Baptismal Certificate of George Schade

A baptismal record for George Julius Schade is in the collections of the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center. George J. Schade was born on February 15, 1869, in Sandusky. His parents were Wilhelm (later known as William) Schade and Susanna Heck Schade. Rev. J.G. Lehrer, pastor of Zion Lutheran Church officiated at the baptism, which took place on April 11, 1869. The baptismal sponsors were George and Maria Maul. All the words on this baptismal record are in German. Bible verses from Galatians and I Corinthians are found on either side of the document, which is decorated with intricate engravings.  

The life of George J. Schade is well documented at the Sandusky Library. This carte de visite shows him as a young man.

   

From the early 1900s to 1921, George J. Schade was the manager of the Schade Coal Company, located at 810 West Water Street, across from the Big Four Depot. At the time of his death in 1937 he had served longer on the Sandusky City Commission than any other person. Mr. Schade had been a pharmacist, and owned the Schade Theater.  Page 40 of the 1937 Obituary Notebook features a lengthy obituary which had been clipped from a local newspaper.

            

George J. Schade was married to Anna Schade, the daughter of pioneer brewer Jacob Kuebeler. He was the grandfather of George L. Mylander, who went on to serve his community as a well-respected educator, philanthropist and civic leader. They are buried in the family mausoleum at Sandusky’s Oakland Cemetery.

When you look closely at the door to the Schade-Mylander Mausoleum, you can learn a bit of family history of several members of the Schade and Mylander families.

216 Erie County Residents Owned Automobiles in 1911

An article which appeared in the May 13, 1911 issue of the Sandusky Star Journal listed the names of the 216 Erie County residents who owned automobiles. The Erie County Clerk’s office kept a listing of the names of the owners of automobiles, the registration number, the owner’s address, and the make of car. In 1911, G.A. Boeckling owned an Oldsmobile. L.J. Parker owned a Buick. Dr. Merz drove an Overland. George Schade owned three vehicles, a Brush, a Speedwell, and a Cadillac. Though we do not know what type of vehicle George J. Bing is driving in the picture below, in 1911 he owned a Zimmerman, and he was an agent for Paterson roadsters and touring cars at his business on Tiffin Avenue.

Elmore automobiles sold for $1750 in 1911. Below is an Elmore from 1912.

   

The Star Garage sold an E-M-F “30” for $1100, at the corner of Market and Decatur Streets. Model T Fords were also sold there.

Many of the types of automobiles sold in Sandusky in 1911 are unknown to us today. The auto industry was then in its infancy, and was changing rapidly. If you would like to read the entire article about Sandusky’s automobile drivers in 1911, visit the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center, where several decades of local newspapers are found on microfilm.

Fathers from Sandusky

There are thousands of historical photographs in the collections of the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center, and of course many of them include men who were fathers. Above is a picture showing Daniel Hoffman, Sr. and five of his sons as they were inducted into the Masonic lodge in 1904. 

Here is a portrait of former Judge Ulysses Thompson Curran. 

Judge Curran was judge of the Probate Division of Erie County Court of Common Pleas from 1899 to 1905, and he had served as superintendent of schools in Sandusky 1872 to 1880. He was the father of well-known artist Charles Courtney Curran.

Below is a picture of George Schade as a young man. Mr. Schade was the father of Julian Schade and Christine Schade Mylander, and the grandfather of George Mylander.

       

He was associated with the coal business in Sandusky, as well as the Schade Theatre, and served as a Sandusky City Commissioner for many years in the 1920s and 1930s.  

Pictured on the 1903 postcard below are Horatio Linn and his young daughter Gertrude.

              

Mr. Linn was an educator in Erie County in the 1890s,  and later he was a newspaper publisher in Cleveland, Tennessee. 

The Rev. George Hewson Peeke was the minister of the Congregational Church in Sandusky in the 1880s. He was the first clergyman in Sandusky to advocate for the prohibition of liquor. He and his wife Margaret were the parents of attorney and author Hewson L. Peeke.

Visit the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center to learn more about the past residents of Sandusky and Erie County.

George Mylander: Rooted in (and for) Sandusky

On January 3, 2015, Sandusky lost a well-respected community leader, George L. Mylander.  Mr. Mylander came from a long line of civic-minded individuals in his own family tree. His great grandfather was Jacob Kuebeler, who along with his brother August Kuebeler, was a pioneer in the brewing industry in Sandusky.

 Mr. Mylander's maternal grandfather was George J. Schade, a Sandusky businessman who was a pharmacist, and then manager of a coal business, before he opened and managed the Schade Theater on West Market Street in Sandusky. Mr. Schade served several terms on the Sandusky City Commission, and was Mayor of Sandusky from 1934 to 1936.

Dr. Lester Mylander, his father, was founder of the former Sandusky Memorial Hospital. These families are the namesakes for the Schade-Mylander Plaza, which is a focal point of many activities in downtown Sandusky. 

Mr. Mylander is pictured below, when he was ex-officio Mayor, at a rededication ceremony for the Sandusky City Building in 1983. 

George L. Mylander was a teacher and administrator in the Sandusky City Schools for 27 years. He served four terms on the Sandusky City Commission, and was ex-officio Mayor of Sandusky from 1980 to 1985. He was a former director of the Citizens Banking Company, and served on the Board of Directors of the Firelands Regional Medical Center and the Bowling Green State University Foundation Board. In 2003, he donated two million dollars to the B.G.S.U. Foundation, and recently he donated one million dollars to BGSU Firelands in support of the Allied Health and Sciences Project. BGSU Firelands changed the name of its West Building to George Mylander Hall in honor of Mr. Mylander’s generous contributions to the  college.  Mr. Mylander's final resting place is at the Schade Mylander Mausoleum in Oakland Cemetery.

Recipes Dandy for Cake and Candy

A promotional booklet from the Schade Coal Company was given away to area customers during the holiday season long ago.

Here are some of the recipes included in the booklet:

From about 1904 to 1921, George J. Schade was the manager of the Schade Coal Company, located at 810 West Water Street, across from the Big Four Depot. At the time of his death in 1937 he had served longer on the Sandusky City Commission than any other person. Mr. Schade had been a pharmacist, and owned the former Schade Theater, besides managing the Schade Coal Company for several years. 

Funeral services for George J. Schade were held at his home at 1318 Tiffin Avenue. Mr. Schade was the son in law of pioneer Sandusky brewer Jacob Kuebeler. He was survived by his wife, daughter Christine Schade Mylander,  son Julian Schade, and a grandson George L. Mylander. 

The Schade Theatre and Ohio Theatre

The Schade Theatre in Sandusky opened in the 200 block of West Market Street in 1915 as the Alhambra Theatre. An article in the December 19, 1915 issue of the Star Journal reported that the “motion picture palace” cost a total of $100,000. George J. Schade (below) was the owner of the theatre.

H.C. Millot was the architect, and the building contractor was Feick and Company. According to the Star Journal, “It can be stated truthfully that not a city of Sandusky’s size in the country, and few of the larger ones can boast of so beautiful a movie play-house.” Seating capacity on the main floor was 700, with a balcony that seated 50 more individuals. Special attention was paid to the lighting and acoustics. By the fall of 1916, the theater was known as the Schade Theatre. Until the late 1920s, the films were all silent. Mr. Schade advertised heavily in the Star Journal. He wrote a column known as “Schad–E Tips” which promoted the films that were being shown in the theater. In the summer of 1916, a theater organ known as the Hope-Jones Unit Orchestra provided musical entertainment for the theater.

The theater organ could simulate the sounds of orchestra music with just one musician. By the fall of 1930, and continuing through the 1960s, the Schade Theatre became known as Warner’s Ohio Theatre, under the proprietorship of Warner Brothers.

The marquee of the Ohio Theatre is visible in this picture of Market Street from the 1930s.

In March of 1940, the movie Young Tom Edison, starring Mickey Rooney, played for ten days at the Ohio Theatre. This was of particular interest to area residents, since Thomas Edison was born in nearby Milan, Ohio. Love Story played in Sandusky exclusively at the Ohio Theatre in Feburary of 1971.  By the late 1970s, the Ohio Theatre was operating as an adult theatre. The Ohio Theatre closed  in 1979, and eventually the building was razed.

For more information about local theaters, see the Sandusky Register column “Market Street Was Movie House Mecca” by Ron Davidson, or visit the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center. Several archival boxes are devoted to the history of arts and entertainment in Sandusky.

George Schade’s Runabout Automobile

George Schade’s Runabout automobile is pictured above, in front of the Kuebeler-Schade home on Tiffin Avenue in the very early 1900s. The Runabout was manufactured by the Sandusky Automobile Company. The Courier was another model made in Sandusky.

A longtime city commissioner in Sandusky, George Schade was one of the first automobile owners in Sandusky. Mr. Schade was the husband of Anna Kuebeler, daughter of  Jacob Kuebeler, a pioneer in the brewing industry.

The Sandusky Automobile Company, founded by James J. Hinde, was only in business for a few years in the first decade of the twentieth century. To read more about the early automobile age in Sandusky, see chapter 18 of the book Sandusky's  Yesterdays, by Charles E. Frohman.