Sandusky's oldest Catholic church unveils historical marker

SANDUSKY — A Catholic church in Sandusky has become the latest beneficiary of a New York philanthropist who has been paying for new historical markers in Erie Huron and Seneca counties.William G. Pomeroy, a Syracuse, N.Y., businessman, has now paid for 10 historical markers in the area via his William G. Pomeroy Foundation, including the new marker at Holy Angels Catholic Church, 428 Tiffin Ave. The church is the first Catholic church in the Sandusky area, and also the oldest church building in the Catholic Diocese of Toledo.Church officials and members blessed and dedicated the market in a June 26 ceremony.The text of the market says:"Holy Angels Catholic Church is the mother church of Sandusky. Reverend Joseph P. Machebeuf, a French Missionary, began ministering to Catholics in the Sandusky area in late 1839. Soon after, William H. Mills offered five lots, $530, and the materials needed to build a church. Father Machebeuf laid the cornerstone on October 13, 1841, and services were held in 1842. By Christmas of 1845, the building was complete, the steeple added, and the bell installed. The congregation was mostly Irish emigrants. In 1855, as more Germans settled nearby, they built St. Mary's Mother of Sorrows Church. The city's expansion prompted the building of Sts. Peter and Paul Church, in 1871. Holy Angels became a mission church of Sts. Peter and Paul until 1875, when Holy Angels was assigned its own pastor and reopened."With Pomeroy providing the cash — about $2,500 per marker — the new markers are being installed in cooperation with a state agency, Ohio History Connection, which produces the markers to conform with the style for state historical markers.The Holy Angels marker is part of a second round of five historical markers funded by the Pomeroy Foundation, but it's the only marker completed and unveiled so far. The other four are "Early Education in Bellevue," at Bellevue Central Park in Bellevue; "Island House" at Memorial Park on Kelleys Island; "New London Corporate Limit Marker," at the boundary of the village of New London, 755 Park Avenue, and a marker honoring John Baptiste Flemmond, who had a trading post in the Huron area in 1805. The Flemmond marker will be dedicated in a park near Main and Wall Streets in Huron. He's already remembered in an existing Erie County Historical Society marker on River Road near the intersection of Jefferies Road in Huron.The first round of five historical markers, which Pomeroy funded about two years ago, are "Founding of Tiffin," in Tiffin; "German Reform Church/The Church Parsonage," on Kelleys Island; "Rezin W. Shawhan," in Tiffin; "Sandusky Library/Erie County Jail," in Sandusky, and Tremont House, in Bellevue. The two Tiffin markers have not been dedicated yet. Shawhan was a prominent business who led a group that founded Greenlawn Cemetery in Tiffin.Pomeroy's grandfather was born in Sandusky. Pomeroy has traveled to Sandusky several times to research family history and paid for a new family monument at Oakland Cemetery."It's a great town. I really like Sandusky," Pomeroy said in a 2014 interview with the Register. Father Joe Steinbauer of Holy Angels Catholic Church blesses a historical marker before it's unveiled. Carol Steele, left, and Lyn Robron, members of the church's marker committee, unveil the new marker.