Peter Swanson 1848-1937

From the July 1, 1937 edition of the St. Charles (Illinois) Chronicle; “PETER SWANSON The passing of Peter Swanson of 1042 4th street south Friday, after an illness of several weeks, removes an olden time and respected resident who has lived in this vicinity for nearly 70 years. Mr. Swanson was born in Sweden 88…

Signatures of My Ancestors

One of my favorite genealogical finds is the signature of an ancestor. Imagine my excitement when I saw four at the same time! My 2nd great-grandfather’s probate record contained signatures of all three of his children and that of his daughter-in-law: Jacob Koebe Mueller (1844-1910) was the father of Otto Victor Mueller (1868-1912), Alfred Jacob Mueller…

Harriette Kathlyn Tolf 1909-1954

Every once in awhile I will stumble across a photo that makes me do a double-take. Do you have any of those in your tree? A picture of one person who looks so much like someone else in your tree you almost think it’s a… well…an impossibility? This picture had that effect on me. I never saw…

Who is Aunt Tillie?

A newly found (and positively wonderful!) cousin recently shared a photograph taken in Chicago of our Schmitt ancestors: When we first saw the photo, there was some discussion about who Aunt Tillie might be. Years ago, my new cousin’s aunt had guessed Aunt Tillie might be the sister-in-law of one of the women in the picture. We poured…

Touring Chicago’s Oak Woods Cemetery

Timing is everything. Rough draft plans for a mid-October road trip were on the table. Chicago, Door County Wisconsin, and Mackinac Island Michigan were the top contenders. I was Google-ing our options when I saw the “Civil War to Civil Rights” tour offered by the Chicago Architecture Foundation. At Oak Woods Cemetery. A place I’ve…