James "Bud" Smith in His Youth

In the picture above, James “Bud” Smith is in a homemade go-cart near his home in Sandusky, Ohio about 1914. James was the son of Freeland Smith and his wife, the former Nettie Schnaitter. His siblings were Betty, Frank, Polly and Patricia.  An earlier photograph shows James and his sister Betty sitting on a donkey.

James enjoyed ice boating on the lake during the winter of 1923.

He served as class president during his senior year at Sandusky High School in 1925; He and his fellow class officers, class secretary Helen Wiegand and class vice president Edgar Robinson, appeared in the Sandusky Star Journal on May 23, 1925.

James Freeland Smith graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in engineering. In the 1930s, Mr. Smith was the inspector in charge of dredging projects for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Buffalo, New York. He later became the chief engineer for Union Chain, and its successor Hewitt-Robbins. Later he was head of project sales and engineering for Hewitt-Robbins, and its successor Litton Industries. After retiring from Litton, he served as vice president of North Central Television, Inc., retiring in 1973.

On December 15, 1984 James F. Smith died at the age of 77.  An obituary in the December 16, 1984 issue of the Sandusky Register stated that he had been a member of Grace Episcopal Church, the Sandusky Yacht Club, past president of the Sandusky Sailing Club, and was chairman of the Sandusky Zoning Code Board of Appeals since its inception in the 1950s.

James F. Smith lived an active life, filled with many civic, recreational and educational pursuits. Thanks to the generosity of a Smith family descendant, several photographs of the Smith and Schnaitter families can be seen at the website of the SanduskyLibrary Historical Collections. Original copies of the photographs are held in the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center.

What Inspired Charles E. Frohman to Remain in His Hometown

 

Charles E. Frohman was a noted local historian and author. He wrote several books about Sandusky and Erie County, and the Lake Erie Islands region. He also authored local history articles in historical journals. Throughout his adult life, Mr. Frohman collected items of historical significance, and was considered an authority on the history of Sandusky, Ohio. The Charles E. Frohman index to the Sandusky Register and the Sandusky Star Journal is a valuable resource for anyone who wants to know more about the history of Sandusky. While the original 3 x 5 cards of the index are on file at the R.B. Hayes Presidential Library, a microfilmed copy is available at the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center. It was while browsing through the Frohman index that this bit of information was located, which provides us with the reason Charles E. Frohman stated he wished to work in his home town.

It turns out that while he was in law school at Yale, Charles E. Frohman worked as an assistant to T.T. Morgan, then the treasurer of Good Samaritan Hospital. In earlier years, Mr. Morgan had been the president of the Brown Clutch Company.

 

Mr. Frohman said that he heard T.T. Morgan remark, “Too few Sandusky young men gave their home town a chance, but located elsewhere.”

That remark caused Frohman to turn his application in to the Sandusky law firm of King, Ramsey, Flynn and Pyle. On July 28, 1926, he was hired as an associate in the firm. Sandusky, Ohio is fortunate to claim both T.T. Morgan and Charles E. Frohman as past residents of Sandusky. Both men made significant contributions to the history of their community. While the bulk of the Charles E. Frohman collections were given to the R.B. Hayes Presidential Library and Museums, several books by Mr. Frohman are available at the Sandusky Library.

The Palazzo Family: From Italy to Sandusky, Ohio

Clementi and Marian Palazzo were natives of Italy. On the 1920 U.S. Census Marian stated that she immigrated to the U.S. in 1910, and Clementi first came to the U.S. in 1898. When he died in 1920, from pneumonia, Clementi Palazzo’s death record indicated that his employer had been the Farrell-Cheek Steel Company. Between 1912 and 1918, the Palazzos had six children, three daughters and three sons. So, at the age of 28, Marian found herself a widow with six children. To support the family, by 1930, Marian Palazzo and her two daughters worked as seamstresses at the Jackson Underwear Company in Sandusky.

In the 1940 U.S. Census, Marian did not list an occupation. She was living on Central Avenue with a daughter, two sons and a granddaughter. By the 1950 Census, Marian was living with one son, and she stated her occupation was a “scrub woman” at a local theater. 

Marian Palazzo died in January of 1960, after a lengthy illness. She was survived by her six children, twelve grandchildren, and a brother who lived in Italy. She was buried at St. Joseph’s Cemetery next to her husband Clementi, who was sometimes listed as Charles Palazzo.

Several members of the Palazzo and Sidoti families were associated with the Palazzo Sidoti Sohio Station, and later the Palazzo-Sidoti Motors dealership, on Hayes Avenue.

This is an advertisement from the February 12, 1976 issue of the Sandusky Register for a 1970 Torino for sale at Palazzo-Sidoti Motors, Inc.:

Though Palazzo-Sidoti Motors is no longer in business, most people of a certain age will remember seeing the business on Hayes Avenue for many years. Clementi Palazzo came to the United States for a better life. Though he died in his 30s, his widow and descendants worked hard, and left their mark on Sandusky, Ohio.

If you take a walk through St. Joseph’s Cemetery, you will see the names of many Italian American and Irish American families whose final resting place is in Sandusky.

Horatio and Sarah Louise Linn

Horatio M. Linn was born near Zanesville, Ohio in 1868. He attended college at Muskingum College and Ohio State University. By the late 1890s, he had become the principal of Sandusky High School. In 1900, Mr. Linn resigned as principal to become editor of the Sandusky Star newspaper. Later, Mr. Linn moved to Cleveland, Tennessee to become the editor and proprietor of the Cleveland Journal. In 1916 Mr. Linn moved his family back to Erie County and took up farming.

In 1902, Horatio M. Linn married Sarah Louise Ramsdell, the daughter of Horace Valentine Ramsdell. They had a family of two daughters and a son.

On February 13, 1921, Mr. Linn died at the Mayo Hospital in Rochester, Minnesota at the age of 51. His obituary appeared on the front page of his former newspaper, now called the Sandusky Star Journal. He was considered one of the area’s most prominent men, and his death came as a shock.

The family portrait below was taken, probably around 1910, by Edward H. Schlessman. The children and grandchildren of Horace V. Ramsdell are standing near the Ramsdell home in Bloomingville, which was built in 1832. More details about the history of the Ramsdell family are available online.

The Paradise Inn on Venice Road

From about 1935 to 1939, the Paradise Inn was in business at 3301 Venice Road. The grand opening was advertised in the June 19, 1935 issue of the Sandusky Register. The Paradise Inn had formerly been known as the Boots Inn.

For several years, Urban J. Schwartz was the proprietor and Arnold “Arnie” Lieb was the bartender. The Sandusky Library Archives Research Center has a songbook from the former Paradise Inn. Here are a few of the songs from the songbook:

The building housing the Paradise Inn was listed as vacant in the 1941 city directory, and today it is a private home. Urban J. Schwartz died in 1966, and is buried in the St. Joseph Cemetery in Fremont, Ohio. An obituary for Arnold Lieb, who died in 1995, stated that he had worked at Union Chain for over forty years, retiring as a foreman at the plant.

Dr. Francis Wayland Morley, Early 20th Century Homeopathic Physician

Francis Wayland Morley was born in the state of New York in 1861 to Rev. and Mrs. Butler Morley. In 1884 he graduated from the Cleveland Homeopathic Hospital College; that same year he married Edith Durkee of Michigan. Dr. Morley and his wife had two daughters and one son. Francis Wayland Morley, Jr. followed his father in the medical profession. 

A 1904 publication from the Homeopathic Medical Society of the State of Ohio reported that Dr. F.W. Morley, Sr. had been recognized as one of the leading surgeons of Northern Ohio. Dr. Morley first practiced medicine in Huron, Ohio, and in the 1890s moved his practice to Sandusky. 

This advertisement appeared in the May 31, 1900 issue of the Sandusky Register:

Sadly, Dr. F. W. Morley died at the age of 42 on July 4, 1903. Three Sandusky physicians signed the following resolution which appeared in the Proceedings of the Homeopathic Medical Society of the State of Ohio in 1904.

Dr. F.W. Morley was buried in the family lot at Sandusky’s Oakland Cemetery. Three grandsons of Dr. F.W. Morley followed in their father and grandfather’s footsteps. An excerpt from the obituary of Dr. Buel Morley, stated that the four sons of Dr. F.W. Morley, Jr., had been “raised with a love for learning, a drive for excellence, a devotion to family, and a zest for life.”

What Products did Barney and Ferris Sell?

F.T. Barney and B.F. Ferris owned the Barney and Ferris hardware store at the northeast corner of Jackson and Water Streets in the 1870s and 1880s. The building still stands in Sandusky today. 

The building the housed the former Barney & Ferris store, circa 2016

All varieties of hardware were sold at Barney and Ferris, including nails, paint, mantels, grates, hearths and glass. You could even purchase agricultural implements there. By 1881 the company branched out into selling sporting goods to hunters and fishermen. Several different kinds of gunpowder were sold by Barney and Ferris, many from the Oriental Powder Company.

An advertisement from1886 referred to Barney and Company as the “Old Pioneer Hardware House.” At that time, Barney’s was an agent for products like the Nickle Barn Door Roller and the Eureka Mower.

After the deaths of F.T. Barney and B.F. Ferris, other individuals operated hardware stores at the same site, including Pierre Van Alstyne and members of the Donahue family.

Visit the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center to learn more about the former businesses that were a big part of the lives of the early residents of Erie County, Ohio.

A German Church with Connections to Sandusky

This watercolor painting of a church in Sohnstetten, Germany was created in 1864. It was donated to the historical collections of the Sandusky Library and Follett House Museum from the Lange estate, and is on display in the Follett House Museum. Norbert Lange’s great grandfather Carr (sometimes spelled Karr) was a pastor at this church. The church in Germany, built in 1856, still serves the community in the district of Heidenheim.

This is a portion of Norbert Lange's family tree:

The pastor of the church in Sohnstetten, Germany was the father of Norbert Lange’s paternal grandmother. Bertha Emilie Carr and Franz Robert Lange were married in Erie County, Ohio in 1852, according to Erie County Probate Court records. Both had been born in Germany.

Dr. Norbert Lange was a well respected professor of chemistry at the University of Michigan, Case School of Applied Science, and Western Reserve University. He authored the classic text Handbookof Chemistry. Dr. Lange and his wife Marion Cleaveland Lange were the benefactors of the Lange Trust, which provides for “The promotion of cultural and educational enterprises in the city of Sandusky, Ohio and the adjacent area within Erie County, Ohio.”

Dedication of the Supplementary Education Center at Sandusky High School

Pictured above is Sandusky High School Superintendent Mr. Wallace Glenwright giving a briefing to dignitaries prior to the dedication of the Supplementary Education Center on September 17, 1967.

The Sandusky Register of March 18, 1967 described the forthcoming Center in a feature article.  Funding of the Supplementary Education Center was from a combination of funds from the National Defense Education Act, Title III, which were matched by the Sidney Frohman Foundation, estimated at over $500,000. The five major areas on which the Center focused were: instructional materials, cultural, planetarium, a teacher’s professional library, and an educational resource center. Schools from 30 separate districts, along with students from Bowling Green State University and its Firelands Branch would all have access to the Supplementary Education Center. Several 16mm and 8mm films were available for schools to borrow, while paying only for insurance and postage to and from the Center.

Project coordinator Theodore Seaman spoke at the dedication of the Sandusky Supplementary Center:

The ribbon cutting was performed by Superintendent Glenwright and Elnora (Mrs. Sidney) Frohman.

An American flag was presented to the Supplementary Education Center on behalf of the Commodore Perry Post of the American Legion:

The dedication attracted a number of dignitaries and guests:

The Sandusky Register reported on the Dedication of the Center on September 18, 1967.

While the educational resource center and library are no longer in operation, the Sidney Frohman Planetarium and Sandusky Cultural Center are still serving the educational and cultural needs of the greater Sandusky community. 

Gus Kelley, Erie County Commissioner and State Representative

 

Gus Kelley was born in 1882 in Huron Township to Charles E. and Charlotte Kelley. His father’s ancestry was Irish, and his mother’s side was English. In 1901, he married Jane Margaret Hinde. Gus was a farmer for most of his life, and he was an active member of the Huron Grange. During the fall of 1924, he ran for Erie County Commissioner. This advertisement appeared in the Sandusky Star Journal of November 1, 1924:

In 1925, Gus Kelley was elected to serve as an Erie County Commissioner. He held that office until January 1933. Later in 1933, after the death of Fred Powers, Mr. Kelley was appointed to serve again as Erie County Commissioner until 1936. In that year, he ran for the General Assembly of the state of Ohio. He began his term as Ohio State Representative in January of 1937 and served in the General Assembly for four years. Some of the issues with which he was involved as a Representative were the development of  state parks along the lake front, pensions for senior citizens, and the change of authority of the Ohio Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Home being switched from the Welfare Department to the Adjutant General’s Office.

In May of 1930, a news article in the Sandusky Star Journal reported that when the Sandusky Studebakers played the Red Caps of Wakeman, former major league ball player George (Jerry) Upp was to throw out the first pitch, and Gus Kelley was to catch the ball.

Gus Kelley died on January 29, 1964, at his home on East Perkins Avenue. He was survived by his three sons. Mrs. Kelley had died in 1962. Funeral services for Gus Kelley were held at the Charles J. Andres Sons’ Funeral Home, and burial was in Oakland Cemetery.