Lillie (1887 – 1910) was the oldest of four children born to William H. and Minna (Goldmeier) Falkenstein. William was a butcher, and Lillie worked as a hairdresser, which likely explains her very elaborate coiffure in her cameo portrait. She was predeceased by her little sister, Ruth, who was only seven when she died. William […]
Dora (Hoffmeyer) Jarsombeck Block 1833 – 9 January 1892 Dora is apparently buried alone in the middle of one of the quietest corners of the cemetery. She was born in Germany around 1833. She married Ludwig Jarsombeck, and together they had at least four children, but he likely died around 1873 when his youngest child […]
30 April 1896 – 24 July 1915 The Eastland, one of five chartered excursion boats meant to ferry employees, their families and friends from Chicago over to the Michigan City shore for the annual Western Electric Company picnic, keeled over into the Chicago River while still at dock, trapping hundreds inside its hull and leading […]
Conrad Braun was born in Germany in 1835 and immigrated to the US in 1856 where he tried his hand at many different things throughout his life, mostly successfully. He initially trained as a carpenter, later worked with marble, and spent his later years working as a vintner. He had six children (total) with two […]
17 July 1895 – 24 July 1915 The Eastland, one of five chartered excursion boats meant to ferry employees, their families and friends from Chicago over to the Michigan City shore for the annual Western Electric Company picnic, keeled over into the Chicago River while still at dock, trapping hundreds inside its hull and leading […]
20 July 1898 — 24 July 1915 This article was researched and written for the Eastland Disaster Historical Society and was originally posted on their Facebook page. Please see the informational page and the Eastland Disaster category on this site for more articles and information on this topic. This version has been edited from the […]
Minna (Mueller) Ewert was born in Germany and came to the US around 1866. Her oldest, daughter Karoline (Lena) may have been born in Germany just before her parents left or in Illinois – there are conflicting reports – but her younger son Fritz (Fred) was definitely born in Chicago (1869). The first person interred […]
Ferdinand Erdmann (1850-1912) was a woodworker as indicated by the beautiful carving of his trade tools at the top of this headstone. He and Sophia (Ebert – 1849-1941) married in 1881 and had two children, though they had left home by 1900 so are difficult to track beyond Sophia’s answer on that census. In a […]
4 February 1895 – 12 August 1942 Every now and then, I come across census or death records that indicate a person was in Manteno, Illinois, and I’ve learned that almost always means something pretty bad if they had previously been living in Chicago as that was the home of the notorious Manteno State Mental […]
22 November 1896 – 24 July 1915 The Eastland, one of five chartered excursion boats meant to ferry employees, their families and friends from Chicago over to the Michigan City shore for the annual Western Electric Company picnic, keeled over into the Chicago River while still at dock, trapping hundreds inside its hull and leading […]