Milan Family Monument at St. Joseph's Cemetery

This lovely monument at St. Joseph's Cemetery in Sandusky honors the family of Thomas Milan. The cross and seats on each side of it resemble a church altar. Several monetary gifts were given by the Milan family towards the stained glass windows at Holy Angels Church in Sandusky.


Hewson L. Peeke wrote in his book A STANDARD HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY, OHIO, that Thomas and Cecelia (Rowan) Milan were natives of County Galway, Ireland. They came to the United States in 1848 and settled in Ohio. Mr. Milan found employment with the Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad. Mr. and Mrs. Milan left their three children, Thomas, Patrick, and Margaret back in Ireland with Cecelia's sister Nora. In 1851, Nora (sometimes Honora) Rowan brought her sister's three children to America.

Sons Thomas and Patrick J. Milan were both associated with various railroads. Thomas was with the National Railways of Mexico and later he became president of the Vera Cruz and Pacific Railway. Thomas also was a captain in the Texas State Militia. He never married. Patrick J. Milan was associated with the Rio Grande and Eagle Pass Railway, the Central Railway of Georgia, and was in charge of the Pan American Railway for some time.

Mrs. and Mrs. Thomas Milan, their sons Thomas and Patrick, daughter Margaret are all buried in the family lot at St. Joseph's Cemetery. Mrs. Ryan's sister Honora Rowan, and Mrs. Patrick J. Milan are also buried in the family lot. The individual stones are arranged in two rows to the west of the main monument in Section C of the cemetery.

The inscriptions for the individual stones are:

Their Son
Thomas Milan
1847-1916












Their Son
Patrick J. Milan
1843-1926















Father
Thomas Milan
1808-1896















Mother
Cecelia Milan
1806-1872














Their Daughter
Maria Milan
1846-1914














Margaret Wife of
Patrick J. Milan
1845-1913














Aunt
Honora Rowan
1814-1880














While it appears that there are no direct descendants of the Milan family who remain, this monument reminds visitors to the cemetery today of the hard work and determination the Milan family showed in uprooting the family from Ireland to make a new life in the United States. The male members of the Milan family made an important contribution to the railroads in the United States and in Mexico. I am sure that Mr. and Mrs. Milan were eternally grateful to Honora Rowan for her role in caring for the children in those early years.

Edison Birthplace in Milan, Ohio

Thomas Alva Edison was born in this brick home on February 11, 1847 in Milan, Ohio. Thomas A. Edison was issued over one thousand patents, including the phonograph, kinetoscope, and innovations in the electric lamp and the telegraph. According to the Thomas Edison Birthplace Museum, Nancy and Samuel Edison started building their home, which was designed by Samuel, in the fall of the 1841. In 1854, the Edison family sold their Milan home, and moved to Port Huron, Michigan. After the death of Thomas A. Edison in 1931, Mrs. Edison and her daughter Mrs. John Eyre Sloane worked on achieving the goal of Thomas Edison's birthplace becoming a museum that would be open to the public. The Edison Birthplace is now maintained by the Edison Birthplace Association, Inc.

















A statue of young Thomas Edison and his mother Nancy can be seen in the Milan Town Square.






















The Invention Restaurant in Milan features a cutout wooden figure of Thomas Edison.

















The back yard of the former Edison family home looks an ideal place for youngsters to roll down the hill!


















On October 18, 1931, one of America's most famous inventors passed away. Thousands of individuals, businesses, and communities dimmed their lights on the evening after Thomas A. Edison was buried in Rosedale Cemetery in Orange, New Jersey. In 1963, the remains of Thomas A. Edison and his second wife Mina were removed to Edison's Glenmont estate, now the Edison National Historical site. You can view the tombstone of Thomas A. Edison at FindaGrave.com. Read more about Thomas A. Edison at the Thomas A. Edison Papers Project.

Valentine Fries Family Mausoleum

According to the book MILAN AND MILAN TOWNSHIP, OHIO, published in 1976 by the Milan and Milan Township Bicentennial Committee, Valentine Fries was a prosperous ship builder in Milan. Born in 1826 in Alsace-Lorraine, and having moved to the U.S. at a young age, Valentine Fries died on April 2, 1900. His wife Anna settled his estate, and she saw to it that a lovely family mausoleum was erected in honor of Valentine Fries and his extended family. The Fries family mausoleum, which also features the related family surnames of Roberts and Taylor, is located in St. Anthony's Catholic Cemetery in Milan, Ohio. The mausoleum contains nine catacombs, and has cathedral glass in the ceiling. The tomb was build of sandstone, and has bronze doors. The Smith Monumental Works in Norwalk, Ohio was the builder of this lovely mausoleum.













The Maritime History of the Great Lakes features a page online which contains articles about the schooner the Charles Foster, built by Valentine Fries. An article in the November 29, 1907 issue of the New York Times reported on the marriage of Valentine's widow's marriage to Harry Chapin. Burial records of persons buried at the St. Anthony's Cemetery in Milan, Ohio, are included in the database Milan Cemetery Burial Records.

Scott Cemetery

Scott Cemetery is a joint project, between Milan Township, Huron Township, and the city of Huron, Ohio. The cemetery is located in the northern section of Milan Township, just south of the Huron Township boundary, on Huron-Avery Road. The cemetery is surrounded by farmland, and the facilities of the NASA's Plum Brook Station can be seen in the distance.














Charles C. Cleveland served in Company F of the Ohio 197th Infantry during the Civil War. He was a member of the G.A.R.











Ethel Swanbeck, who was the first woman to serve eleven consecutive terms in the Ohio House of Representatives, is buried in Scott Cemetery with her husband Carl Swanbeck.















Several listings for persons buried in Scott Cemetery are found at the FindaGrave website. An index of names of persons buried in Scott Cemetery prior to 1909 appears online as well. The former general manager of the Detroit Tigers, Jim Campbell, is buried at Scott Cemetery. Mr. Campbell passed away in 1995. Jim Campbell Boulevard in Huron is named for Jim Campbell.