Thursday, June 25, 1992

25 June 1992: Windsor, Ontario, Canada to Upper Sandusky, Ohio

Our hotel in Windsor, Ontario, Canada offered a complimentary Continental breakfast, so we indulged ourselves before leaving.

We crossed the Ambassador Bridge over the Detroit River, and were back in the United States. We didn't stop in Detroit, Michigan, but my impression from the highway was one of urban blight.

As you may recall from the previous entry, the restaurant next to the hotel in Windsor had license plates from all over Canada and the United States on its walls. When we stopped for gasoline outside of Detroit, we discovered that someone had tried to remove the front license plate from the car during the night. One of the screws had been too tight, so they were unable to remove the plate, which was still attached but bent. We managed to get it back on properly, but now we had a good idea of how the restaurant got so many license plates.

We took Interstate 75 south to Ohio, then Interstate 280 south, Interstate 90 east, and State Route 53 northeast.

After this 113 mile (182 km) drive, we were in Marblehead, Ohio on the shore of Lake Erie, another of the Great Lakes. Our destination was Kelleys Island, a small island 4 miles (6.4 km) offshore. A car ferry runs between Marblehead and Kelleys Island, so we purchased a ticket and were ferried across the lake to our destination.

Postcard showing the Kelleys Island ferry

My grandmother and mother on the ferry's deck

My mother's Dodge Shadow on the ferry's deck

Approaching Kelleys Island

Postcard showing the Kelleys Island welcome sign

My maternal 3rd-great-grandfather William David Kelley (whose place of death we visited earlier on the trip) lived much of his adult life in Ohio and claimed a connection to the Kelleys for whom the island was named. He was reportedly able to accurately describe the interior of the island's Kelley Mansion, including a spiral staircase with a hidden space at the bottom.

Kelley Mansion

My mother and grandmother outside Kelley Mansion

Suit of armor on the front porch of Kelley Mansion

Postcard showing spiral staircase inside Kelley Mansion

Bottom of spiral staircase, showing the hidden space

Top of the spiral staircase

The story of his description was passed down for generations, and when we took a tour of the mansion we saw the distinctive features recounted in the family story. However, I've never been able to determine the exact relationship between those Kelleys and my Kelleys.

Kelley Mansion hearth

Kelley Mansion dining room

Kelley Mansion bedroom

Another Kelley Mansion bedroom

An original wanted poster for John Wilkes Booth, inside Kelley Mansion

After touring the mansion and its many rooms, we walked through the quaint village (population of only 300 or so), ate lunch at a restaurant called Bag the Moon, visited the local historical museum, and then we were back on the car ferry to mainland Ohio.

We followed State Route 163, State Route 269, State Route 2, and State Route 53 70 miles (113 km) southwest to the small city of Upper Sandusky, Ohio in Wyandot County.

Rural Wyandot County, Ohio

My maternal great-grandmother Gladys Annette Sanders (née Gatchell, a descendant of the Gatchells of Massachusetts referenced here and here, and also the granddaughter of William David Kelley) was born in Wyandot County in 1883. My grandmother burst into tears when we arrived. She was particularly close to her mother, and it was an emotional experience to visit her mother's birthplace.

Wyandot County was a nexus for several maternal ancestral lines, including Daugherty, Gatchell, Kelley, Moore, Snider, and Van Arsdale/Orsdall. The people who settled there and married into each others' families were very important parts of my family tree.

After checking in at the Comfort Inn, we went cemetery exploring. Our first stop was the Old Mission Cemetery in Upper Sandusky.

Old Mission Cemetery, Upper Sandusky, Ohio

Grave of my maternal 4th-great-grandfather Jacob B. Gatchell (1784-1868)

Grave of my maternal 3rd-great-granduncle Amos Pugh Gatchell (1814-1879)

Grave of my maternal 1st cousin 4 times removed Sgt. Jacob F. Gatchell (1839-1921),
a Civil War veteran

The second one was the rural York Street Cemetery near the village of Marseilles, 12 miles (19.3 km) southwest of Upper Sandusky.

York Street Cemetery, Marseilles, Ohio

Grave of my maternal 5th-great-grandfather Jacob Snider Sr. (1772-1858)

While driving between cemeteries, my favorite pen fell out of the car and was crushed beneath the wheels of my mother's car. It was the perfect pen for holding while taking notes, so I was unhappy about its sudden demise. We stopped at a store and purchased a new, albeit inferior, pen.

After the cemetery tour, we went to dinner at what I recall was an Italian restaurant and then returned to our hotel rooms for the night.

A humorous aside: does anyone remember the mildly racy 1980s computer game, Leather Goddesses of Phobos? The opening scenes of that game were set in Upper Sandusky, a location chosen at random by the game's author.

Total Travel Distance: 230 miles (370 km)

No comments:

Post a Comment