Starr & Dewitt, Dealer in Boots and Shoes

The owners and staff of Starr and Dewitt, dealers in boots and shoes are pictured in front of their business at 130 Columbus Avenue in downtown Sandusky about 1882. The proprietors of the business were Merrill L. Starr and Edward W. Dewitt. Mr. Dewitt later was active as a real estate agent in Sandusky.

Before entering into the shoe and business, Merrill L. Starr served as Erie County Sheriff from 1876 until 1880. He was also a veteran of the Civil War, having been with Company E of the 8^th Ohio Infantry. In the 1884 Sandusky City Directory, M.L. Starr was in business with Howard C. Frederick at 130 Columbus Avenue. At this time the listing stated that Starr & Frederick manufactured and sold boots and shoes.

See our previous blogpost to learn more about Columbus Avenue, which has been home to a variety of businesses in Sandusky throughout its entire history.

Kriss Auto Bus

 

In the 1920s and 1930s, Randall F. Kriss ran a trucking and moving business. The vehicle pictured above is a Kriss Auto Bus that was built by J.A.Loeffler. Mr. Kriss’s early advertisements stated that “auto busses” were available for hire for any occasion. In 1922 the Kriss Auto Bus took passengers from Sandusky’s Washington Park to the Rye Beach Dance Pavilion on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays, with free rides for ladies on Wednesdays. The ad from the  November 2, 1922 issue of the Sandusky Star Journal indicated that the Kriss Auto Bus had had a heating system installed, for the comfort its pasengers.

For a time Mr. Kriss also operated an automobile garage and restaurant, but after 1936, he was no longer operating any businesses in Sandusky. 

At the time of his death in 1957, Randall Kriss had been been employed at Bargain Fair. He was married to the former Vera Starr, the sister of Beryl Starr.

"Bathing Beauties" in Sandusky

In the 1940s Vera Jean Curtis, Elizabeth Hitchcock, Grace Pietschman, and Mary Brohl posed on the S. S. Goodtime, bound for Cedar Point.

Beryl Starr, a young man, and the pilot pose on a "flying boat" airplane in Sandusky Bay in the 1920s.

Cedar Point’s sandy beach has been attracting swimmers for more than a century.

Wildman & Mills Deeded Property to Martin Eldis in 1841

On August 14, 1841, several members of the Wildman and Mills families deeded property to Martin Eldis. (Zalman Wildman and Isaac Mills were original property owners, and are considered founders of the city of Sandusky.) The property was No. 29 Water Street, which was in the city of Sandusky, bounded to the north by Water Street, to the east by Lot 28, to the south by Lot 22, and to the west by Lot 30. 

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The property sold for $2, 082.83. A fee of ten cents was paid to the Erie County Auditor, Orlando McKnight. The deed was recorded in Volume 2 of the Records of Erie County, on pages 258 and 259. Horace Aplin was Erie County Recorder in 1841.

The deed was witnessed by Mayor S.B. Caldwell and by Associate Judge Moors Farwell.

The names of several pioneer residents of Sandusky appear on this deed. F.D. Parish, well known abolitionist, served as the attorney for Julia Ann Wildman and Mary Starr. Isaac A. Mills, attorney for Abigail Mills, was the son of one of the proprietors of Sandusky, also named Isaac Mills. Martin Eldis and his wife, the former Louisa Guckenberger, were among the earliest Sandusky settlers of German descent. They ran a bakery, which was taken over by Mrs. Eldis after the death of her husband in 1852.

Mrs. Louise Guckenberger Eldis

To read more about Mr. and Mrs. Martin Eldis, see page 94 of Sandusky Then and Now, available at the Sandusky Library.

Merrill L. Starr, Erie County Sheriff, 1876 to 1880

Merrill Leroy Starr was born in the state of New York in 1842 to Daniel and Bathsheba (Chadwick) Starr. The Starr family moved to Perkins Township, Erie County, Ohio in the 1850s. During the Civil War, Merrill L. Starr enlisted in Company E, Ohio 8th Infantry Regiment. Military records indicate that he was honorably discharged in 1863, after he was wounded at Antietam. According to Erie County Probate Court records, he married Kate Cooper on December 5, 1867. From 1876 to 1880, he served as Erie County Sheriff. Mr. Starr also was Superintendent of the Erie County infirmary in 1870 and in 1884-1885. In the 1880s, he was a partner in a shoe and boot business with E. W. Dewitt.

Merrill L. Starr died January 6, 1914 at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Alfred Huntley on Adams Street.  Mr. Starr was survived by his widow, four daughters, a son, a brother and a sister. He was buried in the Sand Hill Cemetery. Mr. Starr is sitting in front of the bench in the courtroom at the Erie County Courthouse in this picture taken in 1875.

To learn more about Merrill L. Starr and many other former Erie County officials, see Elected to Serve, by Patty Pascoe, in the Sandusky Library genealogy collection.

The Acquittal, presented by the Singara Grotto

On October 22 and 23, 1923 the Singara Grotto presented The Acquittal at the Sandusky Theatre. The George M. Cohan Mystery Drama, written by Rita Weiman, was produced, staged and directed locally by George J. Lehrer. An article in the October 16, 1923 issue of the Sandusky Register reported that in the original Broadway production of The Acquittal George J. Lane was in the cast, under the stage name of Norman Lane.

The character of Madeline Winthrop was played by Maybelle Hinkey. The newspaper article stated that Miss Hinkey was “fully capable of playing this part”….which called for “wonderful repression of the emotions and great power to sustain dramatic situations.” In the play the character of Mr. Winthrop, played by Sam Cunningham was just acquitted of murder. Beryl Starr played the role of Mr. Winthrop’s secretary. Due to popular demand the performance played again on Thursday evening, so more area residents could see this popular play.

Some of the advertisements in the play’s program were interesting. The Sandusky Butter & Egg Company recommended that you could protect your health by drinking Budweiser. The C.S. Garretson Lumber Company featured an ad that said “We would like to C-U-B-A customer of ours.” The letters C-U-B-A represented the phrase see you be a. Hoffman Motor Sales sold Hupmobile vehicles at 801 Hancock Street.

Beryl Starr, "The Most Popular Girl in Sandusky"

The above image appeared in an April 1924 New York Pictorial publication with the caption that said Beryl Starr was “the most popular girl in Sandusky.” In the 1920’s Miss Starr was in a beauty contest in which she won the title of “Miss Sandusky.” She was also Miss Sandusky in 1933. An article from Massillon Ohio’s Evening Independent reported on August 23, 1926, that while Miss Beryl did not win the “Miss Sandusky” contest in the summer of 1926, she was the runner up. The article stated that on three previous occasions Miss Beryl Starr had been proclaimed as “the prettiest girl in Sandusky.” Judge William Fiesinger, Judge John E. Tanney, and Judge Claude Minor were the judges of the pageant. Miss Estelle Rogers, a Sandusky High School student won the contest.

Beryl Starr is pictured below (far right) in the Ohio Beauty Pageant at Cedar Point in 1927. Beryl Starr was born on July 27, 1902. She was employed by the city of Sandusky’s water department for eighteen years. She never married. Miss Starr passed away on June 1, 1986.She is buried in the family lot at Oakland Cemetery with her parents Louis and Frances Starr.