Was the Surname Melville or Milne?

According to Helen Hansen's At Home in Early Sandusky, William Gordon Melville-Milne was born in Aberdeen, Scotland in 1819. He emigrated to Canada, where he married Catherine Kennedy. The couple moved to Missouri, where Mr. Melville-Milne worked for E. F. Osborn, the owner of a large flour mill. In the 1840s, Mr. Osborn moved to Sandusky to serve as superintendent of the Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad. He sent for Mr. Melville-Milne in 1847, to assist in the operations of the railroad in Sandusky. 

In February, 1861 William Melville-Milne died at age 41. He left a widow and eight children, six of whom survived to adulthood. In her book, Mrs. Hansen explained that some branches of the family used the Scots double name of "Melville-Milne." Some family members used only "Milne" as their surname, but many dropped the "Milne" and went by the last name of "Melville." (This is just one example of how family history can be quite confusing.) There are streets in Sandusky named for both of the surnames Melville and Milne. Melville Street runs between Camp Street and Pearl Street, while Milne Street runs between West Adams and Harrison Streets.

Sons of William Melville-Milne, who were known as William and Charles Melville, ran a drug store in Sandusky which was in operation for fifty years. Another son, George W. Melville, was an engraver in Chicago. The former home of William G. Melville-Milne is at 319 Lawrence Street in Sandusky.

Photo taken in 1958

When looking through genealogical records, there are several variations of the surname. A descendant named Frank Rowland Melville Milne is listed as “Frank Rowland Melville” on his World War II draft registration card, but the name on his tombstone at Oakland Cemetery reads Frank Rowland Melville Milne.

When researching anyone in the Melville-Milne family, be sure to check for Melville, or Milne, or Melville-Milne! Do the same for any hyphenated name.

Busy Northwest Corner of Jackson and West Water Streets

The northwest corner of Jackson and West Water Streets was the location of the passenger depot for the Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad in Sandusky beginning in 1838. By 1867 Peter Gilcher and Son operated a lumber business at that corner. Eventually R.E. Schuck joined the firm and the company was known as Gilcher and Schuck. On May 9, 1911, a notice in the Sandusky Register stated that the stock of Gilcher and Schuck was to be sold without delay, following the death of Mr. Schuck.

In 1923, it was announced that William Py had purchased the building at the corner. The new Sandusky Butter and Egg Company building was opened to the public on March 20, 1924. The company had its beginnings by delivering butter, eggs, flour, cheese and sugar with horse-drawn buggies. In 1912 the business opened at 217 West Water Street, and soon after switched from horse and buggies to trucks. By the 1960s, the Sandusky Butter and Egg Company was best known as being the local distributor for Stroh’s Beer products.

From the mid-1960s to the mid-1990s, the Feddersen Bakery was located at 301 West Water Street, at the site of the former Sandusky Butter and Egg Company’s plant.

Feddersen’s was just one of the many bakeries in Sandusky that sold New Year’s Pretzels in years gone by. Do you have any special memories of Feddersen’s Bakery?

Michael Osterman’s Naturalization Certificate

Michael Osterman became a naturalized citizen of the United States on February 10, 1860. He was born in Bavaria, in what is now Germany. Rush R. Sloane, Erie County Probate Judge, signed the certificate.

 An article in the October 12, 1905 issue of the Sandusky Register reported that Michael Osterman had resided in Sandusky for fifty years, prior to his death on October 10, 1905. He worked on the Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad, and later was a steam engineer for the Sandusky fire department. He was the organizer first president of the local Prussian Society.

For many years he operated a saloon on Water Street. The 1888 Sandusky City Directory listed Michael Osterman as the proprietor of the Engineers’ and Hunters’ Saloon and Restaurant at 808 and 810 Water Street 300 block W. Water today). In the 1900 Sandusky City Directory, Mr. Osterman’s saloon and residence were both located at 435 Market Street (at the northeast corner of Market and Hancock Streets).

 In the January 29, 1923 Sandusky Star Journal, an article tells of the discovery of an old railway passenger coach from the Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad being found in the back of property on West Water Street that had once been owned by Mr. Osterman. The old railroad car had first been used as part of a kitchen, and later was moved to the back of the property where it was used as part of a shed. Alex Osterman, Michael’s son, was asked to tear down the structure in 1923 because it was considered a fire hazard.

The Barker Family Left Its Mark on Sandusky

If you have ever seen Barker School (now a Day Care Center) or driven down Barker Street on Sandusky’s west side, then you are familiar with the surname of a family whose many members  have made contributions to the development of the city of Sandusky. Zenas Ward Barker, who served in the War of 1812, moved his family from Buffalo, New York to Sandusky, Ohio in 1834. He was one of several individuals who helped organize Grace Episcopal Church in Sandusky in 1835. He was Erie County Clerk in 1838-1839. In the early 1840s, he was one of the directors of Sandusky’s public schools, and was Sandusky’s Mayor in 1846. This Zenas W. Barker died in Sandusky in 1879. His father, also named Zenas Ward Barker (1765-1834) was a pioneer settler of Buffalo, New York. One of the sons of Zenas W. Barker (1818-1879) also named Zenas W. Barker (1834-1861), became a First Sergeant in Company E of the Ohio 8^th Volunteer Infantry. He lost his life during military service on August 28, 1861. 

Another son of Zenas Ward Barker, the former Sandusky Mayor, was Jacob A. Barker.

Jacob A. Barker began working at the Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad in 1846. He eventually became the freight agent for the railroad. From the early 1860s until he retired in 1891, he was the local agent for the United States Express Company. He was a member of the Sandusky City Council, the Board of Education of Sandusky City Schools, and he was a senior warden of Calvary Episcopal Church for several years. An article in volume 14 of the Firelands Pioneer said of him: “He was possessed of a generous, kind disposition and many instances of his generosity will be gratefully remembered by the recipients.” Jacob A. Barker died on December 22, 1898, and he was buried in the family lot at Oakland Cemetery. He was survived by his wife, the former Mary E. Paterson, and four sons. 

The son of Jacob A. and Mary Paterson Barker was George P. Barker:

He was born in Sandusky in May of 1852, and was associated with the United States Express Company in Sandusky for over forty years. From 1915 to 1929 Mr. Barker was storekeeper at the Ohio Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Home. During the Spanish American War, he rose to the rank of Major. He began with Company B of the Sixteenth Infantry, and mustered out with the Sixth Infantry. For four months Major Barker held the position of military governor of the district of Santa Clara in Cuba. On January 24, 1930 George P. Barker died as a result of heart disease. Funeral services for Major Barker were held on January 27 at Grace Episcopal Church, and burial was at Oakland Cemetery following a military salute at the gravesite. Many other members of the Barker family are also buried in the family lot in the North Ridge section of Oakland Cemetery.

The Mad River Block

The building at 1002-1018 West Adams Street consists of nine separate residential units. It was built in the mid-nineteenth century to provide housing for employees of the Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad. You can this structure on the 1886 Sanborn Map:

Each rectangle represents a dwelling, which all share a common roof. The building was constructed of  brick, upon a stone foundation. There are stone lintels above each door and along the top and bottom of the windows.

Parapet walls are located at each end of the unit.

Prior to 1915, the addresses of the rowhouses went from 1202 to 1208 Adams Street. After 1915 the street numbers changed to 1002 to 1018 West Adams Street. The Mad River Block was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.  

Having the railroad run through Sandusky was very beneficial to the local economy. Goods could be shipped in and out of the area, travel was made easier, and hundreds  individuals found employment as mechanics, painters, engineers, conductors, and ticket agents. Paul Laning wrote a  history of steam railroads in Erie County in the Twin Anniversary Edition of the Sandusky Register Star News on November 24, 1947. This special edition newspaper is in the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center both on microfilm, and in a bound copy.

Like the person in the song “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad,” some of your ancestors may have been working on the railroad, too.

Early Transportation in Sandusky had Horse Power

In the 1820s  mail was delivered to Sandusky by the mail stage. Passengers, as well as the U.S. mail, were transported from Sandusky to Norwalk, Mansfield, Mount Vernon and on to Columbus and then back again. Of course, since Ohio was known as the Gateway State, many families traveled by horse and covered wagons through Ohio as they made their way to the west. People who traveled to Sandusky could board a steamer to several different port cities along the Great Lakes. 

Pioneer Sandusky residents recognized the importance of railroad transportation, and showed interest in railway lines being developed in Sandusky as early as 1826. Ground was broken for the Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad in 1835; it began running from Sandusky to Bellevue in 1838, with trains pulled by the Sandusky Locomotive, the first locomotive with a steam whistle. Rail transportation made it easier for people to travel longer distances, and enabled the shipping of products, which in turn boosted local economies. 

In 1882 the first intra-city transportation route was begun by Charles and William H. Gilcher. It was known as the "herdic lines." Horse drawn passenger vehicles took people along three different local routes. The first route operated from the West House downtown to the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway depot on the south side of town. The second route traveled from the West House to Oakland Cemetery. The third route was an east-west route from the city’s waterworks to Tiffin and Mills Streets. The Sandusky Railway was  the first street railway in Sandusky. It was begun in 1883 by L.D. Alcott, and featured fourteen-passenger side-seat cars that were pulled by two-horse teams. The route was double tracked, and went from the West House to the depot on North Depot Street, and back to the West House. You can see several people gathered around Sandusky’s first streetcar in the picture below, taken in 1883 by W.A. Bishop.

    

J.O. Moss purchased the Sandusky Railway in 1885, and organized more lines across the city.  An article in the November 27, 1947 Twin Anniversary Edition of the Sandusky Register Star News,  reported that the first electric streetcar operated in Sandusky in 1889 from Scott Street to the Soldiers’ Home, and linked with a spur track from Hayes Avenue. The Peoples Electric Railway Line was built in 1890, with financial support mainly from Sandusky residents. The charter of the Sandusky, Milan and Huron Electric Railway, later the Sandusky, Milan and Norwalk Electric Railway, was applied for in 1892. The line began operating in May of 1893 and connected with the local Sandusky lines.

Eventually all the local streetcar lines were absorbed by the Lake Shore Electric Railway, which was replaced by bus service in the late 1930s. 

As automobiles became more popular, more area residents began to drive their own vehicles instead of relying on public transportation.

However, public transportation is once again available to Sandusky residents as well as visitors to the area aboard the Sandusky Transit System, which operates three lines in the immediate Sandusky area. Sandusky’s Amtrak station operates out of the depot originally built for the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad. Several area boat lines also provide service to Cedar Point and the Lake Erie Islands. You can read more about the history of transportation in Sandusky, Ohio in the book Sandusky’s Yesterdays, by Charles E. Frohman.

Randall E. Schuck, Lumber Merchant and Banker

Randall E. Schuck, often known as R.E. Schuck, was born in Sandusky in 1843 to John and Louisa (Knerr) Shuck, who were natives of Germany. In 1863, he became the junior member of the lumber business Gilcher and Schuck.  In the picture below, you can read the name of the business on the building that once stood at the corner of Water and Jackson, which for a time had been the Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad’s passenger depot.

         

For several years, Mr. Schuck served as president of the Third National Exchange Bank in Sandusky. He was married twice. His first wife, the former Rebecca Neil, died very young in 1869. She left behind a young son, John E. Schuck. In 1883, Mr. Schuck married Marie Landgraf. Mrs. Marie Schuck was on the Board of Trustees of the Sandusky Library from 1885 until 1910.

     

Randall E. Schuck was the namesake of the steamer R.E. Schuck, which was built at the Lorain plant of the American Shipbuilding Company in 1903, for the Gilchrist Transportation Company.

After having been ill for more than a year, Mr. Shuck died at his home in Sandusky on March 17, 1910. An article in the March 18, 1910 issue of the Sandusky Register reported that he had never been himself, after his only child John died in 1908. Funeral services were held at the family residence at 924 Washington Street. The offices Third National Exchange Bank and the Hinde and Dauch Company, in which R.E. Schuck had been a stock holder, were closed while the funeral took place. Burial was in the family lot at Oakland Cemetery. Sadly, Mrs. Marie Schuck passed away shortly after, in the fall of 1910. 

You can read much more about the background of the Schuck family in Sandusky Then and Now.    

William Durbin, Former Railroad Superintendent

William Durbin was born in Carroll County, Maryland in 1813. He studied the art of civil engineering. As a young man he worked as an Assistant Engineer on the Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad. He lived in Sandusky, Ohio from the late 1830s through 1851, when he left to survey the Wabash Valley Railroad from Fort Wayne to its western terminus. Then, from about 1852 to 1855, he was involved in the management of the Lafayette & Indianapolis Railroad. In 1856 he returned to Sandusky and entered into a partnership with F.T. Barney and L.S. Hubbard in the banking business. An ad from the Union Bank appeared in the Sandusky Register of June 13, 1857.

In 1858 Durbin was elected president and superintendent of the Sandusky, Mansfield & Newark Railroad. His name appeared in the Low’s Railway Directory in 1862.

William Durbin died after a brief illness on May 21, 1863. An article which appeared in the May 22, 1863 issue of the Sandusky Register stated about Mr. Durbin, “Mr. Durbin was one of our most active, energetic and public-spirited citizens. He was the life and soul of the S.M. & N. Railroad, managing its affairs and caring for its interests in a manner unexcelled. He will be a sad loss to the city and its interests and an irreparable one to the Railroad.” 

William Durbin’s funeral was held at the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Lester Hubbard, and burial was at Oakland Cemetery.

The New York Central Railroad in Sandusky

The history of railroads that operated in Sandusky is a long story involving many mergers and acquisitions. On September 17, 1835, ground was broken in Sandusky for the Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad. This line was a predecessor of the “Big Four” Railroad, which was active in Sandusky in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

In 1906 the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad acquired the Big Four (Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway Company), and in 1914, the company changed its name to the New York Central System. That same year, the New York Central merged with the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway to form the New York Central Railroad. Below is an undated postcard of the New York Central crossing Sandusky Bay, just north of Medusa Cement in Bay Bridge.

  

You will recall that in an earlier blog post, we learned that the Amtrak Station was originally built for the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway, and was used by the New York Central for many years.

In 1968 the New York Central merged with the Pennsylvania Railroad to form the Penn Central, which went bankrupt by 1970.

From the 1920s through the 1960s, members of the Lake Shore Pioneer Chapter, New York Central Veterans, had reunions at Cedar Point. Below is a picture of a souvenir plate from the 1934 Reunion of the Lake Shore Pioneer Chapter of New York Central Veterans, now in the collections of the Follett House Museum.

                

In the Twin Anniversary Edition of the Sandusky Register Star News, dated November 24, 1947, Paul Laning provides a history of Steam Railroads in Erie County, up to that point in time. For more information about railroads in Ohio, there area number of books available for loan through the ClevNet system at the Sandusky Library.

1836 Letter from Freeman Whitman to Orrin Bryant

On January 13, 1836, Freeman Whitman wrote a letter to his friend Orrin Bryant in Licking County, Ohio. Below is a transcription of the first page of the letter.

Sandusky City Jan. 13th 1836


Dear brother,


Your letter came to hand on the 11th inst. We were very glad to hear from you. We are all in health have another daughter about six weeks old. Sister Sarah is with us. Mary is teaching school in the place I am engaged in singing six evenings in the week two nights at this place at $2.00 per night the rest of the time at $1.50 per night. Much RailRoad business going on two roads in progress from this place one to Tiffin the other to Monroeville. These roads are causing a good deal of speculation in real estate in this place. Lots sell at from $1000.00 to $4000.00. Brother Bryant since your wrote to me I have been thinking that this place would afford you a better business for a few years than any I know of. I am told that at present there are upwards of 100 buildings under contract for the ensuing season and that there are wanted some for 300 more and as the building is mostly stone and brick it calls for a great amount of masonry and as there is more work than help to accomplish labour is necessarily high. Carpenters get during the winter from a dollar to 10/ a day and found some $34. Per month and find masons work is higher. Now why will it not be best for you to come immediately to the place…

The second page of the letter continues:

The transcription of the second page of the letter reads:

And spend some time with me and some time in the city and see what the prospect is for yourself. I can introduce you to the principal men in the place who would place some confidence in me respecting you and I would have no doubt you would before spring engage in business as extensively as you which. I have just now conversed with F.D. Parish, Esq. who has probably as much knowledge of the place and influence in the place as any other man he tells me there is but one contractor in the place in whom the public places much confidence and thinks the encouragement would be good for a master workman. Please write me as soon as you receive this and let me know your feelings about coming. If you think of coming probably you would be well to come and spend some time as soon as you can. Hannah sends her love. Hortensia is very well grown finally and talks very plain. If you write to Mayo soon tell them we are all well etc.

Yours in haste


F. Whitman

According to U.S. Census records, Freeman Whitman and his family lived in Lyme Township of Huron County, Ohio in 1840, and the family had moved to Cuyahoga County by 1850. Peter Orth wrote in the book A History of Cleveland, Ohio, that Freeman Whitman was known in Cuyahoga County as a builder of vaults and monuments. Freeman Whitman died when his son Bryant Freeman Whitman was age eleven, about 1857. Orrin Bryant (sometimes listed as Orren Bryant) worked as a builder in Licking County, Ohio. It does not appear that he took Mr. Whitman’s suggestion to move to Sandusky, Ohio. Sandusky did indeed become involved with the railroad, as ground had been broken for the Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad on September 17, 1835. Hortensia, the youngster spoken of by her father in the letter, later was known as Ortentia Whitman. Records at Family Search indicate that Ortentia Whitman became of the wife of Justus L. Cozad in Cuyahoga County, Ohio on March 1, 1858.

The Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad Centennial

On September 17, 1835, ground was broken for the Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad in Sandusky, Ohio. The foreword of the program for the Centennial Ceremony of the Founding of The Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad describes the exciting event.

These two pages from the souvenir program list the names of the persons who took part in the original ground breaking ceremony as well as the names of the people involved in the Centennial celebration:

Rev. T.J.C. Stellhorn gave the invocation at the Centennial Ceremony, which took place at Jackson Junior High School in Sandusky. After Mayor George C. Schade welcomed the attendees, Professor Harlow Lindley, secretary of the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society addressed the group. The progress of railroads was discussed by C. G. Stevens, superintendent of the B & O Railway, and George T. Carlin of the Railway Express Agency spoke about the progress of railway express service.

A reenactment of General William H. Harrison turning over the first shovel of dirt at the 1835 groundbreaking ceremony took place, with Walter S. Brann representing General Harrison, who later would become President of the United States. Governor Martin L. Davey gave the address, followed by an oration by local historian Hewson L. Peeke. The Sandusky High School band provided music for the ceremony, and Rev. William F. Murphy closed with the benediction.

A history of the Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad is found at the website of the Mad River and Nickel Plate Railroad Museum. The Ohio Memory Online Scrapbook features an 1849 Annual Report of the Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad .

Samuel J. Catherman, Carpenter and Master Mechanic

Samuel J. Catherman was born in Union City, Pennsylvania, on July 29, 1817. He came to Sandusky as a boy, and learned the carpenter trade. He moved back to Pennsylvania for a time, and in 1835 settled permanently in Sandusky, along with his mother, and two siblings. At that time, Catherman found work at the Mad River Railroad’s shops in Sandusky. He helped assemble the locomotive “Sandusky”, under the direction of Thomas Hogg, and he recalls watching it make it first trip from Sandusky to Bellevue.

Eventually Samuel J. Catherman became a master mechanic with the railroad. An article which appeared in the May 20, 1911 issue of the Sandusky Register reported that Catherman was the designer and builder of the first end-door passenger railroad coach with reversible seats.

Before undertaking his own contracting business, Catherman was in a partnership with Laurence Cable. One of their contracts was to build 2,000 reapers known as “The Hero,” which had been invented by a Mr. Henderson. After Laurence Cable and Samuel Catherman undertook a project in which they modernized a portion of Washington Street, the work that they did needed no repairs for nearly forty years.

As a contractor, Samuel J. Catherman built over twenty lime kilns and several residences. After building the cribbing for the Mad River Railroad, in the east and west ends of the Sandusky Bay, Catherman received the contract for the construction of the railroad bridge across Sandusky Bay. He employed 300 men during this project. We read in the History of the Western Reserve, by Harriet Taylor Upton, that the building of the Bay Bridge “gained for him the reputation of performing the fastest work of its kind ever accomplished.” The May 30, 1854 issue of the Sandusky Daily Commercial Register reported that once the railroad bridge was completed across Sandusky Bay, there would be continuous rail service from Sandusky to Chicago, a total of 271 miles. (The railroad bridge across Sandusky Bay was built several years before the Sandusky Bay Bridge, which was designed for automobile traffic, made its debut in 1929.) More details about the history of steam railroads in Erie County are found in an article by Paul F. Laning in the Twin Anniversary Edition of the Sandusky Register and Star News, from November 24, 1947. A bound copy of this special edition newspaper is housed at the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center.

In 1844 Samuel J. Catherman married Clarissa Gregg, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Gregg. They had six children, but only four who survived to adulthood. One of the Catherman children, Georgia Catherman, taught first graders in Sandusky for thirty-five years. Samuel J. Catherman died in Sandusky on May 19, 1911. He is buried at Sandusky’s Oakland Cemetery next to his wife, who had passed away in 1907.

Letters to George Anderson

Dr. George Anderson was Sandusky’s first physician and its second mayor, serving in the years 1829 and 1830. Dr. Anderson was active in the medical field as well as in local politics. He was active in the development of the Columbus and Sandusky Turnpike Company, as well as in the creation of the Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad. Dr. Marjorie Anderson, the great-granddaughter of Dr. George Anderson, donated several of Dr. Anderson’s letters, legal and educational documents to the Sandusky Library in 1937.

Senator Benjamin Ruggles wrote the following letter to Dr. George Anderson on February 9, 1827.
Transcription:

Washington Feb. 9, 1827

Dear Sir

Your letter dated January the 21st enclosing a petition praying that congress would grant a portion of the public lands to aid in making a turnpike road from Columbus to the city of Sandusky, has been read. The petition will be presented and laid before the Senate.

Some weeks since a bill was reported in the Senate agreeable to the prayer of a petition, which was forewarded last winter and signed by all the members of the Legislature. Gen. Harrison and myself will make use of every exertion to have the object of your wishes accomplished.

Very respectfully
Your obt. Sevt.
Benj. Ruggles


Benjamin Ruggles was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1815; was re-elected in 1821, and again in 1827. He was known as the “Wheel Horse of the Senate,” due to his deep work ethic.

Dr. Anderson received the following letter from Eleutheros Cooke, while Cooke was a member of Congress, on March 15, 1832. Eleutheros Cooke, father of Jay Cooke, was Sandusky’s first lawyer. House Rep. March 15, 1832

Dear Sir

I shall apply as soon as I can get an audience with our excellent friend Gov. Cass for a detachment of the U.S. Engineer corp. to make a survey and estimate on our Railroad. The increased hostility prevailing at head quarters on the subject of internal improvement is rather discouraging. Yet I not abandon the hope that Cass will act independently of this spirit and treat our road as a measure of national importance in a commercial military a& mail transportation point of view – I will give you the earliest information of the result of my application.

In great haste
very respectfully
your friend
E. Cooke

Both of Dr. Anderson’s transportation goals for Sandusky did become successful. A brief history of the Sandusky and Columbus Turnpike is found in an earlier blog post. Ground was broken for the Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad on September 17, 1835. Through Dr. Anderson’s letters, we can get a glimpse into Sandusky’s past. Dr. Anderson died in 1834, after treating patients in a cholera epidemic. He is buried at Sandusky’s Oakland Cemetery