Lake County Sheriff's Office presented with historical scrapbook
Oct. 3—As the son of former Lake County Sheriff Edwin H. Cunningham, Ed Cunningham and his family have been around the sheriff's office and law enforcement for much of his life.
Cunningham, whose father served as sheriff from 1960 to 1988, and his sister Janice grew up living in the old jail when it had a residence for the sheriff and family. So when it came time to decide what to do with a very special scrapbook recording the history of Lake County through newspaper articles and photographs during those 28 years, Cunningham said the family came to only one conclusion.
On Oct. 3, Cunningham presented the scrapbook along with a badge that belonged to the first Democrat elected sheriff in the 1930s to current Lake County Sheriff Frank Leonbruno.
"(Living at the old jail), we developed a close relationship with the deputies and office staff," Cunningham said. "We had a front-row seat to the operations and what they went through performing their duties. Another reason we felt these scrapbooks should remain with the Lake County sheriff."
Sheriff Cunningham had 10 sisters and one of them, Helen McLeod, decided to keep a scrapbook as a way of commemorating and remembering his time as the longest tenured sheriff in county history.
At one time there were thoughts of turning the stories of the era into a book, and there was consideration of turning the scrapbook over to the Lake County Historical Society, but in the end, Cunningham and his family decided it belonged with the sheriff's office.
"Sheriff Leonbruno is a history buff, and you can see in the offices along the wall there are some really interesting pieces of history there, so we just felt the scrapbook and my father's legacy should remain with the sheriff and not just sit in my garage or library at home," Cunningham said.
Leonbruno is in his 33rd year with the sheriff's office and appreciates the history of Lake County. He said this scrapbook contains details and recounts incidents that otherwise might have been lost or forgotten.
"I always say there was a time when somebody knew how to build the pyramids. And now, over time, that information is lost," Leonbruno said. "That is why history is so important and this give us a look back at a 28-year section of Lake County's past
Many of the articles in the scrapbook are clippings from The News-Herald.
The articles range from election results to historical events that affected the county and a wide range of other important sources of information.
There currently is no place for the public to view the scrapbook at the current sheriff's office, but the department is looking into building a new jail and at the new facility Leonbruno hopes to have a way to showcase this important piece of Lake County's history.
"There is some key information in there and glancing through it, the scrapbook provides answers to questions people might have about Lake County's past," Leonbruno said.
