I stumbled upon a little headstone in Chicago’s Rosehill Cemetery in July 2015. I was surprised there wasn’t an existing memorial for this infant on Find A Grave. Because that little headstone is next to this: Who was Adam Schaaf? I wondered as I added a Find A Grave memorial for Baby Schaaf. A link on the baby’s…
How did this young couple meet I wonder? Peter August Tolf was born in Svenarum, Jönköping, Sweden 01 Jan 1858. Augusta Sophia Landstrom was born 13 Feb 1858 in Norra Sandsjö, Jonkopings, Sweden. While they weren’t terribly far from one another, they weren’t exactly neighbors. In May of 1878, Peter, three of his sisters and their parents immigrated…
More and more cemeteries are going with flat-to-the ground headstones. They are more economical to create and it’s easier to maintain the landscaping around them. But they sink into the soil beneath them. And grass grows over them. And the names are lost to us, sometimes forever. Every fall when we visit the final resting place of my…
Auntie died on this day in 1973. Six months later, her younger brother passed away. Auntie and Unkie lived together nearly all of their lives. It was fitting that these siblings should remain together even after death. Their headstone comes to mind every time another Find A Grave contributor asks me to link people as spouses. We can not assume…
Jacob is buried in section 28 of Rosehill Cemetery in Chicago. I was touched by the sentiment engraved on his headstone:
My maternal grandparents, John George Walton and Harriet Kathlyn (nee Tolf) Walton are buried at Rosehill. And my maternal grandmother’s maternal grandparents Peter August Tolf and Augusta Sophia (nee Landstrom) Tolf are buried at Rosehill. None of them are buried in the main cemetery. They are all in the separate section on the north side of West Peterson…
North Newark Avenue (aka the gravel road) in Saint Adalbert Catholic Cemetery in Niles does more than separate one section of the cemetery from another (St. Adalbert is also known as Old Bohemian Cemetery, Old Polish Cemetery and Saint Stanislaus Cemetery). When we drove south on Newark, we stumbled upon Norwood Park Home Cemetery. A…
I love seeing pictures of my ancestors and multiple generation shots are my favorites. Four generations in the same professionally posed portrait are a rare find. That’s what makes this photograph so special. The baby in the picture is my grandmother Harriette Kathlyn Tolf born 02 Jul 1909. She’s posing with her father Harry Wilhelm Tolf (1884-1964), her…
Husband and I just returned from a genealogical vacation in Chicagoland. We explored records at the Gustafson Research Center in Batavia Illinois and at the Chicago History Museum, Harold Washington Library and Newberry Library. We visited several cemeteries including West Batavia, Rosehill, Graceland, Jewish Graceland and Wunders. We spent a day driving through residential neighborhoods and…
where2look4ancestors 