Tag Archives: Cook County

The Short Life of Edward Gibis

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Edward J. Gibis, age 18

Edward J. Gibis, age 18

Edward J. Gibis is 18 in this handsome photo. He was the oldest son of John Gibis and Maria/Mary Libich. Born on October 2, 1913 he appears to have had a tragic end to his life.

The family, John, Maria, Edward, and younger brother Julius lived in Chicago from at least 1920-1940. That is where Edward, in 1931, was photographed at St. Michael Central High School here as a Senior. Father John worked mainly as a mail carrier for the US Post office. Edward was still living at home at age 26 in 1940. He worked as a shipping clerk. Younger brother Julius was married with a child, but still in Chicago.

Moving on, Edward enlisted in the Army on June 12, 1942; he was still single. Only one more piece of documentation follows Edward after that WWII enlistment record. A Rockford, Illinois newspaper article titled “Discharged Soldier in Fall from Train Dies.” That appeared on November 2, 1945.  The article states that Edward J. Gibis, son of Mr. and Mrs. John Gibis of Chicago fell from a New York Central Passenger train on his way home. He had been discharged from the army at Camp Atterbury, Indiana. How or why he fell is unknown. He died that evening at a Lafayette hospital. I’ve not found a death certificate or a burial record. The only odd thing is that the article says Edward was 20, when he would have been about 32.

Edward had no family of his own, but Julius lived until 1999 and had a large and loving family. Hopefully some of them will be interested in this long lost uncle.

Roy Clarke, at 15 he already looks like a future accountant

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Roy Clarke, Manierre School, 1910

Roy Clarke, Manierre School, 1910

Lest you think I’ve been focusing too heavily on the young ladies, here’s a male student from the Manierre school. Like his classmate, he was about 15 in this photo (born January 9, 1896) and lived in Ward 22. Roy Clarke was actually Leroy Rudolf Clarke, and yes he would grow up to be a bookkeeper (among other things).

Roy never married and had no children so I doubt there are any descendants searching for him, but he deserves a little history nonetheless. Roy was the son of John H. Clarke and Louise Dahnke. Born in Illinois, he had one older brother Harry. I don’t know if Harry ever married. In 1900 and 1910 the family lived in Ward 22 of Chicago where dad John was a teamster. In 1900 his aunt Alta also lived with them.

By 1920, Roy was working as a bookkeeper, still living with his parents, as was his brother. Both dad and brother were chauffeurs. 1930, in Ward 39 now, Roy was keeping books, Harry had moved on, but grandma Dahnke (maternal grandmother) lived with the family. She would die in 1935 and is buried in Montrose Cemetery in Chicago.

1940, maybe because of the depression, who knows, Roy was no long a bookkeeper but doing “odd jobs, house cleaning”. Even on his WWII draft reg card he listed his profession as “odd jobs”. This could not have been very fulfilling for the no-longer-so-young 44 year old Roy. He was still at home and unmarried.

According to the Social Security Death Index, Roy died in Peoria, IL in October of 1975. His brother had died about 10 years earlier in 1964.

Evelyn Klumpp: following the lure of California like many, but missing in 1900

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Evelyn Klumpp, 1910 Chicago (age 16)

Evelyn Klumpp, 1910 Chicago (age 16)

Evelyn Klumpp doesn’t look too happy in this 1910 Manierre school picture from 1910 Chicago. That’s right, we’re back to Ward 22 if you’ve followed any of the other Manierre school posts. But Evelyn wasn’t so easy to find. One, although Klumpp seems like a very unique name, the number of misspellings have made her harder to track down (Klemp, Klump, etc.). Two, her parents may have just divorced or her mother died before this photo – hard to know so her world was a bit topsy-turvey.

Here’s what I know: The year this photo was taken, 1910, Evelyn lived with her uncles (her father’s brothers) Albert, Edward, and Gustav Klumpp (spelled Klemp) in Ward 22 of Chicago. They are her uncles despite the fact that she’s listed as a sister rather than a niece on the census. According to her birth record, she was born to William and Mamie Klumpp on January 15, 1894 in Cook County, Illinois. You’ll find William with his brothers, sisters and parents in 1870 and 1880 in Cook county with all the same names and near same birth years listed as the 1910 census. A marriage record has William Klumpp marring Mary O’Brien in 1886.

BUT, we never see Evelyn in a census record with her parents – they seem utterly lost in 1900. The rest of her family (at least on her father’s side) is in – you guessed it – Ward 22 of Chicago. Grandpa Christopher, now a widow lives with son Edward. Christopher would die 2 years later. Uncle Albert and Gustav live together as well. Gustav would die in an Insane Hopstial in 1945, Albert died in 1932. All, including some sisters, are buried in Rose Hill cemetery in Cook co.

Now, based on father William’s parents (Christopher and Caroline Klumpp) we know that William died in Seneca, Ohio of all places in 1923 – he is listed as divorced on the death record. He is also in Seneca in 1920, and thank goodness he was living with daughter Evelyn. She and husband Milo Long married in 1912 (Klumpp/O’Brien are parents) in Indiana. That was just 2 years after this photo, Evelyn would have been 18. At some point, they moved to Ohio and cared for her father before his death. When and where mom went/died is unknown.

Evelyn and Milo with one son William continued to live in Seneca, Ohio at least through 1940. But at some point moved to California. Evelyn Long died on March 27, 1972 in Los Angeles. I’d love to solve the mystery of the location of the family in 1900!

Ralph Spitzer of Chicago, another son of German immigrants who fought the Germans

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Ralph Spitzer in 1931

Ralph Spitzer in 1931

Meet Ralph Spitzer, a classmate of Thomas Wirth from St. Michael’s Central high school in Chicago. Ralph was born in Illinois in 1913 to Max Spitzer and Sophie Mawicke. Max and his parents were all from Germany and immigrated to the US in the mid 1870s. Sophie’s parents were also German, but she was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. Ralph was the youngest of 5 siblings (Loretta, Florence, Dorothy, Robert, and Ralph). The family appears to have all lived and died in Chicago.

In 1931, the year of this photo, Ralph was in high school. After graduation he continued to live at home and worked as a shipping clerk for a clock manufacturer; he did not attend college it would appear. His mother died in 1939, and, with the war in full swing, Ralph joined the army in 1942. He married Rose in 1948 (the same year his father died), although I don’t know if they had any children. I hope they did, so there will be some descendants who care about this photo!

According to several sources, Ralph Spitzer died in Chicago in July of 1981. His parents are buried in Saint Boniface Cemetery in Chicago, but I’m not sure where or if Ralph is buried.

Best of luck Ralph!

Thomas Wirth of St. Michael’s Central High School in Chicago

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St. Michael Central High School, Chicago, 1931

St. Michael Central High School, Chicago, 1931

I LOVE when I get a “new” class photo that I’ve ordered. This week the 1931 class of St. Michael’s Central High School in Chicago came in. The “Central” is very important in order to differentiate it from St. Michael’s High school, which started co-ed but quickly became all girls. This school, it appears, was all boys, at least this class. Here’s a great site that gives some background on the school.

Thomas Wirth (1914-1939)

Thomas Wirth (1914-1939)

The first young man from the 1931 class that I will focus on is Thomas Wirth. In 1930, a year before this photo, Thomas lived with his parents and 2 sisters. He was 16, both his parents were born in Germany. His father, Joseph Wirth, was a elevator operation. His older sister Mary, named after their mother, was the only other worker in the house; she sold pianos and organs.

Looking back, in 1920 the family – with oldest son Joseph Jr. still at home – were still in Chicago. Mr. Wirth still operated elevators and Jospeh Jr. (age 22) was a bookkeeper for a railroad. The spacing of the children was interesting: 8 years between the 1st and 2nd, 8 years between the 2nd and 3rd, 4 years between the 3rd and 4th.

Thomas doesn’t show up in a census after 1930. It appears he died rather young, in 1939 at the age of 25 :( He was married to Erma Wirth. I’ve not found anyone searching for him. Not surprising given his young age when he died, but perhaps a niece or nephew or even a child of Erma’s who would be interested?

Julia Howard, “the hairdo” of Chicago Ward 22

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Julia Howard, 1910 class of Manierre School in Chicago

Julia Howard, 1910 class of Manierre School in Chicago

This one is not as cut and dry as I like. There are two real possibilities for a Julia Howard who lived in Chicago in 1910 – the date that this graduating class from Manierre School in Chicago was taken. One of them, (Julia 1) is the daughter of James and Margaret, born in 1893; the other (Julia 2) is the daughter of Julia F. Howard and unknown father born about 1894.

I believe Julia 2 is our woman. For one thing, she lives in Ward 22. I know, I know! I may be putting too much weight on Ward 22 – which is where all the other children from this class that I’ve researched have been from. It is a compelling factor at this point. But that can’t be the only reason I choose her. Julia 1 lives in Ward 31. Now, considering I’m not completely sure where the Manierre school was at this time it’s hard to know who lived closer. In 1910 Ward 22 and Ward 31 were not really close to one another. Therefore, unlikely that someone would live in Ward 22 for example and school in Ward 31.

Julia 1 also was listed as working at a grocery store in 1910. The census was taken in April of that year, when school would have likely still been in session. Although, true the picture may have been taken earlier and she may have been working in the afternoons, etc., etc. There are many reasons why Julia 1 may still be our girl. For the sake of Ward 22 I’m going with Julia 2!

In 1910, when this picture was taken, Julia 2 was about 17. She and her brother Walter lived as lodgers with the family of Ellen Rowan. In 1900 she and Walter lived with their mother and another brother named Kirby who was 15 at the time. They lived in Ward 11 in 1900 (not to far from Ward 22). In 1904 Julia’s mother, also named Julia, died of natural causes. Older brother Kirby, and Julia 2 for that matter, have not been found in any other documentation other than those census records. I don’t know what happened to Julia’s father – he doesn’t appear in the picture ever. And I don’t know her mother’s maiden name. So much still not known – and no one searching for this beauty that I can tell.

With that wonderful hairdo too! Good luck Julia.