My wife recently contacted the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County (Illinois) to find out the fate of a memorial plaque dedicated to Joseph Schlick, my mother Louise Schlick’s brother who was killed in Vietnam in March of 1968.
Originally the stone/plaque was at the former Forest Preserve maintenance facility on Geneva/ Saint Charles Road in Glen Ellyn near what is now the Churchill Woods Forest Preserve. The stone and plaque was later moved to the second Forest Preserve Headquarters located off of Illinois Route 53 and south of Roosevelt Road in Glen Ellyn. When a new headquarters was built on the former Dan and Ada Rice Estate on Naperville Road south or Illinois Route 56/Butterfield Road in Wheaton the plaque was relocated near the main entrance to the new headquarter building.
My wife and I want to thank Dan Weeden the GIS Coordinator and Jeannine Kannegiesser Chief Partnership & Philanthropy Officer for the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County (Illinois) for locating it and for the photos and aerial map of the headquarters. Mystery solved!
For further information on Joseph Schlick see my previous blog entry on his life and service to the country.
Casper Francis Schlick was my great great grandfather. He was the son of Joseph Schlick of Burlington Illinois in Kane County. Casper grew up during the first part of his life in Burlington. He was born 17 August 1878 on his father’s farm located in Burlington Township in Kane County, Illinois.
Casper Schlick and his bride Susan (Daleiden) Schlick on their wedding day 1906.
Casper’s father was born December 1, 1855 in Prospect Park (now Glen Ellyn), Milton Township in DuPage County Illinois. His grandparents were both born in Bavaria, Casper Schlick and Margaret Weidner.
He had several brothers and sisters in his family.
The children of Joseph and Mary Anne (Armbrust) Schlick in 1906. This photo was taken at the Schlick home located at Main and Water Street in Burlingon Illinois.
Casper married Susan Daleiden on October 10, 1906. Susan was the daughter of Christopher and Margaret Weidner.
Joseph Schlick home in a 2023 photograph at the corner of Main and Water Street in Burlington, Kane County Illinois. The older photo above this photograph shows the family on the north facing porch.
Casper and Susan gave birth to their first child (a girl) on 20 February 1909 at 12:10 a.m. They were living on their farm northwest of Burlington in Kane County Illinois. However, I surmise that Susan may have given birth at her Mother and Father In-laws home (Joseph and Mary Anne Schlick) located at the corner of Main and Water Street in the Village of Burlington Illinois. The infant lived for only a half-hour. Apparently the baby died due to a “contracted pelvis of mother“. C.P. Reid was the attending Doctor and Undertaker. The baby was buried on 21 February 1909 at the St. Charles Barromeo Catholic Cemetery located on hill on Getzelman Road in Hampshire Illinois.
Casper and Susan’s infant daughter death certificate (Source: Kane County Clerk’s office Geneva Illinois).
Dr. C. P. (Charles Patrick) Reid, M.D. of Hampshire Illinois was the Schlick’s physician. He was “recognized as of the best physicians in the north part of Kane County. Dr. Reid was present during the birth of the infant child of Susan and Casper. Dr. Reid was born near Kingston, Frontenac County in Canada on 16 October 1848 and came with his parents to Kane County Illinois. His father was born near Glascow Scotland and hsi mother was born in Pennslyvania. Dr. Reid attended the Bennett Medical College in Chicago. He worked in Elgin for Dr. Kelly. (Source: The Biographical Record of Kane County Illinois. S.J. Clarke Publishing Co. 1898. page 28 – 29.)
In the next post I will cover Casper and Susan’s move to DuPage County and into Winfield Township on Mack Road.
The four volume Diary of Hiram E. Leonard is available for research at the Warrenville Public Library in Warrenville Illinois. [Schmidt, Leone. Diary of Hiram E. Leonard: [Mar. 31, 1843-Oct. 27, 1878] 1984-1991.].
The four blue covered bound volumes were meticulously transcribed and indexed by the late Warrenville City Historian Leone Schmidt. Schmidt and I worked together for several years to edit and publish the Warrenville Historical Society’s newsletter. Leone was recipient of the Illinois Humanities Council’s Studs Terkel Humanitarian Service Award in recognition of her body of written work and volunteerism in the City of Warrenville in documenting the City’s history.
Leone Schmidt, Warrenville Illinois City Historian.
The Diary entries of Hiram Leonard provide a glimpse into the life of an early resident of DuPage County and Winfield Township in Illinois. The Warrenville Historical Society has been publishing the diary entries in a blog for several years. While many of the entries are mundane and short several record the births, deaths and life events of Leonard’s neighbors, family members and associates.
Hiram Leonard (Photo: Warrenville Historical Society)
Leonard’s Diaries span the time period of March 31, 1843to October 27, 1878. In scanning the index to the diaries I located several entries that came to my attention for the following: Mack Family of Mack Road (neighbors of the Daleiden and Schlick family); Israel Mather (landowner whose heirs sold land to Michael and Christopher Daleiden in the mid to late 1860s; Jude Gary (owner of land that is now the St. James Farm Forest Preserve in Warrenville Illinois); the Fairbank family (neighbors of the Daleidens and hosts to escaped slaves on the underground railroad); the Galusha family (one of their homes and land would become part of St. James Farm). There are also entries on: Turner Illinois (West Chicago); Bloomingdale; the East Branch of the DuPage River; Danby, Illinois (Glen Ellyn) and Winfield Station (Winfield Illinois).
One entry was on the tragic death of Mrs. Louisa Henrietta Krebel Kline the wife of Caspar Kline. They owned a farm located just north of Winfield Illinois. Here is a photo of the page of this Diary entry. It provides a sample of Schmidt’s transcription work and an example of an entry one would encounter:
Hiram Leonard Diary entry for Saturday 5th of February 1876 detailing the death of Mrs. Casper Kline via a train accident. (Source: Leonard Diaries Warrenville Public Library District Collection).
The Christopher and Margaret Daleiden home in 2023. This home was formerly located just north on the same block that the newer St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Winfield Illinois. It was moved and relocated to this location.
Within the past year of two the former Christopher Daleiden home in Winfield was purchased by another family. The exterior of the home has been refurbished with new colors and siding. This home was once located just to the north of the St. John the Baptist Catholic Church old Chapel on Church Street. It’s address is: 27W156 Sunnyside Avenue, Winfield, Winfield Township, DuPage County, Illinois.
The former residence of Joseph and Mary Anne Schlick and James Weberpal was finally sold this past summer 2023 to a new owner. The home was originally built by Joseph Schlick in 1906. The home is located at 224 South Main Street, Burlington, Burlington Township, Kane County Illinois. The home had been on the market following the death of the last owner James “Jimmy” Weberpal.
Schlick Home Circa. 1906Schlick / Weberpal Home Summer 2023 prior to it being sold. This photo is of the north side of the home. The porch still attached to the home.
The Schlick / Weberpal home at Main and Water Street in Burlington Kane County Illinois. The home is shown in September 2023 with new siding and nice new blue color. It was sold in July 2023. Has more curb appeal and the porch looks great.
My father George Davis passed away in February 2020. My parents (Louise Eleanor Schlick and George) were married in August of 1959. Louise’s grandfather was Casper Schlick. Casper lived on Mack Road in Warrenville, Illinois.
When our relatives die we find ourselves mourning their loss. Another aspect of a relative passing away is the housekeeping and often mundane tasks that come with their passing. There may be estates to settled with our lawyers and the court system. On other tasks that needs to be done is going through their personal belongings they leave behind. What does one do with all of the stuff they leave behind?
My father left behind a few personal items of interest to my personal quest to pull together the fabric of his family’s history. At first it did not appear to be too many documents or letters left behind. However, I was wrong in my assumption. I have found several documents, and documentary paper fragments and many photos left behind as I began pulling together and reviewing materials this past summer.
George’s Grandmother Mary Agnes Adelsperger Davis was an important influential person in my father’s life. My dad spent most of his young life in the Englewood neighborhood on Chicago’s Southside. When things got rough at home Grandma Mary would be there to take my dad out of his cramped apartment and treat him to a meal and ice cream sundae at the the S.S. Kresge Co. lunch counter located near the Sears store at 63rd and Halsted. Afterwards, she would take him to see a show and movie at one of the many local theatres in the Englewood neighborhood.
My dad also recalls a train ride with Mary when he was twelve years old out west to Cody Wyoming to visit the Buffalo Bill Cody Wild West Museum and the National Parks. It was memorable trip. Memorable not only due to the places they visited but due to his Grandmother suffering a heart attack at one point during the trip. They had to stay longer than anticipated at a local hotel until she recovered enough to travel back to Chicago. The good news is that she did recover and both her and my father made it back to Chicago. I cannot imagine what my dad felt during this trip and at the age of twelve.
Through the use of Ancestry, Family Search and Newspapers.com websites I have begun to gather the treads of my father and his Adelsperger family line. Many of the fragments and threads still need to be sewn together.
This is what I know at this point of my research: “Mary Agnes Adelsperger [See photo below] was born on 21 August 1878, in Centre, Pennsylvania, United States, her father, Joseph Alexander Adelsperger, was 26 and her mother, Clara C Katen, was 20 at the time of her birth. Mary met and then married Stuart Vernon Davis on 27 April 1897, in Chicago, Cook, Illinois, United States. They were the parents of at least 1 son, George Germaine Davis. Prior to moving to Chicago Mary is shown on the 1880 Census as living in Rush Township, Centre, Pennsylvania, United States. Mary’s husband Stewart worked for the Chicago L line as a driver. Mary worked as a clerk for a local department store and later a cleaning person for a couple in the Beverly neighborhood area of Chicago. She died on 20 February 1958, in Chicago, Cook, Illinois, United States, at the age of 79, and was buried in Worth, Cook, Illinois, United States“. It was unfortunate that my father was not in Chicago to say farewell prior to her death. George had been drafted into the U.S. Army around the time of his Grandmother’s death and was deployed as a missile transport driver in Germany on the front lines of the Cold War.
One of the photos I ran across in one of the boxes my dad left behind was an Adelsperger Family photo. The photo was taken at Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Adelsperger’s golden wedding anniversary party held in Hammond Indiana at the Lyndora Hotel.
The Jospeh Adelsperger Family. Mary Agnes Adelsperger Davis is the fourth person from the left second row. The event was taken on the Adelsperger’s wedding anniversary in the 1920s. (Source: The George S. and Louise E. Davis Estate Archive).
Here is a list of the people in the above photograph. This information was obtained via a posting of the above photo in Ancestry.com entry for the Adelsperger family. Back row of photo: Helen Adelsperger Gruzella (Granddaughter), Florence Brase (sic Brose) Adelsperger (Wife of James Adelsperger, Frances Einbecker Adelsperger (Wife of James Katen Adelsperger), James Adelsperger (Grandson), Emma Adelsperger Carlson (Daughter) and husband Gus Carlson, Josephine Adelsperger Campbell (Daughter) and Husband Edwin Campbell, Adeline Adelsperger (Granddaughter) and Mabel Adelsperger (Granddaughter). Front row: Geraldine Adelsperger (Granddaughter), Frances Adelsperger (Granddaughter), Clara Katen Adelsperger, Joseph Alexander Adelsperger, Gus Carlson, Jr. (Grandson), and Evelyn Adelsperger (Granddaughter).
Hammond Times (Indiana) January 26, 1925, page 1 article on the Joseph Adelsperger’s wedding anniversary.
I will be posting more concerning my Adelsperger family line in the future.
I have spent a great deal of the past month listening to or attending lectures and workshops regarding genealogy and family history. On March 9, 2023, the Newberry Library (Chicago, Illinois) President Daniel Greene spoke with Leslie M. Harris, Professor of History at Northwestern University. Harris is the 2022-23 David L. Wagner Distinguished Fellow at the Newberry Library. I found that this discussion provides food for thought on how to think about the research we conduct and also how we put together our information in a digestible and interesting format for our readers and family members.
Academic historians have sometimes struggled to understand how local and family histories illuminate national histories. Are they just exceptional, or can they provide new insights into some of the most challenging historical questions?
Leslie M. Harris is among a group of historians who have turned to their own family and personal experiences as inspiration for writing history. In this program, Harris discussed what it means for her, as a professional historian, to draw on her family’s life in order to understand broader patterns in American history.
The David L. Wagner Distinguished Lectureship for Humanistic Inquiry Series is funded by David L. Wagner and Renie B. Adams. Here is a You Tube link to this lecture.
I am an avid fan of the writer and rural historian Jerry Apps of Wisconsin. Jerry Apps and daughter Susan Apps-Bodilly share memories and stories surrounding a cookbook they wrote based on Eleanor Apps’ (Jerry’s Mother’s) recipe box. The documentary recently aired on a PBS Public Television Station in Wisconsin. Here is the link to view this program. This program applies to my farm family history research of the Daleidens and Schlicks. I would like you to support Public Television by making a donation. I am a supporter of this educational source for WTTW – TV in Chicago Channel 11.
I am currently reviewing St. John the Baptist Roman Catholic and St Michaels Roman Catholic Church Records in Winfield and Wheaton Illinois U.S., Catholic Diocese of Joliet, Sacramental Records, 1800-1976. They have been scanned and are now posted on Ancestry.com. If you have a public library card and your library subscribes you can view the records via a library computer or you can pay for a subscription to Ancestry and view from home.
The sacramental records are true genealogical gold mines. They also provide proof as a primary source document of your ancestors birth, death, marrage, confirmation and baptism.
Here is a sample record of a record I located and downloaded. This is Casper Schlick’s burial record. He was buried in 1895. He is buried at St. Michael Catholic Cemetery in Wheaton DuPage County Illinois. He was the original Schlick that settled in DuPage County.
Here is the full page where the above record appears.
This past fall my daughter and I decided to take a bike ride around Winfield Illinois. We decided to ride the Path that goes through the High Lake Subdivision between Winfield and West Chicago. This path runs along the West Branch of the DuPage River south of Highlake Road in Winfield Illinois. The trail can be entered either just south of the Winfield and Geneva Road intersection or just off of Highlake Road to the west of the Winfield Fire Protection District Fire Station. The High Lake path is a path that connects east to the Winfield Road path to Prince Crossing Road on the west side where this section of the path ends prior to heading into the City of West Chicago.
Along the path route there is the following information sign posted with information on the history of the High Lake Subdivision. You can click on the image below to read the information and history.
The above ad was published in the Wheaton Illinoian during the development of the High Lake Subdivision west of Winfield Illinois. The ad touts the “Country Life with City Advantages” for families and individuals purchasing lots in the new subdivision. The ad also provides information on the Aurora, Elgin and Chicago Electric Railroad as a way to get to the subdivision from Chicago.
Schlick Daleiden Family DuPage/Kane Co. Blog 