Sandusky Then and Now

Ernst Von Schulenburg was both a minister and a physician in Sandusky, Ohio. He was born in Berlin in 1849, and settled in Sandusky in the 1870s. In 1872 he was the pastor of Emmanuel German Evangelical Protestant Church, and later he served as pastor of the St. Stephen’s German Evangelical Protestant Church. He is perhaps best remembered today as the author of the book, Sandusky Then and Now.

The author wrote the book in his native German language; the original title is Sandusky "Einst und Jetzt" : Mit Besonderer Berücksichtigung der Deutschen Localen Verhältnisse, which in English translates to Sandusky Then and Now: With Special Regard to Local, German Situations. In his book, Dr. Von Schulenburg discusses the political life of Germans in Sandusky, as well as German culture, customs, and business ventures. It includes biographies of several Sandusky German settlers, including their dates of migration. The book also provides a history of early Erie County and Sandusky, and includes an entire chapter on the cholera epidemics of 1849, 1852, and 1854.

In the preface to this book, originally published in 1889 , Dr. Von Schulenburg noted that “although the German population of Sandusky seems almost the same as that of the native-born and has become a powerful factor in the religious, political and social life of the city, yet it is surely striking that in all the local histories which I have seen, the German element was either completely ignored or at best treated as a step child.”

In 1959 Dr. Norbert A. and Marion Cleaveland Lange, chemistry professors who resided in Sandusky, translated Dr. Von Schulenburg’s book. It was published as Publication 114 of the Western Reserve Historical Society.

To read Sandusky Then and Now (in the English translation or in the original German) visit the Sandusky Library’s Reference Services area on the lower level of the Sandusky Library.

It's Baseball Season!

Baseball has long been a popular sport in Sandusky. It was played by both the prisoners and the guards at Johnson’s Island Prison during the Civil War. The Bay City Baseball League was organized here in April 1868, while in March 1886 William J. Stoffel purchased several lots bordering Central Ave., Osborn and Prospect Streets to be fitted up as a baseball park. The streetcar line ran close to these grounds, so fans could come to the games from far and near. Here is a view of the Central Park ballfield around 1940:

The Detroit Tigers of the American League were the opposition for the Sandusky team when League Park opened at the corner of Columbus and Perkins Avenues on April 22, 1907; future Hall of Famer Ty Cobb played right field for the Tigers. An estimated crowd of 2200 fans were at the game that day. Herman Schleman’s “Sanduskys” were defeated 18 to 1 by the Detroit team. Herman Schleman later went on to manage the Telling Strollers in Cleveland.

Elmer Smith, a Sandusky native, hit the first grand slam home run in World Series history when he played for the Cleveland Indians in 1920. Other major league baseball players born in Sandusky are George “Jerry” Upp, Elmer Miller, and Alva “Al” Halt (pictured below, at around age 20, with the Sandusky BPOE Elks Team in 1910, four years before he entered the major leagues; unfortunately, although we know the names of the players, we do not know which person is which).

The Martins and Shamrocks were popular baseball teams in Sandusky in the 1910’s. (Below: the Shamrock baseball team, Sandusky city champions, 1912.)

Ernie Nimmons, an outstanding Sandusky High School athlete in the late 1940’s, played for the Indianapolis Clowns in 1952.

Baseball continues to be played in Sandusky in several area leagues, with youngsters as young as age five playing T-ball. To read more about baseball in Sandusky, you can view the sports pages from our local newspapers in the Archives Research Center.

Baseball on the beach at Cedar Point, date unknown.

The Women’s Building and Rest Room Association

The Women’s Building and Rest Room Association was formed around the turn of the twentieth century to provide a clean, safe place for women and children to go while in Sandusky. The Association also served inexpensive hot meals.

The organization’s charter described their purpose as such: “The purpose for which said corporation is formed is to establish and maintain rooms for the use, entertainment, and instruction of girls and women and their clubs, societies and organizations and for social functions and amusements; to employ teachers and instruct classes of girls and women in cookery, domestic science, sewing, dressmaking, manual t raining, physical culture, arts and crafts, to prepare and serve to the public for pay, refreshments, lunches, meals and banquets, as a means of raising revenue for said purpose; and by lease, purchase or otherwise, to acquire and hold title to real estate… maintain buildings suitable for said purposes and furnish them with proper and suitable furniture, fixtures, fittings and decorations….”

They were first housed on Market Street, opening there in 1908. To raise funds to get the association established, they published a newspaper called the Women’s Endeavor as a fundraiser. In 1912 they purchased a building on Columbus Avenue for $9,500. The new location was declared to be ideal, “within a short distance of the steamboat and railroad passenger landings and this of itself is a decided advantage for the association’s public dining room from which it must continue to draw a larger percent of its revenue…. The two upper stories will give the association ample room for its several industrial classes and domestic science work, while the ground floor with a moderate expenditure, including the installation of a proper kitchen, will give the association adequate and attractive quarters for the restaurant which the association has always needed and for lack of which the women have been greatly hampered in the past.”

In an editorial, the Sandusky Register spoke of the importance of the work of the Association. “The fundamental purpose of all this is to train them [women and girls] to be self-helpful and that is the most important thing after all not alone for the individual but for the community, for people who are self helpful do not become a public charge. They are producers and add to the community’s wealth and to the comfort and happiness of the home.”

The important role that the Women’s Rest Room Association played in the community is evident from its numbers. In 1912, more than 30,889 people used the building. The same year, they taught classes in embroidery, knitting, crocheting, millinery, sewing, and cookery.

The Association was active for a number of years, but by the early 1920s, the membership had dropped dramatically, and only a core group of women kept the club alive. By that time, the classes they had previously provided were no longer needed, as they had been taken up by the city schools. Mrs. C.J. Krupp, the president of the group also noted that “Other ventures of the association for the comfort and welfare of the community have also been taken over and ably handled by others. We feel that the ground is pretty well covered.” In 1921 they decided to sell the building for $20,000.

In 1925, the Rest Room Association started exploring options for the logical best next step. They focused on the Business Girls Club. After months of meetings, the Business Girls Club became an incorporated group known as the Business Women’s Club, and they had agreed to purchase the Farrell home on Wayne Street as their headquarters. At the June 3, 1926 meeting of the Women’s Rest Room Association, a resolution from the Business Women’s Club was read as follows “That on final disposition of the Club the earnings of said Club, are to be invested in good securities, and eventually go back to the cause for which it was intended, namely the activities of women.” On September 14th of that year, they passed a resolution to turn over the assets of the Women’s Building and Rest Room Association to the Business Women’s Club at the December 21, 1926 meeting the Women’s Building and Rest Room Association met for the purpose of adopting a resolution and taking necessary steps to dissolve the association.

The Business Women’s Club continued on at the Wayne Street location for many years. Over the course of time, however, activities there began to diminish. In 1964, the club lost its non profit status. In 1969, the club sent out a letter to its membership advising them of the club’s annual loss of $3,000 per year, and the plans to discontinue the dining room at the close of the calendar year. The club began to explore options to pay outstanding bills. In 1975, the Business Women’s Club filed papers with the Ohio Secretary of State to officially dissolve the group, thus ending a long, rich Sandusky tradition.

Professor Moses True Brown

Born in Deerfield, New Hampshire, in 1827, Moses True Brown was the first professor of oratory at Tufts University, serving in that capacity from 1866 to 1890. Prior to teaching in New England, Moses True Brown was superintendent of Toledo Public Schools (1861-1866), and was a literary critic. In 1884 Moses True Brown established the Boston School of Oratory, acting as its president until he moved to his wife's home town of Sandusky, Ohio in 1890.

Professor Brown had married Cora B. Barney, daughter of George Barney, in 1863. Mrs. Cora Barney Brown died in 1886 in Atlantic City, but she was buried at Oakland Cemetery in Sandusky. When Professor Moses True Brown died on September 11, 1900, his obituary in the Sandusky Daily Star stated that he was an "eminent educator, a highly respected citizen, and a man of high attainments."

Professor Brown was a mentor to Pulitzer Prize winning author Hamlin Garland. Several well known orators had studied with Moses True Brown, including Anna Morgan, the Chicago dramatist. In his will Moses True Brown left his personal library to the public library of Sandusky which was under construction at that time.

To learn more about about Moses True Brown and other early residents of Sandusky and Erie County visit the Archives Research Center at Sandusky Library.

Suffrage in Sandusky

Woman suffrage was slow to gather momentum in Erie County. It’s popularity waxed and waned over several decades, and never had the strong support here that it did in other areas of the nation. From time to time, the cause was taken up, and formal organizations to promote suffrage were created.

Some notable names in the cause came to Sandusky to speak. In 1854, Amelia Bloomer lectured in Sandusky to a small crowd. The Register noted that she spoke on “the usual plea for the right of suffrage and a vote in the enactment of laws. As these arguments have long been before the public, any report of the lady’s remarks were, perhaps, useless.” Today, Amelia Bloomer is probably best remembered for her promotion of the Bloomer costume, which consisted of a knee length dress worn over loose trousers. The costume was controversial when it was first introduced.

In 1900 a suffrage convention was held in Sandusky. Carrie Chapman Catt was the main speaker. Catt was influential in the suffrage movement and in the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment. Later that year, there was an Equal Suffrage Day at the fair, with speakers and a chorus singing patriotic songs.

In 1901, a two day Women’s Suffrage meeting was held in Sandusky, in the Methodist church.

In 1903 a state suffrage convention was held here. Not all of Sandusky agreed with the cause of suffrage. An editorialist in the Fram didn’t agree with women’s suffrage, saying “Women usually rule the world, anyway, for the most of them rule their husbands, and if they can’t do that they aren’t worthy to vote.”

Little to no suffrage activity took place in Sandusky until 1911, when a large rally for Northern Ohio was held at Cedar Point. 200 women gathered to show support for the vote.

In 1912, the local group changed its name from the Erie County Woman’s Suffrage Association to the Erie County Equal Suffrage League. In 1913, the group had many entries in the Perry Centennial Parade promoting suffrage.

Enthusiasm for suffrage waned until 1917, when the local woman’s suffrage group conducted a house to house canvas, hoping to secure support for a proposed amendment to the city charter, giving women the vote. The referendum was defeated.

Suffrage was slow to catch on in Sandusky, and as evidenced above, had many stops and starts. The Federation of Women’s Clubs in Ohio didn’t endorse suffrage, and thus the women of Sandusky were reluctant to do so.

Program Announcement: "Washington Parks, Past and Present"

From Sandusky's founding in 1818, public parks have been an important feature in the culture of the community. Join us in the Library program room on Saturday, March 24, at 2PM, when Mike Pisarsky, Horticultural Servics Superintendent for the City of Sandusky, will speak about Washington Park, the heart of Sandusky's park system, including its history and it present status.

For more information, or to register, call the library at 419-625-3834.

Erie County’s First Female Deputy

Fanny Facer Everett was a humane agent, probation officer and leading charity worker in Sandusky where she was beloved by the entire community. She was born in Sandusky and lived here most of her life.

For more than 20 years, she was connected with almost every form of benevolent and philanthropic work conducted by the general public in the city of Sandusky. For approximately 25 years, she was the leading figure in the Humane Society of the city and county. When the Erie County Humane Society was first organized in 1900, there were few members and very little financial means to help carry on the work.. For many years she acted as its first female humane agent without compensation and devoted her time, energy and strength to the work just as cheerfully, earnestly and enthusiastically as though it was her only pursuit in life. The activities of the society continued to expand and the society was finally able to render her financial assistance.

When the Federated Associated Charities was organized, Fanny Everett became its superintendent and had personal charge and direction of its expenditures.
When the juvenile court work was taken up by the probate court, Fanny was made probation officer—she was the first woman to be deputized by the sheriff of Erie County to carry a gun and make arrests.

For many years she was in charge of the distribution and adjustment of the mothers’ pensions for the county and also of the blind relief work.

It was said of her that there has perhaps never been a person in the city who was so thoroughly acquainted with the history of the people of the city who needed help, either in a financial, social or moral way. There was no one in the city to whom the weak and the erring would go so gladly, willingly and trustingly as to Mrs. Everett. Mrs. Everett’s home and her time and attention has been open both day and night to the many calls of the people of the city of Sandusky who have had trials and troubles and burdens.

Her son told a story about a memorable episode in her career: Late one night in 1902, she heard screams and cries for help coming from a house in the 200 block of Decatur Street, near where she lived. A man in a drunken rage was beating his wife and attacking his son and daughter. Fanny Everett marched straight to the house, knocked, and when the drunken man answered, she pointed her pistol at him and announced that he was under arrest. At the sight of the gun, the man raised his hands and begged “Don’t shoot, lady, don’t shoot.” Fanny replied, “You ought to be shot, but put on your shoes and you are going straight to jail.” The man obeyed and up Decatur Street they went, the man with his hands in the air. They reached the corner of Adams Street, where there was a saloon, one of the patrons, and finally a dozen or so, poured out of the bar. “Hey Joe!” they taunted, “The lady is taking you to jail, isn’t she?” When the man tried to answer, Fanny said “Keep your mouth shut and keep going.” In a few minutes they were at the door of the Erie County Jail where the man was quickly shown to a cell. At the trial the man was sentenced to ten days in jail. Fanny then took the wife and children to an attorney who advised the woman of her right to seek legal action for a separation and compulsory support payments. He urged her to seek a restraining order to protect her and the children. Many women at this time did not realize they had any legal rights against an abusive husband. Thus did Fanny Everett serve as a pioneer for social reform.

Eliza Follett

Eliza Gill Ward Follett was born in Albany, New York on September 17, 1801 to Daniel and Martha Ward. Her father died during the war of 1812, and her mother found it impossible to keep the children together, so Eliza lived with various relatives, and worked at household tasks, often feeling neglected and lonely. She married Oran Follett on November 22, 1832 in Fairport, New York. They moved to Sandusky in 1834.

Mrs. Follett was a highly respected member of the community. She was described as “active, unostentatious and faithful worker in this city, doing good, relieving the afflicted, encouraging the fearful, smoothing the pathway of those tempted to go astray, and yet never for a moment forgetting or neglecting the duties she owed her own family. From one end of our city to the other, in out of the way places, in hovel, in every abode of want, this patient, tireless and cheerful spirit was at hand helping and comforting and blessing those who but for her love would have no friends on earth…. If pecuniary assistance were not needed, some more gentle means of relief than the supplying of bodily necessities were sure to be extended by this friend of humanity. A bunch of flowers left in the sick room, a cheerful word of token, slight in itself, yet bearing golden fruit, was ready to witness of unselfish devotion to others. But it was peculiarly to the soldiers and their families during the dark days of the war that Mrs. Follett proved a friend and a comforter. From the opening day of the war to its close she gave herself up to the watchful care of the soldiers and their families. Rain and storm, cold could not keep her back from what she called her duty and loved to regard as a privilege, and today there is no man in this city whose death would be mourned as a personal loss by so many men, women, and children as will be the death of this unassuming woman, who went about doing good because she loved to do good.”

A neighbor said of her “Unless Mrs. Follett was going to church or to some social function, I never remember seeing her leave the house without carrying a bowl of soup. A plate of dainties, a basket of fruit or cooked food, or a bunch of flowers for some sick, needy or lonely person.”

She was generous to a fault. Her gifts of food, clothing and coal were so substantial and so numerous that they taxed the purse of her willing but more prudent husband. She was known to take garments off her back and leave them where she found distress.

A tender and skillful nurse, she never failed to minister at the bedsides of the sick, often spending days and nights away from home during critical illnesses. During a small-pox epidemic, she walked unscathed through the danger of contagion and fearlessly nursed cholera patients with her husband’s help, when doctors and nurses could not be procured, thus saving many lives. Her granddaughter said that she led a charmed life, that she was so selfless, so absorbed in others that no ill befell her.

She felt strongly against slavery and helped countless slaves on their journey to freedom, clothing, feeding and warming them on their way to Lake Erie and Canada. Her husband, Oran Follett also sympathized with the slaves, however he would remonstrate her with “Wife, it is against the law” and she would say “Husband, there is a higher law.”

During the war, she emptied the parlors of furniture and local women met there to pick lint and make bandages which were shipped off to hospitals at the front.

Her granddaughter wrote “I never shall forget going to market with—the walk down Columbus Avenue was like a triumphal progress. It took a long time to make the day’s purchases, because people crowded around her for a smile or word of greeting, or to answer inquiries regarding their well-being and that of their families."

Eliza Follett died April 29, 1876 in Sandusky. Her funeral at the Presbyterian Church was crowded to standing room only, and there were hundreds more people lined up outside in their carriages, having come from all over northern Ohio to pay their silent tribute.

(The Follett family pew in the Presbyterian Church, decorated as a memorial to Eliza Follett.)

The First Female Jury in Erie County

On August 26, 1920, an important ‘first’ quietly took place at the Erie County Courthouse in Sandusky. Early that morning, the ratification of the nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States was certified. That Amendment read in part “The right of citizens in the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. “ On August 18, 1920, Tennessee was the thirty-sixth state to ratify the nineteenth amendment. Ohio had ratified the amendment on June 16, 1919.

On the morning of August 26, 1920, at the Erie County Courthouse, Judge Roy Williams was to conduct the trial of Pennok Jeffries vs. the Pennsylvania Railroad, for an automobile accident that occurred in 1919, when a train car struck Jeffries’ automobile.

Ten men were summoned to serve on the jury, but nine offered excuses as to why they couldn’t serve. Having heard that the 19th amendment had been ratified, Judge Williams said “I decided to impanel a woman jury. Twelve women were summoned. Twelve women responded and twelve women served.”

The women were sworn in, the cases were stated, and cross examinations were made. When the statements were concluded, the judge gave the women of the jury their instructions and they retired to the jury room. They made their decision in four minutes and shortly returned to their seats in the jury box. They decided for the plaintiff, who was awarded $1500.

After the trial was over, the judge congratulated the women for their service on the jury. Each of the twelve women were paid two dollars for serving on the jury. This was the first all female jury in Erie County, and one of the earliest in the United States.

The women of the jury included Katherine H. Biller, Mary R. Boehmer, Sarah Cooke Sloane, Alice K. Hertlein, Alice D. Mack, Anna Sutton, Emma Broadbent, Sallie W.D. Neill, Mabel. L. Magill, Sarah C. Scott, Henrietta Zerbe, Bertrha Mitchell. The three men in the photo are Roy Williams, George Beis and Claude Minor.

This historic event was commemorated with an Ohio historical marker erected during Ohio’s 2003 Bicentennial. The marker is located near the north entrance of the Erie County Courthouse where the photograph of the women of the jury was taken.

Women's History Month -- Brown Bag Program

March is Women's History Month -- in honor that fact, this month's Brown Bag Lunch Series program will be about "Extraordinary Women of Sandusky." Join us on Wednesday, March 21, at noon, in the library program room, when Follett House Museum curator Maggie Marconi will talk about some notable Sandusky women -- including artists, a suffragist, a doctor, an opera singer, a probation officer, and the very first female U.S. Vice Presidential candidate.
. . . And be sure to come back to this blog for stories about women of Sandusky.