Historic Rohwedder House

While we were geocaching in Joliet we stopped to visit a house on the Joliet Historic Landmark Register.  It's the Joachim Rohwedder House and it just happens to be my great, great grandparents house.  They were named Joachim and Augusta Rohwedder and the name is spelled incorrectly on the historic marker....

The house is located at 664 N. Hickory.  A couple of years ago my parents stopped by the house and rang the bell.  The woman who now lives there answered and invited them in to tour the house.  She explained how she had renovated the house a few years earlier and had gotten it placed on the Historic Register.

This is what the house looks like now....

My mom said they used to drive to Joilet about once a year to visit.  She says she specifically remembers an old cast iron bank on a dresser in the hallway and a red window in a stairwell when she was a kid.  The red window is still there....

This is the Rohwedder family - Joachim and his wife Augusta, taken on the side of the house.  They bought the house around 1892.  Members of the family lived in the house continuously until their last daughter, Augusta (or Gussie), died in 1961.....

This is the family standing on the front porch.  That's great great aunt Gussie, the last person to live there, top row, right.  Right below her is my great grandmother Anna Berner.  Augusta and Anna were sisters.  Augusta never married.  That's my mom, as a young girl standing in the front row....

This was taken on the south side of the house where all the flowers are now.  That's my mom in front again with some of her cousins....

Here's an early photo of great, great aunt Gussie.  I think it's such a pretty picture of her....

And here's a later photo of her.....

Back in 1898, my great grandparents wedding reception was held in that house...

My mom says they took me there once when I was really small, but I don't remember that at all.  It was interesting to walk around the house and touch parts of it that my ancestors touched 120 years ago, to stand on the stairs and in the yard where they all stood to have their pictures taken.  It was fun to think about my mom playing in the house and my grandparents sitting in the yard.  I like to let my mind wander 120 years into the past and imagine how different life was back then.  But most of all, it was just really cool to see some family history.

Cemeteries are filled with history

One of the things that I like the most about geocaching is the interesting places it takes us.  Two of my favorite places to go are old cemeteries and Memorials.  Cemeteries are filled with history and I have found out some really cool things.  Before I go any further, let me explain that some cemeteries do not allow geocaches in them, so a cache may be hidden near a cemetery in order to get you close to something interesting to see.  IF a cache is hidden in the cemetery itself, then it must be respectfully placed in an area so that it doesn't disturb a grave or a marker.  Cachers are specifically asked to be respectful when in a cemetery and everyone I knows adheres to that request.  So, if you are curious to see some of the neat things I've found, please continue reading....

Ann Brainerd was a charming 9 year old girl who purchased a plot of land on Captiva Island in Florida for the price of a gold piece.  Unfortunately, she passed away shortly after her purchase and was buried on the property.  Read this interesting, true story here.
 

http://www.historicpublications.com/Historic_Sanibel_1.10web.pdf

The gravestone of Charles Jones is one of my favorite finds.  I think the inscription is fascinating.

This section in Woodlawn Cemetery in Illinois was originally established as a final resting place for show people.  Shortly after its creation, a horrible tragedy occurred.  A circus train with over 400 performers and animals was on its way to Hammond, Indiana when it was hit by another train.  Three cars were destroyed and a fire broke out.  An estimated 86 performers were killed, but miraculously, no animals died.  The deceased were gathered and buried in this plot called Showman’s Rest.  Since nobody knew the names of some of the dead, they were buried with headstones marked “Unknown Male” and a number.  Go here to check it out.

http://www.showmensleague.org/showmens-rest

Who hasn't heard of Al Capone, the famous Chicago gangster.  He was buried in Mt. Carmel Cemetery in  Hillside, Illinois.  For more information, go here.

http://www.hollywoodusa.co.uk/GravesOutofLA/capone.htm

Daniel Burnham was a famous American architect, who lived in Chicago.  Not only was he responsible for designing numerous famous American buildings, but he was also the Director of Works for The World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago.  See more information here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Burnham

If you want to read a fascinating true story about The Columbian Exposition, I suggest you check out “The Devil in the White City” by Erik Larson.  It’s about the link between  Daniel Burnham, a serial killer and the creation of the World’s Fair.  

http://www.randomhouse.com/crown/devilinthewhitecity/home.html

This was a Civil War Veterans grave and those are usually my favorite ones to visit.

This one was in Delavan, Wisc. and is one of the older ones I've found so far.

This was a powerful Memorial to see.  It's located in Skokie, IL.

The following pictures are just interesting crypts and statues that I've seen:

This was just a small group of some really neat things that I have seen by visiting cemeteries and Memorials.  Through them, I learned a lot about history, war, the circus, organized crime and Chicago.  Visiting these places gave me a unique perspective that I would never have gotten otherwise.  I also have a better

appreciation for cemeteries and what the past can teach us if we stop to look and investigate what it is trying to tell us.  The next time you are near a cemetery, stop by and see what interesting things you can learn.