In researching the Schlick and Daleidens family lines in DuPage and Kane County we begin to see strong patterns and interconnectedness of these people and how certain town names keep appearing in this research: Winfield Illinois in DuPage County and Hampshire and Burlington in Kane County Illinois.

I will focus in this blog about the subject of places, “distance” and factors that affected these families and their interactions with each other.

The Schlicks and Daleidens were devote Roman Catholics. To travel to their nearest Catholic Church they had two choices. They could attend mass at St. Raphaels (Now St. Peter and Paul) Church in downtown Naperville Illinois or they could travel to the Mission Church of St. Stephens located at Gretna Illinois. St. Johns in Winfield would not be built until 1867. This involved the Daleidens and or Schlicks walking, riding a horse and or driving a horse and carriage to get to the church in time for mass.

There were no paved nor gravel roads at the time. There were primarily dirt paths or dirt roadways that were subject to water events (snow and rain) that made the pathways at times impassable. No such thing as county money back then. The Township governments would assist via tax with some road repairs but at times farmers would band together out of practicality to repair or fix the paths or road beds so they could do their daily work and most importantly to get their products to market and to neighboring towns or to train depots connecting them to Chicago and towns between Turner Junction (West Chicago and Chicago).

I can recall a discussion with my grandfather Frank Schlick during an oral history interview in 1982. He recalled having to go to the bridge across Winfield Road south of Mack Road and having to help his father and other farmers place the log base of the brigde back together that went over the creek. The logs had washed away following a spring thaw and rain. They needed to reopen the road connecting Naperville, Warrenville and Winfield Illinois to the train station in Winfield and the Chicago and Galena Railroad (now the Union Pacific Chicago and Northwestern Metra Westline) depot.

Our relatives spent a greater amount of their day traveling (on foot, riding a horse or via horse and wagon or buggy). This took time out of their day and added time taken up on top of the daily (and it was six to seven days a week) chores on their farms. There was a great deal of cooperation amongst the people back then who would often pool their time and resources together to get things done and to save time and resources. One perfect example would be the threshing crews who would move from farm to farm to harvest the fields on farms in the area in the late summer and fall seasons. Weather was a very important factor for everyone one but primarily the farmers.

WINFIELD ILLINOIS in WINFIELD TOWNSHIP DUPAGE COUNTY ILLINOIS.

Winfield was extremely important to the Daleidens and Schlicks. This was a train stop on the Chicago west line between Chicago and West Chicago Illinois. It contained a blacksmith shop that was vital not only for horse shoes but also for tool and equipment repairs. The Village contained several stores and a meat market. Many local farmers would bring their cattle to the Schmidt Meat Market to be slaughter and processed for home. The stores primarily the Baum and Sanders Higgins Store, the coal and material yard. They could weigh their wheat or produce at the Higgins Store prior to being placed on a train to ship it for sale in Chicago. St Johns the Baptist Catholic Church and the St. Johns School were the vital center for the new German immigrants, many still speaking primarily German in their homes, in the Schools and during the Catholic Mass. The St Johns Catholic Cemetery was located i Winfield. This is where relatives were laid to rest. Among people laid to rest at St. Johns Cemetery include: Christopher and Margaret Daleiden, Michael and Susan Daleiden, William T. Daleiden, Katherine Daleiden and Christopher Armbrust, Casper and Susan Schlick and Agnes and John Schlick.

HAMPSHIRE in HAMPSHIRE TOWNSHIP KANE COUNTY ILLINOIS.

The town of Hampshire in Kane County was a vital merchantile center for the Schlicks for two or more generations. This was the town where their family’s Catholic Church was located St. Charles Borromeo (corner of Jefferson and Warner Street). Many religious milestones were marked at the church: Baptisms, First Communions, Confirmations, Marriages, and Funerals. Hampshire is also the location where many of the Schlicks have been laid to rest. Amongst family members buried at the St. Charles Borromeo Cemetery: Emma Schlick Umbdenstock. Odelia Schlick Reiser, Joseph Schlick Sr., Joseph Schick Jr., Anne Schlick Seyller and Rose Schlick Weberpal.

BURLINGTON in BURLINGTON TOWNSHIP KANE COUNTY ILLINOIS

The Village of Burlington was a key center of Schlick family work, social visits and activities. The Schlicks lived in this community and area beginning in the 1880s and continued up through the first half of 2022. Joseph and Mary Anne Schlick’s home at Main and Water Street that they built and moved into at the turn of the twentieth century still remains standing today. The Joseph Schlick Farmstead is also still standing outside of Burlington. The large barn on this property was known to hold large barn dances when the Schlicks lived on the property. Joseph was Mayor of the Village. He with others built sidewalks, roadways, and also the current Village Hall facility in the Village. The Village at one time hosted a Creamery and Dairy facility owned by the Ira J. Mix Dairy Co. Joseph L. Schlick, Jr. worked for a period of time for this Creamery.

WHEATON in MILTON TOWNSHIP DUPAGE COUNTY ILLINOIS

The City of Wheaton is the County seat for DuPage County. The former court house is still standing albeit it is now renovated into luxury condos. The DuPage County Agricultural Fair was held in Wheaton Illinois. The DuPage County Alms Farm House was once located on County Farm Road. Many of the Daleidens and Schlicks visited Wheaton many times either for business or pleasure. It is also where they filed many legal documents (such as probate records), attended court hearings surrounding estate settlements, in the filing of Naturalization Papers (Christopher Daleiden’s papers for naturalization are in the Court Archives) and were required to file birth, marriage and death certificates.

The Armbrusts owned businesses and properties in Wheaton. The family remains in the area today. They plated the subdivision of Pleasant Hill near the Chicago Aurora and Elgin Electrical Interurban Line. They are intermarried with the Schlick and the Daleiden families going back to the early 1850s. The Schlicks and Armbrust families were part of a group that founded St. Michael Catholic Church in Wheaton Illinois. Schlicks and Armbrusts are laid to rest in the St. Michael Cemetery in Wheaton. Amongst many of the family members buried in the Cemetery: Casper and Margaret Schlick and Martin Armbrust. This is the first generation of Schlick family members in America and DuPage County.

GRETNA in MILTON TOWNSHIP DUPAGE COUNTY ILLINOIS

The now ‘ghost‘ town of Gretna Illinois was once a farming community first of Irish immigrants and later German Immigrants. The religious centerpiece of this community was the Chicago Archdiocese Mission Church of St. Stephens. This church served per a Joliet Diocese website: “. . . the vast German Catholic parish of central DuPage County from Roosevelt Road north to the county line near Schaumburg. In 1867 St. John the Baptist Catholic Church was opened in Winfield to serve that growing area. The bishop ordered Saint Stephen closed, except for special services, with families transferred to St. John’s for worship.” Many of the German families living in the Winfield area attended this Mission Church so it is important for our family members in the Schlick and Daleiden family lines.

St Stephen’s Cemetery is still located near the former site of the Church building. The Milton Township Government and a volunteer group is in charge of preserving the Cemetery. It is a very interesting site to visit and is accessible off of the Chicago and Great Western Railroad former road bed now a walking and biking path that crosses Schmale Road in Carol Stream.

ST JOHN CATHOLIC CHURCH WINFIELD in WINFIELD TOWNSHIP DUPAGE COUNTY ILLINOIS