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.