Dr. Eben S. Lane

In Helen Hansen's AT HOME IN EARLY SANDUSKY, we read that Ebenezer Shaw Lane was born in August 1819 to Ebenezer Lane and Frances Ann Griswold Lane. When young Ebenezer (later called Eben, probably to avoid confusion with his father) was only two years old, the family moved from Elyria to Norwalk, by horseback. Dr. Eben Lane was in partnership with Dr. Aaron Austin and Dr. I. P. Randell in 1844. During the cholera epidemic of 1849, Dr. Lane worked tirelessly.

Pallas Anderson, daughter of Sandusky's first physician, Dr. George Anderson, became the wife of Dr. Lane. In 1870, Dr. Lane moved his family to Chicago. Dr. Eben S. Lane died in Chicago on January 3, 1893. He is buried in Block 11 of Sandusky's Oakland Cemetery. Several members of the Lane family are in this section, with identical tombstones.

The former home of Dr. Eben S. Lane is pictured on page 56 of AT HOME IN EARLY SANDUSKY. The home, located at 318 Huron Avenue in Sandusky, was later occupied by Mr. and Mrs. John H. Hudson.

A Look at the Will of Charles Cross

Recently I had an opportunity to view the will of my fourth great grandfather Charles Cross. His will, now on microfiche at the Erie County Courthouse,was Case #1028 in Erie County Probate Court, which was filed at the Courthouse shortly after the death of Charles Cross on November, 18, 1889. Judge A.E. Merrill was the judge of Erie County Probate Court in 1889.

Some of the pages of the will were very difficult to read.






















The undertaker who handled my great great great great grandfather's funeral was J. Krupp & Son, on Market Street in Sandusky. Besides handling funerals and embalming, J. Krupp & Son were also furniture makers. The bill states that Charles Cross had a cloth casket with handles and a name plate, and eight hacks had been in use at his funeral.















The tombstone of Charles Cross was purchased from Christian Schlenk. The monument cost $65.00, and the engraving cost $24.00.





















Several members of the Cross family are remembered on this monument at St. Joseph's Cemetery in Sandusky, Ohio.


















This section of the will of Charles Cross gives the names and residences of his four surviving children. Sons James Cross and Charles A. Cross both lived in Sandusky, Ohio. Catherine/Katherine Dunham was living in Buffalo Gap in South Dakota. South Dakota had just become a state in the same month that Charles Cross died, so the state is listed simply as Dakota. Another daughter, Mary Cowell, was living in Antwerp, Ohio in 1889.
















A portion of the inventory of items in the household of Charles Cross included a listing of the titles of several books and periodicals. Charles Cross owned books about religion, travel, history, geography, and literature. He seems to have been a man of many interests!






















While I was unable to read every single word on this lengthy document, I certainly learned some interesting things about Great Great Great Great Grandfather Charles Cross! I am fortunate that the wills of many of my ancestors are on file right in my hometown. Now if there were only more hours in a day, so I could get on with that task!

A Blessing Came in the U.S. Mail

An Archivist with the Xaverian Brothers from Massachusetts mailed a special photocopy to me through the U.S. mail. It is from the Sixth Provincial Chapter, held in Baltimore, Maryland on June 26-27 1908. My great great granduncle, Nicholas Charles Cross, is pictured at the far left of the picture above. He later became known as Brother Sulpicius. As it was explained to me, the Chapters were held by persons in ministry in the Catholic church, so they could discuss the issues of the time.

I was so delighted to see this picture of Brother Sulpicius when he was a young man. He was about 40 years of age in 1908. Along with the photocopy of this 1908 picture was some information about the ministry of the Xaverian Brothers. Thank you so much my Archivist friend in Massachusetts!

Andrew Lytle

Andrew Lytle died on July 21, 1856, and he is buried in Oakland Cemetery. His stone has a chain with three links, which is an emblem associated with the International Order of Odd Fellows and symbolizes friendship, love, and truth. The nine pointed star on Andrew Lytle's tombstone may be a reference to the 8th degree of the Scottish Rite, a Masonic organization. Andrew Lytle appears in the Erie County 1850 Census, and his occupation was listed as a bookkeeper. His wife's name was Amanda. FamilySearch pulls up a marriage between Andrew Lytle and Amanda Blakster in Lorain County, Ohio on August 15, 1838.

Wordless Wednesday: Stewart Family Lot at Perkins Cemetery

(Click on image for a larger view.)

George L. Marshall

While only in his early forties, George L. Marshall died suddenly at his home on McDonough Street in Sandusky, on January 30, 1902. The article in the Sandusky Register the day after Mr. Marshall's death reported that George was sweeping the snow from his sidewalk when he felt faint, and went into his house. "Inside of a a few minutes he was no more, his life departing quietly and unostentiously before medical aid was available." The article continued to say that George L. Marshall was "well and favorably known not only among the railroad men but generally." Mr. Marshall had been a brakeman on the Lake Shore Railroad. He was survived by his widow and three young children. His brother, John Marshall, had died only the week before.

In August of 1902, the members of Sandusky Camp No. 54 of the "Woodmen of the World," of which George had been a member, erected a monument in Oakland Cemetery in memory of George L. Marshall.

Caroline Brumbaugh

The infant daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Brumbaugh, Caroline Brumbaugh, passed away on August 1, 1868, at the age of six months. She was buried at Oakland Cemetery. The 1880 U.S. Census shows John and Minnie Brumbaugh living in Sandusky, Erie County, Ohio, and they had a large family which included three daughters and two sons. Mr. Brumbaugh was employed by the Railroad.