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Pictorial Section from The Bell in 1931

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Students at St. Mary’s High School in Sandusky published a journal called The Bell (now a yearbook). A copy of the May, 1931 edition is housed in the Schools Collection of the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center. At the top of the front page of the pictorial section of this issue is a picture of Rev. William C. Zierolf as well as a scene taken at dismissal time at the end of the school day. The faculty is pictured at the bottom of the page (below). From left to right are: Miss Evelyn Bing, Miss Lillian Fievet, Mr. Ramond Helmer and Miss Olga Gundlach.



Pictured below in a scene from the annual St. Mary’s High School play are: Paul Hemrick, Dorothy Riesterer, Eula Sheets, Charles LeClair, Elizabeth Donahue, Geraldine Mack and Kenneth Polta.



Individual pictures of members of the St. Mary’s 1931 graduating class are pictured on page 2. Several of the young ladies appear to have a hairstyle known as the “Marcel Wave,” which was very popular in the 1920s and 1930s.



Dedication of the Erie County Services Center

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On Sunday, May 2, 1982, the Erie County Services Center at 2902 South Columbus Avenue was dedicated, in the former Erie County Home.


The cover of the booklet states that the Erie County Services Center was dedicated to the Boards of Erie County Commissioners who first built this sturdy structure in 1886 and who remodeled it into a valuable office building for use from 1982 forward; and to the memory of those persons who made it their home during the period from 1886 until 1976; and to the residents of Erie County for their continued use as a public building housing public offices from this day forward.

A brief history of the building was included in the dedication program.


The names of Erie County Commissioners, architects, engineers, and contractors associated with the remodeling of the Erie County Services Center appeared on the back of the dedication program.


The Erie County Services Center has been a part of Erie County history for over one hundred thirty years, and has served a wide variety of purposes in its long years of existence. To learn more about the history of Sandusky and Erie County, visit the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center.

Arthur Phinney, Educator and Lawyer

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Arthur Phinney was born in Gorham, Maine on March 28, 1837 to James and Cynthia (Mosher) Phinney. He was educated at Dartmouth and Yale, graduating from Yale in 1864. His first job after graduation was with the statistical division of the U.S. Sanitary Commission. From 1867 to 1870, Mr. Phinney was the principal of Sandusky High School. It was while he was at Sandusky High School as principal that the original high school building (later Adams Junior High School) was constructed. This building served as the main high school building for Sandusky City Schools until 1957.





In Sandusky, Mr. Phinney studied law in the office of Homer Goodwin, later entering the law department of the University of Michigan. In December of 1872, he was admitted to the Ohio Bar. During his long career as a lawyer in Sandusky, Mr. Phinney was associated with several different law partners, including Judge S.F. Taylor, Judge E.B. King, U.T. Curran, and Judge A.E. Merrill.

On July 15, 1868, he married Sara E. Bell. Mr. and Mrs. Phinney had three daughters. Mrs. Sara Bell Phinney died on January 7, 1898. After the death of his wife, his health failed, and he passed away on May 21, 1899. Lengthy obituaries were carried in the Sandusky Register on May 22 and May 25, 1899. Several members of the Erie County Bar Association gave eulogies at the May 23, 1899 meeting of the Erie County Bar. Judge Linn Hull said about Mr. Phinney, “He was a man of the highest character. No one can say that Arthur Phinney ever did a dishonorable act as a man or as a lawyer. He was honorable to his brethren of the profession and always honest and sincere with the court. And what higher tribute can be paid to him than to say that in the evening of a life of 62 years – as a New England boy, as a college student, a college graduate, a teacher, a citizen and a lawyer – there is not a spot upon his character and the reputation that he has left behind.” John F. McCrystal also spoke highly of Mr. Phinney. He said in part, “Whatever he undertook her performed with all his might. He put his whole soul into whatever it was.” Arthur Phinney’s funeral took place at the family residence on May 23, 1899. He was buried at Oakland Cemetery next to his beloved wife.

“The Belle of Sandusky”

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This advertisement for the silent film “The Belle of Sandusky” ran in the Sandusky Register on May 31, 1925. Walter Steiner directed the film, which was shot in Sandusky on May 17 and 18, 1925. The movie was shown for a week at the Star Theatre, beginning May 31, 1925. According to the Internet Movie Database, Walter Steiner also directed “The Belle of Kenosha” in 1923 and “A Romance of Seattle” in 1919.



Local residents who appeared in the film were: James A. Ryan, Mrs. Leroy Beutel, William A. Hart, Mathilda Botson, Frank Brown, Nora Richey, Walter Thorin, Evelyn Danke, Vivian Close, Paul Auxter, Fred Richey, Walter Brown, Francis LaDuke, Norman Borman, Edith Jeffrey, and Mrs. Clara Brooks. James Esposito played a “hootch hound.” At the last minute, Sergeant Al Tremper and Patrolman Henry Scherer of the Sandusky police force were added to the cast. They played policemen who were trying to catch the villains as they tried to make a getaway on the New York Central train. The Sandusky Register reported that crowds of Sandusky residents followed the crew making the film, and commented on “the seeming excellence of the cast.”



While we are not certain if the photos below are from the filming of “The Belle of Sandusky,” these pictures of three men in a 1925 Ford appear to be staged, as if for a movie.


Theodore Roosevelt on the Campaign Trail in Sandusky in 1912

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On May 15, 1912, Theodore Roosevelt spoke in Sandusky, Ohio while he was campaigning for president on the Progressive (Bull Moose) Party ticket. Roosevelt had already served as United States President for two terms, from 1901 to 1909, following the assassination of President William McKinley.

In this closer view, you can see TR addressing the crowd from a platform at the foot of Columbus Avenue:



According to the May 16, 1912 issue of the Sandusky Register, about 2,500 people were in the crowd. Roosevelt arrived by train in Sandusky on Wednesday morning, May 15, 1912. Ackley’s Band entertained the crowd until his arrival. The train, consisting of two Pullmans and a day coach, was due at 8:45, but did not get to town until 9 a.m. Roy H. Williams introduced Mr. Roosevelt. When Roosevelt saw veterans from the Ohio Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Home, he addressed them as “boys” and “comrades.”

In the picture below, Theodore Roosevelt can be seen raising his hat with his typical enthusiasm:



Sandusky Mayor George T. Lehrer is seated on the left of the platform. According to the Oyster Bay Historical Society, Mr. Roosevelt’s speech in Sandusky was one of fourteen speeches he gave in Ohio in May 15.

President William Howard Taft also visited Sandusky, Ohio on May 15, 1912. President Taft spoke from 8:30 to 10:30 p.m. to an enthusiastic audience at the Sandusky Theatre. The theater held 1,500 people, but it was estimated that several thousand people cheered and applauded Taft as they waited outside the theater for a glimpse of President Taft.

Though Theodore Roosevelt and President William Howard Taft campaigned vigorously in 1912, in November of 1912, Woodrow Wilson became the 28th United States President. On May 12, 2012, Gib Young portrayed Theodore Roosevelt at the foot of Columbus Avenue, re-enacting the visit of TR one hundred years after his original visit

Aerial View of Milan Road and Perkins Avenue from 1970

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On May 18, 1970, photographer Thomas Root took this aerial picture of the intersection of Milan Road and Perkins Avenue. The Mr. Wiggs Food Mart was where Michael’s is now located, at 904 East Perkins Avenue. In the strip of stores just east of the Food Mart were a record store, a barber shop, beauty shop, Elaine Powers salon, the Medic Discount Center, the Top Value redemption center, and a laundromat. St. Stephens United Church of Christ can be seen just across the street from the shopping center, with its semi-circle drive in front of the church building. Lum’s Restaurant was at 2904 Milan Road, to the west of the Food Mart, where Little Caesar’s and Soba are now in business. The Sands Motel and Cocktail Lounge were across the street from Lum’s. The popular Ponderosa Steak House was at 2916 Milan Road, to the south of Lum’s Restaurant. Dan and Red’s Union 76 service station was at the southeast corner of Milan Road and Perkins Avenue, and a Sohio station was at the southwest corner of that intersection. To the north of the Food Mart was the Sandusky Monumental Company at 807 East Perkins Avenue. The Memorial Monumental Works, next door to the Sandusky Monumental Company, had an address of 2704 Milan Road. You can just barely see samples of tombstones on the lawns of both of the monument businesses.



In 1970 on Tuesdays after 4 p.m., you could buy a rib-eye steak dinner at Ponderosa Steak House for 99 cents.



This is an advertisement from Lum’s from the holiday season of 1970:



Visit the Sandusky Library to see decades of historical Sandusky city directories, which can help you to learn more about the past residents and businesses of Sandusky.

Mrs. Erastus Cooke

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Fannie Anderson, born in New York in 1807, was the sister of pioneer Sandusky physician Dr. George Anderson. On November 1, 1826, she married Erastus Cooke; they had three children, James, George and Emma. 

By 1829 the Erastus Cooke family was residing in Sandusky, Ohio; Mr. Cooke served as Sandusky’s postmaster from 1836-1841During the cholera epidemic of 1849Mr. Cooke died of the dreaded disease (the same illness that had earlier killed her brother, Dr. Anderson), leaving Fannie a widow with three children. Shortly after Mr. Cooke died, both of Fannie’s sons became sick with cholera, but they both survived. 

According to an undated newspaper clipping, Mrs. Fannie Anderson moved from Sandusky to Fremont in 1869. Later she moved to Saginaw, Michigan, where she resided with her daughter Mrs. William H. Mills. In 1879, Fannie Anderson Cooke passed away in Saginaw, Michigan at the home of her daughter. Her remains were brought back to Sandusky, where she was buried in Block 61 of Oakland Cemetery. An undated Memorial said about Mrs. Cooke, in part, She was identified with every good work: well may they say: She stretcheth out her hand to the poor. Yes, she reacheth forth her hand to the needy. Through many trials she came out triumphant.” 

A Military History of the Eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry by Franklin Sawyer

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During the Civil War, Franklin Sawyer was the commanding officer of the Eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry from May of 1862 until the unit was mustered out. A prominent lawyer from Norwalk, he achieved the rank of Brevet Brigadier General. Mr. Sawyer wrote a book about his unit, called A Military History of the Eighth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry. It was published in 1881 by Fairbanks and Company of Cleveland, Ohio.



A copy of this military history, donated by Hattie Bretz, is housed in the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center. The book originally belonged to Hattie’s father, William Bretz, who served in Co. E of the Ohio Eighth Infantry. A reprint of this book, with additional photographs, was published by the Blue Acorn Press in 1994. This edition of Franklin Sawyer’s books is found in the Local History and Genealogy collection in Reference Services.

General Sawyer tells about the Eighth Ohio’s participation in many battles, including Antietam, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, Spotsylvania, and Cold Harbor. During the Battle of Antietam, a barn on a nearby farm was used as an operating room. Wounded and dying men covered the ground around the barn. Sandusky native Horace Harper Bill, who was then with Company K, died at Antietam. In the author’s preface, Franklin Sawyer stated, “There were many individual acts of bravery and fortitude, on the part of both officers and men.”

Many men from Sandusky and Erie County were in Company E of the Ohio Eighth Volunteer Infantry. Sawyer’s book lists the names of all the officers and soldiers in each company. The unit’s chaplain, Rev. Lyman N. Freeman, had served as rector of Grace Church in Sandusky from 1845 to 1850. Zenas W. Barker, Jr., the son of the former Mayor of Sandusky, died at Oakland, Virginia on August 28, 1861. Wells W. Miller, who was a Captain in the Ohio Eighth Infantry, went on to serve as Ohio’s Secretary of Agriculture. To read many more details about the Eighth Ohio, visit the Sandusky Library to view this historic accounting of the unit.

After the war Franklin Sawyer was elected to the Ohio legislature. He died in Norwalk, Ohio on August 22, 1892. Reunions of the Veterans of the Ohio Eighth Infantry were held for several years. A reunion was held at the Dixie restaurant in Sandusky on September 18, 1922. According to the Sandusky Star Journal of August 7, 1922, four of the former soldiers of Company E of the Ohio Eighth Infantry were living in Sandusky. Their names were E.E. Warren, William Braby, Charles Chapman and Romeo Foster.



Leo Long, Grand Army of the Republic

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Oscar Long donated his father’s badge from the Grand Army of the Republic to the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center. Leo Long was a veteran of Company E of the 186th Ohio Volunteer Infantry during the Civil War. In a Sandusky Register article from May 29, 1932, Leo Long recalled a battle from the Cumberland Gap in which the Union band played “Yankee Doodle” after running down the Confederate flag and replacing it with the Stars and Stripes. Mr. Long fondly recalled the Union victory on that foggy Kentucky morning during the war.

For many years Leo Long served as Commander for the McMeens Post No. 19, Grand Army of the Republic, an organization made up of Civil War Veterans. When Leo Long died on March 26, 1934, G.A.R. services were conducted for him at Oakland Cemetery. Two Civil War veterans of advanced age, Charles Cooper and Abraham Eddy, attended the funeral. Officers of the Santa Clara Camp, United Spanish War Veterans also paid tribute to Leo Long. A squad from the Ohio Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Home sounded taps at the gravesite of Mr. Long.

Memorial Day of 1934 was the last time the McMeens Post of the G.A.R. was active in Erie County, Ohio. An article in the May 31, 1934 issue of the Sandusky Register stated that the three remaining members of the local G.A.R. would keep the post alive inactively as long as possible, but the organization passed out of active existence at that time.

Sandusky High School’s Centennial Reunion

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The Centennial Reunion of alumni of Sandusky High School was held on May 28, 1955. Tickets to the banquet were sold for $2.00 per person.


Reunion events included a band concert on the Sandusky High School lawn at 4:00, dinner at the Junior High School at 6:15, a program at Strobel Field at 7:45, and a dance at 9 p.m. at the Junior High featuring the fourteen piece band of Jimmy Dulio. During the program at Strobel Field, several special people were introduced to the crowd.



Charles E. Frohman served as the Master of Ceremonies. Principal Wallace Glenwright and Mayor Richard Fuller both gave remarks of welcome. Former school administrators James T. Begg, Frank J. Prout, Karl E. Whinnery, and Wayne C. Blough were introduced. Retired teachers attending the reunion were Miss Lucy Carter, Miss Elsie Denham, Miss Bessie Taylor, Miss Edith Howell, Miss Berta Jackson, and Miss Marie Reiff. Superintendent Carl L. Mackey spoke to the Sandusky High School alumni, and several musical numbers were presented. Harold C. Kaufman directed the A Cappella Choir and led the choir in three songs, including “Halls of Ivy.” The combined band and choir of Sandusky High School performed the Battle Hymn of the Republic. The program ended with a musical benediction sung by the high school A Cappella Choir.

The Sandusky Register Star News of May 28, 1955 contained a special feature devoted to the Centennial Reunion.



A copy of this special edition newspaper is housed at the Sandusk y Library Archives Research Center. Included in the special feature are pictures of graduating classes, a history of the one hundred years of Sandusky High School, and brief biographical sketches of outstanding graduates of Sandusky High School. An article entitled “A Century Stream of Teaching at Sandusky High” began with this paragraph:

Tennyson’s quotation “Men may come and men may go, but I go on forever,” referred to a little flowing brook, might also be applied to the stream of education which has been flowing through Sandusky High School for the past 100 years, and which, from all indications, will flow on indefinitely.
The newspaper issue contained commemorative ads from many businesses, including this advertisement from the Ohio Bell Telephone Company.


Hector Jennings, a Man of Service

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Hector Jennings was born in Elmira, New York, in 1804, and died in Sandusky, Ohio on January 27, 1900. He was married to Delina Cummings in 1825. The family settled in Sandusky about 1838.



The January 29, 1900 Sandusky Register stated, “His early steps in learning's paths were taken under the guidance of his mother, who at the same time instilled a profound love for God and fellow men which gave rise to qualities of uprightness and honesty in his character which he retained through life. They were also productive of a strong love of liberty, which made him ever the champion of the oppressed and down trodden. During the days before the war his home was very often the refuge of the fugitive bondsmen.”

Mr. Jennings was an ardent foe of slavery, and he was pleased that several of his sons enlisted for service for the Union during the Civil War. He tried to enter the conflict as well, but he was barred due to his advanced age.

Through military records accessible via Ancestry Library Edition, we learned that James Jennings was a Colonel in the 4th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. H. C. Jennings was a Corporal in the 65th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. William and Wesley B. Jennings both served in the 123rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry; William as a musician, and Wesley as a First Sergeant. The daughter of Hector Jennings, Mrs. Caroline Cady, was reported to have ministered to prisoners, and residents of the hospitals and the soldiers’ home.

Though many of his children moved away from this area, Hector Jennings, his wife Delina, son Wesley B. Jennings, and daughter Mrs. Caroline Cady are all interred in Block Two of Sandusky’s Oakland Cemetery.

Picture Postcards by Louis Pesha

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Louis Pesha was a photographer who was well known for his photographs of the Great Lakes area in the early twentieth century. The Pesha Postcard Company was located in Marine City, Michigan.

Pictured below is a Pesha postcard of Scott Park in downtown Sandusky. Scott Park was the original home of the Boy with the Boot statue, along with two maids of the mist statues.



The Erie County Courthouse can be seen in the postcard below, which features a fountain in Washington Park.



The steamer G.A. Boeckling is just one of the many Great Lakes vessels photographed by Louis Pesha. The G.A. Boeckling was christened on June 12, 1909, and transported guests to Cedar Point until 1952.


Tragically, on October 1, 1912 Mr. Pesha died in an automobile accident as he was traveling to visit his childhood home in Euphemia, Ontario.

Norma Zistel’s Diploma

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Miss Norma Zistel graduated from Sandusky High School on June 19, 1902.  At that time the superintendent of Sandusky City Schools was H.B. Williams, and the High School principal was H.N. Morton. William Graefe was the president of the School Board, with Charles Kubach serving as secretary.


Norma Zistel was the daughter of Oscar Zistel, and the granddaughter of Louis Zistel, an early German immigrant to Sandusky. In the summer of 1938, Norma won $2,500 in a contest sponsored by Oldsmobile. (About $45,000 in today's money.) Her essay “Why I Like Oldsmobile’s Safety Transmission” won first place in the contest. Throughout most of her adult life, Norma worked at the American Crayon Company, where she served as the advertising manager. In her leisure hours, Norma was active with the Art Study Club. In the picture below, Norma Zistel is the person on the right. She and other members of the Art Study Club were dressed in historic costumes.


Norma Zistel died in July of 1966. She was buried in Sandusky’s Oakland Cemetery.

Miss Mary McCann, Longtime Head Librarian of Sandusky Library

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Mary McCann was a 1923 graduate of Sandusky High School, and served as the secretary-treasurer of her class. A verse next to her senior picture in the 1923 Fram read, “She was as tidy as a cherry blossom and her steady, frank , blue eyes looked out from the intrepid depths of an unshadowed soul.” Miss McCann was a graduate of the Western Reserve University, now known as Case Western Reserve University.

The Sandusky Star Journal of June 9, 1939 reported that Mary McCann had been appointed the Head Librarian of the Sandusky Library effective September 1, 1939. During her tenure, around1949, the library acquired a Bookmobile that took library books out to residents of Erie County who were not served by other libraries. The Bookmobile was in operation through the early 1970s.



During World War II, Miss McCann served as a Junior Hostess at the U.S.O. in Sandusky. For many years, she was often the featured speaker at Sandusky area clubs and civic organizations. Her professional accomplishments were recognized in several professional library periodicals, especially regarding the popular film showings at the Sandusky Library in the 1940s and 1950s. In the February 19, 1954 issue of the Sandusky Register Star News, Miss McCann stated that there had recently been a shift from reading for pleasure to reading for information. She said, “ The old idea of a library as a place where women and children got story books to read has gone out with ‘Silence’ signs. Nowadays people call for useful information, questions, how to make or do things, facts, technical books, and so on. However a good book, read for pleasure, is still the library’s greatest gift to its patrons.”

Miss McCann retired as Head Librarian of the Sandusky Library in 1976. On June 19, 1991, she passed away at the Huron Health Care Center. She was buried at Oakland Cemetery, near her parents, James and Lizzie (Kratz) McCann. Miss McCann had been one of the founding members of the Erie County Historical Society. She was a member of Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church, the College Club, Women's Civic Club, the Harlequins, Ohio Library Association, North Central Arts Council, Sandusky Federation of Women's Clubs, and the Sandusky Business Women's Club.

Miss McCann is pictured below with several other Sandusky Library staff members in the 1940s.


George M. Rinkleff

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George M. Rinkleff was born in June of 1864 in Sandusky, Ohioto Frank and Caroline (Molter) Rinkleff.  In 1885 he married Louise Taubert. Sadly, Louise Taubert Rinkleff died in 1887, when her daughter was just an infant. The Rinkleff infant had the same name as her mother, Louise Rinkleff. Louise, the daughter, was about three years old in the picture below, taken at the studio of C.W. Platt in Sandusky.


Mr. Rinkleff married Olive Orton in 1895, and they had a son, Roy, in 1899.

George Rinkleff started his hardware business in Sandusky in 1885. The store dealt in wholesale and retail hardware and building supplies, as well as supplies for ships. Besides operating the hardware store, Mr.. Rinkleff also served as president of the Klotz Machine Company and vice president of the Sandusky and Islands Steamboat Company, and was a director of the Third National Exchange Bank. He was the owner and operator of the steamer Chippewa.



Mr. Rinkleff was active in the Masons, the Rotary Club, and the Plum Brook Country Club. On June 9, 1934, George M. Rinkleff died at the age of 69. Funeral services were held at Grace Episcopal Church, and burial was at OaklandCemetery.

Pictured below is the Rinkleff Hardware Store at 710 Water Street during the winter of 1913.





Kelley’s New Life Medicine

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Not the section of the advertisement in German. Many German immigrants lived in Sandusky during the late 19th century.

In a program from the Grand Theater close to the turn of the twentieth century, W.H. Kelley advertised his patent medicine called New Life Medicine. This formula was supposed to cure chronic catarrh and dyspepsia, and claimed to prevent one from catching a cold. Mr. Kelley offered a $1,000 reward for any “germ disease” that Kelley’s New Life Medicine did not destroy. A portion of the advertisement was written in the German language, and featured a testimonial from Mrs. Rachel Lathrow of New Jersey. Customers could find Kelley’s New Life Medicine at local druggists, or order it through the mail.

In an advertisement in the August 31, 1921 issue of the Sandusky Register, William H. Kelley told of having recovered from failing health by taking his own medicine, after several medical doctors and specialists were unable to help him. Though he had both legs amputated as a result of serious illness in the past, by 1921 Mr. Kelley lived on his own, made a good living, and was back in good health again.




By 1922, an ad in the Sandusky Star Journal claimed that Kelley’s New Life Medicine was a treatment for Bright’s disease, rheumatism, gout, diabetes, jaundice, coughs and colds, and also was good for blood purification.

Mr. Kelley ran a second hand shop at 408 East Water Street in Sandusky for several years, in addition to manufacturing the New Life Medicine. In the 1910 U.S. Census, Mr. William H. Kelley was a 42 year old widower, living in Sandusky, Ohio, with his teenage son, William H. Kelley, Jr. The place of birth for both father and son was listed as Pennsylvania. After 1922, William H. Kelley, Sr. did not appear in any Sandusky City Directories. It is possible that he moved out of the area, or he may have died in the early 1920’s. Mr. Kelley was successful at marketing his New Life Medicine for over twenty years. To read about another Sandusky businessman who sold patent medicine see our previous blog post about Dan Schaffer’s Wonderful Liniment.

Michel Brothers Cooperage

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In 1880, August Michel began his career as a cooper in Sandusky, Ohio. Soon after he opened his own business, his brother Robert joined the venture. The Michel Brothers manufactured barrels and casks for wine, whiskey, and beer, and their products were especially known for being watertight. Originally on Townsend Street, the Michel Cooperage Company was incorporated in 1902. By 1905 the business took up an entire city block, bordered by Warren, Market, Perry and Washington Streets, as seen in the 1905 Sanborn Map below.





Both August and Robert Michel died in the year 1906, at which time August’s son George A. Michel took over the cooperage business. Three of George Michel’s brothers also worked in the family business.

In May of 1909 President Taft won a barrel of sauerkraut from an Elks’ Fair held in Sandusky. The barrel which held the sauerkraut was manufactured by the Michel Cooperage Company in Sandusky.


Karl Kurtz wrote in an article in the June 18, 1977 issue of the Sandusky Register that after Prohibition was enacted, Sandusky cooperage firms made barrels for bootleggers and home brewers, along with making containers for sauerkraut, lard, pickles, and other products.




The Michel Cooperage Company was severely damaged in the 1924 tornado, and the company closed soon after.




Visit the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center to learn more about the historic businesses of Sandusky and Erie County. Books, county histories, photographs, and other documents can help you gain facts about those who have gone before us, and the places where they conducted business.

Leo A. Sacksteder Sold “Shoes that are Different”

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Mrs. Norman Steinert donated the buttonhook pictured above to the historical collections of the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center. The buttonhook came from Leo A. Sacksteder’s shoe store. It was an instrument used for pulling buttons through the button holes of shoes and gloves.

From about 1915 through the 1920s, Leo A. Sacksteder sold shoes in downtown Sandusky. He had several locations through the years, including on East Market Street, West Market Street, and two different locations on Columbus Avenue. Mr. Sacksteder came from a large Catholic family who had settled in Dayton, Ohio. His mother, Mrs. Helen Burkhardt Sacksteder, was originally from Baden, and his father, Nicholas Sacksteder, was a native of Alsace Lorraine.

In 1915 and 1916, advertisements for Leo A. Sacksteder’s shoe store were featured in the Fram, the yearbook of Sandusky High School. An ad which appeared in the January 1916 Fram states that “Shoes for graduation must have Character and Style and what Sacksteder says is so.”




This advertisement, from the November 1915 Fram, hints that if you buy shoes from Leo A. Sacksteder, your team will win the big football game.




Mr. Leo A. Sacksteder passed away on March 12, 1956. In his later years, he was a salesman for the Goodman Beverage Company of Lorain. Mr. Sacksteder was survived by his wife Antoinette, four daughters, two brothers, and three sisters. He was buried at Calvary Cemetery in Sandusky.

Kolb & Osberghaus, Inventive Business Owners

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From about 1869 to 1880, Adam Kolb and Charles Osberghaus worked as machinists in Sandusky. In the earlier years, the firm was named A.Kolb and Co., but by 1878, the business was known as Kolb & Osberghaus.

In 1877 Adam Kolb and Charles Osberghaus were issued Patent Number 192,438 for improvement in sash balances. In 1880 another patent was issued to Kolb & Osberhaus, this time for a fastening for the meeting rails of sashes.




The advertisement in the 1878 Sandusky City Directory for Kolb & Osberghaus stated that the company manufactured the Perfect Sash Balancer & Ventilator. Nickel plated sash balancers sold for $1.25 (about $33 today), and brass bronzed sash balancers sold for $1.00. An illustration of a sash balancer made by Kolb & Osberghaus appeared in Scientific American in 1877.



In the late 1870s, there were three separate sash and blind manufacturers in downtown Sandusky: Jay C. Butler, Schoepfle & Gfoehr, and Thorpe & Fosdick. Most likely Kolb & Osberghaus’ products helped to balance the sashes that were made locally.

Both Mr. Kolb and Mr. Osberhaus were of German descent. They were both members of the Erie Encampment No. 27, Independent Order of Odd Fellows in Sandusky. After 1880, there are no more listings for Kolb & Osberghaus, but the company made sash balancers for locally produced sashes for several years.

“Along the Wharves” in Sandusky

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“Along the Wharves” was the title of a popular column that appeared in the Sandusky Star and the Sandusky Morning Star newspapers in 1898 and 1899; it reported on the activities of commercial vessels in the port of Sandusky.

The sinking of the sandsucker Mary H. was discussed in the October 18, 1898 issue of the Morning Star, along with news of vessels that loaded and unloaded coal and lumber in Sandusky.



The steamers Ogontz, American Eagle, and Cumberland were mentioned in the December 13, 1899 issue of the Sandusky Star.




Pictured below is the Ogontz in the late 1890s.



Sandusky, Ohio has long been known as one of the finest and most well-protected harbors on the Great Lakes. At the Sandusky Dock, owned by Norfolk & Southern, and operated by the Sandusky Dock Corporation, millions of tons of materials are shipped out each year, with coal being the major commodity. Pictured below is the Edward Smith at the coal docks in Sandusky in the 1890s.


During the warm weather months, commercial ferries come to Sandusky to transport visitors to and from the Lake Erie Islands, sharing the waters of Sandusky Bay and Lake Erie along with many privately owned boats and yachts. Visit the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center to learn more about the history of Sandusky through historical photographs, newspapers on microfilm, and a wide variety of local history books and online resources.
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