Cholera Cemetery

In 1849 a cholera epidemic swept through Sandusky. Many people fled, but of those who remained, 400 died of the disease. Many were buried in a common grave in the cemetery on Harrison Street in Sandusky, not far from Sandusky Bay.

The “Remarkable Ohio” website contains a transcription of each side of the marker found at the site of the Cholera Cemetery.

Side A:

Of the city's 5,667 people in 1849, 3,500 fled, and 400 of those remaining were victims of cholera. Most are buried here, some only in rough boxes in a common grave. The scourge came again in 1850 and 1852 but with less toll. "Dismay stalked abroad in the daytime and the drowsy night was hideous with the wailings of the disconsolate."

Side B:

Doctors, nurses and others assisted in fighting the cholera in 1849, aiding heroic citizens led by Foster M. Follett. Doctors Austin, Brainard, Lane and Tilden suffered illness and exhaustion, leaving Dr. Cochran alone among Sandusky doctors until aid came. Drs. Ackley, Beaumont, Lauderdale and Spencer, and Messrs. Dolan and Miller of Cleveland; Drs. Banks, Caroland, Follen, Foote, Hughes, Lindsey, Ocheltree, Quinn and Raymond, and Messrs. Bailey, Hindale and Yorke, Mrs. Cowden and nurses from Cincinnati; Dr. Appleton of Philadelphia; Dr. Stanley of Canton; Drs. Evans and Pack of Akron; Drs. Glick and Teagarden of Mansfield; Dr. Vance of Urbana; and Mr. and Miss Rushton of Bellevue. "They came emphatically in our time of need, and faithfully and successfully did they minister relief to the distressed and the dying. Long will be e'er the citizens of Sandusky forget their kindness."