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HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 321
was not long before a local was organized in Sandusky, and in the election
of 1904 Erie County socialists had a ticket in the field. Local Sandusky
is one of the strong locals of the socialist party, and in one municipal
election polled about 900 votes for Theodore Miller, its candidate
for mayor.
By means of lectures, street speakers, books contributed to the Sandusky
Library, incessant canvassing for subscriptions to socialist papers
and article in the daily press, Sandusky socialists have influenced the
intellectual life of the entire county far beyond the reach of their political
activities. During the opening years of the twentieth century Thomas
Cowan, later of California; Isaac Poling, who afterward moved to Columbus;
William H. Watts, for some time a member of the staff of the
Christian Socialist, of Chicago; George E. Gensirt, and Charles Litz
wrote occasional articles for the Sandusky newspapers, thus bringing
socialism to the attention of people in remote places in the county who
would never otherwise get any understanding of the subject.
Many of the ablest and foremost exponents of socialism have spoken
in Sandusky. Some of the earliest speakers invited here were Dr. Karl
Leibknecht, of Germany, father of the present representative in the
Reischstag by that"name; Dr. Aveling, of England; and Eleanor Marx
Aveling, daughter of Karl Marx, the father of scientific socialism, Avho
were introduced at the Sandusky Theater the night of the election of
1886, when Henry George Avas candidate for mayor of New York, Philip
Burkle acting as chairman.
Among others Avho are or have been active in the socialist party in
Erie County may be mentioned Fred S, Hannen, a teacher in the Sandusky
Business College and now a practicing physician in the West;
Edward Weis, now of Cleveland; Charles Schaub; Morris Nobil, Sandusky's
well-known shoe dealer; Ciro Ricelli; William S. Collins, and
Dr. G. P. Maxwell. A few socialists are to be found in nearly every community
in the county, and Martin Darrow, caretaker of the cemetery at
Milan, and George Shadduck, banker of Vermillion, have stood almost
alone for socialism in their respective communities.
Local Sandusky, socialist party, maintains its own headquarters and
has a circulating library for the perusal of all who wish to make use of it.
THE CARNEGIE LIBRARY
In an address given by Mrs. Fannie Boalt Moss before the Firelands
Historical Society in 1900 she make,s the following statements:
Mr. Parish, in one paragraph of early happenings in this city, says
Sandusky had a library association founded in 1826 called Portland
Library Association, possessing a small number of volumes. I have
never seen a book belonging to this early library. In 1840 the books
were transferred to the Sandusky Lyceum, or Sandusky Literary Society.
About 1852 a public meeting was held in the Euterpean Block for the
purpose of securing a course of lectures. These societies gradually
evolved into the Young Men's Christian Association, which established
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