Was the Surname Melville or Milne?

According to Helen Hansen's At Home in Early Sandusky, William Gordon Melville-Milne was born in Aberdeen, Scotland in 1819. He emigrated to Canada, where he married Catherine Kennedy. The couple moved to Missouri, where Mr. Melville-Milne worked for E. F. Osborn, the owner of a large flour mill. In the 1840s, Mr. Osborn moved to Sandusky to serve as superintendent of the Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad. He sent for Mr. Melville-Milne in 1847, to assist in the operations of the railroad in Sandusky. 

In February, 1861 William Melville-Milne died at age 41. He left a widow and eight children, six of whom survived to adulthood. In her book, Mrs. Hansen explained that some branches of the family used the Scots double name of "Melville-Milne." Some family members used only "Milne" as their surname, but many dropped the "Milne" and went by the last name of "Melville." (This is just one example of how family history can be quite confusing.) There are streets in Sandusky named for both of the surnames Melville and Milne. Melville Street runs between Camp Street and Pearl Street, while Milne Street runs between West Adams and Harrison Streets.

Sons of William Melville-Milne, who were known as William and Charles Melville, ran a drug store in Sandusky which was in operation for fifty years. Another son, George W. Melville, was an engraver in Chicago. The former home of William G. Melville-Milne is at 319 Lawrence Street in Sandusky.

Photo taken in 1958

When looking through genealogical records, there are several variations of the surname. A descendant named Frank Rowland Melville Milne is listed as “Frank Rowland Melville” on his World War II draft registration card, but the name on his tombstone at Oakland Cemetery reads Frank Rowland Melville Milne.

When researching anyone in the Melville-Milne family, be sure to check for Melville, or Milne, or Melville-Milne! Do the same for any hyphenated name.

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.

Paul F. Laning, Teacher and Railroad Historian

Paul F. Laning was a teacher at Sandusky High School for thirty years. He had previously worked for the Nickle Plate Railroad and taught at Kirtland, Ohio for five years. After retiring from Sandusky High School in 1968, he served as bailiff in the Erie County Court of Common Pleas for six years. Though Mr. Laning had been the head of Sandusky High’s English department, he was extremely interested in history, particularly the history of railroads. His Master’s Thesis at Ohio State University was: The History of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway in Ohio. 

Mr. Laning was a popular guest speaker for area clubs and organizations. In 1953 he unearthed an original account of the May 1838 trip of David Campbell, founder of the Sandusky Clarion newspaper, on the Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad, to and from Bellevue, Ohio. Campbell was amazed that the return mile trip of fifteen miles from Bellevue to Sandusky took only forty five minutes by rail (about 20 miles per hour). This story of the first commercial trip of the Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad appeared in the June 19, 1953 issue of the Sandusky Register Star News.

Featured in the Twin Anniversary Edition of the Sandusky Register and Star News, November 24, 1947, is an article about the History of Steam Railroads in Erie County, written by Mr. Laning.

He wrote that Eleutheros Cooke and other Sandusky leaders had been quite upset over Cleveland becoming the northern terminal of the Ohio and Erie Canal instead of Sandusky, but these civic leaders felt that Sandusky being chosen as a terminus for the the Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad compensated for the loss of the canal. General William Henry Harrison broke ground for the railroad at the corner of Water and Meigs Streets on September 17, 1835.

The sketch map below, drawn by Mr. Laning, shows Sandusky’s Railroads and competing routes in 1854.

A rough draft of a speech Mr. Laning gave, entitled Sandusky and Cleveland: Railroad Rivals in the 1850s, is on file in the Transportation Collections of the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center. Mr. Laning had a deep understanding of the history of Ohio Railroads, and he enjoyed sharing his knowledge with others.

Paul F. Laning died at the age on 90 on August 30, 1991. He had been a charter member and president of the Erie County Historical Society. He was also a member of the Firelands Historical Society, Ohio Historical Society, Mad River and Nickle Plate Railway Society, Erie County and Ohio Retired Teachers Associations and the Senior Men’s Fellowship Club of the YMCA.

The Ebenezer Lane House

The building at 318 Huron Avenue, now known as the Firelands Apartments, was constructed in 1853 from limestone. Built in the Italianate style, this structure was considered a mansion at the time, and served as a spacious home for Dr. Ebenezer Shaw Lane’s family.

 

Dr. Ebenezer S. Lane, 1819-1893

Dr. Lane’s wife was Pallas Anderson, whose father Dr. George Anderson was the first physician to settle in Sandusky. During the cholera epidemic of 1849, Dr. Lane worked long hours to aid the many people who were sick with the dreaded illness that took many lives. 

Prior to 1915, the address of this home had been 114 Huron Avenue, as seen on this nineteenth century Sanborn map. The creators of the Sanborn map made an accurate depiction of the curved double steps that lead up to the main entrance of the home.

After Dr. and Mrs. Lane moved to Chicago in 1870, John H. and Elizabeth Hudson purchased the home and property.

John H. Hudson, 1827-1893

John H. Hudson was superintendent of the Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad prior to the Civil War. After the war, he had a grain, salt and lime business at the foot of Columbus Avenue. His second wife was Elizabeth Orton Hudson. After her husband died in 1893, Mrs. Hudson supported herself by painting and giving art lessons. She also rented out some of the upper rooms. In the late 1890s, a female doctor, Dr. Emily Blakeslee, had her medical office and residence in the building, perhaps renting from Mrs. Hudson. Dr. Blakeslee went on to practice medicine in Sandusky for over fifty years.

This straight razor, once used in Dr. Blakeslee’s office, is now a part of the historical collections of the Follett House Museum.

From about 1908 to the early 1910s, Dr. W.A. Crecelius had his medical practice in the building. Dr. Clarence Schimanksy practiced here from 1916 through the 1930s. Dr. Emil Meckstroth had his office here in the 1940s and 1950s. Now the Firelands Apartment building is a multi-family rental unit. There have been additions to the original structure on the eastern and southern sides of the building. To learn more about the many historic buildings in Sandusky, see Ellie Damm’s book Treasure by the Bay, and Helen Hansen’s book, At Home in Early Sandusky.

Mr. and Mrs. John Hauser

John Hauser was born on December 4, 1826 in Wuerttemberg, Germany. He emigrated to the United States in 1847. In 1855 he married Margaret Schmidt, a native of Bosenbach, Germany; though Margaret was not yet age eighteen, her mother gave written permission for the couple to be married. Below is a portrait of Margaret Schmidt Hauser in her later years.

Henry Hauser, their first child, died in infancy.  The Hausers had five more children, three sons and two daughters. 

John Hauser was a painter by occupation. He worked as a master painter for the Sandusky, Mansfield and Newark Railway (later merged with the Baltimore and Ohio) and the Mad River Railway, which became a part of the Big Four. During the Civil War, he served with Company B of the 145^th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. When he wasn’t working, several hobbies kept him busy: he was quite fond of music and drama, and he was associated with German theatricals in Sandusky for several years. Additionally, he was an avid hunter and an enthusiastic botanist. He also was known as an expert in the repair of stringed instruments. 

On February 23, 1900, John Hauser passed away at the age of 73. Funeral services were held at the home of a daughter, Mrs. Emma Wirth, on Market Street. Burial was at Sandusky’s Oakland Cemetery. Mrs. Margaret Hauser died on December 22, 1901 in Sandusky. She was survived by five children. An obituary in the December 23, 1901 issue of the Sandusky Register stated about Mrs. Hauser, “The deceased was a highly respected citizen of this city and her death came as a shock to all who knew her.” 

Two of the grandchildren of John and Margaret Hauser were well known in academic circles. Dr. Norbert Lange was a chemistry professor at Western Reserve University, who is known for writing the classic text Handbook of Chemistry (now in its 17th edition). Dr. Lange and his wife were the benefactors for The Norbert A. and Marion Cleaveland Lange Trust of Sandusky Library, which has provided cultural and educational programs for Erie County residents for over twenty-five years. 

Norbert Lange’s cousin, Dr. Elmer H. Wirth, was a professor at the University of Illinois from 1922 through 1947, serving as Head of the Department of Pharmacognosy for several years. He was the author of seven books and more than 300 articles on pharmacy.

Busy Northwest Corner of Jackson and West Water Streets

The northwest corner of Jackson and West Water Streets was the location of the passenger depot for the Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad in Sandusky beginning in 1838. By 1867 Peter Gilcher and Son operated a lumber business at that corner. Eventually R.E. Schuck joined the firm and the company was known as Gilcher and Schuck. On May 9, 1911, a notice in the Sandusky Register stated that the stock of Gilcher and Schuck was to be sold without delay, following the death of Mr. Schuck.

In 1923, it was announced that William Py had purchased the building at the corner. The new Sandusky Butter and Egg Company building was opened to the public on March 20, 1924. The company had its beginnings by delivering butter, eggs, flour, cheese and sugar with horse-drawn buggies. In 1912 the business opened at 217 West Water Street, and soon after switched from horse and buggies to trucks. By the 1960s, the Sandusky Butter and Egg Company was best known as being the local distributor for Stroh’s Beer products.

From the mid-1960s to the mid-1990s, the Feddersen Bakery was located at 301 West Water Street, at the site of the former Sandusky Butter and Egg Company’s plant.

Feddersen’s was just one of the many bakeries in Sandusky that sold New Year’s Pretzels in years gone by. Do you have any special memories of Feddersen’s Bakery?

Michael Osterman’s Naturalization Certificate

Michael Osterman became a naturalized citizen of the United States on February 10, 1860. He was born in Bavaria, in what is now Germany. Rush R. Sloane, Erie County Probate Judge, signed the certificate.

 An article in the October 12, 1905 issue of the Sandusky Register reported that Michael Osterman had resided in Sandusky for fifty years, prior to his death on October 10, 1905. He worked on the Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad, and later was a steam engineer for the Sandusky fire department. He was the organizer first president of the local Prussian Society.

For many years he operated a saloon on Water Street. The 1888 Sandusky City Directory listed Michael Osterman as the proprietor of the Engineers’ and Hunters’ Saloon and Restaurant at 808 and 810 Water Street 300 block W. Water today). In the 1900 Sandusky City Directory, Mr. Osterman’s saloon and residence were both located at 435 Market Street (at the northeast corner of Market and Hancock Streets).

 In the January 29, 1923 Sandusky Star Journal, an article tells of the discovery of an old railway passenger coach from the Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad being found in the back of property on West Water Street that had once been owned by Mr. Osterman. The old railroad car had first been used as part of a kitchen, and later was moved to the back of the property where it was used as part of a shed. Alex Osterman, Michael’s son, was asked to tear down the structure in 1923 because it was considered a fire hazard.

Jay Cooke's Address to the Firelands Historical Society in 1900

Jay Cooke was born in Sandusky, Ohio on August 10, 1821. After working for E.W. Clark and Company, he opened his own banking business in 1861, known as Jay Cooke and Company. His company prospered, and during the Civil War Jay Cooke and Company negotiated loans for the government and sold bonds to raise capital for the Union cause. Because of his fundraising efforts in the 1860s, he became known as the “financier of the Civil War.” 

On October 3, 1900 Jay Cooke read an address to the members of the Firelands Historical Society at the Trinity Methodist Church in Sandusky.

Cooke’s address was printed in the December 1, 1900 issue of the Firelands Pioneer. Besides discussing his successful fund raising efforts during the Civil War, he recalled many fond memories of his early days in Sandusky, such as going hunting with Judge Caldwell. He remembered that the first train from Sandusky to Bellevue was horse drawn, and that a cannon had been shot off at the ground breaking of the Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad. He revealed that he had sent the first telegraph to Sandusky, written in Philadelphia and sent to his father Eleutheros. 

You can read Mr. Cooke’s entire address in the Firelands Pioneer of December 1, 1900.  

In the nineteenth century photographer A.C. Platt created this stereographic card which features the steamer named Jay Cooke in honor of the Sandusky born banker.

A silver spoon with inscribed with the name “Jay Cooke” is in the historical collections of the Follett House Museum.

A marker noting the birthplace of Jay Cooke can be seen in downtown Sandusky on the north side of East Market Street.

Mr. and Mrs. William Townsend

Now on display at the Follett House Museum, oil paintings of William Townsend and his wife, the former Maria Lamson, were donated to the museum by descendants of Mr. and Mrs. Townsend. William Townsend settled in Sandusky, Ohio between 1815 and 1819. He opened a dry goods store opposite the Colton House in Sandusky, and later went into the commission and forwarding business. Mr. Townsend was the first local merchant to advertise in the Sandusky Clarion. The advertisement below appeared in the Sandusky Clarion of May 15, 1822.

William Townsend was a Sandusky council member when the city was incorporated in 1824, and he also served as the city’s first recorder. He invested in the Mad River Railroad, and owned a line of steamers that ran between Buffalo and western lake ports, including the city of Sandusky. He married Maria Lamson (sometimes listed as Lampson) in 1824.

The Townsends had a large family of eight children, all of whom were girls except for one son named William Kneeland Dell Townsend. An article in At Home in Early Sandusky, by Helen Hansen, states that William Townsend’s employees celebrated the birth of the son in 1840 by firing off guns from the roof of the commission house.  

The former home of William and Maria Townsend was built in 1844, and it still stands on West Washington Street, now a multi-family unit.

Sadly, the happiness of this prosperous local family was shattered in 1849. William and Maria Townsend, their daughter Sarah, as well as a sister of Mrs. Townsend all died between July 27 and July 31, 1849 when a cholera epidemic swept through Sandusky. The oldest Townsend child was Mary Elizabeth Cooke, the wife of Pitt Cooke.  Mr. and Mrs. Pitt Cooke took in Mary’s orphaned siblings, and raised them. A lovely monument at Oakland Cemetery, which honors the memory of William and Maria Townsend, is pictured on this stereographic card created by photographer A.C. Platt.

    

Another beautiful memorial at Oakland Cemetery is connected to the Townsend family. William and Maria Townsend’s youngest daughter Louisa married Theodore Hosmer, the first Mayor of Tacoma, Washington. The final resting place of Louisa Townsend Hosmer, who died in 1885, and Theodore Hosmer, who died in 1900, is in Lot 25 in the North Ridge section of Oakland Cemetery.

Morris Link and Link’s Block

Morris Link was born in Baden, Germany, and emigrated to the United States in 1851. After settling in Sandusky, he became involved in the culture of grapes and manufacturing of wine. He also worked for several years as a foreman in the Mad River Railroad warehouse. 

In 1870, Morris Link built the Link Block at the corner of McDonough and Washington Streets in Sandusky. Dr. Ernst von Schulenburg wrote in Sandusky Then and Now, that Link’s Block on Washington Street was a “monument to his [Mr. Link's] spirit of enterprise.” In the 1886 Sanborn map, pictured below, you can see that Link’s Block had a drugstore, grocery and saloon on the street levels of the building, with a public hall on the upper level, and a dining hall in the rear of the structure.

Many social events, political meetings, and dances were held at this site. On July 4, 1873, the Bay City Dancing Club held a Grand Ball at Link’s Hall, with musical entertainment provided by the Great Western Band. Tickets were fifty cents. According to the book Sandusky Then and Now, in 1885 the Sandusky Liederkranz (Sandusky Choral Society) was reorganized and held rehearsals at Link’s Hall. In 1904, a Mr. Rissman and Schaefer served lunch there. Turtle soup was the special of the day on March 26, 1904. A roller skating rink was in operation at Link’s Hall in 1905. In the 1940s and 1950s, several wrestling matches were held there. Below is an advertisement from the October 18, 1952 issue of the Sandusky Register, for a match between Bert Silverman and Frankie Taylor.

A number of businesses have been in operation in Link’s block, including the Towne Tavern and Health Club in the 1960s and 1970s.

            

For a number of years, the State Liquor Store No. 181 was located in the 900 block of West Washington Street. When you pass by the corner of West Washington and McDonough Street, take a moment to reflect on the rich history of that location.

The Former Home of W.W. Wetherell

Razed in 1997, the building that once stood at 507 Wayne Street had many different purposes throughout the many years of its existence. William W. Wetherell, the former proprietor of the Fulton Car Works built this red brick house about 1850. The Fulton Car Works was a business which manufactured wooden railroad cars for the Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad and other railroads. W.W. Wetherell was an early church leader and a strong opponent of slavery. He served as Mayor of Sandusky in the mid-1840s and was City Clerk in his later years; he died on March 4, 1884 at the age of 72, and was buried in Oakland Cemetery. 

The Samuel Butler family lived here from about 1859 to 1876. George A. Marsh lived here through the rest of the 1890s. After Mrs. Marsh died in 1905, the house became the home of the H.W. Parsons family. Mr. Parsons was with the American Banking and Trust Company, and the Vim Motor Company. 

From about 1910 through the mid-1930s, the property at 507 Wayne Street was the property of the Sunyendeand Club, a men’s social club made up of prominent Sandusky residents.

From 1939 and into the early 1940s, the International School of Art leased this property. In an article that appeared in the April 30, 1977 issue of the Sandusky Register, a former Sandusky resident recalled her memories of the School of Art. She said that Elma Pratt filled the rooms with wall hangings, ceramics and art objects from all over the world. At the same time Elmer Frank taught music classes to a number of students. In the early days of the Sandusky Choral Society, the group rehearsed in the ballroom upstairs. In 1944, Mr. and Mrs. Roy Sharpe operated a nursing home in the building. Through the years, several different nursing homes were in business here. The building at 507 Wayne Street was razed on April 30, 1977.

The Barker Family Left Its Mark on Sandusky

If you have ever seen Barker School (now a Day Care Center) or driven down Barker Street on Sandusky’s west side, then you are familiar with the surname of a family whose many members  have made contributions to the development of the city of Sandusky. Zenas Ward Barker, who served in the War of 1812, moved his family from Buffalo, New York to Sandusky, Ohio in 1834. He was one of several individuals who helped organize Grace Episcopal Church in Sandusky in 1835. He was Erie County Clerk in 1838-1839. In the early 1840s, he was one of the directors of Sandusky’s public schools, and was Sandusky’s Mayor in 1846. This Zenas W. Barker died in Sandusky in 1879. His father, also named Zenas Ward Barker (1765-1834) was a pioneer settler of Buffalo, New York. One of the sons of Zenas W. Barker (1818-1879) also named Zenas W. Barker (1834-1861), became a First Sergeant in Company E of the Ohio 8^th Volunteer Infantry. He lost his life during military service on August 28, 1861. 

Another son of Zenas Ward Barker, the former Sandusky Mayor, was Jacob A. Barker.

Jacob A. Barker began working at the Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad in 1846. He eventually became the freight agent for the railroad. From the early 1860s until he retired in 1891, he was the local agent for the United States Express Company. He was a member of the Sandusky City Council, the Board of Education of Sandusky City Schools, and he was a senior warden of Calvary Episcopal Church for several years. An article in volume 14 of the Firelands Pioneer said of him: “He was possessed of a generous, kind disposition and many instances of his generosity will be gratefully remembered by the recipients.” Jacob A. Barker died on December 22, 1898, and he was buried in the family lot at Oakland Cemetery. He was survived by his wife, the former Mary E. Paterson, and four sons. 

The son of Jacob A. and Mary Paterson Barker was George P. Barker:

He was born in Sandusky in May of 1852, and was associated with the United States Express Company in Sandusky for over forty years. From 1915 to 1929 Mr. Barker was storekeeper at the Ohio Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Home. During the Spanish American War, he rose to the rank of Major. He began with Company B of the Sixteenth Infantry, and mustered out with the Sixth Infantry. For four months Major Barker held the position of military governor of the district of Santa Clara in Cuba. On January 24, 1930 George P. Barker died as a result of heart disease. Funeral services for Major Barker were held on January 27 at Grace Episcopal Church, and burial was at Oakland Cemetery following a military salute at the gravesite. Many other members of the Barker family are also buried in the family lot in the North Ridge section of Oakland Cemetery.

The Mad River Block

The building at 1002-1018 West Adams Street consists of nine separate residential units. It was built in the mid-nineteenth century to provide housing for employees of the Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad. You can this structure on the 1886 Sanborn Map:

Each rectangle represents a dwelling, which all share a common roof. The building was constructed of  brick, upon a stone foundation. There are stone lintels above each door and along the top and bottom of the windows.

Parapet walls are located at each end of the unit.

Prior to 1915, the addresses of the rowhouses went from 1202 to 1208 Adams Street. After 1915 the street numbers changed to 1002 to 1018 West Adams Street. The Mad River Block was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.  

Having the railroad run through Sandusky was very beneficial to the local economy. Goods could be shipped in and out of the area, travel was made easier, and hundreds  individuals found employment as mechanics, painters, engineers, conductors, and ticket agents. Paul Laning wrote a  history of steam railroads in Erie County in the Twin Anniversary Edition of the Sandusky Register Star News on November 24, 1947. This special edition newspaper is in the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center both on microfilm, and in a bound copy.

Like the person in the song “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad,” some of your ancestors may have been working on the railroad, too.