Kelleys Island-The courageous, poignant & often quirky lives of island pioneers 1810-1861

by Leslie Korenko

A comprehensive, richly detailed, and surprisingly entertaining history of Kelleys Island, a small remote island in Lake Erie. Its history is told by the islanders, in their own words gently blended with narrative text. You can read their correspondence and letters to newspapers, as well as articles found in an incredible handwritten newspaper-The Islander. The island is now a resort, but 175 years ago it was the wilderness. Covering the period 1810-1861, the book contains 328 pages, 160 illustrations, and an extensive index and bibliography. There are stories of the early squatters who occupied this wild, unsettled and remote part of Ohio as well as first-hand accounts of the building of the Johnson’s Island prison and a visit to the soldiers stationed at Tennessee during the early days of the Civil War. A must have for anyone doing genealogy or who is interested in the early history of northwest Ohio.

328 pages, Paperback

First published March 20, 2010

About the author

After retiring, Leslie spent years researching the dusty records of one small island in lake Erie (Kelleys Island). She recently published the first in a series of books on the history of Kelleys Island. Now a popular tourist area, it was once the wild frontier."