Was the Surname Melville or Milne?

According to Helen Hansen's At Home in Early Sandusky, William Gordon Melville-Milne was born in Aberdeen, Scotland in 1819. He emigrated to Canada, where he married Catherine Kennedy. The couple moved to Missouri, where Mr. Melville-Milne worked for E. F. Osborn, the owner of a large flour mill. In the 1840s, Mr. Osborn moved to Sandusky to serve as superintendent of the Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad. He sent for Mr. Melville-Milne in 1847, to assist in the operations of the railroad in Sandusky. 

In February, 1861 William Melville-Milne died at age 41. He left a widow and eight children, six of whom survived to adulthood. In her book, Mrs. Hansen explained that some branches of the family used the Scots double name of "Melville-Milne." Some family members used only "Milne" as their surname, but many dropped the "Milne" and went by the last name of "Melville." (This is just one example of how family history can be quite confusing.) There are streets in Sandusky named for both of the surnames Melville and Milne. Melville Street runs between Camp Street and Pearl Street, while Milne Street runs between West Adams and Harrison Streets.

Sons of William Melville-Milne, who were known as William and Charles Melville, ran a drug store in Sandusky which was in operation for fifty years. Another son, George W. Melville, was an engraver in Chicago. The former home of William G. Melville-Milne is at 319 Lawrence Street in Sandusky.

Photo taken in 1958

When looking through genealogical records, there are several variations of the surname. A descendant named Frank Rowland Melville Milne is listed as “Frank Rowland Melville” on his World War II draft registration card, but the name on his tombstone at Oakland Cemetery reads Frank Rowland Melville Milne.

When researching anyone in the Melville-Milne family, be sure to check for Melville, or Milne, or Melville-Milne! Do the same for any hyphenated name.

Finding Information When All You Have is a Name

The only information that was found associated with the photograph below is the name of the young lady, Jessie Boor.

When the name “Jessie Boor” is entered into the database Heritage Quest, a database available through the Ohio Web Library, only one hit is retrieved. Jessie Boor is age 3 in the 1880 U.S. Census, the daughter of Samuel and Mary Boor of Scott Township, Sandusky County, Ohio. 

In the advanced search feature of the Hayes Obituary Index, a search for the maiden name Boor, yields 5 names, two which may be the young lady in the photograph. Jessie Sherrad died on July 14, 1939, the wife of Harry Sherrad, in Helena, Ohio. A Jessie Sherrard is also listed with the same death date. The variation in the spelling of the last name is not unusual in the 1930’s, and Jessie’s age lines up exactly with the census information, that Jessie Boor Sherrad/Sherrard was born about 1876 or 1877. 

Further clues are obtained by checking the database WorldConnect, one of the projects found at Rootsweb. Jessie Boor comes up with several “hits.” One is for a Jessie B. Boor, who was born on November 23, 1876 to Samuel Boor and Mary Ellen Snyder. Her spouse is Harry T. Sherrard, and her date of death is given as July 14, 1939. The cemetery where she was buried is Metzgar Cemetery in Scott Township, Sandusky County, Ohio, near Helena, Ohio. The children of Jessie and Harry are also listed: Sylvia, Sydney, and David.

The young lady in our photograph is most likely the future Mrs. Harry T. Sherrard, who lived and died in Sandusky County, Ohio. How the Archives Research Center of the Sandusky Library obtained the photograph remains a mystery, although a good guess would be that it was in a box of donations from an extended family member.

When doing family history research and you have a name with no information given, try entering that name in genealogical databases. You may find out that you can learn a lot about that individual.

Research Resource: Record of Discharge of Civil War Soldiers

The Sandusky Library Archives Research Center has microfilmed copies of the discharge records of Erie County Civil War soldiers. These records were originally filed at the Erie County Recorder’s Office. An index which lists the soldiers’ names alphabetically by surname aids in locating each soldier’s information.

Thomas McFall, a private with Company B in the 145th Regiment of the Ohio National Guard was discharged on August 24, 1864 at Camp Chase, Ohio.

Alexander Hornig served as a private under Captain Harvey E. Proctor in Company D of the 41^st Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He was discharged at Pulaski, Tennessee on December 2, 1864. Pvt. Hornig’s discharge record listed his place of birth as Germany. A physical description is also provided, stating that he was 20 years old and 5 feet 5 inches tall. He had a light complexion, blue eyes, and brown hair, and his occupation was marble cutter.

Christian Stubig was discharged at Johnson’s Island on February 28, 1865. He had served with the 128^th Ohio Volunteer Infantry.  He was a native of Germany, and his occupation was shoemaker.

Elijah Brown was with Company I of the Massachusetts 55^th Infantry, comprised of African Americans. (At that time, Ohio did not allow African American men into military service, although the policy changed shortly after, but only for the remainder of the war. It was not until 1870 that black men were allowed to serve in Ohio state militias.) He was discharged at Charleston, South Carolina on August 29, 1865. Mr. Brown was eighteen years old, having been born in Sandusky, Ohio. His occupation was farmer. Elijah Brown’s military unit was led by Captain George T. Garrison, brother of well known abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison.

By browsing through these government records, a great deal of personal information can be learned about the men who served in the Civil War. Visit the Sandusky Library Archives Research to view these military discharge records. Several book sources and online databases available at Sandusky Library can also aid in the research of Civil War soldiers.

Did Fannie Mills Really Live in Erie County, Ohio? A Brief Adventure in Genealogy Research

In the 1880s Fannie Mills appeared in museums and sideshows as the “Ohio Big Foot Girl.” It seems that a medical condition caused Fannie’s feet to grow large, though the rest of her body was of a normal size. An article in the July 26, 1885 New York Times reported that Fannie wore size 29 shoes.

Did Fannie Mills really live in Erie County, Ohio at one time? By accessing Ancestry Library Edition, we learned that Fannie was eight and one half months old in the 1861 Census of England. She had been born in the registration district of Thakeham in Sussex, England. In 1861, Fannie resided in Sussex with her father George Mills, her mother Sarah Mills, and two older brothers. By the time of the 1880 U.S. Census, her name was listed as Fanny. On June 5, 1880, the census taker recorded the family of George and Sarah Mills as residing in Perkins Township of Erie County, Ohio. Fanny, her parents, and her brother Albert and sister Frances, all were born in England.

The census enumerator made a note next to the listing for Fanny Mills, age 14, that read  “deformed feet.”  A “Forty Years Ago Today” column in the Sandusky Register of April 9, 1929, reported that on April 9, 1886, Fannie Mills of Sandusky, who was noted as the girl with big feet, was appearing in New York. Newspaper accounts stated that she was offering $5,000 and a “well stocked farm” to the man who would marry her.  That may have been just a publicity item, rather than a fact, as Fannie/Fanny Mills married William Brown. To date, no marriage record has been located, but the Oakland Cemetery interment cards for Fannie Mills Brown list her burial date as May 4, 1899.  She was buried in Lot 6 of Block 76 at Oakland Cemetery.

Mr. William Brown, who died of cancer in 1904, was also buried in Lot 6 of Block 76 at Oakland Cemetery.

Census and cemetery records indicate that Fannie/Fanny Mills did indeed reside in Erie County, Ohio, and her death notice in the May 4, 1899 issue of the Sandusky Star helps to confirm it. 

The Follett House Museum in Sandusky has the lasts that were used to make shoes for Fannie Mills.

Ohio Veterans Home Death Records

Staff members of the Ohio Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Home, now the Ohio Veterans Home, are pictured above in 1915. Doors were first opened to the Home in Erie County, Ohio on November 19, 1888. 

The first person to be buried at the Ohio Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Home Cemetery was Levi Drummond, who died on January 3, 1889, at the age of 47. He had served in Company F of the 57^th Ohio Infantry during the Civil War. As part of a Cemetery Census project undertaken in the 1980s, members of the Erie County Chapter of the Ohio Genealogical Society collected data from the Ohio Veterans Home. This resulted in a compilation of brief death records of hundreds of residents who died at the Home from January 3, 1889 through December 31, 1983. Many volunteer hours were devoted to getting this compilation completed.

The book is arranged alphabetically by surname. The five columns provide:

• Name of the Veteran
• Age at the time of death
• Date of death
• Place of burial
• Registration number of the deceased while a resident at the Home

Over 7,000 death records were abstracted during the compilation of these records. 3,528 were buried at the cemetery on the grounds of the Ohio Veterans Home, and 393 were buried elsewhere in Erie County. The rest of the Veterans were buried outside of Erie County.  Below is the listing for William L. Carr.

William Louis Carr received the China Relief Expedition Congressional Medal of Honor while he was serving as a Corporal in the U.S. Marine Corps during the Boxer Rebellion. Corporal Carr died in April 1921. (Note: Corporal Carr’s tombstone reads April 14, but the death record lists his death date as April 4.)

James Jardine served in Company F, 53rd Ohio Infantry during the Civil War. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for gallant service at Vicksburg, Mississippi on May 22, 1863. First Lieutenant Jardine died on December 9, 1922.

If you have ancestors who resided at the Ohio Soldiers’ and Sailor’s Home, visit the Sandusky Library to learn a few more facts about your military ancestor in the Ohio Veterans Home Death Records publication.

Resources for Locating Oakland Cemetery Burial Records

This week the Cemetery Walk: Titans of Transportation will be held at Oakland Cemetery on these days: Tuesday, September 20; Wednesday, September 21; Thursday, September 22; and Saturday, September 24 at 10:00 a.m. 

Even if you cannot attend one of the tours, there are many ways to access individuals buried at Oakland Cemetery!

Oakland Cemetery is the final resting place of thousands of former residents of Sandusky and Erie County, Ohio.. Though it is not 100% inclusive, there is an online database at the City of Sandusky’s website.

Simply enter the first and last name of the person you are researching, and the result will provide you with the date of death, and location of the gravesite. Below is the listing for Moors Farwell, Sandusky’s first Mayor.

Another online database that is helpful in locating Oakland Cemetery records is Find a Grave. This link will take you directly to Find a Grave’s Search Box for Sandusky’s Oakland Cemetery.

Resources that are available inside the Sandusky Library include the book Erie County Ohio Cemetery Census Before 1909. Interment information for Oakland Cemetery begins on page 355 of this reference book. Inside the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center are even more places where you can access Oakland Cemetery burial records. A standalone computer provides a database where you can search by first or last name to access burial information. The results vary, sometimes providing very little information, but sometimes giving the cause of death, date of death, and location of death. The interment card for Confida Textor, who died at the age of 2 is seen below.

Yet another place to access Oakland Cemetery records at Sandusky Library is on the microfilmed copies of interment cards in the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center. Complete up to the 1980s, the records are arranged first by cemetery, and then alphabetically by surname. Below is the interment card for Anne Hubbard Butler, the young daughter of Watson Hubbard and Susan Quay Butler.

If you have ancestors buried in Sandusky’s Oakland Cemetery, and you would like to learn more about them, consult some of the many resources of information available to you.

People Living in Non-Traditional Homes Described in U.S. Census Records

When searching for ancestors in United States Census records, you may find them residing in a location other than a traditional family home. Since 1888, many U.S. Veterans have made their home at the Ohio Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Home, now known as the Ohio Veterans Home. Below is a portion of the 1910 Census Page for this Home, in Perkins Township, Erie County, Ohio. In these listings, you find the person’s name, place of birth, and occupation, and information about where their parents were born.

For many years, the Children’s Home provided a home for children in Erie County whose parents could not adequately provide for them.

Census records enumerated in 1910, 1920, 1930 and 1940 list the residents of the Erie County Children’s Home on the day of the enumeration. Some of the residents of the Home are listed below in the 1920 U.S. Census. Listings include staff members, as well as the names of  the children for whom they cared.

In 1930, Sheriff John W. Taylor and his family lived at the Erie County Jail, which now is a part of the Sandusky Library. The Census shows John W. Parker, occupation Sheriff, along with his wife and three children. The names of the prisoners residing at the Erie County Jail at the time of the 1930 Census enumeration are provided on the next page.

Other types of facilities that included in the U.S. Census are hospitals, mental institutions, boarding schools, county homes, convents and monasteries, just to name a few. Don’t give up on finding your ancestor in the Census, if they do not turn where you expect to find them. In nineteenth century census records, teenagers and young adults often worked as farm hands or domestic employees, and were enumerated with the families who provided them with a home.

Who Was Grandpa Corell?

This nineteenth century cabinet card is housed in the Arts Collection of the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center. It pictures men in a three-piece string band. The only individual who has been identified is “Grandpa Corell” on guitar, in the center of the group. On the back of the card is the name of the photographer, C.A. Cross.

Notes with the original item indicate that the  picture was taken sometime between 1885 and 1900. To determine the identity of Grandpa Corell, we consulted print sources  in our collection, as well as online genealogical databases. The book Sandusky Then and Now indicates that Christoph. Correll, who was born in Odenbach, Bavaria, Germany in May of 1819, and moved to the Sandusky area about 1849. Christopher Correll (often spelled Corell) married Catherine Christopher. In the 1870 U.S. Census, there are several children listed to Christopher and Catherine Corell, including sons named Charles, William and Ira Corell.

It turns out that Charles Corell died relatively young, and William Corell moved to Michigan. The 1890 Sandusky City Directory listed Christopher Corell, a carpenter; and Ira J. Corell, a plane maker.

By doing some quick math, in 1890 Christopher Corell would have been about 71 years old, and Ira J. Corell would have been 31 years of age. Since the guitar player looks to be a young man, the logical conclusion is that “Grandpa Corell” is very likely named Ira J. Corell. After doing a search for Corell  in our PastPerfect Database, other Corell family items which were donated appear to have come from the Ira Corell family, giving further evidence that this cabinet card most likely came from the Ira Corell family as well. If you have family photographs, be sure to the label people in your pictures, for the benefit of future generations who may have an interest in family history.

Unpuzzling a Baptismal Record

Recently we came across this baptismal record from 1885 in an archival box in the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center. It looks like Josezf Karl [?] Wilhelm is the name of the child, the son of Johann Wilhelm, born in Sandusky, Ohio in 1885. The day of the month was 12, but the name of the month was not easily interpreted. After determining that Sohn is the German word for son, we could match the old German lettering of the first letter of the month, which appeared to be an “S.”  Since the only month that begins with the letter “S” is September, it seemed very possible that Josezf Wilhelm was born on September 12, 1885.  A search at FamilySearch.org for the surname Wilhelm, with a birth date of 1885, and father’s first name as Johann or John, retrieved this birth record.

This record has the same date as the baptismal record, and the same parents, so most likely the infant who was christened Josezf Karl [?] Wilhelm is the same infant which was listed as John Charles Wilhelm in Erie County, Ohio birth records. In looking at Erie County marriage records, for a groom with the surname of Wilhelm, and a birthdate of 1885, this record for the marriage of Charles F.Wilhelm and Marguerite Zimmerman was retrieved.

The parents of Charles F. Wilhelm were listed as John Wilhelm and Anna Hein, the same parents that were on the birth record of John Charles Wilhelm.  Military records at Ancestry Library Edition showed that Charles F. Wilhelm, with a birth date of September 12, 1885, filled out draft registration cards for World War I and World War II. The employer of Charles F. Wilhelm on both cards was listed as the U.S. Post Office in Sandusky, Ohio. In Mr. Wilhelm’s early years, the Post Office was located at Columbus Avenue and Market Street. 

By the mid-1920s, the Post Office had been relocated to the corner of Jackson and Washington Streets in downtown Sandusky.

The Social Security Death Index lists the death of a Charles Wilhelm, born on September 12, 1885, as August of 1972. An obituary for Charles F. Wilhelm appeared in the August 21, 1972 issue of the Sandusky Register. The article stated that Mr. Wilhelm had enjoyed a long career at the Post Office, where he rose to the position of Superintendent of Mails in 1943. He died at the Classic Care South Nursing Home, after a lengthy illness. He was survived by his spouse, the former Emma Marguerite Zimmerman, a brother, and several nieces and nephews. He was buried at Oakland Cemetery in Sandusky, Ohio.

Though there were many discrepancies in the first name and middle name of Mr. Wilhelm, all the records consistently showed the birth date of September 12, 1885, and the parents’ names as John and Anna Wilhelm. Don’t get discouraged when you find that records for the same individual have conflicting information. Search for as many vital and military and church records as you can, and compare the details, focusing on the facts that remain the same in each.  Unpuzzling this baptismal record turned into a genealogical adventure. Mr. Wilhelm’s baptismal record is housed in the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center, which can be seen from the former U.S. Post Office where he spent so many hours during his long career.

Research Using Erie County Cemetery Interment Cards

A valuable source of genealogical information is housed at the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center. In the 1980s, in preparation for the book Erie County,Ohio Cemetery Census Before 1909, volunteers from all townships of Erie County created note cards with interment information about the individuals buried in Erie County cemeteries. While the book features inscriptions about graves up to the year 1908, the index cards provide information about burials up to the decade of the 1980s. These hundreds of index cards were microfilmed, and are now found in the second drawer of the third section of the microfilm cabinet in the Archives Research Center.

When you load the microfilm onto the microfilm reader/scanner, remember to set the size to 16mm, as these films are a smaller size than the standard 35mm size microfilm.

Below is a copy of Anne Hubbard Butler’s interment card. The inscription that is on her tombstone is provided, as well as her birth and death years, and also noted is the fact that she was from Pennsylvania. Anne, who died when she was only eight years old, is buried in Block 61, Lot 14 at Oakland Cemetery. The inscription on her stone reads: Adored daughter of Watson Hubbard Butler and Susan Quay Butler. A little child shall lead them.

David Campbell, 1816 – 1855, was most likely a close relative of the David Campbell who founded Sandusky’s first newspaper, which eventually became the Register. This particular David Campbell was born in Homer, New York in 1816 and died in Delaware, Ohio in 1855. Though he was not born in Sandusky, Ohio, and he did not die in Sandusky, he was laid to rest in Sandusky, Ohio to be in the family lot at Oakland Cemetery.

By viewing the microfilmed interment cards, you can glean details about your ancestors beyond what appears on their tombstone, such as family relationships, military service, and place of residence. Visit the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center to dig into your own family history. 

Women's History Month Wrap-Up: Finding Information about Your Female Ancestors in Erie County

March is Women’s History Month, and in honor of the women of our area, here are some tips on how you can locate information about your female ancestors in Sandusky and Erie County. 

For the earliest settlers in Erie County, you can check the index of the Firelands Pioneer. There is a general index arranged by surname, and a separate index for obituaries. In the June 1865 issue of the Firelands Pioneer, Truman Taylor recounts his grandmother’s account of  how several families moved from Glastonbury, Connecticut to Perkins Township in Erie County, Ohio in 1815, by oxen train.

The women had to wash clothes along the way, sometimes hanging the wet laundry on a brush pile to dry. The families camped at night, stopping in a location with pastures for the cattle and horse. They took provisions along with them, consisting of bacon, bread, butter and cheese. Once they settled in Erie County, the pioneers had to clear the land, build cabins, and till the tough prairie sod.

Two sources that provide information are Mothers of Erie County, by Marjorie Cherry Loomis, and Memorial to the Pioneer Women of the Western Reserve, edited by Mrs. Gertrude Van Ressselaer Wickham. These books are anecdotal in nature, and provide biographical information about the earliest female residents of Erie County. The Memorial to the Pioneer Women of the Western Reserve was originally written in five parts, and is housed in a bound two volume set, shelved in the genealogical section of books in the lower level of the Sandusky Library.  The pages devoted to women from Sandusky are found in Part 1, pages 158 to 164. Mrs. Jane Hartshorn, daughter of William Kelly, recalled that when her family settled in Sandusky in 1818, there were only five frame houses in Sandusky at that time. All the rest were built of logs. The family stayed in a small log house that had been used as a cabin for fishermen. It had no fireplace, just a stone hearth, and very little furniture or dishes. Though times were difficult, she remembered those early days with fondness. Jay Cooke remembered his mother, Martha Simpson Carswell Cooke, working at her spinning wheel, to prepare material for the children’s clothing and stockings. When Martha’s husband, Eleutheros, brought back cans of oysters from the east, she shared liberally with her neighbors. Jay Cooke recalled that his mother had wise counsel and unfailing Christian love. There are indexes in the back of volume two of Memorial to the Pioneer Women of the Western Reserve arranged by the surname of the pioneer women, as well as an index to towns and counties.

For genealogical information about your female ancestors, the Sandusky Library has access to Ancestry Library Edition and Heritage Quest. An outstanding online resource, available to anyone with computer access, is FamilySearch.org. This database is particularly strong in Ohio information, such as birth, marriage, and death records and some census data.  Sources available inside the Sandusky Library include school yearbooks, Sandusky city directories, Erie County directories and histories, obituaries in the microfilmed copies of the Sandusky Register, and church records, also on microfilm. Hundreds of historical photographs are housed at the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center. Inquire at the Sandusky Library for more information.

A fun way to learn a bit more about women from Sandusky and Erie County, search for  women ​in the Labels list to the left. In these links, you can read, for example, about women working for the war effort in World War II.

Sarah Howard was the first African-American female to graduate from Sandusky High School.

The Woman’s Endeavor was a newspaper published by Sandusky women in 1908. In 1920, there was an all-women jury in a courtroom at the Erie County Courthouse. Dr. Carrie Chase Davis was one of the first female physicians in Sandusky, and was also known for her active involvement in women’s rights.

Two other notable Sandusky women we cannot forget are Marie Brehm, the first legally qualified female candidate to run for the vice-presidency of the U.S., and Jackie Mayer, Miss America of 1963, now a motivational speaker. Jackie Mayer speaks about her recovery from a near-fatal stroke when she was 28.