Farms – History of Schaumburg Township

A BARTELS FAMILY OF SCHAUMBURG TOWNSHIP

Thanks to a heads up from L.S. Valentine, the library was fortunate enough to acquire this farmhouse photo. The back of the photo has a simple identification of “Grandpa and Grandma Bartels. Schaumburg, Ill.”

The house is rather majestic and appears to have been in place for only a short amount of time when this photo was taken. There are vines crawling up either side of the turreted windows. These could be a perennial or, possibly, an annual morning glory. The only other vegetation consists of the two bushes–one is behind the group of people and another is on the far corner of the second porch to the right.

There are no trees or outbuildings, save for the shed or privy that we see behind the house. We have to assume, then, that the family is proudly having their photo taken in front of their new house.

But, who is this family? Other than Grandpa and Grandma Bartels? We can see two men, three women and a boy sitting on the lawn. We have to assume that the two older people–the man with the beard and the woman with the apron–are most likely Grandma and Grandpa.

To begin the search of who might be connected to this photo, the first order of business was to determine a time frame. Judging by the clothing, it appears the time is the latter part of the 1800s. We can then take a look at the following document on our Local History Digital Archive called Schaumburg Township Landownership Map Index and General Notes which was compiled by L.S. Valentine.

*Snyder’s Real Estate Map of Cook, DuPage and Part of Will Counties, 1898*

By inserting the name Bartels and looking at the maps near the turn of the century, we find two Bartels listed on Snyder’s Real Estate Map of Cook, DuPage and Part of Will Counties, 1898. Conrad Bartels is in Section 19 (on the far left of this map on Schaumburg Road where it meets Barrington Road) and C. Bartels is in Section 23 (on the far right on both sides of Schaumburg Road.)

The next step was to do a search on Findagrave.com to see the array of Bartels that could be found buried in St. Peter Lutheran Church in Schaumburg. That is where we struck pay dirt.

There is a listing for Conrad Bartels AND a photo. Take a look for yourself and notice the gentleman on the far left. There is that distinctive beard that we see on the man in the farmhouse photo. By clicking on the photo on Findagrave, we can see a description of the five Bartels brothers and Conrad is, most assuredly, the one with the beard on the far left.

We can also see on this page that he was married to Caroline (Meyer) Bartels. Clicking forward in the photos on findagrave, we arrive at a photo of the five women who were married to the five Bartels brothers. The description states that the woman on the far left is Caroline (Meyer) Bartels. This photo confirms her presence on the farmhouse photo, directly to the left of Conrad.

But, where was their farmhouse–and farm–located? Was it in Section 19 or 23? And, did Conrad, in fact, own both farms?

To try and find an answer, we can take a look at the 1880 and 1900 censuses to see who their neighbors are. (Early censuses did not list a specific address in rural areas–just a township. This is why plat maps can be so invaluable.) In both censuses, one of their closest neighbors is consistently H. or Henry Salge. The Salge family lived on the south side of Schaumburg Road across from St. Peter Lutheran Church, also in Section 23.

Because the Bartels are shown owning property on both sides of Section 23 on Schaumburg Road in 1898, we are left to wonder, at this point, whether they built this new home on the north or south side of the road. Judging by the fact that there appears to be no roll to the land and most of the farm is on the north side of the road, is it safe to assume that that was the location of the farmhouse?

If we also look at Mr. Bartels’ obituary from the July 9, 1915 issue of the Daily Herald, we get another clue. It states, “…he came with his parents to America and settled upon the farm in Schaumburg on which he resided until nine years ago.”

S. H. Burhans and J. Van Vechten, Publisher. 1861

Looking at the earliest 1861 plat map of the township, we can see a listing for F. Bartels and J. Bartels which are directly at the Section 23 number. Johan Friedrich Bartels was Conrad’s father so we can assume this was their original homeplace. And, because the small black square above J. Bartels indicates where the farmhouse and buildings were located on the property, is it possible that Conrad eventually built a new farmhouse to replace the one his father built?

Yet another clue, is the wedding listing for his son, Emil Bartels, in the May 24, 1906 issue of the Daily Herald. The article states: “After the ceremony at the church, the party were conveyed to the old Conrad Bartels homestead, which has recently been fixed up from cellar to garret, freshly painted and papered for the happy young couple… Mr. and Mrs. Conrad Bartels will move to their new home in the village of Roselle…”

Should we infer that the farmhouse was new in the 1880s and very much needed some updating by 1906 when Emil Bartels and Amanda Freise married?

We also have to ponder who the other people in the photo are. If this is the 1890s and we know that Conrad and Caroline had 3 children who lived to adulthood, we can suppose that, from left to right, the people are: Herman Bartels; Herman’s wife, Emma (Licthardt) Bartels; Emil Bartels; Conrad Bartels; Conrad’s wife, Caroline (Meyers) Bartels; and Wilhelmine (Wilkening) Bartels.

If we have the people, outside of Conrad and Amanda, identified correctly, it was confirmed through the St. Peter Lutheran Church records that Herman and Emma Licthardt were married in late 1891. Given the fact that their first child, Arthur, was born in October 1892, it appears that this photo was taken in the late spring or early summer of 1892.

Is it possible, then, that Conrad Bartels’ son, Herman Conrad Bartels purchased the farm in Section 19 after his marriage to Emma Lichthardt in 1891? And it is their farmhouse? Take a look at this photo of the couple with their children, Arthur and Laura.

Herman and Emma (Licthardt) Bartels with their children Arthur and Laura. Ca. 1906. Photo credit to the Schaumburg Township Historical Society.

This photo certainly seems to confirm Herman as the man on the left in the farmhouse photo.

Knowing how flat the land is at Schaumburg and Barrington Roads in Section 19, and that this could, quite possibly, be the Herman Conrad Bartels farm, maybe we have solved the puzzle?

But, then again, in making the identification as Grandma and Grandpa Bartels on the photo, we have to wonder which couple the identifier is actually referring to. Conrad and Caroline or Herman and Emma?

We’re not quite back where we started from but, if anyone can provide additional information on this photo, it would be much appreciated. It would be nice to have proven confirmation!

Jane Rozek
Local History Librarian
Schaumburg Township District Library
jrozek@stdl.org

MANAGING A HOUSE AND COOKING WITH EDNA VOLKENING: PART TWO

This week’s post is a continuation of Edna (Greve) Volkening’s management of her house and household. Edna Greve married Herman Volkening on November 2, 1930 at St. Peter Lutheran Church in Schaumburg Township. Both had grown up in the township as part of the German farm family contingent.

The couple lived on, what is today, the southwest corner of Schaumburg Road and Walnut Lane, working their farm and raising their three children. The couple was busy from early morning until after supper, performing the necessary chores of their day.

Written from their daughter, Ruth (Volkening) Clapper’s perspective, this is an account of what Edna’s days, weeks and months were like while living on the farm. We might find it hard to keep up.

Ruth and her mother, Edna, baking multiple loaves of bread for the week. Photo credit to Ruth Clapper.

Saturday was baking day and clean the house day. Edna baked a dozen loaves of white bread each Saturday along with coffee cake, cake and pies. These desserts were ready in case someone stopped by to visit on Sunday afternoon and for the family to enjoy during the week. Ruth was assigned the task of cleaning the main floor of the house. The children were allowed to watch a few westerns on the television in the morning.

Monday was laundry day–Edna had a laundry room in the basement of the house. The laundry chute ran from the upstairs bedrooms to the laundry room and the dirty clothes would be placed in the chute and end up in the basement.

Edna had a wringer wash machine. Homemade lye soap was used and the first load was always white clothes. The same water was used for more delicate colored clothes and on to the dirty farm clothes. The clothes were hung outside on clotheslines or on a clothesline strung in the basement. In the afternoon these clothes had to be brought in from the clothes line and folded.

Tuesday was ironing day so the clothes needing ironing were sprinkled with water, rolled up so the whole garment would dampen and placed in a basket waiting for the iron. Edna had a door in the wall behind Herman’s chair at the table that held the ironing board.

The ironing board closet is behind the door and between the two windows. Photo credit to Ruth Clapper.

Each Tuesday the ironing board came down and ironing began. The majority of the clothes needed ironing since non-wrinkle clothes had not been invented yet. In between ironing, dinner and supper still needed to be cooked and the chickens still needed to be fed and the eggs picked. Many times, Dina Greve came to do the ironing since she enjoyed it and Edna had other work that needed to be done. Ironing was not Edna’s favorite thing to do.

Edna had to be mindful of Ruth’s piano lesson after school each week. Ruth would be picked up from her one room country school by Edna and driven ten miles to Elgin, IL for the piano lesson. Edna would use that time to run errands. Supper had to be ready when they got home so usually the meat was already in the oven and the potatoes were peeled and ready to be cooked when they arrived home.

Edna and Adeline Piepenbrink went to a cooking school, the Antoinette Pope School of Fancy Cookery, in Chicago, IL one evening a week. Edna tried a casserole recipe for dinner one night and Herman asked for the normal dinner–a separate piece of meat, boiled potatoes and vegetable–in the future.

Edna did learn to make the best cakes–daffodil, chiffon, angel food, etc. These were time consuming to make, so she made them for birthday celebrations. Ruth always wanted a chocolate angel food for her birthday cake. For normal weekly cake, Edna made a cake in a 9×13″ pan–spice cake, chocolate cake, applesauce cake or her favorite–Lazy Daisy Cake.

The Lazy Daisy Oatmeal Cake from Quick Quaker Oats

Edna also made cookies. Ruth doesn’t remember her mother making chocolate chip cookies. Edna would make gingersnap cookies or molasses cookies. Her recipes are below.

Edna traded recipes with family and friends. Her aunts and cousins in Canada sent recipes to her and she to them. They corresponded monthly. In the following recipes you will find two recipes for hamburger type buns from her cousins in Canada.

Also you will find a recipe from Edna’s Aunt Emma Kastning, who was a sister to her mother, Dina Greve. Aunt Emma was noted for her German Potato Salad. I still use her recipe today. You will find a recipe for relish from Carrie Volkening, Herman’s cousin, who lived a mile down the road from Herman and Edna. Another weekly favorite was Herman’s mother’s German Green Bean recipe.

Siblings Carrie and Fred Volkening were long time and long-lived residents of Schaumburg Township. Here, they are looking at a photo of their farm that was on the northwest corner of Schaumburg Road and Salem Drive. They were frequent visitors at the Herman and Edna Volkening house. Photo credit to the Village of Schaumburg.

Edna was also famous for her Beef BBQ. It was and is delicious! She would serve this dish at the end of a card party before everyone went home. She made her own hamburger buns and served BBQ with German Potato Salad and usually a jello salad or coleslaw depending on the season.

Of course, her vast selection of pies would be available. Edna made the best pies! Since the farm produced lots of eggs, a custard pie would one of the choices. Edna would have canned cherries from her cherry tree so a cherry pie would be another choice. Edna also made the best lemon meringue pie. Ruth always enjoyed a piece of pie for breakfast the next morning after one of these parties.

Canning food for the winter was a big chore. Nothing was purchased at the grocery store except coffee, tea, baking supplies and some miscellaneous items. All food that could be grown in the garden or was available on the fruit trees in the farm orchard, had to be processed for winter use.

Edna made her own catsup and canned it in bottles so it looked like catsup. Ruth remembers coming home from school and Edna is cooking large batches of catsup on the basement stove. Ruth was asked to changer her clothes and come to the basement kitchen and stir catsup so Edna could start supper.

Edna canned many quarts of tomatoes and made jelly and jam from the fruit. Half-candied peach slices, sour cherries and pears were canned if available. The peaches would be purchased from out of state by the bushel and canned. Blueberries would be obtained from Indiana and frozen.

Ruth Clapper with her mother, Edna, making sauerkraut in 1956. Photo credit to Ruth Clapper.

Edna froze lima beans and peas. She canned corn and green beans. She made pickles with the cucumbers and put them in huge crocks. She made sauerkraut from the cabbages in the garden. The cabbage mixture was placed in large crocks. At the end of the season, Edna canned corn relish. The family enjoyed this tart salsa type dish in the winter.

A standard winter Sunday dinner was two ducks, sauerkraut, German green beans and baked potatoes. The ducks were placed in the oven before church and the rest cooked after church. The sauerkraut was cooked with shredded fresh potato and lots of duck grease. The adults ate the breast meat and the children each got a leg and thigh portion. I still prefer the leg and thigh portion today.

The potato salad recipe that Edna used. Credit to Ruth Clapper.

A standard summer Sunday dinner was freshly butchered chickens, fried on all sides before church. After church, they were baked until done. The day before, Country Potato Salad would have been made and maybe even baked beans. The potato salad recipe is included.

Did Edna ever feel caught up? I doubt it!

Thank you to Ruth Clapper for this excellent account of what it was to walk in her mother’s shoes. Between doing laundry in a wringer washer, and weekly ironing, and tending the garden, and canning the produce, and raising chickens, and cleaning, and cooking everything (!) from scratch, it is an amazing account. Edna lived to be 91 years old and, clearly, it was healthy, full, busy life.

Jane Rozek
Local History Librarian
Schaumburg Township District Library
jrozek@stdl.org

SUNDERLAGE OPEN HOUSE

Stop by for an open house of the Sunderlage Farmhouse in Hoffman Estates! Visitors will have an opportunity to see the house’s interior and learn about its history.

When: Sunday, June 25, 2023. 12:00 to 3:00 p.m.

Where: 1775 Vista Lane, Hoffman Estates

Who: Hoffman Estates Historical Sites Commission

What: This free event will examine the history of the 1856 farmhouse, including the layout of its rooms, floors and staircase. The smokehouse, which is listed in the National Register of Historic Places for its mid-19th century Greek Revival style, will also be open.

Information about the Volkening family ownership and presence in the early 20th century will be highlighted as will details surrounding the removal of the northeast porch of the house.

For more information, call 847-781-2606.

THE LIFE STORY OF AMALIA “MOLLY” (VOLKENING) HEIDE

This story was written by Shirley (Orton) Lehmann, a niece of Amalia “Molly” (Volkening) Heide, and was donated in 2023 to the Schaumburg Township District Library by Shirley’s nephew, Daniel Orton.

It is followed by notes taken from an interview with Molly Heide conducted by Marilyn Lind in 1973 or 1974.

These accounts tell the story of Molly (Volkening) Heide who was born on March 19, 1898, the daughter of Charles “Carl” and Amanda (Meyer) Volkening whose farm straddled Higgins Road between Golf and Barrington Roads in today’s Hoffman Estates. They were settlers in Schaumburg Township and were connected through their German ties to the Greve, Sunderlage, Ottman and Schierding families who came to this country in 1838.

This is Molly’s story:

Molly Volkening Heide was born March 19, 1898 in Burlington, Illinois, the daughter of Amanda and Charles Volkening. She was a very tiny baby, two pounds, I believe. It seems that I remember her telling me that she fit into a shoe box. It’s really remarkable that a baby that small could survive in the 1890’s.

It was a cold day when Molly was taken to church to be baptized. As she was held in her mother’s arms on the way, her little head became flattened. She said that her mother just pushed it back into shape, but she attributed the headaches that she suffered in later life to this.

When she was baptized, the pastor mistakenly pronounced her name to be Amalia when the parents had chosen “Amelia. “It must stay the way she was baptized,” said Amanda, so that is how she came to be “Molly.”

Looking south from Higgins Road at the Volkening farm. The familiar Sunderlage/Volkening farmhouse is on the left and the large barn is on the right. Ca. 1910. Photo credit to the Volkening family and the Hoffman Estates Historical Sites Commission.

When Molly was 4, the family moved to the former Sunderlage farm. By this time, she had a little brother, Ben, born in 1900.

Their new farm had a large barn and a herd of dairy cows. Amanda made butter from the sweet cream which she sold to customers from as far away as Chicago. Sometimes these people would come and stay for a mini vacation in the country. This must have made a lot of work for Amanda, but the children welcomed these visits because the people always brought gifts for the children. I believe Molly received a tiny wooden dresser for her dolls.

*Dietrich and Margaretha (Greve) Meyer, parents of Amanda (Meyer) Volkening and grandparents of Amalia “Molly” (Volkening) Heide. Ca. 1880s. Photo credit to Janice Hoffman.*

Molly was ten when her dad died. Unable to farm and care for three small children, Amanda held an auction and sold off the animals and farm machinery. The farm was rented to a Sunderlage family, and Molly, Ben and little sister, Emma, born in 1904, moved to their grandparent’s home. While Amanda was out in the field helping out, Grandmother Meyer kept the children in tow. Molly said that her grandmother was very strict and scolded them if they put their feet on the rungs of the chair.

The children attended the public school until they were of confirmation age. Then they transferred to St. Peter’s Lutheran German school. They did not go to high school, because Grandma couldn’t afford to board them in Palatine where the high school was located.

When the family moved back to their own home sometime between 1916 and 1918, Molly was a young woman approaching 20. Although they had a hired man, “Old Chris,” they all had to pitch in to make it. I think Molly resented having to take care of the pigs, while her sister, Emma, had the easier job of housework.

By 1921, Ben had married Erna Kruse, and in 1921 there was baby, Howard. Molly had been seeing Art Heide, and they were married in 1923. Amanda gave up her dream to run the family farm, and sold off everything at a second auction. Amanda and Emma then moved to Elgin where Ben was already living with his family.

Wedding photo of Arthur and Amalia “Molly” (Volkening) Heide who were married on April 8, 1923 at St. Peter Lutheran Church in Schaumburg. From left to right are: Herman Sporleder, Laura Heide, Amalia Volkening, Arthur Heide, Emma Volkening, and Louis Heide. Photo credit to Daniel Orton and the extended Volkening Family.

Molly and Art began their married life on a farm on Bode Road. The place was old and very drafty and had no electricity or running water. Their first baby was a girl that they named Vernette. She died at birth. Their son, Willis was born in 1927.

Around 1930, Molly contracted T.B. and she was very sick. She had to be confined to several rooms of the house under the care of a nurse. Even Art had to stay away. Willis was sent to Joliet to be cared for by his aunt and uncle, Emma and Art Orton. At the time Willis spoke only German, but by the time he was able to return home, he was fluent in English.

Amanda (Meyer) Volkening is surrounded by her grandchildren. Frances Heide is the little girl to the left of Amanda and Willis Heide is the young boy on the far right in the back row. Photo taken around 1939 or 1940, possibly at the Greve Cemetery where many family get togethers were held. Photo credit to Daniel Orton and the Volkening family.

In 1935 Molly and Art had a second daughter, Frances. She was a beautiful child with long, blonde, sausage curls. When she was five, Francie suddenly died of a burst appendicitis. I don’t think Molly really ever got over it. She was a worrier and over-protective of those that she loved.

When Willis had to register for the army, fearing for him, she did her best to keep him home by saying that he was needed to help on the farm. She started an egg business, and at one time she had 1000 chickens, ducks and geese. She cleaned and candeled the eggs and sold them on an egg route in Des Plaines. Nevertheless, Willis was called into the army.

The Art and Molly Heide farm is on the north side of Bode Road on this 1956 Cook County Highway map.

Molly’s life was centered around the hard work of the farm. She had a big garden and orchard, and she canned quarts and quarts of fruit and vegetables. Before she got a freezer, she even canned beef. Art butchered a hog once a year, and there was meat to smoke and soap to be made from the fat and lye.

In addition, she was never too busy to open her heart and home in the summer and was a big help. She always welcomed my brothers during school vacation; she cared for Ben’s boys after he and Erna divorced; and she also cared for Mart who had cancer and was in the last months of her life. When Mom died, she was there to help and support. She became something of a surrogate mother. She and Uncle Art truly lived a Christian life.

As long as I can remember, on Sunday we headed for the farm. Molly and Art were remarkably permissive. As long as we didn’t bother the bull or chase the chickens, we were free to make our own fun. Before returning home, we always had “lunch” consisting of home-made bread, sausage and cheese, and home-canned peaches or pears.

By [an undisclosed time] Molly and Art had remodeled the old farmhouse. Molly was proud of her modern home. Part of the old house had been moved off the foundation and relocated in the orchard. It was briefly used as a chicken brooder until some neighbors of ours in Elgin were desperate for a place to live. You guessed it, the Heides offered the old place. Another time a lady on the egg route needed a place, and she lived there.

It wasn’t long before the Heides were forced to look for another place for themselves. Hoffman Estate homes were springing up right next to their fields and taxes were too high. Although they tried to fight the development, finally they were forced to move to DeKalb where they found a place with very fertile land. Nevertheless, the move was hard on Molly. She said the she cried all the way to her new home.

Life in DeKalb was easier now. Willis was running the farm, and Uncle Art just assisted him. Gone was the egg route and all of the chickens. Aunt Molly had time now to sew curtains for the church and quilts for World Relief. They even had time to take an automobile trip with Willis, Gordon and me. It was the first vacation they had ever taken. We went to the Black Hills and to Colorado to see Helen Kolling.

Willis met his wife Donna at church. They both play the organ. After they were married, Molly and Art built a new smaller ranch house just across the lane. Willis and Donna occupied the older home. Eventually Willis and Donna produced three children, a son and two daughters. It must have pleased Uncle Art to know that the boy, Carl, was very interested in farming.

In 1978, Molly had a stroke which left her impaired and unable to walk. At first, when Uncle Art was still able to live at home, my husband, Ernie and I used to take Molly home for a Sunday afternoon. After Uncle Art died, we visited her weekly in the DeKalb Nursing where she had resided since her stroke. Although she lived 12 years after her stroke, she steadily declined until her death on January 29, 1990.

THE FOLLOWING NOTES ARE FROM MARILYN LIND’S INTERVIEW WITH MOLLY VOLKENING REGARDING HER LIFE AS A YOUNG GIRL ON THE MEYER AND VOLKENING FARMS. THERE ARE A FEW SMALL OVERLAPS WITH MOLLY’S MARRIED LIFE:

When our mother, Amanda Volkening, brought her children back to the farm to live between 1916 and 1918, Edwin Steinmeyer, a neighbor, worked as a hired hand. Chris Stolzenberg was a hired hand who came with the place and worked for them for 20 years and for the family and farm itself for over 40-45 years.
We used two teams of horses–one set of draft horses and the other set that my brother (Ben?) liked that were sort of “flighty.”

Top left to right, “Auntie” Catherine (Greve) Sunderlage, Margaretha (Greve) Meyer who was Catherine’s niece; bottom left to right, Wilhelmina (Meyer) Troyke, Herman Troyke holding their daughter Adella and Amanda (Meyer) Volkening, dressed in black after she lost her husband Carl. Ca. 1908 based on Carl Volkening’s death that year. Photo credit to Daniel Orton and the Volkening Family.

Mrs. Sunderlage (Catharine) lived in one part of the house [after the Volkenings bought the farm from her.] Her rooms were the downstairs back parlor area and she also claimed the basement area with the stationary tubs.
Green beans were cut with a knife. You “snippled” them, making them into fine slices, french style. We would wash the beans first, cut them, put about two inches of beans in a crock then a layer of rock salt and layer it up into a 15 gallon crock. Then you made a cream like sauce with water and dry mustard, and first put a white cloth over the beans and then smeared it with the mustard sauce.
Sauerkraut was fixed the same way. Grated cabbage was put into the crock and mashed with a potato masher to make its own juice. If it was dark on top or there was a little mold, we would scrape that away until the good stuff appeared. We had sauerkraut at least once a week.
We cooked in the smoke house in the summer time and did the laundry in there in the winter. We hung clothes outside to dry. If it was too cold, we put up a line in the kitchen.
Meat and potatoes were served for dinner and it was usually pork, ham, bacon, etc. Sometimes I would buy a quarter of beef and it would be canned in fruit jars after it was roasted. Dinner was at 12 noon. Lunch was served in the afternoon around 3:00 or 4:00. It was a sandwich made out of dried beef kept in salt water then smoked and sliced thin. A piece of meat like this would last about 2 months, wrapped in wax paper. It did not mold. Supper was at 7:00 or 8:00. Vegetables were always taken from the garden and served while in season.

An example of drying apples in the sun on the Nerge farm. Photo credit to the Nerge family

Apples would be put out in slices in the sun to dry. Fifty pounds of apples would be harvested. I would buy prunes and mix them with the apples. We grew six or eight different kinds of apples.
Breakfast was fried potatoes and was not a very good meal. We only got oranges at Christmas.
Home canned goods–grape jam, peas (shelled), pears, cooked apples, raspberries–were kept in the basement. A baked cake was put down there to keep it fresh and moist.

Richard Gerschefske standing next to the District 51 or Sunderlage/Meyer School that he purchased in 1955 after the schools in Schaumburg Township were consolidated. Photo credit to Marion (Gerschefske) Ravagnie.

We spoke both English and German. Grandmother (Margaretha Greve) Meyer boarded 24 different teachers. They came from Chicago and only went home at Christmas time. They taught at the little school (called Sunderlage or Meyer School.) My grandfather (Dietrich Meyer) was the school director. We children in the family benefited and learned more because the teacher lived with them.
Neither Arthur nor I went to high school but our son Willis went to Palatine. Earlier, they held high school classes in a grammar school. Willis and the Hattendorf boy drove in to school every day.

Spelling Contest ribbon won by Emma (Volkening) Orton in 1914. Photo credit to Daniel Orton and the Volkening Family.

They used to have spell downs at neighborhood school and once they had a big one in Bartlett and we won.
We made all our clothes. I can’t remember ever having a ready made dress. I even made my own wedding dress. Then I died it black so I could wear it more often.
Coal was used in the dining room stove, but wood was used in the cook stove.
At the beginning when we didn’t have a bailer we just piled the hay up loose. Stacking hay or straw had to be done in a certain way so that it wouldn’t get wet. The threshing machine belonged to the Meyers.

Steam tractor pulling a road scraper or grader along Higgins or Barrington Road around 1920. This was, possibly, Ben Meyer driving his tractor. Photo credit to Jon Bierman.

A road scraper was used to grade the farm roads and even out the bumps and hollow. Uncle Ben Meyer bought the tractor for about $4500.
The woods across the highway (Route 72) were the supply for the firewood. The woods was divided between four families, each getting ten acres. The family came over (from Germany) in 1838.
I always fed the chickens.
We never paid members of the family who came to help. They just helped.
We made most of their (the men) jackets and pants.
We raised domestic geese and ducks and hatched the duck eggs with the chickens. We kept one sheep as pet. We also sold butter.
The Townsend oil tractor started with gas and then switched to kerosene when it got going. It was built in Janesville by Fairbanks Morse. Sometimes, during threshing, we had two or three threshing machines working at one time. Single bladed plows were walking plows.
Father bought the Sunderlage farm in 1902. We were living in Burlington and moved to Schaumburg.
Arthur’s father bought him his own plow–a walking plow–when he was 14. It cost $14.

Reading through the story of Amalia “Molly” (Volkening) Heide, we can’t help but feel for her and the many sad moments in her life–the death of her father in 1908, having to leave their family farm as a result, overcoming tuberculosis, the deaths of her two daughters, the fear she must have felt when her son and only child was drafted into the army and realizing the need to sell their farm as development encroached.

Shirley’s story and Marilyn’s notes go a long ways towards capturing what life on a farm was like between the years of 1900 and 1960, how close knit the Meyers, Volkenings and Heides were, how hard they all worked and how tragedy could engulf them.

Yet, through it all, as her niece wrote, Molly and her husband Art maintained an open, giving attitude with their family and friends. Their farm seems to have been a place to gather, to stay the weekend–or even longer–if someone needed the space. They shared what they had and, in doing so, showed themselves to be truly special people.

Jane Rozek
Local History Librarian
Schaumburg Township District Library
jrozek@stdl.org

GRANDMA VOLKENING’S LIFE STORY: AMANDA (MEYER) VOLKENING

This story was written by Shirley (Orton) Lehmann, a granddaughter of Amanda (Meyer) Volkening, and was donated in 2023 to the Schaumburg Township District Library by Shirley’s nephew, Daniel Orton.

It tells the story of Amanda (Meyer) Volkening who was born on February 7, 1873, the daughter of Dietrich and Margaret (Greve) Meyer, whose farm straddled Higgins Road between Golf and Barrington Roads in today’s Hoffman Estates. They were very early settlers in Schaumburg Township and were connected through their German ties to the Greve, Sunderlage, Ottman and Schierding families who came to this country in 1838.

This is Amanda’s story:

Dietrich and Margaretha (Greve) Meyer, parents of Amanda (Meyer) Volkening. Ca. 1880s. Photo credit to Janice Hoffman.

Amanda was born in 1873, the oldest of five children in the Dietrich Meyer family. Her father was a prosperous farmer, and her mother, Margaret, was someone who taught the children the value of hard work done well. I have a hand stitched sampler that Grandma made as a child. I remember her telling me that if she was careless and made sloppy stitches, her mother would rip it all out. I don’t remember her telling me a lot about her childhood, nor do I know how she met her future husband, Charles, or “Charlie,” as she called him.

This is Amanda (Meyer) Volkening’s hand stitched sampler. Note that it has the initials A.M. for Amanda Meyer in the center, and so was done sometime around the late 1880’s or early 1890’s before she was married. This sampler would have hung in the Sunderlage/Volkening house when the Volkenings lived there. [Photo credit and info per Daniel Orton]

After Charles and Amanda were married [in 1897], they set up housekeeping in Burlington, Illinois. Their two children Molly [Amalia] and Ben were born there. But when Amanda’s cousin, Catherine (Greve) Sunderlage, put her farm up for sale, Charles purchased the property. Catherine’s husband, John S. Sunderlage, had died in 1873, and for a while the family had helped the widow to run the farm but, in 1902, up in age, she decided to sell the place with the stipulation that she could continue to keep several rooms there until her own death.

This seemed to be an acceptable agreement, and Charles and Amanda were happy to live closer to their respective families and friends in Schaumburg.

By 1904, the Volkenings had another daughter, Emma, and the family was prospering in their new home when tragedy struck. Charles died suddenly in 1908 from what, I believe, was meningitis.

Now, Grandma was a young widow with three small children to raise alone. Amanda reluctantly left their farm and moved back with her parents, the Diederich Meyers. She tried to pay for their keep by doing the work of a hired man. Although small in stature, she worked alongside the men plowing and haying. Her dream was to return to their own home when her son, Ben, was older. She had hoped that he would like farming, but that was not to be.

Amanda Volkening’s farm is noted on this 1920-1930’s plat map. She is listed as Mrs. C. Volkening and her farm, like her brother Ben Meyer’s to the east, straddled Higgins Road.

There were several years in the thirties when there was little rain and lots of wind. Times were very hard and many farmers gave up and moved to town. Ben had married and had a family to support. Molly was anticipating marriage to Arthur Heide, so Amanda decided to sell the place. They moved to Elgin where Ben sold cars for a while, and Grandma and Erna, Ben’s wife, ran a grocery store on Larkin Avenue. Molly and Emma worked as maids for wealthy people. My mom, Emma, also cared for Auntie Horstman in Palatine after she had broken her hip. Eventually, she (Emma) took a job in the watch factory in Elgin. By this time, Molly had married Art Heide and was living on a farm on Bode Road.

Emma continued to associate with her friends from Schaumburg and, one evening when she attended a band concert at Lord’s Park [in Elgin], Ben Menke introduced her to Art Orton, someone that he knew from Ellis Business College. Grandma was not too pleased when they started seeing one another. I think that she was suspicious of an Englishman. Grandma finally had to accept him and, in time, they both admired one another.

Amanda (Meyer) Volkening and her grandchildren at a family reunion around 1939. Photo credit to Daniel Orton and the Volkening family.

Now, with her last child married, Grandma was all alone, but never really. She made her home with Molly in the summertime. Molly appreciated her help on the farm and [with the] children. In the wintertime she was ours in Elgin. She helped mom manage four kids by now. She read us stories and disciplined us, too, when needed. We always looked forward to our times with her.

I remember the day that she died. I cried as though my heart would break. She was just 71 and had been visiting her brother and sister-in-law, the Ben Meyers. Ironically, she died at the Diederich Meyer homestead, the place of her birth.

1909 auction ad for the Mrs. Chas. (Carl) Volkening animals and equipment. The land, itself, was not sold but was retained by the family. Photo credit to Daniel Orton and the Volkening family.

Period of trials for Grandma (Amanda) Volkening:

Charles (Carl) dies May 28, 1908.
Auction of farm animals & equipment January 1909.
Amanda & children live with her parents 1909-1918.
Grandma’s dad (Diedrich) dies on August 7, 1912.
Amanda’s brother, George, was killed in an acetylene gas tank explosion on his farm on January 9, 1918. (additional item)
Grandma’s mom (Margaretha) dies on September 30, 1918.
Aunt Molly (Amalia) & Uncle Art (Heide) marry in 1923. Uncle Art survived mustard gas attack in WWI.
Aunt Molly has TB in 1930.
Two of Art and Molly’s daughters die: Vernette in 1925 and Frances in 1940.
Mom (Emma) & Dad (Art) Orton marry in 1928. Their first child, James, dies. Dad gets sick and they move back with his parents.
In 1933 Ben & Erna Volkening divorce.

Amanda clearly did not lead an easy life. However, she persevered through the many familial difficulties and remained the center of her family until she passed away on September 4, 1944. She is buried in Greve Cemetery in Hoffman Estates next to her husband, Carl.

We are fortunate that her granddaughter wrote this account. Tracing Amanda and her family through Shirley’s personal details and first-hand knowledge does an excellent job of bringing Amanda’s story to life.

Jane Rozek
Local History Librarian
Schaumburg Township District Library
jrozek@stdl.org

—Next week look for the story of Amanda and Carl Volkening’s daughter, Amalia (Volkening) Heide.

CAN YOU IDENTIFY THE FARM IN THIS AERIAL PHOTO? (HERE’S THE ANSWER!)

A question was posed last week to the readers of the blog asking if they could identify this farm that would eventually became subdivisions. Various observations were made and a number of you had the correct answer!

It is, indeed, the Hammerstein Farm. It was located where today’s Parcel C is in Hoffman Estates. The farm was on the southwest corner of the intersection of Bode and Roselle Road and their lane ran between the two roads. Bode Road is the road at the top of the photo. The other road is the Hammerstein Lane that connected with Roselle Road and curved at some point outside of the photo. Particularly distinctive in the photo are the many barns that would eventually be used by the growing community.

The original photo appeared in the September/October 1974 issue of the Hoffman Estates newsletter as part of the village’s 15th anniversary celebration. It was courtesy of the Hoffman Rosner Corporation, and was taken in 1955 before construction began.

Details in the newsletter concerning the farm are as follows:

Among the area’s first residents were John and Caroline Gieseke, German immigrant, who purchased a 165-acre farm in the mid-1800’s. Later, the farmhouse was to become the first village hall–161 Illinois Boulevard.

In 1943, the Gieseke farm was sold to Arthur and Dorothy Hammerstein. The uncle of Oscar Hammerstein II, Arthur Hammerstein was a playwright and songwriter who wrote 31 Broadway hits. His wife, the former Dorothy Dalton, was a silent screen actress of the early 1900’s.

When Hammerstein died in 1954, his farm was purchased by Jack Hoffman of the F&S Construction Company, now known as the Hoffman-Rosner Corporation, and development of Hoffman Estates was begun.

Other interesting details in the article related to the anniversary are:

Joanmarie Wermes was in charge of arrangements for the anniversary celebration and Ed Hennessy was committee chairman.
At the time, the population of the village exceeded 32,000.
Per the Master Plan, the village’s 22.5 square miles were divided into seven zones which included 1.5 square miles for industry and an equal area for public uses.
Almost a third of the village–8 square miles–was forest preserves that were being developed by the county.
Hoffman Estates also had the distinction of being the first municipality in Illinois to pass an ordinance requiring all public buildings to be accessible to the disabled.

Thank you for participating in this challenge. We can always do more if you’re game!

Jane Rozek
Local History Librarian
Schaumburg Township District Library
jrozek@stdl.org

CAN YOU IDENTIFY THE FARM IN THIS AERIAL PHOTO?

While thumbing through some local documents, this aerial photo of a Schaumburg Township farm was discovered. The farm was sold for development, and subdivisions were built on its property. It is interesting to note all of the details in the photo.

First, for directional purposes, the top of the photo is north. It is clearly a large farm with many trees nestled around and shading the house that is in the center. There also appears to be a small grove of trees in the lower right portion of the photo. Additionally, there is a line of trees at the end of a short drive in the bottom of the photo. On two sides, those trees delineate the square plot of land that is adjacent to the front yard of the house. Could those groves maybe be orchards? Or do they serve as a windbreak?

Also, note that there appears to be a long lane that runs through the farm. Upon first glance it seems the main approach is off of the road running along the back–or top–of the photo. But, if you look more closely at the lane that runs along the right side of the photo, you can see a line of telephone or electric poles that border that portion of the lane. This was clearly, then, the main entrance to the farm. We can then ascertain that the farm was close to two roads.

Notice too, a house, possibly a farmette, that is situated along that road at the top of the photo. The house is, in fact, still present today. It also appears to have a grove of trees, possibly an orchard, as part of the property. Could this be a home that was built for a farm manager or as the home of one of the farmer’s relatives?

Another interesting feature are the two parcels on either side of the back portion of the lane. These two parcels do not appear to be used for growing grain. Rather, it looks as if there is some type of round bare spot in each parcel. Given the fact that the photo is not that clear, it might be that these are ponds. This might provide an additional clue that these parcels are pastures where cows were released during the day between the morning and evening milkings.

The small drives that are in each grassy parcel may have been a way for the farmers to drop off hay for the cows to munch on during the day. This would have been in addition to the natural grasses they grazed on in the pastures. It is possible the farmer alternated the cows between the two pastures.

My quiz question to you is, do you know which farm this is and where it was located? Send in your thoughts in the Comments and next week I’ll provide the correct answer with some additional details on the farm.

Jane Rozek
Local History Librarian
Schaumburg Township District Library
jrozek@stdl.org

THE PFINGSTEN PHOTOS: ALBUM #2

Last week we saw the first online photo album of amateur, turn-of-the-twentieth-century, local guy, Fred Pfingsten. His intent was, with his camera, to take photos of his family and farm. The catalyst for the purchase could very well have been his wedding to Emma Rohlwing that took place on September 3, 1903.

Multiple photos were taken by Mr. Pfingsten on his wedding day. This is a continuation of those photos. The earlier blog post can be seen here.

The largest tent at the Pfingsten/Rohlwing wedding. (Photo credit to the Pfingsten family)

It seems this photo, likely taken by Fred Pfingsten near dusk, illuminates the interior, upper structure of the tent. The size of the tent is quite large and probably allowed for a wooden floor to be placed inside for the dancing and merrymaking that would follow. Notice the American flag that is hoisted on one of the poles of the tent. The dining, “Welcome” tent is likely to the right and a young girl stands in front of the tent. The trees in the background almost block the Pfingsten house that is barely visible by its roof line and chimney at the back of the photo.

The two tents at the Pfingsten/Rohlwing wedding. (Photo credit to the Pfingsten family)

Taken from more of a distance, with this photo Fred went beyond one of the farm fence lines and out into the field to capture a longer shot of the location of the wedding festivities. The large tent is to the left, and the dining “Welcome” tent is to the right. The Pfingsten house is in the background. We can just make out the chimney on the left side of the house.

Raising their steins to drink to the newly married couple. (Photo credit to the Pfingsten family)

This group of men, raising their steins to the young couple, don’t appear to be too happy. However, given the fact that holding a smile for an extended period while Fred staged the photo, it is not too surprising that most them look somber. Anyone’s mouth would likely relax from a smile into repose.

To a man, the partygoers are dressed in suits and hats. Even the young boy in front has on a wide-brimmed hat that he wears with his white shirt. One man has a watch chain on his vest and another holds a cigar. Some, as is the fashion today, have beards, while others are clean shaven.

It seems that the beer is dark in color and that they hired someone from the outside to dispense it. The gentleman in the upper left, who is wearing an apron, appears to be the “bartender.” There is a more blurred gentleman in an apron standing to the left of him who probably worked with him.

More curiously is the sign, tent or wagon that has the letters F. S W A. In doing some research, the only company that comes close is T.F. Swan of Elgin whose business, in an 1883 edition of Elgin Daily News, is listed as a type of dry goods store. Maybe by 1903 he had expanded into the line of canvas and tents?

Fred and Emma (Rohlwing) Pfingsten, sitting in the middle, are surrounded by their wedding party. [Photo credit to the Pfingsten family]

This photo of the wedding party was, also, likely arranged by Fred, before he took his place in a chair next to his bride and allowed someone else to “take” the photo. Four bridesmaids, four groomsmen and two flower girls make up the group.

Unfortunately, the wedding party is unidentified though, it is somewhat easy to recognize that two of the women and one of the girls have the same eyes as Emma. The ladies, second from the left and second from the right in the back row, and the young girl to the right of Fred are quite probably Emma’s sisters. She had a large number of siblings who she would have likely included in her wedding.

Fred had only sisters who survived to adulthood so the men standing around him were either cousins or friends. It is interesting to note that both Fred and Emma were the oldest children in their families, though other family members married before them.

Wedding attendees. [Photo credit to the Pfingsten family]

This is another one of the glass plate negative photos produced by the Conant students. We can’t be sure that the photo was taken at the Rohlwing/Pfingsten wedding but it seems somewhat likely based on the fact that the women’s dresses resemble, quite strongly, the dresses on the ladies in the photo above.

The young girls are in their white, Sunday best and the location appears to be the Pfingsten farm, judging by the trees in the background.

What makes this photo so unique and wonderful for its time is the casual posing of two of the couples who have definitely had a good day. Most other photos of the day were often staged in a photographer’s studio. Fred’s informal, unpretentious camera caught these marvelous moments right on his family’s farm. What a treasure.

Jane Rozek
Local History Librarian
Schaumburg Township District Library
jrozek@stdl.org

THE PFINGSTEN PHOTOS: ALBUM #1

Some time in the late 1800s or early 1900s, this young boy who was born in Schaumburg Township, would grow up and indulge himself by purchasing a camera. His name was Fred Pfingsten and his intent was to take photos of his family and farm. The catalyst for the purchase could, very well, have been his wedding to Emma Rohlwing that took place on September 3, 1903.

He most likely developed his photos on dry glass plate negatives. Oregon State University says “dry plate glass negatives were in common use between the 1880s and the late 1920s.” [Oregonstate.edu]

Imagine, though, the forethought that Mr. Pfingsten must have given to the purchase, considering that he “likely needed considerable chemical and technical knowledge, specialized darkroom materials and equipment, and a dedicated work space to develop [his] plates and print photographs.” [Texas State University]

Where in a farmhouse would Mr. Pfingsten have developed his photos? Chances are it was the basement, where he would have also been without electricity and heat. Even in remote Schaumburg Township where there was little ambient light, the basement was probably his first choice. Regardless of where he worked, it couldn’t have been an easy task to bring himself up to speed on the developing process.

While the library owns some of the Pfingsten photos outright, there are others that we were allowed to scan, compliments of the Pfingsten family. In addition, others were developed from some of the original glass plate negatives in 2012-2013 by students in the Conant High School Photography Club that was overseen by Linda Patino-Goergen.

These glass plate negatives were donated to Doug Flett of St. Peter Lutheran Church by Rev. Michael Pfingsten, a descendant of Fred Pfingsten. It was Mr. Flett’s diligence that caused him to seek out Conant High School. After the Photography Club finished their work with the negatives, they were then given to the library as the permanent repository.

Multiple photos were taken on the Pfingsten’s wedding day, which was a Thursday. In those days, most large weddings in the area took place on Thursdays. One of the reasons may have been that families did not want to interfere with church services that were held on the weekend.

Fred and Emma (Rohlwing) Pfingsten stand behind two of their flower girls outside of St. Peter Lutheran Church in Schaumburg. Reverend Gustaf Mueller stands on the right of Mr. Pfingsten. (Photo credit to the Pfingsten family)

While we can’t be one hundred percent sure that Mr. Pfingsten and his camera took these clearer photos, the fact that the above photo has a typed description at the bottom is a good indication that he did. It is likely Mr. Pfingsten staged the photos that he was a part of and then someone else, with his instructions, took the picture. This photo was taken outside of St. Peter Lutheran Church. Reverend Gustaf Mueller stands to the right of Mr. Pfingsten. He served as pastor of St. Peter’s from 1883 to 1905.

Horses and wagon that likely brought the newly married couple to the Pfingsten farm after the wedding. (Photo credit to the Schaumburg Township District Library)

This photo, taken on the Pfingsten farm (the barn, with its double cupolas, is distinctive) could have been taken either before the wedding or as the festivities began. It is most likely the former, based on three reasons. If Mr. Pfingsten was setting up the camera he would have had more time to do so before the wedding than after. Also, it would have been easier to gather the men and boys together in the wagon on the way to the church, rather than after they arrived back at the farm for the merrymaking. And, thirdly, the aprons on the men look crisp and snowy white. It is difficult to imagine that that pristine condition would have continued through the day and night of celebrating.

The “Welcome” tent at the reception on the Pfingsten farm. (Photo credit to the Pfingsten family)

This photo is one of those developed from the glass plate negatives that were donated to the library by the Pfingsten family. It is a virtual guarantee that Mr. Pfingsten took the photo himself, given the somewhat blurred image.

Through details gathered by the Conant students, family members stated that this was likely taken the day after the wedding. To a certain extent, we might dispute this fact, given the more stylish nature of the ladies’ dresses. It is difficult to imagine they would be cleaning up in such dressy dresses.

If it’s not the day after, it is possible it is the morning of the wedding. In either case, it must have been early in the morning given the tidy nature of the women’s clothing. We also have to assume that most of the people in the photo are part of the immediate Pfingsten family who were on the premises for the wedding or members of the Rohlwing family who came over to help.

This is another photo taken outside of the Welcome tent at the wedding. It, too, has a typed description below the photo. With the blurred gentleman on the left, Fred Pfingsten likely took the photo.

It is unique in that we can see that this is one of the dining tents on the premises. Both men and women are sitting elbow to elbow around the table that is wide enough to accommodate two chairs at either end. Others are waiting to take their place, including young ladies who wore their best white dresses. These girls still wore their dresses at or slightly below their knees as it was not considered unseemly to show their legs. The men and boys all wore suits, with many of them also sporting hats.

The corner of another tent is in the upper right corner. Next week, we will see that tent as well as more photos of this famous wedding in Schaumburg Township.

And, thus begins a look at the photos planned, staged and developed by a man who clearly was interested in photography as a hobby. We are fortunate, as it is a look at every day occurrences in a Schaumburg Township world that is far removed from ours.

Jane Rozek
Local History Librarian
Schaumburg Township District Library
jrozek@stdl.org

AN 1848 LETTER FROM FRED BARTELS TO GERMANY (PART 1)

Those of us in 2022 can’t begin to imagine what Schaumburg Township was like in the 1840s. Thanks, though, to an 1848 letter that Johann Friedrich Bartels wrote to his relatives in Germany, we have an idea of his family’s trip here, what he encountered along the way and what the township looked like when he arrived.

Fred, as his name was shortened to in the U.S., was born August 20, 1809 in Schaumburg, Germany to his parents, Johann Friedrich and Anna Maria Sophia (Richmann) Bartels. He later married Engel Maria Sophia Reese on February 9, 1840 in Rodenberg Germany.

They had four children who were born in Germany: Johann Friedrich (1840), Engel Sophia (1842), Conrad (1844) and Christoph (1846). Five additional children were born here in Schaumburg Township: Heinrich (1849), William (1851), Johann Wilhelm (1854), Johann (1856) and Heinrich Christoph (1859). Seven of the nine children lived to adulthood.

These photos are of various Bartels siblings and their spouses, and were posted by LonnaBeth on the findagrave page of Christoph Bartels. Six of their sons lived to adulthood as well as their only daughter. Unfortunately, we do not have a photo of Mr. Bartels and his wife.

The letter from Fred Bartels was dated April 28, 1848 and was written to Fred’s sister, Marie Sophie and her husband, Johann Friedrich Christoph Wilkening of Soldorf, Apelern Parish in Grafschaft, Schaumburg, Niedersachsen, Germany. It came to the attention of the Volkening Heritage Farm at Spring Valley after it was published on March 30, 1991 in an unidentified German newspaper.

The letter and translation was eventually republished in the November 2005, No. 40 issue of LANDSMANN, a special interest newsletter dedicated to promoting the genealogy and history of the German-speaking immigrants who settled in Crete and Washington Townships in Will County, IL.

Staff at the Volkening Heritage Farm at Spring Valley enlisted the services of Friedemann Stuebing of the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures at Northern Illinois University in transcribing the letter. The translation is as follows:

“Finally–a letter from America!” is what you will, I’m sure, exclaim when you receive these lines. Because I’m hoping you haven’t completely forgotten us, even though seas and continents separate us. Be assured that we also think of you quite often, and that we cross the seas in spirit and place ourselves in your midst.

Let me begin with telling you the joyful news that we have been–the Lord be praised–doing all right since our separation from you and have been healthy and well until today, and that we like our new home beyond expectations.

We hope with all of our heart that all of you, including our relatives whom we left behind in Germany, are well and that no mishap burdened you since our departure.

You will certainly be curious to hear about our new fatherland. Our journey from Bremerhaven to New York took 6 weeks, and even though it was accompanied by some troubles, we enjoyed ourselves quite a bit during the trip and made it through much easier than we thought. We continuously comforted ourselves with the thought that the few–will focus on, and that we shall yield a rich replacement for all the unpleasant things we experienced–since we sailed to the land of freedom, blessing and good fortune–and to the country, where quite a few of our German brothers found a new, happy home, to the country in which we should forget the grind and the slavery which we suffered in the House of Service called Germany.

And these our hopes have–thanks to God–not deceived us; no, they have definitely surpassed, and we have every reason to exclaim: “It is good to be here!” Let us build huts here!”

From New York we took the steam boat up to Albany, from there the train to Buffalo, then a steamboat to Chicago and from there a wagon to our destiny–the place of our destination, 24 English miles away from Chicago. As soon as our German acquaintances heard that we had arrived in Chicago, they came up with their carts to pick us up.

Chicago : S. H. Burhans & J. Van Vechten, 1861

I and my whole family immediately moved in with our German friends, the Boegers, where we found friendly accommodations. After only a few days here, I realized that this country had great advantages over Germany, because I realized that people who would have been considered without means in Germany were able to have large farms here in a few years.

[Johann Heinrich Boeger and his wife, Catharine Sophia, nee Redeker and their daughter, Hanna Sophia Caroline, came to Schaumburg Township in 1845, a few years before the Bartels. You can see them listed on the 1861 map above under the name “Boyer.” The Bartels’ property is adjacent to the Boeger’s.]

Indeed, real estate is so cheap and incomes are so good that people without any wealth can purchase a piece of land, and–as long as they have any drive to put in the work–can secure an income for themselves and their children to be free of worries within a short period of time. A servant in Germany who does not have money originally will remain a servant for the rest of his life, and his children after him will likewise be slaves.

But here, where a minion earns 100 dollars or 133 Thaler (19th century German currency) per year, it is easy to buy 40 to 80 Morgens of land which are available for 40 to 80 dollars, and therefore becomes his own master and makes his children happy.

[In his analysis of the letter, Howard Piepenbrink, in the November 2005 issue of his newsletter, LANDSMANN, states, “Though a Morgen of land is less than an acre (varying in size from .6 to .9 acres), Herr Bartels’ reference to numbers 40 and 80 (which are standard acreage subdivisions in the U.S. public land-survey system) suggest that he was equating Morgens to acres. Historically and theoretically, a Morgen (which also means “morning”) was a measure or acre of land that one man and an ox could plow in one morning; this would naturally vary according to the soil, topography, etc., of the region in question.”]

If it is this great for poor people, you can easily imagine how much better it must be for people who have some money. Because they can purchase ready-to-use places here and can set up everything in the finest way. Real estate is available in an enormous abundance; in fact, according to a recent calculation it turns out that, if every German moved to America, each family could still get 28 acres of land.

[It is interesting to consider that, even in 1848, there were “ready-to-use places” in and around Schaumburg Township. We often assume that the area was pristine, untilled and, largely, uninhabited. This appears to be erroneous.]

You can barely imagine the quality of the soil. There are also differences here in this country; some regions are more fertile than others. But completely infertile land like the Heide [heath] areas in Germany cannot be found anywhere in America. Of course, I can mainly speak about this area only, since I have the most experience about it.

Even though I heard repeatedly that the soil in this region [of Illinois] is not even the best by far in America, I must say that I am so very content with it that I can’t wish it to be better. The ground here is neither mountainous nor flat, but instead lies in smooth waves so that it has sufficient drainage and is adequately dry.

The A. Longos Farm looking east across Roselle Road, south of the Weathersfield Way intersection. Kingsport Street is south of the gas line in the center of the picture. Ca. 1978. Photo credit to LaVonne (Thies) Presley.

[This is an example of how Schaumburg Township looked pre-development. The roll of the land that Mr. Bartels described is obvious.]

In its natural state, the land is overgrown with nourishing grasses and other feed-herbs, generously feeding the livestock. Every now and then one comes across wooded areas with different types of oaks, walnut and linden trees and the so-called sugar wood [hard maples.] Farms are situated such that everybody lives on his own land, surrounded by his own land, not like the way it is in Germany where one has to travel for hours to get to a Morgen field or two.

If the land is still in its natural state, it is first tilled in the months of May, June or July. Two teams of horses or two to three yoke of oxen can pull a plow well enough to break up 10 to 12 inches every time. With horses, it is possible to break up two acres per day, half an acre with oxen.

[By the time we spoke to our oral historians and read various family histories, oxen were not used on area farms. Instead, the farmers used pairs of large draft horses like the ones shown below on the William Thies farm on Wiese Road.

Bob and Barney hitched to a wagon. Photo credit to LaVonne (Thies) Presley.

The land that is plowed early is planted with Turkish wheat or seeded with oats; the land that has been broken up late is cultivated with wheat and yields magnificent harvests. If the ground has been cultivated with Turkish wheat, it is harrowed under the next year, without prior plowing. In general, all the land is plowed only once, and after Turkish wheat or potatoes the soil is not broken up at all, but the ground is only harrowed.

Thank goodness, dealing with fertilizer is much less a problem here than it is at home; we have no larger trouble than just getting rid of all the fertilizer from the barns. If you could only pick it up, we would not only be pleased to give it to you, we would even thank you for it.

[According to the Schaumburg Township Historical Society’s Yellow Card File, Mr. Bartels purchased 160 acres in Section 27 from the government on September 27, 1847. By 1861, when the above map was published, he no longer owned his original parcels but had bought property in Section 23 near his good friend, Mr. Boeger. This property was located near today’s juncture of Plum Grove and Schaumburg Roads. Below is the original land purchase from the Bureau of Land Management’s Land Patent database.

This rings true as we find in Schaumburg Township Land Patents prepared by Bonnie Cernosek. There it states that Mr. Bartels purchased property in Section 27 on the 1847 date which is listed as the Illinois Patent Date. Notice, though, that the date on the patent itself is dated May 1, 1849. There appears to be a lag time between the purchase date and the bill of sale date. This incident pops up frequently.]

Next week we will read further descriptions of Mr. Bartels’ farm, the church that he helped found and life in Schaumburg Township.

Jane Rozek
Local History Librarian
Schaumburg Township District Library
jrozek@stdl.org