Tombstone Tuesday - Christina Henschel Hübsch Grave Found!

My 2^nd great-grandmother Christina Henschel Hübsch was buried in the Lutheran Home Cemetery in Arlington Heights, Cook County, Illinois.  (Click any image to enlarge.)

Grave of Christina Henschel Hübsch,
Lutheran Home Cemetery, Arlington Heights, Cook, Illinois
Image Credit: Denise Hibsch Richmond 19 Sep 2015 

The real story is how I found her.

Dead Ends

Christina died on 21 Jan 1916 at an “old people’s home” in the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights, Cook County, Illinois with burial in the same city according to her death certificate. 

Why couldn’t the death certificate informant be more specific?  Stop whining I tell myself, be grateful that you have her death certificate.  I am.  Besides, genealogy isn’t easy.

Christina’s last residence and burial site remained elusive for several years for my cousin and research partner, Linda Hibsch Reeder, and I.   We wrote letters, made phone calls and mined the Internet for cemeteries and funeral homes.  No luck.

Burial at the historic St. Johannes and Resthaven Cemeteries near O'Hare International Airport was considered at one point.  Linda learned of the proposed airport runway expansion which meant that the interments had to be relocated.  A lawsuit was filed to prevent the relocation.  Linda’s inquiries resulted in an invitation to join the lawsuit but she declined since it wasn’t clear that Christina was buried there. The dispute ended in 2012; nearly 1,500 bodies were relocated.

Get Local

Frustrated with the lack of progress, I hired Chicago-based researcher Terri O’Connell, the owner of Finding Our Ancestors, a professional genealogy company specializing in Chicago research.  I hoped her knowledge of local resources and ability to visit onsite could help find the official name of the "old people's home" where Christina died and her burial place.  I emailed Terri all the particulars I had on Christina and waited patiently.  

Success!  With persistence and patience, Terri O'Connell found Christina’s last residence and cemetery location. 

The Altenheim
Christina was an "inmate" of the Altenheim Gesellschaft and was buried in the cemetery that was associated with it.  The German word "Altenheim" translates to “old people’s home”; "Gesellschaft" translates to "community and society".  Thanks to four years of high school German, pronouncing these words wasn't difficult for me but admittedly, “Old People's Home” is easier to say.

Treasure at the Local Library

The image below was excerpted from a book found at the Arlington Heights Memorial Library titled “Some German Name Cemeteries - Cook County, IL” by Gertrude W. Lundberg.

Thank you Gertrude!

See Christina next to my squiggly red arrow on page 3 of the interments at the Lutheran Old People's Home Cemetery. 

  

Source: Lundberg, Gertrude W. Some German Name Cemeteries - Cook County, IL.
Publisher Unknown. Arlington Heights Memorial Library, 929.3773.
Image Credit: Terri O'Connell

Close-up of this Listing

Unfortunately, the author did not provide sources for her book or the publication date.  I think she just walked the cemetery taking notes from each headstone. 

Author’s transcription: Huersch, Christ. (H.) 28 _ pri1 1842- 21 Jan 191?

• Huersch: I see Huebsch on the stone but maybe because I’m familiar with various spellings, but never with an “r”.  My family surname Hübsch changed to Huebsch then Hibsch over the years.  Her death certificate clearly spelled the name Huebsch.   
• Christ.: I see Christe.  Her first name was Christina on early records.
• (H.):  I didn’t see an “H” on the stone.  Perhaps the author interpreted the “E” as an “H” and thought it was her middle initial.  Coincidentally, Christina’s maiden name was Henschel.
• 28 _pril 1842: birth date.  The month of birth on the stone, Apr, was clear to me.
• 21 Jan 191?:  death date.  The year on the stone,1916, was clear to me.    

Help from the Lutheran Home

The cemetery book at the library really opened the door for this research project.  With a copy of page 3 in hand, Terri contacted the Lutheran Home to request additional records.  Luckily she was connected with a nice man who said the facility didn’t keep records back to 1916 but he would contact someone who had already done research in their old records.  Tick-tock.  Terri let some time lapse before re-contacting the facility knowing full well that genealogical research was not their priority.  Patience paid off as Terri was provided a document showing names and grave locations at the cemetery.

Source:  Lutheran Old People's Home Cemetery List [Grave Location],
Lutheran Home, Arlington Heights, Cook, IL.
Image Credit: Terri O'Connell

Transcription of the listing [Header] Reading from South to North, Row 3 cont.

[Plot] 42. Christe Huebsch 4/23/18?? – 1/21/1916

Terri’s Description of the the Cemetery
“She is buried in the Lutheran Home Cemetery in Arlington Heights. It is a very small cemetery with burials going back to the late 1800's. I have walked the cemetery twice and could not find her grave. To be honest, there are many stones that are worn from the elements and could not be read. There is a space where there is no marker for two spots as well. Plus, there is one stone that has a tree stump that has grown in front of the stone and they now look like they have become one unit."

View of Lutheran Home Cemetery, Arlington Heights, Cook, Illinois
Image Credit:  Terri O'Connell

Thumbs Up to Hiring a Researcher

How wonderful it is to have Christina's burial mystery solved thanks to professional researcher Terri O’Connell.  I highly recommend her.  She can be reached at: Phone: (773) 962-1609; Email: Terri@FindingOurAncestors.net; Website:  www.FindingOurAncestors .

Next Steps

Find Christina's place of birth in Prussia, current-day Poland!

Addendum

My husband and I recently vacationed in Chicago, a bucket list item.  Terri learned that I was in town and asked if I was going to visit Christina’s grave.  No, I said because I was too scared to drive in the big city.  I didn’t want to ask her because I thought it was too much to ask.  But Terri offered, perhaps insisted, that she take me to the cemetery.  So I agreed and I’m glad I did.  Not only did I visit the grave and leave a note, I got to know Terri better over lunch.  I am so fortunate to be the recipient of such a random act of genealogical kindness!

Epilogue - 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge

Thank you to Amy John Crow and her blog series "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks", a challenge on No Story Too Small.  I finished the challenge and learned more about my ancestors than I did before.

I didn't want to end the Challenge with just the 52nd post. Something extra was needed - like a bow on a package, a cherry on top of the sundae.  How about a list befitting the end of the year?  I have two to wrap up 2014:

Top 10 Most-Read Posts 

1. Mrs. Mary Daulton Clark Identified Using Two Key Resources (#33)
2. Ethel May Kendall Hibsch, the First Family Historian (#48)
3. Henry M. Kendall, Orange Juice in his Blood (#47)
4. John Ernest Hübsch 1838-1909 (#1)
5. James Hutson Abandoned Family (#4)
6. Ida May Brown Kendall, My Mystery Woman (#10)
7. Comings and Goings of Adam Clark, 1842-1926 (#7) 
8. Thomas Brown, Native of Ohio 1844-1927 (#8)
9. Jane Clark Brown 1846-1918 (#2)
10. Cephas A. Eisenman 1874-1946, Lifelong Minnesotan (#9)*

My Top 5 Ancestors**

1. Ethel M. Kendall Hibsch and Alba W. Hibsch: my grandparents - I just need more time to get to know you and have a Root Beer float.
2. Jane Clark Brown: why did you really live in an insane asylum most of your life?
3. John Ernest Hübsch:  tell me about your hometown in Prussia and sailing to America.
4. Thomas Cresap: how did you survey the wilderness and were you as vile as they said?
5. Rebecca Cresap Ogle:  tell me about frontier life in Ohio and raising 13 children.

     +1 Alva Leo Hutson: let's talk about homesteading in early 1900s North Dakota over a bowl of  your ice cream.

Thank you for reading  about my ancestors throughout the past year.  I hope you'll continue to read my blog and remember to post a comment about your thoughts.  Much appreciated!

 *resulted in a cousin connection!

**of course I'd like to talk to all of my ancestors but this list includes the ones who especially piqued my curiosity.

John Ernest Hübsch 1838-1909 (52 Ancestors #1)

I typically don't make New Year resolutions but I've decided that 2014 is the year I become more paperless particularly with personal papers like decades-old mortgage documents.  Now, I'm taking on another challenge from Amy Johnson Crow on her blog No Story Too Small.  The challenge: have one blog post each week devoted to a specific ancestor. It could be a story, a biography, a photograph, an outline of a research problem — anything that focuses on one ancestor to write about an ancestor a week. 

used with permission No Story Too Small

John Ernest Hübsch was my paternal great-great grandfather.  He was born about 1838 in Prussia.  Clues indicate that he may have been from a village called Mankelwitz [Makolice] in Silesia, a large province of Prussia (pictured below).  Geographic boundaries changed over the years due to wars leaving this area now in Poland.

He and his family came to America in the early 1870s.  The family story was that he, his wife Christine and children, Caroline, William C., and a baby made the voyage.  The baby died on the way.  Well, emigration records have been elusive.  A glimmer of evidence may be from a passenger list, pictured below, for the ship Hammonia.  The ship departed Hamburg, Germany on April 24, 1872 for New York harbor.  The date of arrival is unknown but probably three to four weeks later.   

The surname fits as does the child named Caroline but the other names are iffy.  More research needed.  But it's a start.

I found my family in the 1880 U.S. federal census for Stockbridge, Calumet County, Wisconsin.  Named for the Stockbridge Munsee Indian Tribe, the town was known for dairy and cheese-making more than wheat when my ancestors lived there.

The Hübsch family had grown considerably by 1880 compared to the ship passenger record if it is to be believed.  The umlaut over the 'u' in the surname was absent or just not recorded by the enumerator.  The wife's name is Christiana instead of Christine.  Lena was the eldest child, probably short for Caroline.  In fact, my uncle referred to his Aunt Lena which I later discovered was her nickname for Caroline.  The eldest son was William (my great-grandfather) which didn't match the ship passenger record.  His middle initial was "C" in many other records.   Lena and William were both born in Prussia.  Lena/Caroline matched the passenger record but who was "Aug"?   Short for "August?  William's nickname?  Other records indicated that August was Herman's middle name.  The other children, Charlie, Herman and John, were born in Wisconsin.  Charlie was five years old in this census so the family may have arrived in Wisconsin around 1875. So where were they between date of arrival in New York and Wisconsin? 

In 1891, John Ernest filed his intent to become a U.S citizen in Los Angeles County Superior Court.  There's helpful information on this document to cross-check other records such as age and emigration dates and location.  Ah, and the prized signature!

Sadly, on April 10, 1909 John Ernest was struck and killed by one of these trolley cars as he crossed the street.  I visited his grave, pictured below, located at Angelus Rosedale Cemetery, an historic cemetery.  Someone remembered John Ernest's roots as his last name includes the umlaut over the 'u'.