Tuesday, July 25, 2017

Miss Katherine Larkins










Katherine Larkins was born about 1877 to Patrick Larkins and his wife, the former Bridget Ryan, both natives of Ireland. In 1880, she was listed in the U.S. Census as the youngest of the seven children in the Larkins family. They resided on Fulton Street in Sandusky, Ohio. In 1880, Katherine’s name was listed as “Kattie.” At the time of her father’s death in 1893, Katherine’s name was listed as Kittie on papers on file at Probate Court. Sadly, on July 26, 1906, Katherine Larkins died while still in her twenties from tuberculosis.


She was buried at the St Joseph Cemetery in Sandusky, Ohio.An obituary for Katherine appeared in the Sandusky Register of July 27, 1906. She was survived two sisters and two brothers.



Saturday, July 15, 2017

Edwin and Jane Penny Monument at Maple Grove Cemetery


































This beautiful white zinc monument at Maple Grove Cemetery in Vermilion, Ohio honors the memory of Edwin A. Penny and his wife, the former Jane M. Baker. According to Hewson Peeke's A STANDARD HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY, OHIO (Lewis Publishing Co., 1916), Edwin was born near Maumee, Ohio on January 28, 1834, the son of Asher and Caroline Penny. Edwin settled in Berlin Township, Erie County Ohio, where he farmed on ninety-six acres of land. Sadly, Edwin A. Penny died on August 3, 1843, in his 48th year.



















A poem honors the memory of Edwin A. Penny.



















The poem reads:

Thy dust, dear husband
Slumbers here;
Tis to thy wife a sacred spot;
I'll drop upon thy grave a year,
Nor shall thy tomb be e're forgot.
Thy love shall in my memory dwell,
Thy kindness in my heart abide,
Thy virtue bright my tongue shall tell
Till I shall slumber by thy side.

Mrs. Jane Baker Penny died in 1917.



















An unbroken chain adorns one panel of the Penny monument, symbolizing loss.


Tuesday, July 11, 2017

Charles H. Ransom, Margaretta Farmer





















Charles H. Ransom was born in New London County, Connecticut in 1821. As a young person, he moved with his family to Erie County, Ohio. His father died in 1840. Charles H. Ransom was educated in Sandusky, but he was engaged in farming in Margaretta Township, Erie County, Ohio. You can see his name listed in Section 4 in this portion of the Margaretta Township map from the 1874 Erie County Atlas.















He and his wife Susan had a large family of four sons and two daughters. Mr. Ransom died on July 11, 1901, following a serious fall. You can read a brief obituary of C.H. Ransom in volume 14 of the Firelands Pioneer. Mr. Ransom was buried in the family lot at Oakland Cemetery. 


Friday, July 7, 2017

August and Salome Seeger

August (sometimes listed as Augustus) Seeger was born on February 26, 1823 in Bromberg, Posen. His occupation was listed in several Sandusky City Directories as a tallow chandler, or candle manufacturer. He resided on Adams Street in Sandusky, Ohio. According to the records on file at Erie County Probate Court, on April 15, 1858, August Seeger married Salome Traeger. Page 279 of the book SANDUSKY THEN AND NOW, tells us that Salome's maiden name was Salome Krueger. She was born in November, 1820 in Alsace. She first married George Traeger, who died in an accident in 1852.









August Seeger died on July 7, 1886. He was laid to rest at Sandusky's Oakland Cemetery. Mrs. Salome Seeger passed away on October 3, 1893. Mrs. Seeger was buried next to August Seeger at Oakland Cemetery. She was survived by two children from her first marriage, George Traeger and Mrs. Rosa Traeger Goosman.

Tuesday, July 4, 2017

What I Learned From the Minutes of the North Ohio Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church
























While browsing through Google Books, I ran into the Minutes of the North Ohio Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In the Appendix which lists the financial contributions to missionary fund, I came across the name of my great great great grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Lindsey House, as well as the names of my great great grandmother, Marian House, and two of her sisters, Mina and Hattie, in the listing of donors to the missionary fund. They attended the Methodist Episcopal Church in Perkins Township of Erie County, where Rev. G.A. Weber was the pastor in 1871. This shows me that my House ancestors thought giving to missions was a worthy cause. Also, the names of the other people who are on this listing are the people with whom my ancestors spent time. The church was a very important part of the residents of Perkins Township in the 1870s. These folks helped each other in times of need, at harvest time, funerals, weddings, and at the birth of new babies. Looking at the 1870 Census will show the name of each family member of these Perkins Township residents. The 1874 Erie County Atlas shows precisely where many of these families resided. Great Great Grandma Marian married George B. Parker in 1879, and their only child Leroy J. Parker was my great grandfather. What fun to see this little slice of life about Great Great Grandma Marian!

Below is the Family Group Sheet for the immediate family of my Grandma Marian House Parker.



Aloysius Zehringer, Jr., Veteran of World War One























Aloysius A, Zehringer was born on Kelleys Island, in November of 1896, to Aloysius and Leah (Riggs) Zehringer. During World War One, Aloysius served as a private in Battery F of the 70th Field Artillery. He was honorably discharged on February 4, 1919. Sadly, Aloysius A. Zehringer died from tuberculosis on August 17, 1928, at the age of 31. Funeral services for Mr. Zehringer were held at St. Mary’s Church, and burial was at Sandusky’s Oakland Cemetery.​

Sunday, July 2, 2017

William Morrow, Native of the Emerald Isle






















William Morrow was born in Ireland on December 12, 1812. He emigrated to the United States, where he first resided in New York, and later in Erie County, Ohio. On October 18, 1843, William Morrow married Jemima Taylor.








William Morrow died on April 11, 1880, and he was buried at the Perkins Cemetery. A brief biographical sketch of William Morrow is found in Hewson Peeke's book A Standard History of Erie County, Ohio.

William Morrow was reared and educated in the Emerald Isle and as a youth of eighteen years he immigrated to the United States, having been for a time identified with the boot and shoe business in New York City, whence he finally came to Erie County, Ohio, and engaged in the same line of enterprise at Sandusky, he having learned the trade of shoemaker in his native land. He finally settled on a tract of land in Perkins Township, on what is now Columbus Avenue of the City of Sandusky, and he reclaimed this farm of thirty-six acres from the virgin forest, developing the same into one of the productive farms of the county and here continuing to maintain his home, a worthy and highly respected citizen, until his death in 1880.