A Celebration at New Departure

In November 1954 the General Motors Corporation celebrated the production of its 50 millionth automobile, with commemorations at 114 General Motors plants throughout the United States. The New Departure plant in Sandusky, which made precision ball bearings for GM vehicles, participated in the event with a factory open house on November 23.  

The doors of the plant, on the corner of Hayes and Perkins Avenues, opened to the public at one o'clock. 

Visitors followed a directed route through the factory to view production operations, along with historic displays; the tour ended with an exhibit of the new 1955 model automobiles from Chevrolet, Buick, Oldsmobile, Pontiac, and Cadillac, as well as the new line of Frigidaire appliances. It was noted that all of these products used bearings manufactured at New Departure.

More than 4000 people attended the open house, according to New Departure officials.

The New Departure Company began in 1889, and was acquired by General Motors in 1916. The Sandusky plant opened in 1946. The Sandusky Library Archives Research Center holds a scrapbook compiled to commemorate the New Departure open house and the celebration of GM's 50 millionth automobile.

A Photo of Family and Friends, and the Birth of Plum Brook Country Club.

In this photographic postcard Elizabeth Marsh and Florence Steinemann are gazing at Edward H. Marsh. Also looking at Mr. Marsh are George C. Steinemann and Lea Marsh. Edward H. Marsh worked with his father in the plaster business. He was a personal friend of William Howard Taft, with whom he attended school. Edward H. Marsh lost his wife Carrie at a young age, and he was left with two very young children to raise.

Lea Marsh was the son of Edward H. Marsh; he married Elizabeth D.G. Moss, the daughter of banker Charles H. Moss. Lea’s good friend was George C. Steinemann, a prominent Sandusky attorney. George was married to Florence Cable, who was the granddaughter of Sandusky businessman Frank Cable.

According to an article in the March 30, 2014 issue of the Sandusky Register, in 1913 Lea Marsh and George C. Steinemann, along with Watson H. Butler, sent out a letter, looking for people to invest in a golf course, to be located on Hayes Avenue and Strub Road, on property owned by August Pfaff. The “Sandusky Golf Club,” sometimes known as the “Auto County Club” was incorporated in 1914. By 1915, land was purchased off Galloway Road, and eventually became the golf course for the Plum Brook Country Club.

By 1930, Lea and Elizabeth Moss had moved to Old Lyme, Connecticut. When George C. Steinemann passed away in 1932, Mr. and Mrs. Lea Marsh traveled back to Ohio for his funeral, where Lea Marsh served as a pallbearer.

Wedding of Elizabeth Schmid and James Summy

On December 8, 1941, Elizabeth Schmid, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Oscar Schmid of Sandusky, married James B. Summy, son of Mr. and Mrs. William Summy. Rev. H.E. Pheiffer officiated.  On the marriage record on file at Erie County Probate Court, James Summy listed his occupation as cook in the United States Navy. Friends of the family said that the couple wanted to wed quickly, as Mr. Summy’s leave from the military service was soon to be ended, and he was needed back in service promptly. The wedding took place at St. Stephen’s Evangelical and Reformed Church, on the day after Pearl Harbor was attacked. President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared our country’s entry into World War II on this couple’s wedding day.

An article in the December 10, 1941 issue of the Sandusky Register gave an account of the wedding. Matron of honor was the bride’s sister, Mrs. Harry Hoelzer. Other bridesmaids included Mary Schmid and Mildred Sissen. Junior bridesmaid was the bride’s niece Audrey May Mears. Joyce Parker was the train bearer. Harry Hoelzer served as best man, and the ushers were Arthur Koewen, James Corley, and Oscar Schmid. A reception was held after the ceremony.

Mrs. Elizabeth Summy died at the age of 45, and was buried at Restlawn Cemetery in Huron, Ohio, now known as Meadow Green Memorial Park Cemetery. Mr. Summy remarried after the death of Elizabeth, and moved to Pennsylvania, where he died in 1999 at age 80.

Doctors Aloysius and Louis Szendery

As seen in the advertisement above, Dr. Aloys (sometimes spelled Aloysius) Szendery and his son Dr. Louis S. Szendery shared an office at 622 Adams Street in Sandusky, Ohio, which is now in the 100 block of East Adams Street, after the street numbering changed in Sandusky in 1915. The ad appeared in the April 10, 1885 issue of the Sandusky Register. 

According to the Alumni Directory for New York University, Dr. Aloysius Szendery was born in Hungary in 1817. By 1860, Dr. Szendery and his wife Anna were residing in Bellevue, Ohio, where he worked as a doctor. They were the parents of four children. The oldest child, Louis S. Szendery, followed his father into the medical field. sadly, by the early 1890s, the younger Dr. Szendery faced serious health issues. He moved to Texas in hopes of his health improving, but he died there in 1896, leaving behind his wife, the former Elizabeth Westerhold, and a young son, Louis E. Szendery. Dr. Louis S. Szendery was only aged 36 at the time of his death.

Dr. Aloysius Szendery passed away at the age of 81 years and 11 months on August 31, 1898. An obituary from the September 1, 1898 issue of the Sandusky Register reported that Dr. Szendery was one of Sandusky’s oldest and well respected citizens. He was widely known, especially among the German residents of the community. During the last ten years of his life, the elder Dr. Szendery was totally blind. His funeral was held at Sts. Peter and Paul Church, and burial was at St. Joseph’s Cemetery in the family lot. A modest tombstone for the elder Dr. Szendery reads simply “Father.”

Anna Szendery, a daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Szendery, lived in Buffalo at the time of her father’s death. She died there in 1942, following a teaching career that spanned over fifty years at the Nardin Academy, which is affiliated with the Daughters of the Heart of Mary.

Louis Eugene Szendery, a grandson of Dr. Aloysius Szendery, and son of Dr. Louis S. Szendery, was trained as a pharmacist. For a time he was in the pharmacy business with Jay Meek. You can barely read the words “Meek & Szendery” in this sign on a building on Decatur Street. (The building no longer stands.) The partnership of Meek & Szendery was in business in Sandusky from 1916 to 1921. Louis E. Szendery eventually left his pharmacist position and became a salesman for a pharmaceutical company.

Louis E. Szendery died in 1974, and is buried at Calvary Cemetery next to his wife Verna (Ringel) Szendery. The name Szendery was familiar in Sandusky for several decades. If you would like to learn more about your own ancestors in Sandusky and Erie County, visit the Sandusky Library Research Center, where many sources related to family history and local history are housed.

Lewis and Dwelle, Grocers

 

From the 1870s through the 1890s, the Lewis and Dwelle grocery store did business at the northeast corner of East Water Street and Columbus Avenue. In 1873 the address was 158 Water Street. By 1880 the street number had changed to 643 Water Street. The proprietors of the store were Lucius W. Lewis and Benjamin F. Dwelle. You can see the building in this 1876 image below, which was taken during the Independence Day celebration in downtown Sandusky. At this time, A.C. Platt had his photographic studio in the upper level of the building.

You can see the location of the grocery store at 643 Water Street in this view from an 1886 Sanborn Map. Railroad Street is now known as Shoreline Drive.

After the death of Lucius W. Lewis in 1889, his son W.L. Lewis took over his father's role in the grocery store. In 1895 the business was known as  Post, Lewis, Radcliffe & Dwelle. By 1896, W.L. Lewis was the sole proprietor. After his retirement, Benjamin Dwelle moved to Port Clinton, where he died in 1903 at age 85.

In Treasure by the Bay, Ellie Damm wrote that this spot was one of the prime locations for commercial property in Sandusky, because people congregated in the square nearby to meet trains or boats. The original building featured a rounded dormer along the roof line, and had a façade that was built in the Romanesque style. The building today has been substantially altered from its original form. From 1919 through the 1950s, the Moose Lodge was at this location. A multi-page advertisement in the October 20, 1938 issue of the Sandusky Register invited area residents to the newly renovated Moose Lodge. The building, which is now 101 East Water Street, is presently occupied by the Landmark Kitchen & Bar.

Damask Rose Parish

 

J.C. Judson wrote about Damask Rose Parish in his history of the First Congregational Church of Sandusky, which he titled Agony and Attainment. According to Mr. Judson, Damask Rose was born in the fall of 1845, and was baptized on August 27, 1846. Her parents were Francis Drake Parish and Mary L. Parish. F.D. Parish was a well known lawyer in Sandusky, and an active participant in the Underground Railroad. They named their child after the late wife of Congregationalist minister Rev. I. A. Hart. Born Damask Rose Frisbie, Mrs. Hart died in 1840, at about 30 years old.

F.D. Parish in his later years

Mr. Judson wrote that Damask Rose Parish was “an unusual, lovely and beautiful child.”

According to records at Oakland Cemetery, Damask Rose Parish died on October 6, 1855, at the age of ten. Her tombstone, which has a rose inscribed under her name, is in Lot 4 of Block 28.  Mr. Parish was greatly saddened when his daughter died, but he was noted for his stoic dedication to his work and community service. 

Hewson Peeke’s book, Stories of Sandusky contains an almost certainly fictional story about Damask Rose Parish. The story tells how Mr. Parish was a friend to fugitive slaves, and suggests that Damask Rose herself took part in helping provide food and water to the fugitives. But J.C. Judson noted that she could not have been old enough to have helped the slaves that were aided by her father in 1845, since she was born that same year.

You can find the grave of Damask Rose Parish at Oakland Cemetery today. Stories of Sandusky and Agony and Attainment can both be found in the Archives Research Center of Sandusky Library. While the Peeke story about Damask Rose may indeed be fiction, there is no question that F. D. Parish was a friend of fugitive slaves. An account of the Underground Railroad of the Firelands is given in the July 1888 issue of the Firelands Pioneer. Rush Sloane, who knew F. D. Parish personally, gives specific dates and places associated with the activities of the Underground Railroad.

Berardi Brothers are Honored in San Marino

 

Photo credit: Dr. Daniele Cesaretti

Roberto and Leonello Berardi were the sons of Adam and Teresa Berardi, natives of the Republic of San Marino. The Berardi family emigrated to the United States in 1927, having left from Genoa, Italy on the ship Conte Biancamao. In 1930 the family was living on McKelvey Street in Sandusky, in a section of town known as “Little Italy.” This area was located along Milan Road, bordered by Finch Street and Boalt Street. 

Sadly, both sons of Mr. and Mrs. Adam Berardi were killed during World War II. Leonello, often called Nello, was killed in action in Italy in 1944. Roberto died in Germany in 1945. A plaque honoring the memory of the Berardi brothers was erected in the Fiorentino Cemetery in San Marino. A front page article in the Sandusky Register of April 5, 1961 reported on the memorial in San Marino.

At the dedication of the marble monument in San Marino on March 25, 1961, Dr. Frederico Bigi stated, “As citizens of the world’s oldest Republic, they took with them the spirit of Liberty as they traveled to the world’s youngest Republic, and showed their devotion to Liberty by laying down their lives to uphold freedom.”

To read more about Roberto Berardi and Leonello Berardi, see the website of the American War Memorials Overseas, Inc. The final resting place of Adam and Teresa Berardi is at St. Joseph’s Cemetery in Sandusky, Ohio.

The Forgotten Sandusky City Greenhouse

Sandusky is proud of its parks system, and particularly the beautiful landscaping and gardens in Washington Park and other locations. The plants for the parks are grown year-round in the Sandusky City Greenhouse at the corner of Franklin and E. Monroe Streets.

 

The first greenhouse at Monroe & Franklin, built 1908

Some Sanduskians might know that this greenhouse has been operating since the first building on that site was completed in 1908. You might even know that a new greenhouse was built there in 1975. Many also "know" that the 1908 greenhouse was the first city greenhouse and represented the start of the horticulture program to support the city's parks. The city's website says, "The City of Sandusky has operated a greenhouse to grow plants and beautify our city since 1908." But that's not quite correct.

Recently a researcher came to the library and asked if we could help confirm or disprove a family story that said his ancestor (a florist by profession) managed the city greenhouse on Shelby Street in the 1890s. Our first reaction was that it couldn't be true -- the city said that the first greenhouse was built on Franklin Street in 1908. So we needed to investigate. . . 

Our first step was finding the ancestor in the historical record. Gabriel Birkenmeier's grave is listed on the Find-A-Grave website; he was born in 1849, and died in Sandusky in 1896. Searching the newspaper, we found articles mentioning Mr. Birkenmeier's work as city parks superintendent, including a report of his illness.

Next we needed to find the greenhouse on Shelby Street. An 1890 article solved that question.

Where exactly was the west battery ground? On Shelby Street, between Tiffin Avenue and Market Street, as seen on this image taken from a 1905 Sanborn Insurance Map. If you look closely, you can see, under the pasted map addition, the faint outline of the original Shelby Street greenhouse, labeled "Municipal green ho." on the map (at the intersection with Lincoln Street). 

This was the actual first city greenhouse, serving the city parks until the new greenhouse was built in 1908.

Sometimes historical "facts" aren't always correct. If not for our researcher and his family lore, we might have continued to forget a piece of Sandusky's history.

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.