Dr. James Summers Hanson

Dr. James Summers Hanson was born in London, Ontario on June 15, 1867. (Dr. Hanson's death certificate lists 1867 as his birth year, but his tombstone reads 1868.) Dr. Hanson's father was also a physician. Dr. James S. Hanson attended Wayne State University School of Medicine, and graduated from the Detroit College of Medicine and Surgery in 1891, according to the Directory of Deceased American Physicians, 1804-1929, which is available at Ancestry Library Edition.

An article in the June 1, 1916 issue of the Sandusky Register reported that Dr. James S. Hanson moved to Sandusky, Ohio about 1898. He was called to Sandusky on business, and he liked it so well in Sandusky that he decided to move to Sandusky. Besides serving as a physician in Sandusky, he also was one of the directors of the Columbus Mutual Life Insurance Company.

Dr. James S. Hanson passed away at his Jefferson Street home in Sandusky on May 31, 1916. He had been sick for several weeks. At the time of his death, he was only 48 years of age. Dr. Hanson was survived by his wife, a son, one brother, and two stepbrothers as well as a stepsister. He was buried in Oakland Cemetery. A lovely bench is located adjacent to his tombstone.

James A. Garfield Monument, Lake View Cemetery

James A. Garfield served as the twentieth President of the United States from March 4, 1881 through September 19, 1881. After being in office for only a short time, President Garfield was shot by Charles Julius Guiteau on July 2, 1881, at the train depot in Washington D.C. President Garfield survived throughout the summer, but he died on September 19, 1881.

The James A. Garfield Monument at Lake View Cemetery in Cleveland, Ohio, was dedicated on Memorial Day in 1890. The Garfield Monument is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The caskets of President and Mrs. James A. Garfield are on display in the lower level of the monument. The remains of their daughter Mary and her husband Joseph Stanley Brown are in urns adjacent to the caskets of President and Mrs. Garfield.

In nearby Mentor, Ohio, is the former home of President James A. Garfield, now known as the James A. Garfield National Historic Site.


















At the Visitor's Center, you can see exhibits and view a video which chronicle the life of President Garfield. Originally, there was a farm and orchards on the Garfield property.











Tours of the Garfield home are available for a small fee, and the grounds are lovely.


















If you ever find yourself in northeastern Ohio, consider visiting the Lake View Cemetery and the James A. Garfield National Historic Site.

52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy and History: Secrets

The prompt for Week 22 of 52 Weeks of Personal History & Genealogy, by Amy Coffin of We Tree, and hosted by Geneabloggers, is: Secrets.

Describe something about yourself that won’t be found on any record 100 years from now.

One hundred years from now, you will not find a record of this: I used to be too shy to blog! When I first heard of blogging, I thought that I would never be able to have the skills or confidence to write a blog post. The Archivist/Librarian at our library created a blog about the historical items in our library and archival collections. Before long, I began helping to create posts for the blog at the library, and now it is one of the biggest joys of my time at work at the library.

Terry Thornton saw the blog from our library, and commented on it, and soon we struck up an online friendship. He introduced me to the Geneabloggers group on Facebook. Terry invited me to create a blog for the Graveyard Rabbits. I agreed to this, and then quickly told him “It must have been temporary insanity,” and I decided not to join the blogging world. As time went by, I got braver, and I did create the Graveyard Rabbit of Sandusky Bay blog. I so enjoy walking through area cemeteries, taking digital pictures, and researching facts about the people whose lives are honored by the many tombstones in those cemeteries. My family members and friends tease me about how much I love “dead people,” but it is finding those stories about people that I find most rewarding.

Today I ran into the name of Thomas Reber. Thomas Reber was an Ohio Civil War officer, who later moved to Mississippi. Thomas Reber liked Mississippi so much that he wrote a book about the history of Natchez, Mississippi. His personal and military papers are now part of the Special Collections of the University of Mississippi Libraries. I just know that Terry would have gotten such a kick out of that find....we both appreciated that though the Civil War had "sides," we both knew of folks we loved and appreciated from both the North and the South.

I shared this “find” with Footnote Maven, and said that I wish there could be emails to Heaven, so I could share this information with my former blog mentor, Terry Thornton. So, if this message does find its way to Heaven, Terry, thanks for all your encouragement in my early blogging days, and I hope you run into Thomas Reber, who loved both Ohio and Mississippi, just as you and I do!

Spanish American War Plot at Oakland Cemetery

Judge Linn W. Hull

Linn W. Hull was born in Perkins Township on April 9, 1856, to John and Angelina Walker Hull. He was educated at Oberlin College, Union College and Cornell University. He graduated from Cincinnati Law School in 1883, and soon began practicing law in Sandusky. Also in 1883, Linn W. Hull married Emily Hall. The "Bench and Bar of Ohio" stated that Judge Linn W. Hull was a "man of strong will, honest purpose, and great determination." Sadly, Judge Hull died on May 27, 1905, at the age of 40. His wife Emily had died in 1887, but three daughters survived their parents. Funeral services for Judge Linn W. Hull were held at the Congregational Church in Sandusky, with Rev. E.A. King, Rev. George H. Peeke, and Rev. J. H. Hull officiating. Burial was in Oakland Cemetery. A lengthy obituary appeared in the May 29, 1905 issue of the Sandusky Register.



















To learn more about Judge Linn W. Hull, and several other elected officials from Erie County, see Patty Pascoe's book ELECTED TO SERVE.

O.S. and Ethel Bardwell Alcott

In 1899, Otho S. Alcott married Ethel Bardwell, the only daughter of Seth E. and Celestia Bardwell. O.S. Alcott operated a haberdashery at the corner of Columbus Ave. and East Washington Row for many years, his father having begun this business. In his later years, Mr. Alcott was engaged in the banking and insurance business. After a lengthy illness, O. S. Alcott passed away on May 26, 1932. He was buried in Castalia Cemetery. His obituary is found in the set of OBITUARY NOTEBOOKS in the genealogical collections of the Sandusky Library.

Mrs. Ethel Bardwell Alcott survived her husband by many years. She died in 1969, and was buried with her husband in the Castalia Cemetery. Mrs. Bardwell was a member of the Martha Pitkin Chapter, National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. According to the lineage books of the D.A.R., whose records are on file at Ancestry Library Edition, Ethel Bardwell Alcott had three ancestors who participated in the American Revolution: Seth Bardwell, Remembrance Bardwell, and Daniel White.

Rodger W. Young, World War Two Hero

Rodger W. Young was killed during World War Two on July 31, 1943. When his unit was on New Georgia, Rodger sacrificed his own life, and as a result saved the lives of many men in his platoon. You can read more about Rodger W. Young at the Home of Heroes website. What I find so amazing is that Rodger W. Young was 5 feet 2 inches in height, weighed only 125 pounds, and was hearing impaired, but he did not let those limitations interfere with his brave service to his country. Rodger W. Young was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his courage in battle. The remains of Rodger W. Young. were returned to the United States in 1949 and he was buried in the McPherson Cemetery in Clyde, Ohio.

Click here to read the lyrics or hear the song entitled The Ballad of Rodger Young, by Frank Loesser. An outstanding online exhibit devoted to Rodger W. Young is found at the Sandusky County Scrapbook. My brother Todd can still sing the words to the song The Ballad of Rodger Young. Todd has a deep respect for all U.S. Veterans, and he recalls when his middle school choir sang The Ballad of Rodger Young.

Todd Woodhouse, Stuntman and Studio Electrician

In 1939, my Great Grandma Irene took my Uncle Tom on a trip to California. While they were there, they spent time with Gram Irene's friends Todd and Grace Woodhouse. Mom always told me that Todd was a stuntman for the Twentieth Century Fox Studios. Mom liked the first name "Todd" so well that she named my brother Todd, after Gram's friend on the West Coast. I was curious about Todd Woodhouse, so I decided to try to find out what I could about him. Several years ago, I sent a message to the Margaret Herrick Library of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The librarians there said that Todd Woodhouse was a stuntman, as well as a studio electrician, but in the films he appeared, he was mostly uncredited.

Putting the name of Todd Woodhouse into the California Death Index yielded this result:









This made a lot of sense, because Todd Woodhouse passed away in Los Angeles, California on June 16, 1958, and my brother Todd was born in the fall of 1958. Mom would have been expecting a baby at the time she heard of the death of Mr. Woodhouse. Noting that Todd Woodhouse's death record indicated that he had been born in Utah in 1902, I tried to find a Woodhouse born in Utah, but residing in California, where he lived in the 1930's. The 1920 U.S. Census had a Woodhouse family in Los Angeles, California. The parents were Azra and Olive Woodhouse, and four of their five children had been born in Utah! Well there was no Todd Woodhouse listed in the names of the children of the Woodhouse family. I saw that there was a Charles Woodhouse, who was aged 17 in 1920, and that means that he could have been born in 1902, depending on the exact month in which he was born. The occupation of Charles Woodhouse was listed as :

horse rider for the motion picture industry

So, of course, I believe that Charles Woodhouse changed his name to Todd Woodhouse, as a catchier stage name than the name he was given at his birth.

When Gram Irene went on her trip to California, she had this address for Mrs. Todd Woodhouse:









After searching for 4331 Hollywood Avenue on Google Maps, I found that the address was only one block away from Sunset Boulevard!














(Image courtesy Google Maps.)

I have no idea how Great Gram Irene became friends with Grace and Todd Woodhouse of Hollywood, California...but they made a lasting impression on her, and my brother Todd is a living memorial to that lovely first name, even though Mr. Woodhouse was born as Charles Woodhouse. My brother Todd is funny, intelligent, kind, and generous, and appeared in several plays and musicals throughout his school years. He currently serves on the Board of Trustees of a local musical theater group in Ohio as well. Those talented young men named Todd have made on impression on me and my ancestors!

Sentimental Sunday: Cedar Point Booklet from 1911

Recently a local collector loaned me a Cedar Point promotional booklet from 1911. The booklet was printed by the Corday and Gross Company of Cleveland, for the Cedar Point Resort Company. G.A. Boeckling was the President and General Manager of Cedar Point in 1911.























I was able to scan several pages from the booklet, and create a slideshow at Kizoa.Com. Click the arrows to page through the images in the slideshow. Click on the words Cedar Point Booklet below, to see all of the pages in the booklet more easily.

Cedar Point Booklet - make slideshow

You can click here to learn more about the history of Cedar Point. Several outstanding books have been written about Cedar Point, and are available to borrow at most Ohio libraries, or can be purchased at Cedar Point or Amazon.com. If you have ancestors who lived in northern Ohio in the twentieth century, it is very likely that they visited Cedar Point, or knew someone who did.

Cemetery Images at Columbus Memory

Columbus Memory, according to its website's front page, is: an online archive of Columbus history. Columbus Memory is a collaborative project between the Columbus Metropolitan Library and the Columbus Historical Society. Click here to conduct an Advanced Search at Columbus Memory. You can choose to limit to three separate collections:

• Ohio Postcard Collection
• Columbus in Historic Photographs
• Columbus Memory

Several images of Greenlawn Cemetery are available at Columbus Memory including this view of employees of Greenlawn Cemetery on Decoration Day in 1940. Several pictures from Camp Chase Cemetery can also be found. This monument at Gnadenhutton, honoring the memory of a Native American named Joshua, is said to be among the oldest grave markers in the state of Ohio. Images can be seen from Cleveland's Lakeview Cemetery and the Spring Grove Cemetery at Cincinnati.

If you are interested in historical views of cemeteries in Ohio, stop by Columbus Memory and browse through their collection.

Linnie Reynolds Hine

Miss Linnie Reynolds Hine, daughter of T. B. and L. R. Hine died on May 23, 1874, at the age of 7 years, 6 months, and 2 days. She is buried in the West End Cemetery at Berlin Heights, Oho. The 1870 Census for Erie County shows a Theodore B. Hine, with an adult female named Lovina, and several children, the youngest one named Lavina, age 3. Other children in the family were Ada, Maggie, and Sarah. Records at Erie County Probate Court show the date of September 16, 1851 as the marriage date for Theodore Hine and Lovina Reynolds. Linnie was probably a nickname for Lavina. Linnie's middle name was also the maiden name of her mother. The Hine family moved to Toledo, where T. B. Hine was a vinegar manufacturer. I am sure that Linnie's family thought of her many times, even after they left Erie County. Linnie's tombstone inscription is quite legible, after over a hundred years' passing since her death.

For a biographical sketch of Theodore B. Hine, Linnie's father, see page 1252 of the book entitled A HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO, by Nevin Otto Winter, available fulltext at Google Books.

Donald Orshoski, 1931-2007

My Uncle Don is pictured above with Aunt Marge and their two children at a family gathering in Bay View in August of 1961. Donald Orshoski was the fourth child of Steve and Emma Orshoski, born in Bay Bridge, Ohio in 1931.

















Don worked for many years for Ohio Edison. After he retired, he delivered meals for the "Meals on Wheels" program of the Serving our Seniors of Erie County. Uncle Don lived longer than any of the five children born to Steve and Emma. Whenever my siblings and I ran into him, it was a delight, as he looked and acted so much like our dad Paul, who died in 1983. At the dinner following the funeral of our Uncle Cliff, Don sat for a long time with us, sharing stories about the old days in Bay Bridge. He especially recalled how feisty our Great Grandpa Joe was! Though we didn't get a chance to see him all that often, Uncle Don always brightened our day, and he helped us keep those special family memories alive.

Donald S. Orshoski passed away on May 19, 2007, after a lengthy illness. He was laid to rest at Meadow Green Memorial Park. An obituary for my Uncle Don appeared in the May 21, 2007 issue of the Sandusky Register.

Emigration Record of the Lorenz Jaeger Family

After sending a small fee to the State Archives of Freiburg in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, I received this Emigration Record for the family of Lorenz Jaeger, who was known as Lawrence Yeager after he and his family settled in Erie County, Ohio.

Listed on the document were:

Lorenz Jaeger, age 34 years, occupation: day laborer
Maria (born Schweikart), age 33 years
Andreas, age 6 years
Emma, age 4 years
and
Louise, age 2 months

The family originated from Homberg, near Stockach. Today Homberg is a part of Muenchhoef, Germany. Volume 13 of GERMANS TO AMERICA indicates that the Jaeger family came to the U.S.A. in 1881 on the ship "Pereire" from Havre to New York. The ship arrived in New York on May 18, 1881.

Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Yeager resided in Sandusky, Ohio. Maria/Mary Schweighart Yeager passed away on November 2, 1891, and she is buried in St. Mary's Cemetery in Sandusky, Ohio. Lorenz Jaeger/Lawrence Yeager remarried after his first wife's death, to Catharine Geigel. Lawrence Yeager died on August 16, 1911, and he was also buried at St. Mary's Cemetery. (No tombstone remains for Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Yeager.) Andreas Jaeger, later known as Andrew Yeager, was a farmer in Huron Township of Erie County. He married Lena Piehl.



















Emma Jaeger marred John Keller, and they resided at Kelleys Island. Louise Jaeger/Yeager married Fred Tight. Sadly, after Louise became despondent over ill health, she took her own life. Her obituary is found in the 1928 OBITUARY NOTEBOOK at the Sandusky Library. Frank Yeager, the youngest child of Lawrence and Mary Yeager, was born in Ohio. He operated a successful hauling business in the Sandusky and Perkins Township areas.

Hundreds of Germans emigrated to Ohio in the nineteenth century. To learn more about the lives of the German Americans who resided in Sandusky, Ohio, see SANDUSKY THEN AND NOW, by Rev. Ernst Von Schulenburg, at the Sandusky Library.

Celebrate International Museum Day on May 21, 2001

On Saturday, May 21, 2001, several museums in Erie County, Ohio will offer free admission from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Included are the Follett House Museum, the Eleutheros Cooke House and Garden,the Maritime Museum of Sandusky, the Sandusky Greenhouse, the Merry-Go-Round Museum, the Ohio Veterans Home Museum, the Edison Birthplace, and the Milan Historical Museum. You can learn more about many previous residents of Erie County and have an enjoyable day with family and friends. Read more about International Museum Day at the Sandusky History blog.

Miss Mildred Matthias

According to her death certificate, Mildred Matthias was born to Everett and Katherine (Grafton) Matthias on December 16, 1895. Her obituary, which was located in the 1952 OBITUARY NOTEBOOK at the Sandusky Library, states that Miss Mildred L. Matthias was a teacher in Sandusky elementary and junior high schools since she was 18 years of age. She was teaching at Jackson Junior High School when the building opened in 1927. Mildred Matthias passed away on May 17, 1952. She had been a member of First Congregational Church, the Martha Pitkin Chapter of the D.A.R., and was involved with the Junior Red Cross of Sandusky. Mildred was survived by her father and two brothers. She was buried in Sandusky's Oakland Cemetery. The tombstone of Mildred Matthias has this inscription:

This Memorial Given by the Pupils of Sandusky Junior High School

A school book appears next to the inscription. Miss Matthias must truly have been appreciated by her students, for them to have contributed funds towards her tombstone.

Sentimental Sunday: 1944 Trinity Lutheran Church Confirmation Class

Pictured above is the confirmation class of Trinity Lutheran Church from Spring of 1944, in Venice, Ohio. Seated in front: Elmer Wahl, Wayne Orshoski, Joyce Galloway, Betty Martin, Rev. John Braun, Joyce Gardner, Nancy Klafter, Donald Orshoski, and Rolland Orshoski. In the back row: Norm Oeder, Richard Quinn, Marilyn Martin, Albert Oeder, Paul R. Orshoski, Stan Perry and Curtis Miller.

A church member told me that the several young people from Bay Bridge were part of a mission outreach from Trinity. My dad, Paul Orshoski, Sr., is in the back row, third from the right. At the time of his confirmation, Dad, his brothers Donald and Wayne, and cousin Rolland Orshoski all resided in the small village of Bay Bridge, Ohio. Their fathers and great grandfather worked at the Medusa Cement Company.

52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy and History: Fame

The prompt for Week 20 of 52 Weeks of Personal History & Genealogy, by Amy Coffin of We Tree, and hosted by Geneabloggers, is: Fame.

Tell us about any local brushes with fame. Were you ever in the newspaper? Why? You may also describe any press mentions of your family members.

Instead of focusing on the few times my name appeared in the local newspaper, I thought I would share some of the times that my Great Grandpa Roy Parker's name appeared in local Sandusky newspapers. My great grandparents, Leroy and Ada Parker are pictured below.



















In an earlier blog post, I told about how Grandpa Roy survived an automobile accident in 1914, in which his father and friends died.
















From 1920 to 1924, Leroy Parker served as Erie County Commissioner. This brief articled appeared in the November 2, 1922 issue of the Sandusky Star Journal. It tells about Grandpa Roy going to Columbus to discuss road improvements with state officials.

















The names of both my Great Grandpa and Great Grandma Parker were in the local newspapers several times, often in conjunction with the Perkins Grange, the Perkins Methodist Church, the Farm Bureau, family reunions, and all too often in connection with deaths and obituaries. My great grandparents lived a rich, full life, and they were very involved in their church and community activities. After their family farm was sold to the U.S. Government, they worked for several summers at Cedar Point as concessionaires. Great Grandpa Roy was lost without his beloved Ada after she passed away in the fall of 1956. A family party was held in honor of Great Grandpa Roy's 79th birthday in June of 1959. It was held at my parents' home in Bay View, and even Uncle Tom's family from California was able to be there for the big day. The article about Grandpa Roy's birthday celebration appeared in the June 3, 1959 issue of the Sandusky Register.























Sadly, Grandpa Roy passed away on June 4, 1959. He was greatly missed by all his family and friends, and everyone was so happy that Uncle Tom, Aunt Ev, and their three children were here to see him at his birthday party.

William G. Mather

Now a floating museum, the Steamship William G. Mather was once the flagship of the Cleveland-Cliffs Company. According to the ENCYCLOPEDIA OF CLEVELAND HISTORY, the Mather built in 1925 in River Rouge, MI, by the Great Lakes Engineering Works. You can tour this historic ship, which is visible from the Great Lakes Science Center located adjacent to Lake Erie in Cleveland, Ohio.

The Steamship William G. Mather was named for industrialist William Gwinn Mather. William G. Mather began as a clerk with the Cleveland Mining Co., and he worked his way up to the vice-presidency in 1885. In 1890, William G. Mather followed his father as president of the company. In 1891 the Cleveland Mining Co. merged with the Iron Cliffs Co. to form the Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Co. Later the company was known as Cleveland-Cliffs, Inc. William G. Mather died on April 5, 1951, and he was buried in Cleveland's Lake View Cemetery.

Almost Wordless Wednesday: George Burton Meek

George Burton Meek was the first American born sailor to lose his life in the Spanish American War. He is buried at Clyde's McPherson Cemetery.
(Click on the image for a larger view.)

Carl G. Nielsen

Carl G. Nielsen was born on August 2, 1858 on the island of Amrum in Germany. He came to the United States in 1875. After settling in Sandusky, Carl Nielsen was employed by Schacht & Fruechtnicht, a leading fish company. Eventually the firm became known as Fruechtnicht & Nielsen. An article in the May 10, 1902 issue of the Sandusky Star Journal stated that Carl G. Nielsen was a self made man. From 1895 until his death in 1902, Carl G. Nielsen was the owner of the Nielsen Opera House (formerly known as the Biemiller Opera House.)Plate VII in SANDUSKY EINST UND JETZT features a picture of Carl Nielsen and the Nielsen Opera House.

Mr. Nielsen had many other business interests, including part ownership of Cedar Point, director of Third National Bank, president of the Bonded Warehouse Company, director of the Wagner Lake Ice and Coal Company, and president of the Diamond Wine Company. In 1885, Carl G. Nielsen took Lena Molitor as his wife.






Carl G. Nielsen died suddenly on May 10, 1902. He was buried at Oakland Cemetery. His wife Lena, who married Charles F. Mischler after the death of her first husband, is buried beside Carl Nielsen.













Several members of the extended Nielsen family are buried in the Nielsen family lot at Oakland Cemetery.

Peter M. Heminger

On May 6, 1924, Peter Heminger and two other men lost their lives when the sandsucker Protection went down in a storm just off of Cedar Point. The Protection, a vessel from the Kelley Island Lime and Transport Co., had just taken on a load of sand when it suddenly was overturned in the choppy waves. Capt. David Robb said that everything happened so quickly, he wasn't sure exactly what happened! Also lost in the accident were William Tebbe, engineer, and Norman Carroll, fireman. Two other men were rescued by the Clinton, another vessel owned by the Kelley Island Lime and Transport. Several articles covered the loss of the Protection in Sandusky newspapers.

Mr. Heminger was survived by a wife and daughter. He had lost a son in World War One. Funeral services for Peter M. Heminger were conducted by Rev. H. E. Pfeiffer, and burial was in Oakland Cemetery.

Was She Named Mary, or Lillie, or Lula, or Louise....?

My great great grandmother, Mary Louise Cross Larkins, is pictured above. She is seated to the left of the young woman marked "Gr. Irene," who was my great grandmother. According to the database Michigan Marriages, available at Family Search Labs, Lula M. Cross married Thomas F. Larkins, on January 7, 1889, in Kalamazoo, Michigan.













When I did a search at Family Search Labs, for individuals whose father was named Thomas Larkins and whose mother's maiden name was Cross, I got these results. (Click for a larger view.)










When Irene's older brother Edwin Charles Larkins was born in 1889, his mother's name was listed as Lillie Cross. In 1915, my Great Grandmother Irene listed her mother's name as Mary L. Cross when she got married to Emmett W. LaTourette. When my Great Grandmother Irene got married to John Bour in 1919, she stated that her mother's name was Mary Louise Cross. When Grandma Irene married William Howard Graham in 1922, she said that her mother's name was Louise Cross. In the 1900 U.S. Census for Erie County, Great Great Grandmother Mary Louise Cross Larkins' first name was listed as Lulu. When I interviewed a distant cousin, Inez Wilson, long ago, she referred to Mary Louise Cross Larkins as Lou. So many names for one person!

Whenever my mom spoke of her Larkins and Cross family ties, she always called Gram Irene's mother Mary Louise, so that is what I consider her name to be. Mary Louise Cross Larkins, who went by so many different first names, died on July 20, 1912, at the age of forty one. From reading some old newspaper clippings, it appears that Great Great Grandma Mary Louise Cross Larkins had a deep rooted Catholic faith, and adored her children and extended family. She was buried at St. Joseph Cemetery in Sandusky, Ohio, next to her beloved husband Thomas F. Larkins.