” which had been a gift from the Lorain County Sheriff. During the years that Sheriff Young was in office, his family lived in the Erie County Jail.

Featured in the book Elected to Serve  by Patty Pascoe, are several recollections of the children of Sheriff Young. His daughter recalled that the cooks who prepared meals for the prisoners also prepared meals for the Young family. When the stairs of the Sandusky Library were iced over, the Sheriff’s children would slide down the stairs on a sled. The Young children got to know the employees and the residents of the Erie County jail. They never felt they were in danger, even though they resided at the same place as those who had been incarcerated. 

In 1964, Al Young ran for a fifth term as Erie County Sheriff, but was defeated by Albert H. Hess. Mr. Young moved to Arizona, where he died at the age of 80. To read more about elected officials in Erie County, Ohio from 1838 to 2003, see Elected to Serve at the Sandusky Library.

Late Nineteenth Century Stereograph Images

In 1976, Irma Schoeneman donated eleven stereographic images to the Sandusky Library’s historical room, now the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center. Stereographs were popular in the latter part of the nineteenth century and early twentieth century. Stereographs are similar to a child’s ViewMaster toy. Two images placed side by side appear to be three dimensional, when viewed through a special viewer.

Below is an image of the Erie County Jail, now a part of the Sandusky Library, about 1885. The building to the left of the jail served as the medical office of Dr. J. D. Parker for many years. This image was created by N. H. Hammond for the American Views series.

Another stereograph by N. H. Hammond shows the north side of East Market Street about 1890. The Melville brothers operated a drugstore in the Cooke Block at the northeast corner of Columbus Avenue and Market Street. John H. Wagenet and Josh B. Davis had an insurance company in the upper floor of the Cooke Building. Jay Cooke was born near the site of the Cooke Block, though the building was named for an unrelated Cooke family, according to Article 51 of From the Widow's Walk, volume 2. The Bazar can be seen at 615 and 617 East Market Street. This business called itself “Sandusky’s Great Bargain Store.”

A.C. Platt was the photographer for this stereograph of an unidentified home in Sandusky, Ohio. Relaxing on the porch seems to be an enjoyable pastime that has remained throughout the years.

The date for the stereograph below, also taken by A. C. Platt, was March 3, 1887. A very large group of people, mostly children, can be seen on the porch. Notes on the back of the original stereograph card read, “Compliments of Sakie and Georgie.” While do not have enough clues to be absolutely sure, the names Sakie and Georgie may refer to the children of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew W. Prout. Andrew W. Prout was a well known banker and real estate agent in Sandusky. His daughter Sakie Prout Merz was a longtime member of the Board of Trustees of the Sandusky Library.

Built Upon the Rock

Sitting on top of bedrock of solid limestone, the city of Sandusky has the largest number of limestone buildings in Ohio. One such building is the Follett House, a Greek Revival mansion that was once home to prominent publisher Oran Follett. The Follett House was built with stone quarried from a lot across the street, between Adams Street and Huron Avenue.

With a ready supply of limestone, quarrying became an early industry in Sandusky. Many German and Irish immigrants were stone cutters, and they found work building homes, schools, churches, and businesses in Sandusky. Helen Hansen noted in her 1975 book, AT HOME IN EARLY SANDUSKY, that “the name of Feick has been associated with building in Sandusky for over 100 years.” The Erie County Jail (pictured above), now part of the Sandusky Library, was constructed by Philip, Adam, and George Feick in 1883. You can read about the Feick family in the book BUILDING AMERICA: A HISTORY OF THE FAMILY FEICK, located in the Family History collection of the Sandusky Library.

The original Third National Bank of Sandusky was built in 1914 on West Market Street. Henry Millott was the architect, and the contractors were "G. Wm. Doerzbach and Brother." G. William Doerzbach is pictured below.
The exact location of the building below is unknown. Notes from the original photograph indicate that carpenters were working on the “Lake View House” in Sandusky. (Note the limestone bricks around the foundation.)

For more information about the architects, builders, and contractors of Sandusky, visit the Archives Research Center of the Sandusky Library. Among the sources available on this topic is an excellent architectural history of Sandusky entitled TREASURE BY THE BAY, by Ellie Damm.