G.A. Boeckling, Cedar Point Visionary

Born to German immigrants in Indiana in 1862, George A. Boeckling was a salesman and real estate agent. In 1897 he became general manager of the newly formed Cedar Point Pleasure Resort Company. Under Boeckling’s leadership, Cedar Point was transformed from a summer picnic area to a thriving amusement park with wide appeal.

G. A. Boeckling spent several decades expanding the park, adding flower gardens, rides, and several hotels, including the Hotel Breakers. Steamships ferried passengers from Detroit and Cleveland. In 1908 the steamer G.A. Boeckling started providing local transportation between the city of Sandusky and Cedar Point. Thousands of visitors also arrived at Cedar Point on the Pennsylvania Railroad and Lake Shore Electric Railway.

Always seeming to anticipate what would appeal to the public, Boeckling offered concerts, movies, and dancing, and encouraged military groups and businessmen to hold their annual conventions at Cedar Point.

G.A. Boeckling was very public-spirited, a member of the Chamber of Commerce, Elks Lodge, Aerie of Eagles, and was charitable to local churches, veterans organizations, and youth clubs of Sandusky. In 1922 the Sandusky Register called him “the man who made Cedar Point.” George A. Boeckling died July 24, 1931, and is buried at Oakland Cemetery. Visit the Sandusky Library to learn more about G. A. Boeckling and the history of Cedar Point.

Program Announcement: The Tornado of 1924 (Brown-Bag Lunch Program)

Bring your lunch and join us in the Library Program Room (Terrace Level) as we explore topics in local history. The first session of the Summer Brown Bag Lunch Series will be held on Wednesday, June 20, from 12:00-1:00 p.m. in the Library Program Room (Terrace Level).

The topic will be One Sunday Afternoon: The Story of the 1924 Lorain/Sandusky, Ohio Tornado. Jennifer Wertz, the business partner of the late Berlin Heights filmmaker Tom Koba of Koba and Company will screen this movie. (Note: The film is 72 minutes in length, so this session will run over one hour.)

"Mystery Photos" Returns

We promised that "Mystery Photos" would be a regular feature of the blog -- where we show you images from the collections that might not be easily recognizable to you, and of unknown origins. We haven't had a mystery photo on the blog in quite a while, so here is one for you:

Looking at the reception desk and the pigeon-hole cabinet behind the desk clerks, it seems rather clear that it is the lobby of a hotel. (You may not be able to see it, but a sign above the cabinet is addressed to "guests.") But which hotel is it? We have no information with this photograph as to where it was taken. Any ideas?

We do know that one of the ladies in the photo is Miss Mary Spier -- it might be possible, with a bit of research, to learn more about Miss Spier -- using the Ancestry genealogy database, for example. We can make a reasonable "guesstimate" of the time period of this photo by looking at things such as the "candlestick" telephone on the counter; these phones were popular mainly in the 1910s and 1920s. A map expert might be able to date the photo by the map on the wall. (Not me.)

Remember: just because you don't know all the details about a photograph, it doesn't mean it's worthless. Every image offers a description of life; it's just up to you to figure out what they are saying.

So where was this hotel? Your ideas are welcome.

Dan Schaffer's Wonderful Liniment

From 1898 until about 1930 Daniel Schaffer manufactured liniment. Advertisements claim it to be the “greatest pain killer on earth.” Sold at local drugstores for fifty cents, the Wonderful Liniment was used in the treatment of diphtheria, pneumonia, neuralgia, toothache, lame back, corns, warts, sprains, cuts, bruises, rheumatism, sore throat, insect bites and frostbite. The liniment was manufactured locally, first at the Schaffer home on Wayne Street, then later at 725 John Street.

Daniel Schaffer was born in 1860 to German immigrants. He married Augusta Miller about 1887, and they had two daughters, Emma and Rena. Augusta Schaffer became an invalid in her later years, and Daniel cared for her. Daniel Schaffer died on January 12, 1944, and Augusta passed away only thirteen days later. Emma Schaffer Bremer was the mother of Florence Bremer, who married Dr. Lester Parker, a well known Sandusky physician and school board member.

Happy Anniversary . . .

. . . . to this blog!

(No, we didn't get a mound in Washington Park, but here's one for the Erie County Fair.)


It was one year ago, on June 6, 2006, that we posted our first entry on a local history topic on the Sandusky History blog. (Appropriately, it was a brief history of the Sandusky Library and its predecessors.) We hope that you have enjoyed the blog; we have enjoyed presenting it, and hope to continue it for a long time.


If you have any comments or suggestions about the blog, please feel free to contact us, through the comments link. Thanks for reading!

Sarah Deeley's Friendship Book

Sarah Deeley was born in Newark, New Jersey in 1836; in 1840, she migrated to Sandusky with her family. Her father, William Deeley, established one of the first commercial fishing businesses in Sandusky. In 1846, when she was about ten years old, Sarah Deeley was given a "friendship book." The first page of the book is dedicated: "Presented to Sarah E. Deeley By her father ------ May 24th, 1846, Sandusky City, Ohio."

Friendship books were somewhat popular in the nineteenth century (and into the twentieth century). Typically, a friendship book was a small journal or autograph book that young women would use to collect writings (poetry, letters) and/or pictures (drawings, clippings, etc.) from friends and family. (Examples here.)

Sarah Deeley's book contains letters, autographs, and poems written by friends and family members, primarily in the 1840s and 1850s. With the exception of one entry written in 1869, apparently in German, the latest entry in the book is dated July 13, 1857. The 1869 entry is addressed to "Mrs. Beattie." (Sarah Deeley married John Y. Beattie in April 1854.)

One particularly poignant poems in the friendship book is one titled "The Cholera," (shown above) written by Sarah Deeley Beattie's aunt Sarah Kenney Knight, the sister of Sarah Deeley's mother Dorinda. The poem is undated, but it was likely written during or shortly after one of the cholera epidemics that struck Sandusky in 1849 and during the 1850s. It describes the fear that consumed those facing the still-then mysterious disease:

The Cholera

Waken for the coming of this scourge

That sweeps the Eastern sky:

This plague that with a prophet's voice

Cries out prepare to die.

That liveth at the rich man's house

That calleth for the poor

And spreadeth out the clothes of death

So fresh at every door!

It cometh over land and seas

With solemn strides and slow:

It summoneth the human soul

To keep watch for its woes!

Father takes its might warning

Which is mercifully given

And calls around for mortal help

And pray the help of heaven.

Be sure it cometh; do not sleep

With lazy hearts of stone.

Within your houses are friends to weep

For good and dear ones gone!

Forewarned shoud be, forewarned -- and now --

The whisper of God's breath.

Call trusting men to work and hope

Against this seige of death.

Be rady in the palaces!

Be ready in the cot

Be ready with the greatful hymn

Wheras it cometh not!

Prepare to meeth the slayer

With good courage and calm senses

But people trifle not with [illegible]

That born from providences.

S.J.K.

Aunt Sarah

It is unclear whether Sarah Knight's family experienced death from the cholera, or if she witnessed her neighbors succumbing to the disease.

Sarah Deeley and John Beattie had five daughters. Sarah and John moved to Lakeside, Ohio from Sandusky in 1893, where they remained for the rest of their lives. John Beattie died in 1905; Sarah Deeley Beattie died in April 1925. Both are buried in Oakland Cemetery in Sandusky.

The Sandusky Library Archives Research Center holds a number of examples of friendship books from past Sandusky residents. For more information, visit the library.

It's Graduation Season. . . .

. . .Congratulations to the class of '07.

This is a class photo of the Sandusky High School graduating class of 1907. They are probably sitting on the steps of the Erie County Courthouse, which was across Columbus Avenue from the High School (now Adams Junior High School).

Genealogy: Finding Your Ancestor in Military Records

The Archives Research Center of the Sandusky Library has a variety of resources to help you trace your ancestors who served in the military. Through our collection of ClevNet Databases, you can access Ancestry Library Edition (within the library only), which offers over a billion records of interest to genealogists. Another excellent database is Heritage Quest, which is provided by OPLIN (The Ohio Public Library Information Network). Besides digitized census images, Heritage Quest also provides the full text of over 20,000 books of genealogy and local history, as well as records from the Freedman’s Bank, and Revolutionary War pension records from the National Archives and Records Administration. The Reference Services staff can assist you in accessing these online sources.

Below are a few samples of military related records found at the Archives Research Center:

David Carswell is listed in the OFFICIAL ROSTER: SOLDIERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION BURIED IN OHIO, available on the genealogy shelves. In that record, we find (among other things) that he is buried in Oakland Cemetery. Information about thousands of Revolutionary soldiers who eventually settled in Ohio is included in this volume.

A multi-volume set which provides genealogical information about Revolutionary soldiers is GENEALOGICAL ABSTRACTS OF REVOLUTIONARY WAR PENSION FILES, also available in the Genealogy department.

For information about veterans of the War of 1812, the Ohio Historical Society offers an online database of the roster of Ohio soldiers. This is also available in print form here at the library, in the Genealogy department. Here, you can find that Joseph Taylor, who is buried in Perkins Cemetery, served in Capt. Nathaniel Massie’s Mounted Company in the War of 1812.

Civil War soldiers’ discharge records are on microfilm in the Archives Research Center. In the film are copies of the original discharge certificates. For example, on this film you can find that First Lieutant Foster V. Follett was mustered out on July 13, 1865 at Camp Chase.

Several men from Sandusky served in the Massachusetts 55th Volunteer Infantry. The Sandusky Daily Commercial Register of June 3, 1863 (available on microfilm) lists the names of men of color from Sandusky, ranging in age from 18 to 40, who were anxious to fight for freedom. Two of the recruits were Elijah Brown and Maurice Darnell, both buried in Oakland Cemetery.

The Archives Research Center also a number of photographs of military service men and events:

Sandusky photographer Willard Bishop photographed these officers from Company B of the Sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. During the Spanish American War, this unit served in Cuba from January through April 1899.

Hundreds of local residents turned out to welcome back Company B on May 26, 1899.

The information in this entry represents just a fraction of the military-related resources available at the Archives Research Center. Visit the lower level of the Sandusky Library to find a wealth of information about the history of Sandusky, Erie County, and its residents.

Thomas R. Koba, May 19, 2007

The community has lost a great advocate for local history: Tom Koba, historical filmmaker from Berlin Heights, died on Saturday, May 19. (For a complete obituary, see Monday's Sandusky Register.)

He produced several popular films on local history topics, including Rebel Fire Yankee Ice: The Johnson's Island Story and One Saturday Afternoon: The Story of the 1924 Lorain/Sandusky Tornado, as Told by the Survivors. (These titles and several others are available at the Sandusky Library.) Recently, he had presented a screening of one of his later films, Hotel Victory: Lake Erie's Grand Lady, at the Sandusky Library, and was planning to present his tornado film at the library in the near future.

His contributions to preserving the history of the community will be missed.

Men's Literary Club

On the evening of December 29, 1899, twelve serious minded men of middle age met in the office of Judge A.E. Merrill for the purpose of organizing a “Men’s Literary Club.” The 1940 club calendar states that the object of the club was “to promote the intellectual improvement of its members,” and this was to be done through the presentation of papers, written by the members and followed by a general discussion. The club continued until 1954. The members were prominent members of the community, including doctors, lawyers, clergymen, educators, and businessmen.

Topics were often about social issues, current events, and historic events and personalities. In 1900, "H.C." spoke about “Socialism, its Progress in America.” Dr. A.J. Gawne’s paper on April 1, 1903 was “The Influence of Electricity upon the Nerve Center.” Other issues covered by members include treatment of prisoners, eugenics, unemployment, race relations, and economics.

While the Archives Research Center does not have the actual papers written by the Men’s Literary Club, copies of club calendars and membership lists for several years are kept on file.

Below is a photograph taken on December 8, 1914. The Men’s Literary Club met at the home of Dr. C. B. Bliss at 413 Columbus Avenue. Judge Malcolm Kelly, grandson of William Kelly, builder of the Marblehead Lighthouse, was the featured speaker. Judge Kelly’s address was “Things I have Enjoyed in Dickens.”

Pictured are (back row):E.A. Boyer, H.W. Parsons, Leslie Black, Dr. J. T. Haynes, Rev. F. G. Mitchell, Merritt Wilcox, Rev. Ross Sanderson; (middle) C.A. Judson, D.E. Storms, Dr. F.F. Lehman, Judge Roy Williams, Claude B.Dewitt, James T. Begg, Dr. C. B. Bliss;
(front) Rev. E.P. Graham, Judge Malcolm Kelly, C.H. Cramer, Dr. W. Storey, Dr. H. D. Peterson, Rev. C. A. Keller.

The wives of the members surprised the men by marching into the meeting dressed as characters of Dickens novels. The women paraded around the room and challenged members to tell which character they representeted.

Pictured are: (back row) Mrs. Roy Williams, Mrs. C.A. Keller, Mrs. C.A. Judson, Mrs. Leslie Black, Mrs. D.E. Storms, Mrs. C.H. Cramer, Mrs. C.B. Dewitt; (middle) Mrs. H.D.
Peterson, Mrs. J. T. Haynes, Miss Jane Mitchell, Mrs. Frank G. Mitchell, Mrs. Angie Mitchell, Mrs. James T. Begg; (front) Mrs. E.A. Boyer as Jenny Wren, Mrs. F.F. Lehman as Betsy Trotwood, Mrs. H.W. Parsons as David Copperfield’s wife; Mrs. C.B. Bliss, Mrs. Merritt Wilcox as Lady Deadlock.



For a complete collection of the records of the Men's Literary Club, contact the Center for Archival Collections at Bowling Green State University.