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The Battle of Lake Erie Monument Association

July 2, 2020, 6:00 am
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On the weekend of July 4, 1852, five companies of the Volunteer Militia of Ohio celebrated the anniversary of American independence by holding a three days’ encampment at Put-in-Bay. A preliminary meeting was held “for the purpose of effecting a monumental organization…in reference to the erection of a monument on Gibraltar Rock, Put-in-Bay, commemorative of Perry’s brilliant victory on Lake Erie, and in honor of the dead who fell in that memorable engagement.”

A book recording the event, An Account of the Organization and Proceedings of the Battle of Lake Erie Monument Association and Celebrations of the 45th Anniversary of the Battle of Lake Erie is housed in the historical collections of the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center, and is also available full text at Google Books.

The library has an invitation presented to Horace Newton Bill, a Brigadier General in the Ohio Militia, to the ceremonies of the laying of the cornerstone of the monument to commemorate the naval victory at the Battle of Lake Erie.


While the cornerstone was laid in 1859, the monument was not completed as planned. After purchasing Gibraltar Island in 1864, Jay Cooke built a small monument to Oliver Hazard Perry using the existing base. A photograph of the monument also appears at the Remarkable Ohio website.


After several failed attempts to construct a larger monument to honor Commodore Perry, construction of the Perry Memorial at Put-in-Bay was begun in 1912. Now known as the Perry’s Victory and International Peace Memorial, the monument opened to the public on June 13, 1915. To learn more about the history of Put in Bay and the Battle of Lake Erie, you could find several books in the Sandusky Library's collections.
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Traveling to Put-in-Bay in 1878

July 5, 2020, 6:00 am
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Around 1878 this Summer Time Card of the Put in Bay Steamers was printed by the Calvert Lithograph Company of Detroit. Steamers brought passengers to Put-in-Bay from Sandusky, Cleveland, Toledo and Detroit.

The steamer Pearl in Put-in-Bay harbor, circa 1878
The side-wheel steamers Alaska and Pearl were new in the summer of 1878. They had a daily line, with the exception of Sundays, that traveled between Put-in-Bay, Cleveland and Buffalo, with connections at Put-in-Bay to and from Sandusky, Detroit, and Toledo.


Advertisements for the Put-in-Bay House, the Beebe House, and the Golden Eagle Wine Cellars appeared on the opposite side of the Steamer Time Card.




Several books and historical photographs about the Lake Erie Islands region are available at the Sandusky Library and its Archives Research Center.
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A Portrait of Harriet Merry in the Follett House Museum

July 8, 2020, 6:00 am
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Have you ever been to the Follett House Museum and noticed this painting on a wall? Here is a little about the young woman in the portrait.

Miss Harriet Emily Merry was born on September 6, 1841 to Henry and Caroline (Sprague) Merry. Henry Merry was a master carpenter, who was active in the building and business interests of the city of Sandusky. It is believed that Caroline Sprague was the first white child to have been born in Florence Township. According to an article in volume 9 of the Firelands Pioneer, both Henry and Caroline Merry participated in the Underground Railroad, and their home at 330 East Adams Street was considered a “safe house.” 

Harriet Emily Merry married Alonzo William Nason in the Merry family residence in 1863. Mrs. Nason died on January 25, 1895. In 1965, William Lawrence Nason, Harriet’s grandson, donated the lovely oil painting of Harriet Merry Nason to the historical museum of the Sandusky Library. The painting now is on display at the Follett House Museum. To read more about the Merry home in Sandusky, read the book, At Home in Early Sandusky, by Helen Hansen.
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Matchbook Covers from Sandusky Businesses

July 11, 2020, 6:00 am
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Do you remember when you could grab a free book of matches on your way out of a restaurant or store?


Journalist and author Harry Van Stack donated several matchbook covers from Sandusky businesses to the Sandusky Library. The matchbooks were from five restaurants and a service station that were in operation primarily in the 1930s and 1940s in downtown Sandusky. The Boulevard Cafe can be seen in the picture below next to the Ohio Theatre on West Market Street in 1937.



In the 1931 photograph of downtown Sandusky, the Pelican Restaurant is on the west side of Columbus Avenue, just north of Rosino’s, and Martin’s is at the northeast corner of Columbus Avenue and Market Street.


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J.N. Victor’s Cash Book

July 14, 2020, 6:00 am
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J.N. Victor’s cash book was donated to the Sandusky Library 1928. Dates recorded in the book span from 1852 through 1854. While the specific business with which Mr. Victor was associated is not noted on the item, merchandise that was sold includes: wool, pig iron, nails and a variety of foods. Some entries record payment for freight charges only. As he was only 17 in 1852, he may have been a clerk for a railroad or other shipping company at this time.

The page below, from May 5 through December 20, 1852, is a record of payment from architect Sheldon Smith, who purchased molasses and sugar.


Sales of barley and wheat were recorded from July through December of 1854.


 By  1861, J.N. Victor was employed at the general freight office of the Sandusky, Dayton and Cincinnati Rail Road Company in Sandusky, Ohio. He went on to become the superintendent of the California Southern Railroad Company. The town of Victorville, California was named in his honor.

Jacob Nash Victor was the son of Henry Clay Victor and the former Gertrude Nash; his brother was author and editor Orville James Victor.
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Hoffman Finger Protector

July 17, 2020, 6:00 am
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Around 1910 the Hoffman Manufacturing Company in Sandusky, Ohio sold a product called the Hoffman Finger Protector. In the 1910 Sandusky City Directory, Charles Hoffman was listed as the manager of the company, which was located at the northwest corner of Scott and Hancock Streets. The company made elevating trucks and clothesline reels. The Hoffman Coal and Milling Company was also at that location. A previous blog post discussed the Daniel Hoffman family, and mentions the patent issued to Charles Hoffman for an elevating truck.

Letterhead from the Hoffman Manufacturing Company.

The Hoffman Finger Protector was a thimble-like device that prevented the needle from harming the finger of a person who was doing sewing or embroidery. The price of the Hoffman Finger Protector ranged from five to fifteen cents (about $1.39 to $4 today). Notes on an advertisement indicate that the patent for the Hoffman Finger Protector had been applied for, but there is no evidence that it was ever actually patented.

An article in the May 9, 1917 issue of the Sandusky Star Journal reported that attorney R.B. Fisher had purchased the patents and equipment from the Hoffman Manufacturing Company, and he was going to continue to make the handy combination elevating trucks. Though we do not have a Hoffman Finger Protector in our collections, you can see the Hoffman Handy Combination Elevating Truck in the Industry Room of the Follett House Museum.

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Miss Ellen Lehman, Teacher

July 20, 2020, 6:00 am
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Ellen M. Lehman was born in 1907, the daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Franklin Lehman. Miss Lehman graduated from Sandusky High School in 1924. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Smith College, and her Master of Arts degree from Columbia University. Miss Lehman also studied at Western Reserve University, the University of Paris, the University of Lausanne, the National University of Mexico and Middlebury College.

At Sandusky High School, Miss Lehman taught French classes, and she also was head of the foreign language department. In 1938, she was the faculty sponsor for the Girls Photography Club, and later served as a guidance counselor. In a 1926 Sandusky Register column, “Teen Talk,” Miss Lehman gave advice to students who intended to go to college. She stated that younger students should research their prospective fields of study, while older students should concentrate on the reality of financing their education.

On July 19, 1985, Miss Ellen Lehman passed away after a lengthy illness. She had no known survivors. An obituary appeared in the July 21, 1985 issue of the Sandusky Register, and listed many of Miss Lehman’s accomplishments. She had been a Jennings Scholar in 1967-1968, and won a Register Community Service Award in 1970. She was a member of Christ Episcopal Church, member and past president of the College Women’s Club, a member of the American Association of University Women, Zonta International, the Art Study Club, the Erie County Board of Mental Health, and the Huron Library Board. She was also a charter member of the Sandusky Cultural Center board and life member of the Ohio Association of College Admission Advisers.

Here is Ellen Lehman (third from right) with a group of people at a French Club picnic:


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Schwehr Box Company

July 23, 2020, 6:00 am
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Established in 1878, this cigar box manufacturing company was first operated by the Fox Brothers. In 1884, Albert Schwehr became a partner in the Fox & Schwehr Box Company at the northeast corner of Water and McDonough Streets. By 1886, Albert Schwehr was the sole proprietor of the Schwehr Box Company, by then at the southeast corner of Water and McDonough Streets. That same year, the Eureka Lumber Company was in business at the northeast corner. Both the Schwehr Box Company and the Eureka Lumber Company were manufacturers of cigar boxes.

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries cigar making in Sandusky was a major industry. Locally produced cigar boxes were made of cedar, held together with nails. Karl Kurtz wrote in the Sandusky Register of January 14, 1978 that in the early years, the Schwehr Box Company made 350,000 cigar boxes and 5000 fish boxes a year. The factory employed about 25 people, and had a printing press to make their own labels for the boxes. By 1900, C. B. Lockwood was the proprietor of the business. In the 1912 Sandusky city directory, the company’s name had been changed to the Standard Box Company, and around 1920, William Sumser became the proprietor. In 1930, the Standard Box and Screen Company was manufacturing window and door screens as well as cigar boxes. An advertisement in the May 17, 1941 issue of the Sandusky Star Journal recommended the bronze screens made at the Standard Box Company for their endurance.


From 1946 to 1952, the Weske Cutlery Company, which primarily made fixed blades, was in business at the site of the former Standard Box and Screen Company. You can see the layout of the Weske Cutlery Company on the Sanborn Fire Insurance map, below.


In the 1960s and 1970s, Bob’s Furniture had a warehouse at 932 West Water Street, where the box factory once stood. Now, the southeast corner of Water and McDonough Streets is an empty lot, but that location was once an important spot for local businesses.
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Michael Osterman’s Naturalization Certificate

July 26, 2020, 6:00 am
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Michael Osterman became a naturalized citizen of the United States on February 10, 1860. He was born in Bavaria, in what is now Germany. Rush R. Sloane, Erie County Probate Judge, signed the certificate.

 An article in the October 12, 1905 issue of the Sandusky Register reported that Michael Osterman had resided in Sandusky for fifty years, prior to his death on October 10, 1905. He worked on the Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad, and later was a steam engineer for the Sandusky fire department. He was the organizer first president of the local Prussian Society.

For many years he operated a saloon on Water Street. The 1888 Sandusky City Directory listed Michael Osterman as the proprietor of the Engineers’ and Hunters’ Saloon and Restaurant at 808 and 810 Water Street. In the 1900 Sandusky City Directory, Mr. Osterman’s saloon and residence were both located at 435 Market Street.

 In the January 29, 1923 Sandusky Star Journal, an article tells of the discovery of an old railway passenger coach from the Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad being found in the back of property on West Water Street that had once been owned by Mr. Osterman. The old railroad car had first been used as part of a kitchen, and later was moved to the back of the property where it was used as part of a shed. Alex Osterman, Michael’s son, was asked to tear down the structure in 1923 because it was considered a fire hazard.
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Ruby Souvenir Glass from Sandusky

July 29, 2020, 6:00 am
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Ruby souvenir glass was popular in the United States in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Tourists could purchase items made of ruby colored glass while at the fair or train station, and could take them home as a memento of their travels. Several items made from ruby glass are in the collections of the Follett House Museum.

The ruby glass pitcher below was purchased at Cedar Point.





The tumbler below is etched with the words “Cedar Point” on one side, and “Mother” on the opposite side. It dates back to 1906.






This personalized mug was originally purchased for someone named Ethel in 1907.





Visit the Follett House Museum to view a variety of historical souvenirs and items from Sandusky’s storied past. To read more about the history of ruby glass, see this article from the Antique Trader.
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Rice Harper, Erie County Clerk of Courts

August 1, 2020, 6:00 am
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Rice Harper was born 1803 in Lake County, Ohio to John and Loraine (Miner) Rice. After studying law in the office of Wheeler and McClurg, he was admitted to the bar in 1827. He left the legal field due to health problems, and for a time he worked in the mercantile business. Mr. Harper was one of the original incorporators of the Ohio Railroad, a predecessor or the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway. In about 1838, he moved with his wife, the former Susannah Montgomery, to Sandusky, Ohio.


Mr. Harper served as Erie County Clerk of Courts from 1839 to 1855. During his term of office, a cholera epidemic hit Sandusky. Oakland Cemetery opened shortly after the last major outbreak, and a monument was placed in the cemetery to honor three local ministers who died in the cholera of 1849; it was erected on the Rice Harper family lot. Most likely, Mr. Harper was among the members of the local Civic Committee who raised funds to provide a fitting monument to the three ministers: Rev. N.W. Fisher of the Congregational Church, Rev. H.P. Ward of the Methodist Church, and Rev. H.P. Ward, of the old Bethel Church.


During his years in Sandusky, Rice Harper fought vigorously for improvements in the city parks. At one time, the park in downtown Sandusky was an open space that allowed for people and animals to walk freely through the park. Mr. Harper pushed for the placement of post and rail fences to be placed around the park squares on each side of Columbus Avenue, that were later replaced by picket fences. The park squares stayed enclosed until 1875, when horses, cattle and other livestock were prohibited from running at large in the city, and the fences were removed. The beautiful park system in downtown Sandusky as we know it today, was helped immensely by Rice Harper’s leadership in the nineteenth century.



Mr. Harper was a member of Grace Church since 1839, and he served as a church warden for several years. Along with William G. Lane, he was instrumental in organizing the former Good Samaritan Hospital.

Rice Harper died from pneumonia on February 19, 1891. A lengthy obituary that appeared in the February 20, 1891 issue of the Sandusky Register read in part, “Mr. Harper was one of Sandusky’s most active citizens, serving in various official capacities and always taking a leading part in public affairs. He was one of those self-made men who laid sure the foundations of character and built well the superstructure of the intelligent honorable citizen.”Funeral services for Rice Harper were held at the family residence, and burial was at Oakland Cemetery. He was survived by his wife and a daughter.
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“The Spirit of the Lakes”

August 4, 2020, 6:00 am
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From 1849 through the 1850’s, a journal named the Spirit of the Lakes and Boatmen’s Magazine was published in Sandusky, for the Western Seaman’s Friend Society. The purpose of the Society was “to improve the moral and religious condition of seamen and boatmen on western waters.”

An outreach of the W.S.F.S. was the Bethel Chapel, which can be seen at the top left of the picture below.

Bethel Chapel was first located on the south side of Water Street between Wayne and Hancock Streets, and later moved to the north side of Water Street, just west of Jackson Street. This chapel served as a church for those working on the Great Lakes. Sandusky ministers who were associated with the Bethel Chapel and the Western Seaman’s Friend Society included Rev. Nathaniel Wilcox Fisher and Rev. Leverett Hull. Both of these ministers died of cholera, Rev. Fisher in 1849, and Rev. Hull in 1852. Judge Ebenezer Lane and former Sandusky Mayor Moors Farwell served as vice presidents of the Western Seaman’s Friend Society.

On page 92 of the June 1850 issue of the “Spirit of the Lakes” is an advertisement for the Bethel Chapel, which served the port of Sandusky.

An advertisement for the steamboat Arrow also was featured in that issue.

In the February, 1850 issue, Rev. Leverett Hull discussed the possibility of creating a songbook containing hymns especially for sailors.


Charles E. Frohman wrote an article about this publication in a 1973 issue of Inland Seas. He stated that the Bethel missionaries attempted to improve the moral character of canal drivers and boatmen. A particular challenge was to overcome the use of profanity by the seamen. The Western Seaman’s Friend Society did not survive very long, and never met with widespread success. Surviving issues of the Spirit of the Lakes are quite rare.

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Busy Northwest Corner of Jackson and West Water Streets

August 7, 2020, 6:00 am
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The northwest corner of Jackson and West Water Streets was the location of the passenger depot for the Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad in Sandusky beginning in 1838. By 1867 Peter Gilcher and Son operated a lumber business at that corner. Eventually R.E. Schuck joined the firm and the company was known as Gilcher and Schuck. On May 9, 1911, a notice in the Sandusky Register stated that the stock of Gilcher and Schuck was to be sold without delay, following the death of Mr. Schuck.


In 1923, it was announced that William Py had purchased the building at the corner. The new Sandusky Butter and Egg Company building was opened to the public on March 20, 1924. The company had its beginnings by delivering butter, eggs, flour, cheese and sugar with horse-drawn buggies. In 1912 the business opened at 217 West Water Street, and soon after switched from horse and buggies to trucks. By the 1960s, the Sandusky Butter and Egg Company was best known as being the local distributor for Stroh’s Beer products.


From the mid-1960s to the mid-1990s, the Feddersen Bakery was located at 301 West Water Street, at the site of the former Sandusky Butter and Egg Company’s plant.


Feddersen’s was just one of the many bakeries in Sandusky that sold New Year’s Pretzels in years gone by. Do you have any special memories of Feddersen’s Bakery?
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Cyrus B. Winters, Ohio Legislator

August 10, 2020, 6:00 am
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According to an early twentieth century issue of Ohio Legislative History, Cyrus B. Winters was one of the oldest members in 80th General Assembly of Ohio (convened 1913). He was elected four times to represent Erie County in the Ohio House of Representatives as a Democrat. 

Cyrus Bertrand Winters was born in Townsend Township, Sandusky County, Ohio, and he lived on the family farm for several years. He attended the Milan Normal School, and after reaching adulthood he became a deputy clerk in the Clerk of Courts office. He studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1874. From 1882 to 1888, Mr. Winters served as the Erie County Prosecutor. The listing for C.B. Winters in the 1884-1885 Sandusky City Directory stated that C.B. Winters was an attorney at law, and Erie County Prosecuting Attorney, with his office in the Erie County Courthouse. He also served for a time on the Sandusky Board of Education.

While in the General Assembly of Ohio, Mr. Winters served as chairman of the Committee of Cities, Ways and Means. He was considered an authority of matters pertaining to legal affairs, and is well known as the author of the Public Utility Law. 

In 1874, Cyrus B. Winters married Helen E. Clason, a native of Logan County, Ohio, and had six children. On June 9, 1916, he died in Castalia, at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Howard Brown, at the age of 68. Funeral services for Mr. Winter were held at the Brown residence in Castalia, with the Reverends Ross W. Sanderson and J. W. Overmyer officiating. Burial was in the Castalia Cemetery. Mr. Winters was survived by his wife, two sons, three daughters, a sister and a brother. To read more about this former Ohio legislator, see Elected to Serve, by Patty Pascoe (Sandusky, Ohio, 2003) and A Standard History of Erie County, Ohio, by Hewson L. Peeke (Lewis Publishing Company, 1916.)

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When Button Shoes Were Sold in Sandusky

August 13, 2020, 6:00 am
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In the nineteenth century and well into the twentieth century, a popular style of shoe was the button shoe. An interesting article appearing in the Sandusky Star newspaper of January 27, 1899 recommended this handy shoe button bag to keep on hand for when a button came loose from your shoe.


Below is a picture of one of the pair of high button shoes that Miss Evangeline Vinton wore when she married former Sandusky Mayor Charles Bouton in 1871. They are now housed in the historical collections of the Follett House Museum.

W.O. Stubig sold button shoes in both kid and patent leather in 1904.

Local shoe stores sold button hooks to help their customers fasten the buttons of their shoes, like this one from the Leo A. Sacksteder store on East Market Street in Sandusky in the 1910s.

Mr. Sacksteder placed an advertisement in the January 1916 issue of the Fram, stating that “Shoes for graduation must have character and style and what Sacksteder says is so.” At that time Sandusky High School had a winter graduating class as well as a June graduating class.

You can see the buttons on the shoes of young Steen L. Parker in this picture of the toddler, taken by C.W. Platt about 1911.

The two younger Ebert children in this picture are also wearing button shoes.

After World War I, the popularity of button shoes declined, as more and more people purchased ready-to-wear clothing and footwear. But the fashion was remembered in a unique way: on October 9, 1947, the show High Button Shoes opened on Broadway. It was a musical comedy set in 1913, when high button shoes were still a popular fashion item.

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C. J. Messer, Manufacturer of Agricultural Machinery

August 16, 2020, 6:00 am
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Charles J. Messer’s name appears in the 1860 Federal Census for Erie County with his wife Mary, and daughters Ruth, age 2, and Evelina, age 2 months. Mr. Messer’s occupation was listed as machinist. In the 1858-1859 Sandusky City Directory, C. J. Messer had an advertisement for threshing machines. His manufacturing facility was at the corner of Water and Warren Streets in Sandusky. Some of the models of agricultural machinery manufactured by Messer’s factory were the “Pitt’s Double Pinion Power,” “Woodbury’s Separator,” and “Reading’s Corn Sheller.”

The Thirteenth Annual Report of the Ohio State Board of Agriculture stated that Reading’s Power Corn Sheller “has no superior.” When the Ohio State Fair was held in Sandusky in 1858, Mr. Messer received a silver medal for his power corn sheller. This medal is now in the collections of The Follett House museum.

Pictured below is an image of the Pitt’s Separator, an improved threshing machine, from the 1860 Sandusky City Directory.

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G.M. Heck Stoves and Tinware

August 19, 2020, 6:00 am
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 From the 1860s through the 1880s, the G.M. Heck Stoves and Tinware business was in operation at 725 Market Street in downtown Sandusky. (Around the middle of the first block of East Market Street today.) In the picture above, you can see that Mr. Heck’s business is next door to Theodore Goessling’s grocery store at 727 Market Street. 

George Michael Heck was born in 1836 in Baden, Germany. He came with his parents, Samuel and Magdalina Heck, and several siblings to the U.S. when he was about ten years old. An article in the June 2, 1898 issue of the Sandusky Register stated that G.M. Heck was “an expert mechanic with a thorough knowledge of the tin and stove trade.” In January of 1868, he married Lena Gilcher, the daughter of Peter Gilcher. On June 1, 1898, Mr. Heck died of influenza, at the age of 62. Members of Sandusky Lodge, No. 669, I.O.O.F. attended the funeral of Mr. Heck. The flag at the Odd Fellows’ Temple was at half-mast in his honor. Funeral services for Mr. Heck were held at his residence, and burial was at Oakland Cemetery.

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Paul Browne Patterson, Music Educator

August 22, 2020, 6:00 am
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Paul Browne Patterson was the son of Rev. and Mrs. Charles D. Patterson, born in 1876 in LaPorte, Ohio. Rev. Patterson had formerly been a minister in the Perkins Methodist Episcopal Church. Paul Browne Patterson graduated from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in 1896, with a double major in piano and voice. Following graduation, Paul spent three years studying music in England, France, and Germany. From 1900 to 1903, he operated the Patterson School of Music in Sandusky. In 1903 he moved the school to New Castle, Pennsylvania. Below is the cover of a brochure from The Patterson School of Music when it was located in New Castle, Pennsylvania.

While in Pennsylvania, he formed the Festival Choral Society of New Castle, which was comprised of one thousand voices. Through his musical career, Mr. Patterson was the conductor of many symphony orchestras, including orchestras in Minneapolis, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, and Dresden, Germany, during their guest appearances with the Choral Society. In 1935 Mr. and Mrs. Patterson moved back to Sandusky, and he helped to organize the local Choral Society. He served as director of the choir at the First Congregational Church for many years, and was active as a teacher of piano and voice at his school, the Patterson School of Music, on East Park Street, until his retirement in 1966. Mrs. Patterson also taught piano lessons. Pictured below is a program from the vocal recital of Mary Louise Clary, a pupil in the Patterson School of Music.

Mrs. Patterson, the former Mary Evelyn Blocher, was a gifted singer, pianist, teacher, and accompanist. She served as the secretary-treasurer of the Patterson School of Music. 

Paul Browne Patterson died on January 12, 1971, at the age of 98, survived by his wife Mary, a daughter Mrs. Thomas Monroe, a granddaughter, and two sisters. He was buried at Sandusky’s Oakland Cemetery. He had been a former member of the American Guild of Organists, and was listed in the International Who’s Who in Music. Mrs. Patterson passed away in 1995, at the age of 90. The cultural life of Sandusky was deeply enriched by the musical talent of both Mr. and Mrs. Paul Browne Patterson.

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Early Report Cards from Sandusky City Schools

August 25, 2020, 6:00 am
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William Henry Nye taught grammar at the elementary level for Sandusky City Schools in 1848 and 1849. The grade card pictured above belonged to Martha E. Newton, who later became Mrs. Rollin M. Wilcox. Martha’s individual scores in grammar are listed on the right side of the report card. On the left portion of the report card are the names of all the girls in Mr. Nye’s grammar class, and the “exception to morals” for each student. Martha had no exceptions to morals, but Miss Rosabella Dewey received marks for exceptions to good lessons and good order. Several of the students’ surnames are well known for their parents’ early contributions to Sandusky and Erie County. Clara Beecher was the daughter of the abolitionist lawyer Lucas Beecher. Augusta Farwell was the daughter of Sandusky’s first Mayor, Moors Farwell. Julia Townsend’s father was pioneer Sandusky businessman William Townsend. The report card was signed by both the teacher, Mr. Nye, and the school superintendent, M.F. Cowdery.

We do not know the owner of the report card from Miss L.A. Barney’s arithmetic class. The names of young gentlemen and young ladies in Miss Barney’s class appear on the left side of the report card. It is clear that the boys in this class had several more “exceptions to morals” when compared to the marks of the young ladies in the class.

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Dr. Smith Gorsuch of Castalia

August 28, 2020, 6:00 am
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Dr. Smith Gorsuch practiced medicine in Castalia, Ohio from 1902 until shortly before his death in 1945. He was born in Delaware County, Ohio in 1870, and was a graduate of the Ohio Medical University, now known as the College of Medicine, Ohio State University. Through the years, Dr. Gorsuch was in attendance at many births and deaths, and he treated several patients who were injured in farm and automobile accidents. He was a member of the American Medical Society, Ohio State Medical Society, and the Erie County Medical Society. He was also the President of the Castalia Bank, and served on the board of directors of the Erie County Investment Company. For nine years, Dr. Gorsuch was the physician at the Erie County Home.

On October 8, 1943, he and his wife, the former Lucinda Rich, celebrated their golden wedding anniversary. Dr. Smith Gorsuch passed away on May 23, 1945. His obituary is found in the 1945 Obituary Notebook at the Sandusky Library. The article read in part, “Known as a humanitarian, Dr. Gorsuch was held in high esteem by his patients in all walks of life.” Dr. Gorsuch was buried at Castalia Cemetery. He was survived by his widow, a son and two daughters.

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