Memorial to President Ulysses S. Grant

While we cannot be certain that any Sandusky residents attended the dedication of the Memorial to President Ulysses S. Grant in Washington D.C., Mrs. John T. Mack bequeathed the program from the dedication exercises to the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center. 

Civil War veterans in both blue and gray attended the ceremonies, which took place on the 100^th anniversary of the birthday of President Grant, one hundred years ago, on April 27, 1922. Princess Cantacuzene, born Julia Dent Grant, the granddaughter of former President Grant, and her daughter Princess Ida Cantacuzene unveiled the Memorial. A parade made up of soldiers, sailors, and Marines participated in the ceremonies, which included a 21 gun salute and “doves of peace” being released.

According to the April 28, 1922 issue of the Sandusky Register, President Harding addressed a crowd of 15,000 people in President Grant's birthplace, Point Pleasant, Ohio on the former President's 100th birthday, April 27, 1922. President Harding praised Grant as a great hero and military leader.

After President Grant died on July 23, 1885, the city of Sandusky conducted a memorial to the late President on  August 8, the same day as his funeral in New York city. Businesses and private homes in Sandusky were draped with black cloths to pay respects to former President Grant. Flags were at half-mast on boats in the port of Sandusky as well as at government buildings in the city. A parade took place from Market Street to Biemiller’s Opera House; hundreds of mourners were turned away from Sandusky’s memorial service because the Opera House was filled to capacity. I.F. Mack presided at the service, and music was provided by the Great Western Band.

Isaac Foster Mack, 1837-1912

 

Rev. David J. Meese, of the First Presbyterian Church, spoke about General Grant’s boyhood days. Rev. George H. Peeke, of the First Congregational Church, spoke of Grant as an ideal hero. Rev. F. K. Brooke, of Grace Church, spoke about the peace in the United States as evidenced by those who mourned Grant from both the northern and southern states of the United States. Other speakers of the day included Rev. A. B. Nicholas, A.H. Moss, Homer Goodwin, and F. W. Alvord. When the Honorable Oran Follett spoke, he alluded to Shakespeare as he said in part, “We have met today to praise, not to bury, the man who had the courage and ability to lead us to a great victory.” 

Oran Follett, 1798-1894

The Great Western Band played a final song, and the audience dispersed after the McMeens Post of G.A.R. left in a group.

Great Western Band

Visit the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center to learn more about the history of the former residents and businesses of Sandusky and Erie County, Ohio.

Rush R. Sloane

Rush Richard Sloane was born in Sandusky in 1828, the son of John Sloane and Cynthia Strong Sloane. (Cynthia’s father Abner Strong was said to be a leader in the Underground Railroad in Ohio.) When he was only 16 years of age, Rush R. Sloane studied law under prominent Sandusky attorney F. D. Parish. Sloane practiced law until 1857. 

Below is a circular from 1853 which announces that Rush Sloane would practice law in Supreme, Federal, District, and Common Pleas Courts throughout Northern and Central Ohio. His list of references included Jay Cooke, as well as many leading men of Sandusky, Buffalo, and several other locations.

During the 1850’s Rush Sloane was a leading abolitionist in Ohio. In 1852, he defended seven men escaping slavery. The men were released, but one of the former slaveowners, Louis Weimer, sued Sloane in the U.S. District Court in Columbus. Sloane was fined $3000 ($104,000 in 2021 dollars) and court costs. In appreciation of his support, several African American residents of Sandusky presented Rush Sloane with a silver headed cane. 

This cane is on display at The Follett House Museum in Sandusky.

In 1856 he attended conventions held in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia that laid the foundation of the Republican Party. On June 2, 1900, he was invited to the 1900 Republican Convention on June 19, though by that time Sloane had become a member of the Democratic Party.

Rush Sloane served as city clerk of Sandusky from 1855 to 1857, and was elected Erie County Probate Judge in 1857. In the early 1860s, he briefly moved to Chicago to be a special agent of the Post Office Department. By 1867 he had become president of the Sandusky, Dayton and Cincinnati Railroad, successor to the Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad. Because of several financial disputes, a challenge to his leadership of the railroad, and a charge of embezzlement from the company, Sloane fled to Europe for three years. By 1876, he had returned to Sandusky, and eventually cleared of the charges (although there may have been a paid settlement). 

After his return to Sandusky, Sloane ran for mayor of Sandusky on the Democratic ticket. He served as mayor of Sandusky in 1879 and 1880. He had the Sloane House hotel built in 1880, and later built the Sloane block (aka Sloane Annex) which housed several businesses. 

Rush Sloane died on December 21, 1908. He was survived by his third wife, the former Helen F. Hall, two sons, and two daughters. From 1899 until the time of his death, Rush Sloane served as president of the Firelands Historical Society.

There is a wealth of historical information about Rush R. Sloane at the Sandusky Library and the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center. Charles E. Frohman, in his index to the Sandusky Register, features over 50 index cards with newspaper citations relating to Rush R. Sloane. A large portion of the biography of I.F. Mack, entitled Sandusky's Editor, by Charles E. Frohman, is devoted to Sloane. I.F. Mack was very vocal in his criticisms of Sloane, and as editor of the Sandusky Register he voiced his opinions often.

I.F. Mack (1837-1912)

Residents of Sandusky may have had mixed feelings about attorney, businessman, former Mayor, and abolitionist Rush R. Sloane, but there is no doubt that Rush Sloane was an important figure in the history of Sandusky.

A "Found" Piece of Business History

Shortly after the June 23, 1924 tornado in Sandusky, Mary Louise Krupp, wife of Charles J. Krupp, found a small book labeled "Autographs." That same year, she donated it to the historical collections of the Sandusky Library. 

This book, although made for autographs, was used to record the sales of chromolithograph prints. In 1873, Apollos Huntington, father-in-law of Sandusky businessman John McKelvey, was an agent for “Middleton’s Oil Chromos.” Customers who purchased the prints for $7.50 each (about $170 in today's value) also received a frame, with hardware for hanging included. 

Chromolithography was a technique developed by Louis Prang for making colorful prints, with its roots in lithography. Various colors are added in layers, with the end product resulting in a print which was much less expensive product than an original oil painting.

It appears he only sold two selections, “The Mount of Olives” and “Garden of Gethsemane.” Between May and September of 1873, the following individuals purchased one or both of the chromolithographs from Mr. Huntington:

Rev. H. N. Burton, minister of First Congregational Church

Rev. Martin K. Holbrook, minister of the Congregational Church at Kelleys Island

Rev. Ernst Von Schulenburg, minister of Emmanuel Church

I.F. Mack, publisher of the Sandusky Register

Printers in Sandusky in 1900

An unidentified print shop, probably early 20th century

 Listed in the 1900-1901 Sandusky City Directory are eight businesses under the heading “Printers, Book and Job.” They are:

Alvord –Peters Company, at the northwest corner of Water Street and Columbus Avenue

C. C. Bittner at 622 Market Street

C.E. Chaney at 513 Market Street

I.F. Mack and Brother at 626 Water Street

Sandusky Printing Company, at 618 Water Street

W. & W.F. Senn at 742 Water Street

Star Publishing Company at 602 Market Street

Several of these print shops published newspaper as their primary business.

A.J. Peters and F.E. Alvord would go on to own and publish the Sandusky-Star Journal, which was a merger of three newspapers: the Sandusky Journal, the Sandusky Local, and the Sandusky Star. When A. J. Peters died in 1929, employees of the Star-Journal served as active pallbearers at his funeral.

In 1900, C. C. Bittner was the publisher and proprietor of the Sandusky Daily and Weekly Journal and Local. C.E. Chaney and the Sandusky Printing Company were primarily job printers. The Sandusky Star was published by the Star Publishing Co. in 1900, whose officers were Charles Bang, President, and E. C. Tierney, Secretary.

I.F. and John T. Mack were the proprietors of the Sandusky Register, but the company also did printing jobs, binding, and sold stationery. I.F. Mack was associated with the Register from 1869 until 1909, when his brother John T. Mack took over as the editor and publisher. 

(In 1972 Charles E. Frohman chronicled I.F. Mack’s years as editor in the book, Sandusky's Editor: Isaac Foster Mack's Blazing Forty Years as Editor of the Sandusky Register.)

Philip Buerkle and William F. Senn published the Sandusky Demokrat, the last German language newspaper in Sandusky.

To read more about newspapers in Sandusky, see the chapter about Erie County Newspapers in Hewson L. Peeke’s book A Standard History of Erie County.  Also available at the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center is a bound copy of the Twin Anniversary Celebration edition of the Sandusky Register-Star News, from November 24, 1917, which features an article about the history of newspapers in Sandusky, beginning from David Campbell and the Sandusky Clarion and continuing through 1947. Ask at the Reference Services desk to view this item.

Erie County Farmers' Picnic

Here is a schedule of events at the Erie County Farmers’ Picnic held at Cedar Point on Saturday, July 23, 1892.

An account of the picnic in the July 25, 1892 Sandusky Register reported that the event was a “success in every way,” except for attendance.  Many farmers could not attend because of the late harvest, which kept many farmers at home working in the fields.  The article stated, “The programme heretofore published was fully carried out and nothing was left undone by the Cedar Point management that would add to the pleasures and comfort of those who were there to enjoy the day.” 

Musical entertainment was provided by the Great Western Band (above) and vocalist Ida Reynolds.

 

Charles Steen, pictured above with his wife Sarah, was the Vice-President of the Erie County Agricultural Society in 1892. Mr. Steen introduced the speakers of the day: I.F. Mack, Department Commander of the Ohio G.A.R. and General William H. Gibson, from Tiffin, Ohio.

Mr. Mack gave an address which focused on pensions for the Union Veterans of the Civil War. He indicated that the pensions for former U.S. soldiers compared favorably with the pensions given to the veteran soldiers of other countries.

When Vice President C. F. Steen introduced General William H. Gibson, of Tiffin, the crowd gave an enthusiastic ovation. General Gibson, considered an outstanding orator, was known as the “Grand Old Man of Ohio.” The Register carried a large portion of General Gibson’s speech, in which he praised the farmers of the United States. He spoke of the American wheat, corn, and cotton crops, and how wheat from the U.S. was sent to famine victims in Russia. He continued “This is a great farm and we don’t want any drones on it. I have worked ever since I was born and this is the best world I ever struck.” He encouraged the young men in the crowd to “get forty acres of land in any part of the state of Ohio” and “hang on to it.”  General Gibson concluded with patriotic remarks, stating that America was the most popular nation in Christendom, with bounteous wealth and infinite resources. 

To read the full article about the Erie County Farmers’ Picnic in 1892, visit the Archives Research Center of the Sandusky Library, which houses decades of historical local newspapers on microfilm, or find the article on Newspaper Archive, a subscription service available free to Sandusky Library cardholders via our local history resource page.

 Pictured below is a picnic at Cedar Point in 1906, several years after the Erie County Farmers’ Picnic.

 

Pictorial Section from The Bell in 1931

Students at St. Mary’s High School in Sandusky published a journal called The Bell (now a yearbook). A copy of the May, 1931 edition is housed in the Schools Collection of the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center. At the top of the front page of the pictorial section of this issue is a picture of Rev. William C. Zierolf as well as a scene taken at dismissal time at the end of the school day. The faculty is pictured at the bottom of the page (below). From left to right are: Miss Evelyn Bing, Miss Lillian Fievet, Mr. Ramond Helmer and Miss Olga Gundlach.

Pictured below in a scene from the annual St. Mary’s High School play are: Paul Hemrick, Dorothy Riesterer, Eula Sheets, Charles LeClair, Elizabeth Donahue, Geraldine Mack and Kenneth Polta.

Individual pictures of members of the St. Mary’s 1931 graduating class are pictured on page 2. Several of the young ladies appear to have a hairstyle known as the “Marcel Wave,” which was very popular in the 1920s and 1930s.

Men of Sandusky

In 1895, a booklet promoting Sandusky was printed by the I. F. Mack & Brother Printers in Sandusky, Ohio. On page 3 is the beginning of an introductory essay by C. S. Van Tassel, the publisher of this book. According to Ohio Authors and Their Books, Charles Sumner Van Tassel was born in Wood County, Ohio in 1858, and worked at several Ohio newspapers, including the Sandusky Register, before he retired from the field of journalism to focus on writing books on local history.

Men of Sandusky begins with a brief history of the city of Sandusky. Photographs taken by Platt feature scenes of Sandusky, including city parks, churches, schools, and government offices. Several pages of the booklet are devoted to the businesses, newspapers, and transportation services of the Sandusky area. Pages 17 through 21 focus on the Ohio Soldiers and Sailors Home, now known as the Ohio Veterans Home. On page 15, General Sheridan is quoted as saying “Sandusky ought to be made the most beautiful city on the Lakes….”

Forty nine leading male citizens are pictured in the second half of Men of Sandusky. Jacob Kuebeler and John E. Stang were both connected with local brewing businesses.

I.F. and John T. Mack were the co-owners of the Sandusky Register

An index (pp. 57-59) to the men pictured in Men of Sandusky gives a very brief description of the prominent Sandusky men whose portraits appear in the booklet.

Visit the Archives Research Center of the Sandusky Library to view Men of Sandusky.

Ohio Structural Iron Company, Predecessor to Mack Iron Works

John D. Mack and A.C. Blinn founded the Ohio Structural Iron Company in 1901, after they purchased the Crandall Iron and Fence Company, located on Warren Street in Sandusky. These advertisements, the one below from an early issue of Park and Cemetery and Landscape Gardening, let us know exactly what types of products were made by the Ohio Structural Iron Company.

In 1903, the Ohio Structural Iron Company manufactured 200 lawn seats for the parks of the city of Toledo, and 100 lawn seats for the National Soldiers’ Home in Dayton, Ohio. The company built a fire escape that could fold up like an accordion for the Donahue building in Sandusky in 1905. 

After John D. Mack bought out Mr. Blinn’s interest in the company, he changed the name to Mack Iron and Wire Works. This company got a contract for building an iron fence around the Confederate Cemetery at Johnson’s Island, according to an article which appeared in the September 2, 1912 issue of the Sandusky Register. The fence was four feet in height and had ornamental posts and arched gates. 

A tornado seriously damaged the Mack Iron and Wire Works building in June of 1924.

In 1925, as the company was re-building, John D. Mack hired his son-in-law to manage the Iron Works, so he could devote more time to the Sandusky Register, where he served as Vice-President and Treasurer. Having weathered setbacks during the Great Depression, in the 1940s, Mack Iron made defense materials in support of the U.S. War Effort. So many of Mack’s regular employees went off to serve in World War II, that to keep up production the company brought in German prisoners of war from Camp Perry to work on the lines. After the war, Mack Iron moved from foundry work to metal fabrication. A lengthy article in the April 22, 2001 issue of the Sandusky Register reported that projects made by Mack Iron can be seen at Sandusky City Schools, the Erie County Jail, the County Parking Garage, a coaster at Cedar Point, and many other area buildings. 

You can read more about the history of Mack Iron Works in the Sandusky Register of April 22, 2001, now on microfilm at the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center. The company motto of the Mack Iron Works Company is:  “Quality people doing quality work.” 

 

An aerial view of Mack Iron, taken by photographer Thomas Root in the summer of 1965.

Historical Receipts from Sandusky Newspapers

In April, 1822, David Campbell issued the first copy of the Sandusky Clarion, a predecessor of the Sandusky Register. The paper was renamed the Daily Register after Earl Bill and Clark Waggoner took over as editors of the paper in 1851. Eventually Henry D. Cooke became associated with the business. The newspaper firm was owned by Bill, Cooke and Company when this receipt was issued to David Campbell in 1853.

Hewson Peeke wrote in A Standard History of Erie County, Ohio (Lewis Publishing Co., 1916) that the Register changed hands three or four times between 1855 and 1869. It was after Isaac Foster Mack became half-owner in the newspaper in 1869 that the local newspaper in Sandusky became known as the Sandusky Register.  In this 1872 receipt, signed by I.F. Mack, the paper was known as the Sandusky Daily Register, under the proprietorship of the Register Printing Company.

According to the letterhead on this receipt from August 3, 1889, at that time the Sandusky Register had a daily, tri-weekly, weekly, and Sunday edition. I.F. Mack and Brother were the publishers of the Sandusky Register in 1889.

 Though the names changed slightly throughout the years, the Sandusky Register has a long history with the residents of Sandusky and Erie County. Visit the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center to view historical copies of Sandusky newspapers on microfilm. There was you will also find  an interesting biography of I.F. Mack by Charles E. Frohman, entitled Sandusky's Editor.

Sandusky Men in Libby Prison During the Civil War

This print of Libby Prison, as it appeared on August 23, 1863, was donated to the Sandusky Library by Mrs. I.F. Mack. Sandusky’s well known newspaper editor, Isaac F. Mack, was imprisoned in Libby Prison and two other Southern prison camps during the Civil War. Fortunately he survived the war and had a very successful newspaper career with the Sandusky Register. 

Many other area men spent time at Libby Prison, including Fred Frey, Jr., Delos Ransom, Foster Neill, Frank Colver, William B. Rice, Wilbur F. Cowles, and John M. Butler, the son in law of Jay Cooke. In December of 1863, the Ladies Aid Society from Sandusky sent packages of food which were distributed to local men who were imprisoned at the prison in Richmond, Virginia. Captains C.H. Riggs and O.H. Rosenbaum, with the 123^rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry, sent a letter of thanks to the Ladies Aid Society, to the attention of Mrs. T.D. West, the Society’s secretary-treasurer. The men were thrilled to have such a package from their hometown in the midst of a dismal prison setting.  The letter appeared in the January 30, 1864 issue of the Sandusky Register, and read in part:

“To the ladies, first, (God bless them) we tender our most grateful thanks; secondly, to all others who in any way contributed thereto. Such form the bright spots in our life in Libby. Though irksome our stay in prison, we are of good cheer. Having been blessed with good health, we have no fault to find; full of confidence in the integrity of our Government, well assured that our interest are not forgotten there, and that, as soon as an exchange can be effected compatible with best interest of all, we will be released, we cheerfully submit. In conclusion, allow us to again thank the ladies and them our best wishes for their perfect success in the human work in which they are engaged, alleviating the sufferings of the sick, the sorrowful, &c. Colonel Wilson wishes to be especially remembered, and, with the other members of “Mess 32” will ever cherish in his heart of hearts the memory of the Ladies of Sandusky.”

To learn more about area men who served during the Civil War, visit the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center. Many sources, both online and in print, can aid in searching for information about Civil War soldiers.

I.F. Mack’s Address on “The Four Pioneers”

On June 8, 1881, I.F. Mack, the well-known publisher of the Sandusky Register, gave an address at the twenty fifth annual meeting of the Firelands Historical Society in Norwalk, Ohio.

His address, entitled “The Four Pioneers,” featured sketches of four well known pioneer attorneys in the Firelands area.

In the eight years prior to the 1881 meeting, four respected judges from Erie County had passed away. They were: Walter F. Stone, William G. Lane, Joseph M. Root, and Cooper K. Watson. Mr. Mack had known each of these men personally. He gave a brief biography of each of the deceased attorneys, and then he examined the character of each of the men. According to Mack, Walter F. Stone was very gentle in nature, and was a man of peace. “He was a gentleman always, in the practice of his profession as well as social life.”  

William G. Lane was described as having the combination of diffidence, mental strength, fidelity to the highest duty, patience and courage. Mr. Mack also said that Judge Lane had “sincerity, coupled with unquestioned purity of thought and feeling,” and claimed that he was the “wisest counsellor we ever had at our bar.” 

About Joseph M. Root, I.F. Mack said that he was sincere, honest, and brave, but “his prejudices were too intense to make him an agreeable social companion.” When someone disagreed with Joseph M. Root, his wrath was often excited and he was known to “draw forth a torrent of abuse.” Mr. Mack said simply that Root “was not a great lawyer.”

According to Mack, Cooper K. Watson “possessed legal ability of the highest order.” He had a consummate knowledge of the laws, and a thorough understanding of the intricate rules and modes of practice, and was known to be severe in the sentencing of criminals. Mack wrote that Judge Watson “read books, law, theology, poetry, history, romance, and science greedily, remembered what he read, and made it useful, in the practice of his profession and in his intercourse with friends.”

Mr. Mack concluded by stating that all four of the pioneer lawyers were regarded as honest men, in a profession popularly believed to contain its full share of dishonest men. He stressed the importance of honesty and integrity as the chief cornerstone of character, to be regarded as more important than owning lands, stocks and bonds. 

To read I.F. Mack’s address “The Four Pioneers,” see the Firelands Pioneer of June 1882. His address is found on pages 62 to 70. You can see a framed picture of each of the four attorneys discussed in Mack’s speech on the third floor of the Erie County Courthouse.

The Early Years of the Erie County Humane Society

According to Hewson Peeke’s book A Standard History of Erie County, Ohio, the Erie County Humane Society was organized in 1882, with George Marsh as president. The directors were: I.F. Mack, A.E. Merrill, J.C. Hauser, and John C. Zollinger. By 1889, Albert E. Merrill was serving as president of the Erie County Humane Society. Albert E. Merrill was a physician and a lawyer, and he served as Erie County Probate Judge from 1878 to 1890.

A lengthy description of the Erie County Humane Society was featured in an article in the June 1, 1896 issue of the Sandusky Daily Register. The article reported that, “The general objects of the society are to prevent cruelty to children and rescue them from vicious influences and remedy their condition, and to prevent cruelty to animals.” The Erie County Humane Society had been chartered under the law of the state of Ohio, and was authorized not only to prevent cruelty to children, but also to punish those who are guilty of such cruelty or neglect. The article continued, “The Humane Society calls upon teachers in the public schools to inculcate humane sentiment among the children. It urges clergymen of all denominations to advocate kindness to animals. It urges newspapers to keep before their readers the importance of humane treatment of both children and animals.” The society hoped to extend its membership into all portions of Erie County. Some of the inhumane conditions that the Humane Society hoped to prevent included: dog fights, cock fights, overloading horse cars, mutilation and underfeeding of animals, driving disabled animals, and tying the legs of calves or sheep in wagons to market. According to the February 16, 1911 issue of the Sandusky Star Journal, a meeting of the Erie County Humane Society had recently met at Carnegie Hall at the Sandusky Library.

Discussed at the meeting was the situation in which several men left their horses on the street unattended for hours, while they frequented saloons. Letters of warning were issued to the offending parties. Human officer Mrs. Fannie Everett presented a total of forty-two cases of cruelty to children or animals in her quarterly report. While we do not have extensive historical documents related to the Erie County Humane Society, it is clear that Erie County leaders have been concerned with the well-being of animals (and in its early days, of children), for many decades. To read the complete articles mentioned in this post, visit the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center, where past issues of Sandusky newspapers are available on microfilm. 

Sandusky Register Monument at Oakland Cemetery

In Lot 1 of Block 87 is a monument dedicated to the employees of the Sandusky Register. The November 28, 1885 issue of the Register reports that the proprietors of the newspaper, I.F. and John T. Mack, along with C. C. Keech (the Register’s “Moral Editor”) purchased a lot in Oakland Cemetery. It was adjacent to the G.A.R. lot, in which many Erie County veterans are buried.  The article stated “This lot is a part and parcel of The Register plant, to be handed down to each successive proprietorship with the presses and type and machinery of the office.” The future monument at this cemetery plot was to be “a befitting stone to mark the spot of The Register dead in the long, long future.”

Officers of the “Register Monumental Association” were: President, I.J.P. Tessier; Secretary, W. I. Jackson, and Treasurer, C. C. Hand.  Register employees were to set aside 10 cents from each week’s paycheck, until enough funds were collected to purchase a suitable monument. An article in the November 18, 1959 Sandusky Register tells us that the marble monument was erected in 1887.  The carved likeness of a printer’s mallet and composing stick appear on the monument, above the inscription:  “The dead who lie here toiled for the world’s enlightenment. Erected 1887 by the Sandusky Register Monumental Association in memory of Register employees.”

The first burial in the Sandusky Register lot was Clarence M. Brockway, the former city editor of the Sandusky Register, who died of typhoid. He was buried in Oakland Cemetery on November 7, 1885. Several former employees are buried at this site. The monument, having been in Oakland Cemetery for over one hundred years, truly remains a lovely stone which honors the memory of many Sandusky Register employees.

Isaac F. Mack, Civil War Veteran and Newspaper Publisher

Isaac Foster Mack, Jr. was born in Monroe County, New York on August 1, 1837. He moved with his family to Decatur, Wisconsin in 1848. While attending school at Oberlin College, Mack enlisted in Company C of the Seventh Ohio Infantry. At the battle of Cross Lanes, West Virginia in 1861, Mack was taken prisoner. He was imprisoned at Libby Prison in Richmond, Old Parish Prison at New Orleans, and also at Salisbury, North Carolina. After the war, I.F. Mack, Jr. returned to Oberlin College and completed his education. He read law in Janesville, Wisconsin, and practiced law for a short time. He became associated with the Broadhead Independent newspaper in Wisconsin, and then he moved to Washington D.C. where he worked as a correspondent for several Chicago newspapers. In March, 1869, Mack moved to Sandusky, Ohio where he purchased a half interest in the Register. After two years, he became the sole proprietor of the newspaper. In 1874, his brother John T. Mack joined him as a partner in the Register. This partnership continued until 1909 when Isaac F. Mack retired due to failing health. I.F. Mack, Jr. was a charter member of the Western Associated Press, which went on to become the Associated Press. It was largely due to the efforts of Isaac F. Mack, Jr. that the Ohio Soldiers' and Sailors' Home was located in Erie County, Ohio. The Ohio Veterans Home Museum is now housed in the I.F. Mack Building on the grounds of the Ohio Veterans Home.

In 1892 I.F. Mack, Jr. was elected Commander of the Ohio Department of the Grand Army of the Republic. and for several years he served as president of the Ohio Editorial Association. On September 12, 1912, Isaac F. Mack, Jr. died at the age of 75. He was survived by his wife, the former Mary Foote, and a son and daughter. Burial was in Sandusky's Oakland Cemetery. In 1995 Isaac F. Mack, Jr. was inducted posthumously into the Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame. To read more about the life and career of Isaac F. Mack, Jr., read Sandusky's Editor, by Charles E. Frohman, available at the Sandusky Library.