Festival of the Flower Queen

On Tuesday evening, August 14, 1860, a performance of the Festival of the Flower Queen was held at Norman Hall, under the direction of Professor A.B. Chase of Cleveland, Ohio; he had directed productions of the same play in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1858, and in Cleveland in 1859.

The musical performance featured seventy five young ladies from the Sandusky area, all appearing in beautiful costumes which represented different flowers. Featured performers were: Josephine Chapman, Sarah Parish, Kate Burton, Sarah Monroe, Amelia Brainard, Nettie Wetherell, Alice Hard, Fanny Barney, Alice Porter, Jennie McGee, Lina Mills, Kate Monroe, and Miss Sallie Reber. The theme of the musical was that the flowers were meeting in a dell in order to choose their queen. A recluse, played by Professor Chase, was discontented with life. In song, the flowers told the recluse about love and duty, and by end of the performance he was ready to return to society among his fellow creatures.

The August 15, 1860 issue of the Sandusky Daily Commercial Register reported that the performance at Norman Hall was a “a most decided success in every way.” The article stated that the Daisy, who was played by Sallie Reber, was coaxed into an encore song; she would later go on to be a popular performer with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in New York. 

Local Recruiting for the Civil War

The poster above was placed in various public places around the Sandusky area in June of 1863. The recruiting office for the Cavalry was on the upper level of Reber’s Block on Water Street. A “competent officer” staffed the office to inform potential soldiers about pay and rations. The poster stated that service in the Civil War was “glorious - - full of dashing adventure.” 

Thomas Reber’s name appeared at the bottom of the recruiting poster. The son of Sandusky lawyer George Reber, Thomas Reber enlisted in Company K, 88^th Ohio Volunteer Infantry in 1862. Later he transferred to the Ohio 196^th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. At the time of his discharge in 1865, he had achieved the rank of First Lieutenant and Quartermaster. He moved to Louisiana after the close of the Civil War, where he was a Parish Judge, then, in 1872, he took up residence in Natchez, Mississippi. He became interested in the history of that city, and wrote the book Proud Old Natchez.  The Thomas Reber Collection is housed at the University of Mississippi, and contains several letters sent to individuals in Sandusky, Ohio. 

The Boalt Family of Sandusky and Norwalk

Pictured above is the former home of John M. Boalt, who was president of the Sandusky Wheel Company in the 1860s. John M. Boalt was the son of Captain John Boalt and Ruth Lockwood Boalt. His first wife was Sarah Follett, daughter of Oran Follett; she died at age 20 in 1844. (He later married Fanny Griswold.)

The Boalt family settled first in Norwalk, but moved to Sandusky around 1823, where Captain Boalt was the proprietor of the Steamboat Hotel. John and Ruth Boalt had a large family. Their daughter Amanda Boalt was the first wife of prominent Sandusky attorney George Reber. Daughter Clara Boalt married Samuel W. Butler, who had a large commission business in the early days of Sandusky. Susan Boalt married Samuel B. Caldwell, an early Mayor of Sandusky. Portraits of both Samuel B. Caldwell and Susan Boalt Caldwell are housed in the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center.

Another child of Captain John Boalt was Charles L. Boalt, who was a well known attorney in Norwalk, Ohio. He was also associated with the Toledo, Norwalk, and Cleveland Railroad. Charles L. Boalt’s daughter, Fanny, became Mrs. Jay O. Moss. Mrs. Moss was the driving force behind securing funds from Andrew Carnegie for the purpose of building a public library in Sandusky.  

Charles L. Boalt’s son was John Henry Boalt, who was a prominent lawyer in California. There is a Boalt Street in Sandusky as well as in San Francisco.

The Boalt family members were deeply involved in civic and business affairs in both Huron and Erie Counties and beyond. Several books in the Sandusky Library chronicle our area’s rich local history. Among the titles are: The Centennial History of Erie County, by Hewson L. Peeke; History of Erie County, edited by Lewis Cass Aldrich; and History of the Firelands, by W. W. Williams.

George Reber’s Homes on West Washington Street

According to Helen Hansen’s book At Home in Early Sandusky, the materials and workmanship were “of the finest” quality when George Reber built this stone house at what is now 803 West Washington Street. Reber was born in Lancaster, Ohio in 1809, and he moved to Sandusky in 1838. He was a prominent attorney in Sandusky for many years. His home at 803 West Washington Street was built about 1849. The home originally featured a large entrance hall, and a stairway made of cherry wood. An earlier residence was located at 603 West Washington Street, built in about 1846. The Rebers’ next door neighbors at their earlier residence were Mr. and Mrs. William Townsend, who died in the 1849 cholera epidemic.

During the years of litigation among the early proprietors of the city of Sandusky, George Reber served as one of the lawyers. After the suits were settled, Mr. Reber secured a large amount of real estate, which he improved and then left to his family after his death in 1885. He was married twice, first to the former Amanda Boalt, and secondly to Nancy Stiles Kilbourne, the widow of James Kilbourne. One of George Reber’s daughters, Sallie Reber, was a popular singer on the New York stage. A grandson, Reber Nettleton Johnson, became a well known violinist, and later was on the faculty of the Oberlin Conservatory.

You can read more about the residences of more early Sandusky residents in At Home in Early Sandusky. The book was based on a series of historical articles by Mrs. Hansen which appeared in the Sandusky Register in 1958 and 1959.

Genealogical Research with High School Alumni Publications

High School alumni directories can be very helpful in genealogical research. The page below shows both the maiden names and married names of female graduates. Since the directory was current to 1909, by searching the 1910 United States Census, more details about the graduates can be gleaned, such as place of birth, occupation, and the names of children and spouse. (U.S. Census records are available at the Archives Research Center on microfilm, as well as through the databases Ancestry Library Edition and Heritage Quest. See the Reference Staff for assistance.)
Laura Beattie married the Rev. Charles Dinsmore, and moved to Waterbury, Connecticut. Evelina Ball had become Mrs. George W. Perkins. Charles Henry Arndt had become a minister serving a church in Germantown, Pennsylvania. A. J. Weis was employed by the Keystone Fish Company in Erie, Pennsylvania.

The listings in the directory will provide the names of the classmates of your ancestors. By then searching through the appropriate Sandusky High School “Fram,” you can view photographs of various clubs, teams, and organizations, which give further details about the students of Sandusky High School throughout several decades. Yearbooks from St. Mary’s Central High School and Perkins High School can also be found at the Archives Research Center.

In 1994, the Sandusky High School Alumni Association published an Alumni Directory, which is shelved immediately after the collection of high school yearbooks from Sandusky High School. The Alumni Directory serves as an index to the yearbooks, giving the year of graduation, and providing the maiden name of females. An address that was current in 1994 is also listed. At yearly class reunions, current addresses of living graduates are usually proved in a pamphlet given to attendees.
Alice Reber Johnson is just one of the many persons whose names are listed in the “Complete List of Living Graduates of Sandusky High School from 1855 to 1909.”