Mappy Monday: 1043 Sherman Avenue, Evanston, Illinois, August 2017

Here are some photos of the house my great-grandfather John Pape (1851-1945) built in 1893 at 1043 Sherman Avenue, Evanston, Illinois, as of August 10, 2017.

 Here is the front of the house as viewed from Sherman Avenue. To your left (while looking at the house) is the corner house, 1045 Sherman (more about it in a future post).

Below is the back north side of the house as viewed from Greenleaf Avenue.  Again, 1045 Sherman appears in the foreground - it is being renovated.  You can see in the photo below that later owners apparently added a back deck pergola. 

The view below is from the entrance to the alley behind the houses, off Greenleaf Avenue:

And this shot was taken from the alley, looking over the top of the backyard gate:

The garage originally built in 1920 has been rebuilt or remodeled a number of times over the years, including a conversion from frame to stucco at some point and then apparently back to frame (there were a number of building permits for the garage in the house file for 1043 Sherman at the Evanston History Center, I just did not have time to study or copy them all). Through at least 1975, the doors faced Sherman Avenue, but sometime after that the garage was reconfigured so that the doors faced the alley, as pictured below.  The garage was also expanded from one-car to two-car before 1975.

Here is a close-up of the second floor as viewed from the front of the house on Sherman Avenue:

You can see in the photo below the old driveway that once led to the garage when it opened towards Sherman.  I also thought the bay-like area on the south side of the house was an interesting feature:

And here are a couple views of the front of the house.  The stairway has been reconfigured to be parallel to the front porch, rather than perpendicular to it.

And here is a close-up of the front porch area.  These photos will show up again in future posts.

And here is a map locating 1043 Sherman (from the City of Evanston's Property Browser):

© Amanda Pape - 2017 - click here to e-mail me.

Sentimental Sunday: 1893 Building Permit for 1043 Sherman Ave., Evanston, Illinois

Another day trip in our a week-long visit to Chicago was to another north-side suburb, Evanston.  My German immigrant great-grandfather, John Pape (1851-1945), was settled there by 1882.  His home according to the 1882-3 Evanston City Directory was on the "w[est] s[ides] Sherman av s[outh of] Greenleaf."

The 1883 directory, which includes separate listings for the village of South Evanston, says his home was at "Sherman ave se cor[ner] Greenleaf." By the 1889 & 1890 directories, it is "e[ast] s[ide] Sherman av 2d s Greenleaf."  The abbreviation "d" is not explained in the guide, but I think this must mean two doors south of Greenleaf.  That's where 1043 Sherman Avenue, the house my great-grandfather lived in from at least 1894 through at least 1925, was located.

I'd always wondered if my great-grandfather, who started out as a carpenter, built that house.  Now, thanks to the Research Room & Archives at the Evanston History Center, I know that he did (click on documents throughout this post to enlarge them):

I found these documents in the house file for 1043 Sherman, containing old city records (such as building permits and inspection reports) and real estate listings.  The "Application for Building Permit" above and the "Permit Granted" form below were the oldest in the file, dated April 7, 1893.  The two-story with basement house (apparently designed by John Pape, as well) would have nine rooms and be 28 feet wide, 35 or 35.5 feet deep, and 30 feet tall.  It would include a water closet with sink, bathtub, and toilet bowl, be heated by steam, and lighted by gas.   The total cost of building was estimated to be $800, and the mason was James Wigginton.  The legal description of the property at the time referred to the south quarter of Lot 2 of the J. M. Meyers Subdivision (lot 6 according to the tax accessor).  The building permit cost $2.

Apparently there was an additional fee to pay for water service, based on the amount of brick and plaster used in the house, according to a note on the back of the previous document:

The next form is a bit puzzling.  Although the date written on it is April 7, 1893, it is written on a form printed for the 1920s.  It doesn't tell us anything new, and some of the details (depth of house, and subdivision name) are slightly different - perhaps information copied incorrectly from the original permit:

The file also contained a building permit, below, dated November 8, 1920,  to add a frame garage, 12 feet wide, 18 feet deep, and 11 feet 6 inches high, to cost $80.  This structure had its owner, John Pape, as architect and carpenter.  Interestingly, though, this form and the next one are both signed "John Pape per L. J. Pape," L. J. being son Lee John Pape (1893-1979), also a carpenter.

The back of the previous form had a rough sketch showing the relationship of the garage (the small rectangle at the back of the lot) to the house (the large rectangle on Sherman Avenue):

The building permit was issued (below), the permit costing $1.08 (one dollar plus one-tenth of one percent of the cost of the building):

The other document I copied from the house file was a circa-1975 real estate listing.  By this point in time, the house had been divided into three 4-5 room apartment units, likely one on each floor, but each with a bathroom and a range.  The two-car garage was rented separately, and the total monthly income was $624.  Estimated expenses included taxes of $692.73, insurance of $192.60, and electricity, gas heat, and water bills likely passed on to the tenant.  The asking price was $49,500.

And here is a photograph of the house, circa 1975, from the other side of the real estate listing.  Note the garage to the right, near the back of the lot.

Finally, the Evanston History Center also had a large file cabinet with "house cards," "index cards with basic information noted by other researchers."  Here is the one for 1043 Sherman.  You'll note that according to the 1894 city directory, a molder, Carl Wegener, and his wife Elsie also lived in the house.  I'll be doing some more research on Carl to find the connection.  Around 1900, the Pape family was living in a house closer to the Senge & Pape Dry Goods store on Armitage in Chicago, and they rented out the house at 1043 Sherman.  John and Gertrude's children got separate listings in the city directories as they reached adulthood.

Someone had handwritten a note "nothing in CBR [city building records?] to indicate when built.  Here in 1893."  Apparently that notation was made before the 1893 permit was put in the file.  I'd like to know what, then, was used to determine that the house was "here in 1893."  Also, why does an arrow go from the handwritten "1889D" (D in this case meaning directory) to John's name?  The 1889 directory says only  "Pape John carpenter  r e[ast-]s[ide] Sherman av 2d s Greenleaf."  The house next door at the corner of Greenleaf, 1045 Sherman, is designated an Evanston historical landmark and was supposedly built by a Luxembourg immigrant in the 1880s.

Could it be the house was actually built before 1893, and the permit was issued retroactively?  Materials in the house files at the Evanston History Center only go back to 1893.  Maybe another trip to the Evanston History Center for more research is in my future!

ETA 29 March 2020:  See an update to this post here.

© Amanda Pape - 2017 - click here to e-mail me.

Sentimental Sunday: 1893 Building Permit for 1043 Sherman Avenue, Evanston, Illinois - Revisited

A little over a month ago, I was contacted by one of the current owners of the house my great-grandfather,  John Pape (1851-1945), lived in from at least 1882 to at least 1925, at 1043 Sherman Avenue in Evanston, Illinois.  She'd discovered my posts in this blog related to the house.  In talking with her, I decided to revisit my earlier post about the building permit for this house.

First, the grantor-grantee index for this plat from the Cook County Recorder of Deeds office indicates John Pape acquired the lot in September 1882 (see the last line) from developer John H. Connor:

According to Connorton's Evanston Directory, 1882-83, the home of John Pape was on the "w[est] s[ide of] Sherman av s[outh of] Greenleaf."  The 1883 directory, which includes a separate listing for the village of South Evanston, says his home was at "Sherman ave se cor[ner] Greenleaf." By the 1889 and 1890 directories, it is "e[ast] s[ide] Sherman av 2d s Greenleaf."  The abbreviation "d" is not explained in the guide, but I think this must mean two doors south of Greenleaf.

In the 1893 directory, the address is "207 Sherman ave s" which was its address in South Evanston, platted in 1868 and incorporated as a village in 1873.  In 1892, South Evanston was annexed into Evanston, which was incorporated as a city. The new city began issuing building permits in October 1892 and renumbered the entire street system in 1893.  The address is given as 1043 Sherman Avenue in the 1894 directory.

I had always wondered if my great-grandfather, who started out as a carpenter, built that house.  I think he may have - but I don't know for sure, given that the house existed before the city started issuing building permits.  It turns out that I missed a detail on the April 1893 building permit I found at the Research Room and Archives at the Evanston History Center in August 2017.  The permit wasn't for a house; it was for "house impvt" - improvements! (Click on documents throughout this post to enlarge them):

The "Application for Building Permit" above and the "Permit Granted" form below were the oldest in the file for this address, and were both dated April 7, 1893.  The two-story with basement improvements (apparently designed as well as built by John Pape) would have nine rooms and be 28 feet wide, 35 or 35.5 feet deep, and 30 feet tall.  It would include a water closet with sink, bathtub, and toilet bowl, be heated by steam, and lighted by gas.   The total cost of building was estimated to be $800, and the mason was James Wigginton.  The legal description of the property at the time referred to the south quarter of Lot 2 of the J. M. Meyers Subdivision (lot 6 according to the tax accessor).  The building permit cost $2.

Apparently there was an additional fee to pay for water service, based on the amount of brick and plaster used in the house, according to a note on the back of the previous document:

The next form is a bit puzzling.  Although the date written on it is April 7, 1893, it is written on a form printed for the 1920s.  It doesn't tell us anything new, and some of the details (depth of house, and subdivision name) are slightly different - perhaps information copied incorrectly from the original permit:  

In retrospect, I think this might have been some sort of card originally filed on its side in a box, based on the data in the left margin, and the fact that there's a card with similar printing for the 1920 addition of a separate frame garage (see the original post for more on that permit).

There was no Sanborn map for this property prior to 1893.  However, I found similar type of map for 1891 at the Historic Map Works website in a set called "Chicago Suburban Maps, Cook County, Ill's. published by the Central Map, Survey and Publishing Co. 148-154 Monroe Street, Chicago. August 1891."  The original maps are available at the Library of Congress.

The relevant map is Sheet 22.  Here's an enlargement, below with location outlined in red (click on the image to make it larger).  Note that the address is off, it should be 207; the correct 206 is across the street.  Note also that the house (marked with a D) is only one story.  The smaller building in the back left-hand corner of the lot is identified as a kitchen.

The image below is from the 1899 Sanborn map available from the Library of Congress (rotated to match the orientation of the map above).  The lot at 1043 Sherman is outlined in red.  The house is now mostly 2.5 stories with a bigger footprint.  You can clearly see the bay extension on the right side, visible in the photographs further down in this post.  There's still a one-story building in the back left-hand corner of the lot, but that is gone by 1920.

Below is a photograph of the house, circa 1975, from a real estate listing that was in the file at the Evanston History Center.  Note the garage to the right, near the back of the lot.  The current owner tells me the garage is gone, and that she removed the dormers visible along the roof on the right.  The stairway to the front door has also been reconfigured.

These changes can be seen in my 2017 photo below:

It's not clear to me if John Pape, in 1893, just added on to the existing house at 1043 Sherman Avenue, or if he tore it down and started over.  Hopefully the current owner might find some clues about that.  Watch for future posts about interesting things she found inside the house!


© Amanda Pape - 2019 - e-mail me!

Surname Saturday: PAPE Cousin Bait - part 4

For the past three Saturdays, I have shared a letter written by my great aunt Martha Elisabeth Pape Bleidt (1890-1980), my paternal grandfather's older sister, in 1969.  She sent it to a distant cousin, Lawrence Pape, who'd found me through this blog.

Aunt Martha's letter started out "Grandfather Pape [Jacob Pape, and his wife Elisabeth Gierse] had 4 sons:  John - Joseph - Anton - Lawrence."

The first three parts of the letter talked about Joseph, Anton, and Lawrence (or Laurenz or Lorenz).  The last part is about the oldest son, John, who is my great-grandfather and Martha's father.

Transcription:  John Pape had three wives.  John Pape and his first wife had 2 daughters.  The mother and the two children passed away.  Then John went back to Germany and married Gertrude Kramer and came back to Evanston, Illinois.  They had 7 children.  Clara, Martha, Rhea, Leo, Paul, Dick, and Walter.  Clara, Rhea, Dick, and Walter are not married.  Leo married Gretchen Reis and she has passed away.  Paul is married to Betty Massmann and they have 5 children and 28 grandchildren.  I, Martha, was married to Charles Bleidt (who passed away 10 years ago) and we had 3 children.  Now I have 7 grandchildren and 4 great grandchildren.  I hope this gives you the information you desire.  Martha Pape Bleidt (over) - My father's third wife was Henrietta Reimer (We called her Aunt Agnes).  She passed away in 1937.  My father passed away March 9 - 1945."

--

John (born Johannes) Pape was born October 25, 1851, in Bödefeld, Westphalia, Germany, and baptized in the Roman Catholic Church three days later.  He apparently served in the Kaiser's army sometime before emigrating to the United States about 1880 (according to three US Census records) or 1881 (according to the 1930 Census).  I have not yet found him on a passenger list, nor any definitive naturalization records - John Pape is a more common name than I thought.

I was aware of John's first wife from the probate for my Uncle Walt, who died intestate in late December, 1975.  The 1910 Census also indicates he had this first marriage, and the 1930 Census indicates he was 28 when it occurred, which would have been about 1879..  I don't know the name of this wife or the two daughters, nor when they died.  It's not clear from Aunt Martha's letter whether these deaths occurred before or after John came to America. [ETA - I now know the names, and that the deaths occurred in 1886 and 1887.  More on this in a future post.]

However, by 1882-1883, John is living in Evanston, Illinois, according to that city directory, working as a carpenter with a home on the west side of Sherman Avenue, south of Greenleaf.

According to Martha's letter, John went back to Germany and married his second wife, Gertrude Kramer (or Cramer, 1859-1919), around 1888.  They came back to Evanston and had seven children.

According to the 1890 Census and city directories, they lived at 1043 Sherman Avenue in Evanston through 1899.  John moved from being a carpenter to a partnership in Senge & Pape Dry Goods.  In 1900, the U.S. Census shows the family living at 1072 (now 1943) Lawndale Avenue on the north side of Chicago, and John is a dry goods merchant at nearby 889 (now 3060) Armitage (with Senge & Pape). The family's house at 1043 Sherman Avenue in Evanston was rented out.  By 1904, according to the Evanston city directory, the family is back at the Sherman Avenue address, where they remained through at least 1925 (according to a city directory).  Gertrude died there of liver cancer on August 20, 1919, according to her death certificate (Martha does not note her death in this letter).

On the 1930 Census, John is living with his third wife, Hedwige (not Henrietta) Agnes Burkhardt Reimer (1872-1937), at 1949 Lunt in Chicago, not far from his son Paul (at 2093 Lunt).  According to the 1940 Census, John is living in Chicago in 1935, and at 3648 N. Hoyne in Chicago in 1940 with his single sons Walter and Dick (and around the corner from daughter Martha Pape Bleidt at 2043 Waveland).  John died at this address of liver cancer on March 9, 1945.  John and Gertrude are buried at St. Henry's Cemetery in Chicago. 

Standing, from left:  Lee Pape, Walter Pape, unknown priest, Dick Pape
Seated, from left:  Paul Pape, Elizabeth Massmann Pape, Martha Pape Bleidt, Clara Pape

Rhea Pape

The picture above includes six of the seven Pape siblings, the children of John and Gertrude Kramer Pape.   Clara M. Pape (1889-1975), Martha Elisabeth Pape Bleidt (1890-1981),  Leo John "Lee" Pape (1893-1979), Paul Robert Pape (1896-1970), Otto Richard "Dick" Pape (1898-1972), and Walter Francis Pape (1900-1975).  Third child and daughter Rhea Maria Pape (1892-1977) is not in the picture above; perhaps she took it (it was provided by her granddaughter).  I've included a photo of Rhea at left that may have been from approximately the same time (this was also provided by her granddaughter).

At the time Martha wrote the letter in 1969 or early 1970, she had three children (a son, daughter, and older stepdaughter), seven grandchildren (two of these were step-grandchildren, and there was one more grandson born in 1973), and four great-grandchildren (at that point).  While she mentions brother Paul's five children and 28 grandchildren as of 1970, she forgets to mention Rhea's daughter Patricia Pape Hunter Parks (perhaps because Pat died in auto accident in 1967), and Pat's five daughters and two granddaughters at that point.

I've written about Martha, Rhea, Lee, and Paul and their spouses and children in previous posts - I will write about the single, childless ones - Clara, Dick, and Walter - in future posts.

© Amanda Pape - 2013 - click here to e-mail me.

Indexing Insights - Helping to Make the 1940 US Census Searchable by Name

So far I've indexed 16 batches of 1940 Census pages. Not much, I know, but I was out of town all of last week at a conference (more on that in later posts), and I work full time 30 miles from my home.  I am still looking for my husband's father (in Corpus Christi, Texas), a paternal great-grandfather (in Cook County, Illinois), and a maternal great-grandmother (somewhere in Louisiana), so those are the states I've been working on.

Last night I was excited to find Illinois indexing still in Cook County, but specifically in Evanston (where I was born and where much of my family is from)!  This is where my dad says that great-grandfather was living in 1940.  It was fun to come across two streets I was familiar with: 

One is Sherman Avenue (above).  This is from the 1700 block, near the intersection with Clark.  My great-grandfather, John Pape, lived at 1043 Sherman, near the intersection with Greenleaf, from at least 1882 through at least 1920.  His brother Anton Pape (and later Anton's widow Kate) lived a block north at 1131 Sherman, near the intersection with Crain, from at least 1889 through at least 1920.

The other was Central Street (below).  My grandparents, Paul and Elizabeth Massmann Pape, lived on Hastings at Central in the 1960s.  This is a few blocks away, near the intersection with Hurd:

It was interesting to me how both of these areas had immigrants from everywhere - Belgium, Russia, England and Sweden are visible in the page snippets shown here.  Sherman Avenue, in particular, still held many working class immigrants' homes in 1940, just as it did in the 1880s when my great-grandfather came here from Germany.

Another indexing insight:  how difficult transcription can be!  The two samples above are pretty readable, but the arbitrator did not always agree with my interpretations of the handwriting.  Even printing, which I prefer (both to read and to write myself), was open to misinterpretations (is that Nethercot or Wethercot?):

What I really love about indexing is the freedom to choose the state or states you want to work in.  It's fun to run across places you are already familiar with (if only from your research)!

You can see a little bit of what indexing looks like from the first two images in this post.  It's really very easy!  To make the 1940 Census searchable by name, the 1940 Census Community Project  needs all the volunteer indexers it can get.  Click the link to find out how you can help.  There are even contests you can enter at the project's blog.

Don't let indexing scare you!  Every page of the census is transcribed by two volunteers, and reviewed by yet another, called an arbitrator. You can review a page after it's arbitrated and learn from your mistakes.  Sometimes it's not a mistake, just a difference in interpretation of the handwriting, and arbitrators are often more experienced in reading this than less-experienced indexers like me.

© Amanda Pape - 2012 - click here to e-mail me.

[Disclosure:  As part of the1940census.com Ambassador Program, this post enters me into a drawing for an Amazon Kindle Fire.]

A Christmas Card from Oregon, c. 1928 - 1942

Among the many photos and scanned items my second cousin Bill shared with me from his grandmother's collection was that of this Christmas card, pictured at left.

At the top it says "Portland, Oregon" and "Merry Xmas,"  at the bottom it is signed "From Mr. &  Mrs. Ewald T. Pape."  This card was folded such that just the home showed, and placed in a frame and hung on the wall somewhere.

Ewald Theodore Pape is the son of Lorenz (or Laurenz) Pape, the youngest brother of my great-grandfather John Pape, and youngest son of Jacob and Elizabeth Gierse Pape. Ewald was born on 10 December 1894 in Dusseldorf, Westphalia, Germany.

Ewald came to New York from Bremen on 4 December 1913 on the Friedrich Der Grosse, with his brother Joseph (or Josef) Anton and sisters Mary (or Maria) and Nellie (or Petronella). He listed his father Lorenz, living at 1043 Sherman Avenue in Chicago (the home of John & Gertrude Pape and family), as the family member he was joining. Lorenz had arrived on 27 May 1913 in Boston on the Marquette out of Antwerp, Belgium, accompanied by sons Karl (or Carl) James and August Peter, and going to the home of John Pape (again at 1043 Sherman Avenue). Karl/Carl and Joseph/Josef had apparently originally immigrated in 1909, arriving on August 31 in New York City on the Kroonland out of Antwerp, Belgium. The passenger list shows them as going to join their uncle Johann Pape at 1043 Sherman Avenue in Evanston, Illinois.

According to Nellie/Petronella's obituary, Karl/Carl James, Joseph/Josef Anton, Mary/Maria, August Peter, Ewald Theodore, and Nellie/Petronella (born in that order) apparently had one more sister named Margaret, but it is not yet known when and where she was born. There was also a brother named Lorenz Jr. who apparently stayed in Germany, according to the obituary. According to their passenger list, the nearest relative in the country of origin for Karl and August is their mother Maria at 37 Benderstrasse in Dusseldorf, but she is listed as the stepmother (same address) for Ewald, Nellie, Maria, and Joseph on their passenger list. This may not be correct, as both August's and Joseph's death records (Illinois Deaths and Stillbirths, 1916 - 1947, from FamilySearch) show their mother as Henrietta Kamp, also born in Duesseldorf.  Lorenz is listed as married on the 1920 census in Port Edwards, Wisconsin, but no wife is listed on the form, so she may have stayed in Germany.

Ewald was single and living in Wilmette, Illinois, in 1917; and in Port Edwards, Wisconsin, in 1920. He married his wife Alma D. (born 8 August 1898 in Wilmette, Illinois) on 23 November 1923 in Vancouver, Washington, and their son Albert T. was born 20 March 1928 in Portland, Oregon. They were living in Portland, Oregon, in 1930. Ewald still has a Portland address in 1936 (naturalization) and 1942 (World War II registration). Ewald died 29 May 1976 and Albert on 29 May 2003, both in Downey (L.A. County), California, while Alma died 13 Feb 1983 in Maywood (L. A. County), California.

According to Bill, "4416 Mozart" is written on the back of the card - probably an address.  I can't find that address in Portland, Oregon - but I can in Chicago, Illinois!  And amazingly, the house there on the Google Maps street view looks very similar to the one in the picture!  On the 1930 census, Ewald is listed as an architect, so perhaps he designed the house pictured.

© Amanda Pape - 2010

Friday's Faces From the Past: 1043 Sherman Avenue, Evanston, Illinois: ABT 1905 and 2017

I superimposed a photograph from about 1905 of my great-grandmother, Gertrude Kramer (or Cramer) Pape (1859-1919) with her children and niece, on the front steps of their home at 1043 Sherman Avenue, Evanston, Illinois, onto a present-day photograph of that home, which my great-grandfather John Pape (1859-1945) built in 1893:





I think those in the top row are (from the left) Gertrude's daughter Martha Elisabeth Pape Bleidt (1890-1981, standing), niece Emma Genevieve Pape Childs (ABT 1885-ABT 1937, sitting), Gertrude, and daughter Rhea Maria Pape (1892-1977, standing).

Those in the bottom row are my grandfather Paul Robert Pape (1896-1970, standing), his younger brothers Walter Francis Pape (1900-1975) and Otto Richard "Dick" Pape (1898-1972, both sitting), his oldest sister Clara M. Pape (1889-1975, sitting), and his older brother Leo John "Lee" Pape (1893-1979, standing).  No idea about the dog.

And here is the "present-day" photo in full, from August 10, 2017, about 112-113 years after the sepia-toned photo was taken, probably in 1904 or 1905.

© Amanda Pape - 2017 - click here to e-mail me.

Sentimental Sunday: 1043 Sherman Avenue, Evanston, Illinois, 1918 and 2017

I superimposed a photograph of my great-grandparents, John Pape (1851-1945) and Gertrude Kramer (or Cramer) Pape (1859-1919) along with three of their four sons, probably from December 1918, standing in front of their home at 1043 Sherman Avenue, Evanston, Illinois, onto a present-day photograph of that home, which John built in 1893:

From left to right, the sons, standing in front in uniform, are my grandfather Paul Robert Pape (1896-1970), his younger brother Walter Francis Pape (1900-1975) and his older brother Leo John "Lee" Pape (1893-1979). Walter is recorded as having enlisted in the Army on October 5, 1918, and released November 14 of that year.  Lee served in the Navy from July 19, 1917 to February 15, 1919.  I could not find a record, but it appears that Paul served in the Navy as well.

And here is the "present-day" photo in full, from August 10, 2017, almost 99 years after the black-and-white photo was taken, probably in December 1918.

© Amanda Pape - 2017 - click here to e-mail me.

Wordless Wednesday: On the Front Steps of 1043 Sherman Avenue, Evanston, Illinois, 1918 and 2017

I superimposed a photograph of my great-grandparents, John Pape (1851-1945) and Gertrude Kramer (or Cramer) Pape (1859-1919) standing in front of their home at 1043 Sherman Avenue, Evanston, Illinois, onto a present-day photograph of that home, which John built in 1893:

And here is the "present-day" photo in full, from August 10, 2017, almost 99 years after the black-and-white photo was taken, probably in December 1918.

© Amanda Pape - 2017 - click here to e-mail me.

Sentimental Sunday - Pape Family, circa 1902-1905

This photograph was sent to me by my newly-found second cousin Debby.  The only person in the photograph that I, personally, can identify with certainty is the woman sitting on the top row of the steps on the right.  That is my great-grandmother, Gertrude Kramer Pape (1859-1919).  Debby's notes say the others in the top row are (from the left) Gertrude's daughters Martha Elisabeth Pape Bleidt (1890-1981), Clara M. Pape (1889-1975), and Rhea Maria Pape (1892-1977).

Rhea was Debby's grandmother and she may well have identified herself and her sisters - although I have to wonder why she did not identify her brothers as well.  I suspect this picture is like so many others that gets passed down - there's no identifying information on it at all, and the identifications of the daughters may be based more on clues from other photos.  Debby also has the picture of the Pape family I posted some time ago, and knew who the daughters were in that photo, but not the sons.

If three of the girls in the photo are Gertrude's daughters, I suspect the four boys are all her sons.  Just based on size and age, I think they are, from left, my grandfather Paul Robert Pape (1896-1970), Walter Francis Pape (1900-1975), Otto Richard "Dick" Pape (1898-1972), and Leo John "Lee" Pape (1893-1979).  Walter, the youngest, looks to be somewhere between age 2 and age 5 in this photo, meaning it was taken sometime between 1902 and 1905.  It was taken, perhaps by Gertrude's husband, my great-grandfather John Pape, outside their home at 1043 Sherman in Evanston, Illinois - because the steps, porch, and front door look the same as in another photo about 15 years later.

That leaves one more girl in the picture.  Who is she?  She could just be an unidentified neighbor or friend.

One theory I have is that one of the girls is our elusive Emma Genevieve Pape Childs (ABT 1885-ABT 1937), the first cousin of the Pape children in this picture.  If this photo was taken in 1902, she would have been about 17.  Emma may have been born as late as 1887, but that would still make her older than Gertrude's oldest child, Clara.  I think Emma may be the one sitting next to Gertrude.  Note that they are wearing nearly the same thing - maybe they both clerked in my great-grandfather John Pape's store (Senge & Pape Dry Goods at 889 Armitage in Chicago, from at least 1900 through about May 1904; after that Pape Dry Goods at 6949 N. Clark in Chicago).  I think Clara is the girl sitting next to the dog.

Emma's parents Regina Allers and Anton Pape died in 1887 and 1893 respectively, and I think Emma was very close to Gertrude and John (she later named two of her children for them). Emma's stepmother Kate lived just down the street from John and Gertrude, at 1131 Sherman in Evanston, from at least 1895 to at least 1920.

© Amanda Pape - 2012 - click here to e-mail me.

Church Record Sunday: St. Nicholas Records, 1888-1929

Here are some Pape family records I found from the early years of St. Nicholas Catholic Church in Evanston, Illinois, mostly through FamilySearch.org.

The earliest family record - and the third recorded marriage at the church - is the second third marriage of my great-grandfather John Pape's brother Anton, to Catherine/Katherine Regina Hoffman on May 8, 1888:

Next, on August 15, 1889, there is the baptism of John and Gertrude Kramer Pape's oldest daughter, Clara Martha.  Catherine Hoffman Pape was her godmother:

This was followed a little over a year later with the baptism of second child Martha Elizabeth on October 26, 1890:

Then Maria Gertrude (always known as Rhea) on September 18, 1892; Catherine Hoffman Pape's sister Maria was her godmother:

Then the first son, Lee Henry, on January 7, 1894 (Catherine Hoffman Pape's sister Cecilia was his godmother; godfather Henry Hoffman is probably related too):

Followed by my grandfather, Paul Jacob (known as Paul Robert) on July 12, 1896 (Jacob Hoffman, probably kin to Catherine Hoffman Pape, was his godfather):

Then by Otto Joseph (known as Otto Richard or Dick) on November 13, 1898:

Notice the change in priests between 1896 and 1898?  According to the July 8, 2012, church bulletin, "In 1897, July 9 was a Friday, and the thermometer in Chicago reached 105 degrees Fahrenheit. Newspapers of the day noted that throughout the Midwest, people suffered 'prostrations' and even 'hysteria' from the heat. Father Otto Groenebaum, since 1887 the founding pastor of ...St. Nicholas..., died suddenly. He was 59. His death was attributed to the heat."  Also, on February 3, 1898, the original church building burned, so Otto/Dick was baptized in some other building.

Youngest son Walter Frank was not baptized at St. Nicholas; instead, he was baptized at St. Philomena in Chicago.  By 1899, John Pape was in business with Frank J. Senge at 883/885/889 Armitage Avenue in Chicago, Senge & Pape dry goods merchants.  On the 1900 census (taken in June), the family has rented out their home at 1043 Sherman Avenue in Evanston and are renting a home in Chicago, close to the store.  Two months later, Walter is born and baptized at St. Philomena with Frank Senge as his godfather. Oldest child Clara probably had her first communion at St. Philomena as well. 

The May 1904 issue of The Clothier and Furnisher indicates that Senge bought out John Pape at the Armitage address.  Therefore, I expect that John Pape and family had left Chicago by then, if not sooner.  Sure enough, they show up at 1043 Sherman in the 1904 Evanston City Directory, and second child Martha has her First Communion at St. Nicholas on May 29, 1904.  Younger brother Lee's First Communion is also recorded in this spread of the church register, on April 22, 1906:

Martha Elisabeth Pape on her First Communion Day, May 29, 1904

Meanwhile, Hugo Aloysius Pape, the son of Anton Pape from his first marriage to Regina Elisasbeth Allers, marries Josephine Didier (daughter of Michael and Margaretha Didier), on June 20, 1905, at St. Nicholas.  Jacob Hoffman shows up once again, this time as a witness:

Maria (Rhea) Pape and Paul Pape celebrate their First Communions on April 22, 1906, and May 2, 1909 (the Feast of St. Joseph, then celebrated on the third Sunday after Easter, which fell on April 11), respectively:

The four oldest Pape children (Clara, Martha, Rhea, and Lee) were all confirmed at St. Nicholas on October 28, 1906.  Note their confirmation names and sponsors below.  Clara's sponsor was her older first cousin, Emma Genevieve Pape, daughter of Anton and Regina.  Martha took Regina as her confirmation name; it was also the middle name of her sponsor, Anton's second wife (and by now his widow; Anton died about 1893), Catherine Hoffman.  Catherine's sister Cecilia (or Celia) Hoffman was Rhea's sponsor, who took her name (it looks like Cecilia) as her confirmation name.  And Jacob Hoffman (probably kin to Catherine and Cecilia) was the sponsor of Lee, who took the name John as his confirmation name:

On January 22, 1911, August S. Childs, future husband of Emma Pape, received his First Communion (probably shortly after his baptism; he was an adult convert to the Catholic faith).  Later that year, on April 22, Otto (Dick) Pape's sixth grade class and Walter Pape's fourth grade class at St. Nicholas received their First Communions:

August Childs and Emma Pape were married February 22, 1911, at St. Nicholas.  Emma's brother Hugo Pape and their first cousin Maria (Rhea) Pape were the official witnesses:

Paul and Otto (Dick) Pape were both confirmed at St. Nicholas on September 24, 1911.  Paul took Robert as his confirmation name, while Dick took Aloysius:

Finally, Walter was confirmed on May 10, 1914.  He also took Robert as a confirmation name.  His sponsor was Joseph A. Reis, the father of Gretchen Anna Reis, who later became Lee Pape's wife:

As noted on her baptismal record above, Martha Pape was married to Charles J. Bleidt at St. Nicholas on May 11, 1921.  Their son, my dad's first cousin John "Jack" Charles Bleidt, was baptized at St. Nicholas on March 3, 1929. 

I had hoped to find some death records for Regina Allers Pape (I think she died March 14, 1887) and for Anton Pape (who died about 1893), as they apparently lived in Evanston from 1883 on.  However, the first page of the death records for St. Nicholas in FamilySearch has a handwritten note that "Previous death records, viz. from foundation of Parish cannot be found."  The first death record available for this parish is from August 1897.  It's possible those earlier records burned when the first church building did in February 1898.


© Amanda Pape - 2012 - click here to e-mail me.