Vincent Nusly, Swiss Immigrant, Inventor

Vincent Nusly was born in 1817 in Switzerland. He came to the United States around 1847, where he settled in Sandusky, Ohio with his wife and children. Mr. Nusly operated a jewelry store in Sandusky, where he also sold tickets for the nearby Opera House.  

The first Mrs. Vincent Nusly died in 1851. Erie County Probate Court records indicate that he married Rigina Gramenshashen in 1852. She most likely passed away not long after she married, because in 1854, he married Dorothy Mueller/Miller. He and his wife Dorothy had several children together; in  the 1870 U.S. Census, there were eight children residing in the household, ranging in age from four to fifteen. 

In 1889, Vincent Nusly was issued a patent for a car coupling device to be used on railway cars:

In about 1902, Vincent Nusly moved to Canton, Ohio. He died on July 3, 1910,  at the home of his daughter, Mrs. A. A. VanSickle in Canton, at the age of 92. The funeral was held at the VanSickle home, and burial was at the Westlawn Cemetery in Canton. Mr. Nusly’s obituary appeared in the July 9, 1910 issue of the Sandusky Register.

Frau Miller’s Saloon

Here is a ledger sheet written on letterhead stationery from Frau Rosina Miller’s saloon known as the Deutsches Wirtshaus, which in English is German Inn. Rosina Miller, often listed in city directories as Rosina Mueller, was the widow of Julius Miller, who operated the saloon before Rosina took it over. In the 1886 Sandusky City Directory, she is just one of the many individuals who ran a saloon. There were 172 saloons listed in Sandusky at that time; with Sandusky's population about 18,000 at the time, that comes to roughly one saloon for every 100 persons,  Below is just a portion of the page from the directory listing for saloons.

Rosina Miller/Mueller ran the saloon in the 900 block of Columbus Avenue until about 1906. She died on September 14, 1914, following injuries she received in an automobile accident. Mrs. Miller was survived by a son and two daughters, and six grandchildren. She had made Sandusky her home for fifty years. Rev. J.H. Holdgraf officiated at her funeral services and burial was at Oakland Cemetery.

The building where Frau Miller's saloon operated still stands. You can see it as it appears today on Google Maps.