Monday, November 3, 2025

Cora Akins Casselman



 

Cora Belle Akins was born in Perkins Township, Erie County, Ohio in 1877 to Frank A. Akins and his wife, the former Martha Eddy. She married Edward S. Casselman in 1917. Edward worked for the U.S. Government. Some sources list him as a fish culturist, while others list him as a construction engineer. In 1920, the Casselmans resided in Vermont. By 1930, they moved back to Erie County, Ohio. Edward S. Casselman died in 1933, after a lengthy illness. Cora continued to live in Sandusky, residing with her stepmother, Alice Akins. Cora Akins Casselman died in 1944, and was buried in the Akins family lot at Oakland Cemetery in Sandusky, Ohio.

Friday, October 31, 2025

Children of John M. and Anna M. Zimmerman

In Section A at St. Joseph Cemetery in Sandusky, Ohio, is a tombstone that honors the memory of two children of John M. and Anna M. Zimmerman.

Anna Catharine Zimmerman died on August 13, 1859, at the age of 19. Her brother, Charles F. Zimmerman died on March 25, 1870, at the age of 32.

The Zimmerman tombstone has been cleaned recently. It is amazing how legible the lettering is on the monument, considering that the individuals passed away well over 100 years ago.

Rest in peace, Anna and Charles.

 

Sunday, October 12, 2025

Harrison P. Idlor


 











Harrison P. Idler (sometimes spelled Idlor) died on August 4, 1889, and he was buried in Oakland Cemetery in Sandusky, Ohio. An entry in the 1876 Hellrigle City Directory for Sandusky lists an H.P. Idlor as a storekeeper for the B and O Railroad shops. Harrison's death record lists his occupation as bookeeper. In the 1880 U.S. Census, he was listed as the grandson of James and Mary Paul. His great grandfather was William Kelly, builder of the  Marblehead Lighthouse.

Friday, October 3, 2025

Thomas Coners

Thomas Coners, age 61, died on October 8, 1886. An article in the Clyde Enterprise of October 14, 1886, reported that Mr. Coners (spelled in the  news article as Corner) had died following a threshing accident in Castalia, Ohio. Thomas was assisting J. Atwater in theshing, when he fell fifteen feet off a straw stack. 

The article stated that "He was a most worthy and industrious man, of excellent disposition, and without an enemy in the community."

Thomas Coners was survived by a wife and three children. His final resting place is at Saint Joseph's Cemetey in Sandusky, Ohio.

 

Thursday, September 25, 2025

Horace Jay Bell, 1846-1864


 

Photo credit: J Mazza










Horace Jay Bell was born in 1846, the son of John Beatty Bell and his wife the former Eliza A. Coggeshall. His great grandfathers, Eleazur Bell and John Beatty were pioneer settlers of Erie County, Ohio. John Beatty was also an abolitionist and one time Mayor of Sandusky, Ohio.In 1864 Horace Jay Bell enlisted in Co. B, 145th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. According to the book The Coggeshalls in America, in the summer of 1864, Horace died from typhoid fever, which he contracted while serving in the Army during the Civil War. He was only 18 years of age. He was buried in Lot 32 of Oakland Cemetery in Sandusky, Ohio.

Rest in Peace Horace Jay Bell.


Thursday, September 18, 2025

Twin Children of Mr. and Mrs. C.C. Keech

In the records of Grace Episcopal Church, in Sandusky, Ohio twin children born to Mr. and Mrs. C.C. Keech were baptized on November 8, 1864. The sponsors at the baptism were Mr. and Mrs. Keech along with Mrs. McMeens.






The twins were christened:

Robert McMeens Keech and Ann McMeens Keech

Dr. Robert McMeens had been a physician in Sandusky, Ohio, and he died while serving in the Third Regiment of the  Ohio Volunteer Infantry during the Civil War. Mrs. Anna McMeens, once a Civil War nurse, went on to serve as a housekeeper for Jay Cooke for many years.

The names of the twins born to Mr. and Mrs. Keech in 1863, were a nod to the beloved Sandusky physician and his wife. Sadly, Robert McMeens Keech died at the age of 22 in May, 1885. Ann/Anna McMeens Keech married William P. Gosser. Anna died at the age of 35 in 1898. Robert McMeens Keech and Anna McMeens Keech Gosser were both buried at Oakland Cemetery in Sandusky, Ohio.

 C.C. Keech is remembered as a business man in Sandusky, as well as a philanthropist. 











His first wife, and the mother of the twins, Louisa Carr Keech, died in 1868, when the twin children were only five years of age.




Saturday, September 13, 2025

The Tragic Death of James Nugent


 














James Nugent was an Irish immigrant, who settled in Sandusky, Ohio. He was killed in a tragic railroad accident on September 13, 1879. According to the Sandusky Register of September 15, 1879, five men were returning from their day’s work on the B and O Railroad, on a hand car. They saw the switch train of the Lake Shore Railroad approaching. When they applied the brakes on the hand car, rain on the tracks prevented the brakes from working properly. James Nugent was killed instantly, and Michael Cassidy was injured seriously. The other three men were able to jump off the hand car.

Rev. R.A. Sidley officiated at the funeral of James Nugent, and burial was at St. Joseph’s Cemtery. James Nugent left behind a wife, Eliza Nugent, and two young sons, Thomas and James. Mrs. Nugent sued the railroad for damages for her husband’s death, and in 1885, she was awarded $3000. The case went to the Ohio Supreme Court before it was finally settled.

Though the monument for James Nugent has 1880 for his death year, all other records indicate he died in September of 1879. May he rest in peace.


Friday, September 12, 2025

Miss Emma Maher


 








Emma Maher was born in 1885 in Sandusky, Ohio to Philip Maher, an Irish immigrant, and his wife, the former Jane Norton (sometimes listed as Naughton), a native of Massachusetts. The Maher family resided for many years at 316 McDonough Street, in Sandusky, Ohio. In the 1900 U.S. Census, Emma was residing with her father, Philip Maher, a boiler maker, her mother Jane, and siblings Maggie, Ellen, Emma and Robert. By 1920, Emma’s mother had passed away, and she was residing in Sandusky with her father Philip, and her sister Maggie Maher Doyen and Maggie’s two sons. Emma was working as a sales lady in a department store.

Emma  Maher passed away on September 20, 1942. She had been working at the Cohn’s store at the time of her death. Funeral services for Miss Emma Maher were held at the family home at 316 McDonough Street, with Father H.J. Foran officiating.  She was buried at St. Joseph’s Cemetery in Sandusky, Ohio.


Wednesday, September 3, 2025

Leonard Catri


 











Leonard/Leonardo Charles Catri was born in Italy in 1869. He emigrated in the early 1900s to the USA. By the time of the 1910 U.S. Census, he was residing in Huron, Ohio with his wife Angeline, several children, and two boarders. His occupation was that of a railroad worker. Eventually Mr. Catri became a labor foreman at the railroad.  On Friday, October 3, 1913, Leonard Catri was killed in a tragic accident at the Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway ore docks at Huron, Ohio. An article in the October 4, 1913 issue of the Sandusky Register stated that Mr. Catri was so well known, that he was called the "King of Little Italy." Leonard Catri's funeral was held at the Catholic Church in Huron, and he was buried at St. Anthony Cemetery in Milan, Ohio.

Sunday, August 24, 2025

Cedar Point Then and Now

To the left is a snapshot of my cousin Tommy Parker, my great grandmother Irene Larkins Risko, my uncle Tom Parker, and me at the far right, at the Noah's Ark attraction at Cedar Point in August of 1954.







Below is Uncle Tom Parker with my great grandfather Leroy Parker, who was a concessionaire in the summers at Cedar Point for many years.



 









Recently my grandson and his girl friend took me to Cedar Point. I mostly just people watched, but the train ride was fun!











Even as a grandma, I enjoyed the sights and sounds of Cedar Point, which has been a fun spot in Sandusky since 1870!











The skeletons along the train ride still bring a smile!












On the ride home you could see the city of Sandusky from the Cedar Point Causeway.



When the Tombstone Has the Incorrect Date of Birth

The tombstone of my 2x great grandfather, Thomas F. Larkins, at St. Joseph's Cemetery in Sandusky, Ohio, lists his birth date as 1879 and his death date as 1944.






The death record of Grandpa Larkins, accessed at FamilySearch.org, states his birth date was March 2, 1969, in Sandusky, Ohio.














Grandpa Larkins' baptism record, from Holy Angels Church, also lists his birth date as March 2, 1869.


 




So, even though the tombstone of Grandpa Thomas F. Larkins lists his birth year as 1879, vital records and church records state that 1869 was indeed his birth year. Even when a date appears to be "set in stone" verify its accuracy through vital records, church records, and Family Bibles, if available.

I wish I could have met my Great Great Grandpa Larkins. My mother had such very fond memories of him!




Wednesday, August 20, 2025

Monument for Mrs. Mary Ross, Created by Conrad Keim

Image Courtesy Find a Grave 

















The monument above honors the memory of Mary Ross, the mother of Dr. Franklin R. Ross, a dentist in Sandusky for many years. Dr. Ross commissioned Conrad Keim to design the tombstone for Mrs. Ross. An article that appeared in the Sandusky Register of October 19, 1908, details the features of this beautiful tombstone. Rest in peace, Mrs. Ross. The final burial place of Mary Ross is the Everal Chapel Cemetery, in Jefferson Township in Coshocton County, Ohio.





 

Wednesday, August 13, 2025

Final Resting Places of the Family of Moors Farwell


 









Moors Farwell was Sandusky's first Mayor. He also was an Associate Judge for several years. Sadly, he died in 1850, and was an early burial at Sandusky's Oakland Cemetery.

Beginning from left to right in the Farwell lot, in Block 17 at Oakland, are:

Maryette Farwell, died 1852, daughter of Moors Farwell and his wife the former Samantha Dean

Three young Farwell children whose names are on the long rectangular monument:

M.E. Farwell
Died June 25, 1837
Age 4 hours

T.M. Farwell
Died July 8, 1842
Age 2 years, 2 months

T. J. Farwell
Died September 29, 1842
Aged 39 days

The next monument honors the memory of Augustta, another daughter of Moors and Samantha Farwell.

Augusta Farwell, died 1852

The monument at the far right is the final resting place of Moors Farwell. It is quite weathered at this time.

The first wife of Moors Farwell, whose maiden name was  Sarah Cooke, died in 1827, and was buried in the North Monroeville Cemetery. She was the sister of Eleutheros Cooke, the first lawyer of Sandusky, Ohio.

Sarah Farwell Cochran, the only child of Moors and Sarah Cooke Farwell, died in 1843, and was buried at Oakland Cemetery. She was the wife of Dr. Jeremiah Cochran.

The second wife of Moors Farwell was Samantha Dean. Following the death Moors Farwell, she married Rev. Samuel Enoch Hitchock. They lived in Alpena, Michigan, where Mrs. Hitchcock died in 1883.

Another daughter of Moors and Samantha Farwell, Julia Farwell, died in 1896 in Alpena, Michigan. She had the longest life of all the seven children of Moors Farwell.

This week I was able to read an obituary of Moors Farwell, which chronicles his kindness during the 1849 Cholera Epidemic in Sandusky. A transcription is below:

By a notice…our readers abroad will learn the demise of Hon. M. Farwell who died


 on Saturday last. Mr. Farwell was among the earliest settlers of this city, and has 


ever since been one of its first citizens and closely identified with its history. He 


has been Associate Judge of Erie County uninterruptedly since the county was 


organized. He was a man possessed of much general knowledge and high 


religious and moral attainments which always commanded respect and 


an influential position.

Our personal association with the deceased was chiefly confined to the season 

of the terrible epidemic that visited our city in the summer of 1849, when it was 

our fortune to be with him often; and his judicious advice to those who were yet well; 

his kind encouraging words to the sick and dying, his apparent willing heart, and

 his ever ready hand to supply their wants and alleviate their suffering, and his

 promptness in paying the last sad rites to the departed (though himself suffering

 at the time from the disease that has now produced death) made an impression

 upon our mind not easily effaced and rendered as fully conscious that his heart 

was alive to the true duties of life. His death is a public loss.

From Sandusky Democratic Mirror, Dec. 17, 1850


Sunday, August 3, 2025

Mrs. Hannah Williams


Mrs. Hannah Williams passed away on November 21, 1856. She was born Hannah DeWitt, and married Albertus Williams in Erie County, Ohio in 1854. At the time of her death, Hannah Dewitt was only 22 years old. Her final resting place is at Oakland Cemetery in Sandusky, Ohio.  May she rest in peace.

Wednesday, July 23, 2025

Did Dad Really Feed the Bears in Bay Bridge in the 1940s?

Pictured to the left are: my dad, Paul Orshoski, in his Navy uniform, with his brother Cliff Orshoski on the left, and new nephew Luther Gantz, Jr. in the middle, during the World War Two years.

My dad rarely told me stories of his growing up years, but once he told me that Minerva Gray, who ran the general store and Post Office in Bay Bridge, used to pay him a quarter to feed the bears she had in Bay Bridge. Well, I thought he must have been teasing me, as I just couldn't imagine a young man feeding bears in Bay Bridge!






Today I ran into this excerpt of a news article from the Sandusky Star Journal of January of January 27, 1940. It turns out that there were two black bears of the former service station in Bay Bridge! Dad was telling me the truth! Oh, how I wish he had told me more stories!




 

Monday, July 14, 2025

Frank Schmitt, Civil War Veteran

















The monument honoring the memory of Frank Schmitt is found in Block 27 at Sandusky's Oakland Cemetery. Frank Schmitt was born in Germany in 1831, and he died in Sandusky in 1883.



 








Military records at Fold3 indicate that Frank Schmitt served in Company F in the 28th Ohio Volunteer Infantry during the Civil War. He achieved the rank of First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. Thank you for your service! 









The same monument on which the name of Frank Schmitt appears has the names of members of the Strohmeier and Brown families. To date, the exact relationships have not been determined, but it is likely that Frank Schmitt is related to the Stohmeriers and Browns in Sandusky, Ohio.

Wednesday, July 9, 2025

Learning about the Hertlein Campsite on the Appalachian Trail

Image courtesy Pinterest

 










Close family friends of mine are descended from the Hertlein family, whose ancestors were longtime farmers in Erie County, Ohio, with deep German roots. One of the sisters heard of a Hertlein Campsite on the Appalachian Trail. She wondered how that campsite came to be named Hertlein.

It turns out that a brewer in Reading, Pennsylvania, named John Michael Hertlein, appreciated nature and hiking. After John Michael Hertlein died in 1927, his wife, Anna K. Hertlein, donated several acres of land near Schubert's Gap  in Berks County to the state of Pennsylvania, now a part of the Appalachian Trail. In about 1930 a cabin called the Hertlein cabin was built. Eventually the cabin was demolished due to repeated vandalism. The area is now known as the Hertlein Campsite.

Mr.and Mrs. John Michael Hertlein are buried in the Charles Evans Cemetery in Berks County, Pennsylvania. 

Image courtesy Find a Grave















This picture of Mr. and Mrs. John Michael Hertlein, along with their grandson, appeared on a Passport application in 1921, accessed at Ancestry.com, before they embarked on a trip to Europe.



















Thank you Mr. and Mrs. John Michael Hertlein for your generosity to nature lovers who hike the Appalachian Trail.

To read more about the Appalachian Trail, visit the travel section of your local library. Articles about the Hertlein donation of land are found in the Reading Times of October 27, 1930, and July 25, 1934.

Sunday, July 6, 2025

Miss Mary E. Comstock, Educator

 




Mary Eliza Comstock was born in Sandusky, Ohio in 1839 to Thomas Comstock and his wife, the former Martha Carr. After graduating from Sandusky High School, Mary taught school at Kelleys Island and at Sandusky City Schools, In the early 1870s, Mary E. Comstock moved to Cleveland. She was eventually promoted to the principalship of the Walton School. She retired from that position in 1907.

Miss Comstock passed away on May 5, 1924. She was laid to rest in the family lot at Sandusky's Oakland Cemetery.

 












Top image courtesy: Educational History of Ohio, by James Jesse Burns (Columbus, Ohio, 1905)

Thursday, July 3, 2025

Terrific Tool: Online Searchable Death Indexes and Records


 






A very helpful tool for genealogy reseach is Joe Beine's Online Seachable Death Indexes and Records

To us this site, just select the state for which you are looking for death records. From the state, then select the county. For Erie County, Ohio, the choices that are retrieved include:

Oakland Cemetery Burials

and

Milan Cemetery Burials

No matter where your ancestors live in the United States, you can see what death indexes and records are available for that location, by searching this site.


Oakland Cemetery, Erie County, Ohio


Friday, June 6, 2025

Naturalization of James Till

On January 8, 1852, James P. Till declared his intention to be a naturalized citizen of the United States. His brother William A. Till stated that James had resided in the U.S. for three years. Judge E.M. Colver signed the document.  James P. Till renounced his allegiance to Victoria Queen of Great Britain and Ireland. Prior to moving to the United States, James had lived in Canada, which was under the umbrella of the United Kingdom.

Queen Victoria mage courtesy Wikipedia











Sadly, James P. Till died in an industrial accident in Cleveland in 1903 when he was on the job as an engineer for the Cleveland Grain Drying Company. James P. Till was laid to rest in Oakland Cemetery.











Rest in peace, Mr. Till.

When the series Victoria was on PBS a few years ago, I never missed an episode. History comes to life when seeing the name of a local resident mentioning Queen Victoria on a naturalization document!


Tuesday, June 3, 2025

Following the life of Julia Anna Townsend Jacobs

Photo credit: J. Mazza

 






Mrs. Julia Anna Townsend Jacobs was born in 1837, in Sandusky, Ohio, to William and Maria (Lamson) Townsend. Sadly, Mr. and Mrs. Townsend, and one of their daughters, and Mrs. Townsend's sister. all died in the 1849 Cholera epidemic. By 1850, Julia was residing with her sister, Mary Townsend Cooke, and her brother in law Pitt Cooke.

In 1859, Julia Townsend married Angelo Jacobs, sometimes known as Thomas Angelo Jacobs. Julia and Angelo Jacobs had two sons in the early 1860s, Townsend Jacobs and Thomas Pitt Jacobs.

Angelo Jacobs seems to disappear from Julia's life in later census records. In 1872, Julia A. Jacobs applied for a Passport (accessed at Ancestry.com) with the intention of traveling with two minor sons.


















By 1885, a Minnesota Territorial Census lists a J.A. Jacobs with two sons, T.H. and T.P. (most likely T.A.) Jacobs.

An article in the June 11, 1914 issue of the Sandusky Register reported that Tacoma praised former Sandusky resident Julia Jacobs.


The article stated that Mrs. Julia Jacobs died in Chicago on May 23, 1914. She had resided in Tacoma, Washington from 1887 to 1897. While in Tacoma, Julia was very active in St. Luke's Church, where she served as president of the Girls Guild. An excerpt from the article reads "She endeared herself to many friends in the years she lived here." 

The remains of Julia Anna Townsend Jacobs were taken to Sandusky, for burial at Oakland Cemetery. Julia Jacobs was survived by two sons, Townsend Jacobs and Thomas Pitt Jacobs. She was laid to rest in the family lot, near her parents and sisters.







Sunday, June 1, 2025

Ayres Lot at Oakland Cemetery

Ebenezer Raymond Ayres was born in 1842 in the state of New York, to Frederick Seymour Ayres and his wife, the former Nancy Raymond. During the Civil War, Ebenezer served as a Lieutenant in Company I of the 23rd Michigan Volunteer Infantry.

In 1871, Ebenezer R. Ayres took Caroline Mills as his wife. By 1880, Mr. and Mrs. Ebenezer R. Ayres resided in Sandusky, Ohio. They had two children at this time, Fred and Sophia. Ebenezer listed his occupation as merchant. Eventually Ebenezer R. Ayres moved to Saginaw, Michigan, where he was a prominent businessman dealing in lumber.

Caroline "Lena" Mills Ayres died in 1886, and she was buried at Sandusky's Oakland Cemetery. Another young son, Charles Mills Ayres died in 1882. Charles was also buried in the family lot at Oakland.Caroline Mills Ayres' paternal grandfather, Isaac Mills, was one of the founding fathers of Sandusky, Ohio. Mills Creek, Mills School, and  Mills Street were all named after the Mills family.

In 1896, Ebenezer took as his second wife, Martha Hawkins. Martha Hawkins Ayers died in Missouri in 1928

Ebenezer R. Ayres died in Saginaw, Michigan in 1914. His remains were returned to Sandusky, Ohio, where he was laid to rest beside his first wife and infant son. An excerpt of an article about the death of Ebenezer Ayres from the Saginaw Daily News of January 28, 1914 appears below.












Frederick Seymour Mills Ayres lived until 1930. He too was buried in the family lot at Oakland. Sophia Ayres James was living in Athens, Greece at the time of her death in 1909.

Though the Ayres family had strong ties to Saginaw, Michigan, the monument at Oakland Cemetery is a reminder of the times  the Ayres family had in Sandusky, Ohio, when their children were young.

Sunday, May 18, 2025

How a Facebook Group Helped me Learn about My Grandfather


 








My paternal grandfather, Steve Orshoski (second man from the right) was baptized as an adult on May 17, 1931 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Sandusky, Ohio. A genealogist who follows an Erie County Genealogy Facebook Page shared this picture with me. Grandpa Steve was raised Catholic, and then converted to the Lutheran Church.  I suspect my great grandma Lena Yeager,or perhaps his wife, Emma Yeager Orshoski, persuaded Grandpa Steve to change faiths, so that the family would all be of same religion.

In 1944, three of Steve and Emma Orshoski's sons, as well as cousin Rolland Orshoski were confirmed at Trinity Lutheran. Someone in their class once told me that the Bay Bridge residents attended classes at the Bay Bridge town hall as mission from Trinity Lutheran.

 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













Many of our Orshoski ancestors have strong ties to Trinity Lutheran Church!




Saturday, May 3, 2025

Sleep on Sweet Hattie


 










Infant Hattie Frohman was borrn to David and Rachel Frohman in Febuary of 1865. Sadly, she died on December 28, 1866. An inscription on her tombstone begins:

Sleep on sweet Hattie

And take thy rest

Hattie Frohman is buried at Oheb Shalom Cemetery in Erie County, Ohio, along with several members of her extended family. The Frohman family is well known in Sandusky and beyond, in the fields of drama, business, and history. Rest in peace Hattie.