William and George Knoch in Holland’s 1886 Directory

William and George Knoch were a couple of young go-getters who ran a cigar factory and tobacco shop in town. The Holland’s editor praises William and George, saying “the business having been established three years ago by the former, and has grown to very respectable proportions.” Since William was born in 1864, that would make him barely nineteen in 1883, with George a couple of years older. 

The Knoch family were long-time Naperville residents. Father Christopher was born in Prussia and mother Josephine was born in France, but they were married in DuPage County in 1860. The birth of son George soon followed with five more siblings after him. 

Christopher was a tailor and had a shop on Water Street, now an extension of Chicago Avenue, which is still there today. The small, unassuming building has been empty, on-and-off, for a number of years. Most recently,  Dark Horse Pastries, Sugar Monkey Cupcakes, and Ehrina Yarn have been tenants.

Unfortunately, Christopher died in 1874, just 41 years old. Details on how Josephine supported her young family are difficult to discover, but according to the 1880 census, both George and William were already working. In fact, sixteen-year-old Willliam was a “segar maker.” I haven’t seen a direct confirmation yet, but it’s logical to assume William was working for Charles Schulz who had a long-standing cigar business that is also listed in Holland’s.

When the Holland’s Directory was published, the brothers had been in business three years already, operating out of a building on Water Street, which from the 1886 Sanborn Map looks to be where their father, Christopher, had his tailoring business. Also in 1886, the Naperville Light Guard, the original incarnation of our Municipal Band, had a group photo taken. You can see William in his band uniform with a tuba. His future brother-in-law, Theodore, is also in the photo with a drum and drumsticks. 

George married Gertrude Weismantel in 1890 and they had five children. He continued in the cigar business until after 1900, but by the 1910 census, George was working the Lounge Factory in town. 

William married his fellow bandmember’s sister, Adolphine Boecker, in 1893 and they had seven children together, two of which became nuns. Son Winfred Knoch worked for the family business as a cigar-roller to pay for his education at DePaul University in Chicago. After receiving his law degree, Win served in various county capacities and by 1930, was a judge. He and his wife, Irene, donated the land which became Knoch Knolls Park. 

William continued in the cigar business, although in 1901 he moved to Charles Schultz’s former tobacco store on the corner of Jefferson Avenue and Main Street. That location is also still standing, currently housing Blue Mercury. Previous tenants include Starbucks and Naperville Liquors. 

When Naperville incorporated as a city in 1890, wards were established and William served as a alderman for the Third Ward from 1892 until 1896. He was also a supporter of Naperville’s 1917 Homecoming celebration and the Doughboy statue installation.  

The Jefferson Street location was more than just a tobacco shop. Cigars were rolled in the two-room factory in the back. In the front. men could buy a hand-rolled Havana cigar for a dollar and stay to enjoy it while playing cards with friends. The floor above held a meeting room were groups such as the Independent Order of Oddfellows and similar organizations could gather. 

William passed away in 1931 and Knoch’s Cigar Store and Factory passed with him. If you go to the Naper Settlement Museum, you can see the Punch statue that used to stand outside of his establishment during its heyday. 

Willard Scott in Holland’s 1886 Directory

Naperville had two bankers listed in Holland’s 1886 Directory, both of which were also merchant tailors first. Last time, we looked at George Reuss. Across the street from Reuss’s shop was that of Willard Scott who had been around even longer. 

In the early 1800s, Stephen Scott decided to move his family from Maryland to stake out a claim in Illinois. He sailed through the Great Lakes, much like Joseph Naper would a few years later. Rather than in the fledgling settlement near Fort Dearborn, Stephen chose land near Grosse Point, now part of Evanston. 

A few years after settling there, Stephen learned that their homestead had been awarded to the family of Antoine Ouilmette following the Prairie du Chien treaty. During hunting trips, the Scotts had explored land around the DuPage River and decided to relocate there, a few miles out from the Naper Settlement area. This was in 1830, the summer before Joseph Naper arrived with his community. 

Stephen’s son, Willard, was already a young man when the family moved to Illinois. During a journey to Peoria, he stopped at the Hawley homestead. Smitten by the daughter of the house, he asked her to marry him. Caroline refused the one-day’s courtship proposal and he continued his journey. On the way back home, Willard stopped again at the Hawley’s and repeated his proposal. This time, Caroline said “yes” and they were married July 22, 1829.

After a time, the Scott family, including both Caroline and Willard’s parents, moved from their farms and into the Naperville town proper. Willard and Caroline started a family and had three sons who grew into adulthood. 

One of Willard’s early businesses was the Naperville Hotel, which he ran for a number of years. By the 1840s, Willard and his oldest son, Thaddeus, were operating a general store on Washington Street. The business thrived and as Willard’s good reputation grew, farmers who traveled into town for supplies started asking him to hold their money. Officially, Willard started his private bank in 1854, the same year George Reuss was immigrating from Bavaria to New York. 

The bank survived the Civil War, as did the Scott sons, and the merchant business grew, but within just a few years, Thaddeus died at a New York restaurant after choking on his food. Willard, Jr. then stepped into the store partnership and in the late 1860s, bought out the business from his father, leaving Willard, Sr. to focus on the bank. 

The store, which was about where Sweetwaters Coffee & Tea is today, was enlarged and remodeled in the 1870s. A separate building was attached to one side for the bank and a spacious second floor ball room was added. For many years, Scott’s Hall was the largest space available and it used for community meetings, celebrations, graduations, and similar gatherings. 

Around the same time, Willard Sr. was building his grand Italianate mansion on the corner of Washington Street and Franklin Avenue. It still exists today as the River Valley Law Firm and there are several interesting stories about it. Strangely, a photo in the Naperville Centennial book is labeled “Home of Willard Scott I, Corner of Washington Street and Franklin Avenue,” but that’s not the Italianate mansion in the picture. Perhaps the frame building in the photo was Willard, Jr.’s house on Jefferson? 

Another oddity is the front-page ad that ran for several weeks in The Naperville Clarion saying that Willard Scott & Co. was going out of business. These ads were published in January of 1886, the same year as the Holland’s Business Directory. Willard, Jr. seems to have sold the store in 1905, so it’s puzzling as to what the Clarion ads mean. 

Willard and Caroline lived good, long lives and their sons and daughters-in-law were quite active in town. Both Alvin and Willard, Jr. served as trustees in the village government for many terms and later, Alvin became treasurer and Willard, Jr. became mayor. Willard, Jr. was also the first fire marshall and his wife, Etta, was instrumental in launching the Naperville Women’s Club and they are all buried in the Naperville Cemetery except for patriarch Stephen Scott, the first to settle. Stephen’s burial place is unknown, however. Adventurous even into his seventies, Stephen started for California to pursue gold-mining and was not heard from again.

George Reuss in Holland’s Directory

While progress has replaced many of Naperville’s earliest structures, not only does George Reuss’s business building still stand but so does his home. And both are fine monuments to his maxim that "industry and economy lead to wealth." 

Trained as a tailor, Reuss left Bavaria in 1854, remaining for a time in New York until moving west to St. Charles, Illinois. Mathias and Gertrude Krapf, a family he knew from back home, also settled in St. Charles, bringing with them their daughter who was an old school friend of George’s. In 1856, Reuss married Anna Maria Krapf, moved to Naperville, and started a store with “a Mr. Dollinger.” This is possibly Franz “Frank” Dollinger as he also lived in St. Charles for a time and was a member of Euclid Lodge, the Masonic organization in Naperville. The partnership didn’t last long, however, and they split up the stock to go their separate ways. 

Now in his twenties, Reuss operated a clothier’s shop which sold men’s furnishings and utilized his tailor training. His obituary states that while Reuss was “a stern man, he was eminently just and demanded much more of himself than he did of anyone else” and his business seems to have flourished. In the 1860s, Reuss hired local contractor, Levi Shafer, to erect a fine clothing shop on the corner of Washington and Jefferson. In addition to being a successful builder, Shafer is known for loaning his gun to Marcellus Jones who is said to have fired the first shot of the Battle of Gettysburg with it.  

Reuss’s good reputation and sturdy building impressed the farmers and townsfolk who were his customers and they started asking him to hold their money. So the clothier became a banker, launching the Bank of Naperville in 1886. Isaac Murray, brother to the Ruth that I wrote about in my first book, was vice president of the bank. 

George installed a vault and added another room and rebuilt the entrance with elegant red granite to better reflect the change from tailor to bank. These additions cost him $13,000, equivalent to $397,117 in today’s dollars, and the fancy entrance now opens into Zazú Salon.

Over the years, Reuss also served a few terms as town trustee and in 1880, he was president. But there were difficult times for the Reuss family as well. Of the nine children born to Anna Marie, five died in infancy and one before her fifth birthday. The three remaining children prospered, however, providing thirteen grandchildren between them. As an adult, son Joseph joined George in the banking business, as did son-in-law, Valentine Dieter. 

The younger men’s responsibilities, naturally, increased over time, particularly when George was felled by a series of strokes. After two years of being home-bound, George passed away in 1901.  His wife continued to live in Naperville until her death in 1907 and both are buried in Saints Peter and Paul Cemetery. 

During the late 1870s, George and Anna Marie had a beautiful home built in Naperville for their family to enjoy. It was designed to resemble the villas found in northern Italy, which was a popular trend during that era. The home of Willard Scott, who also ran a store and bank on Washington Street, is another fine example of Italianate architecture. 

The grand house was eventually split up into a six-flat, but it received a big make-over in the 1990s, returning it to its former glory as a single-family home. In 2013, North Central College purchased the beautiful building to house then-incoming President Troy Hammond and it remains the college president's home today. 

“Sample Rooms” in Holland’s Directory

Naperville today has an abundance of drinking establishments and it was much the same in 1886. In fact, there were six saloons in the downtown area and one out by the train depot for a population of just over 2,000. 

These drinking establishments called themselves “sample rooms” which was a name leftover from when distributors let commercial customers sample stock before purchasing. The sample rooms in Naperville actually catered to folks who wanted to relax with a beer, a cigar, and a game of billiards, both locals and travelers. The Pre-Emption House was listed under “Hotels” and not “Sample Rooms,” but probably travelers could also buy food and drink there, as they had for since its inception.

Adam Conrad ran the sample room south of the railway station. Not a lot has been found about him other than the fact that he married Josephine Adams and they are both buried in Saints Peter and Paul Cemetery. One supposes that he particularly catered to folks waiting for a train and perhaps railroad employees. 

The in-town sample rooms were run by some more familiar Naperville names. We talked last time about Jacob Keller, who, yes, is related to Ron Keller of the Municipal Band. He started with a sample room, expanded his business with a hotel on Washington Street, and then returned to his original location with a scaled-down hotel and sample room establishment.  

Mrs. Caroline Fuchs is the only woman who has a sample room listed. She was featured in March for Woman’s History Month. Originally, Caroline’s husband, Fred, ran the saloon, but he died in 1886, apparently just before Holland’s Business Directory was published. 

Egermann is a well-known Naperville name. Xavier Egermann immigrated from Germany in 1846 and both he and his son Joseph had their hands in several businesses, including the Naperville Butter and Cheese Factory. Xavier purchased a brewery from Jacob Engelfreidt, which was probably the first in town, and also ran a sample room. The Egermann family sold their brewery in 1872 but continued operating a sample room, located where Naper Nuts and Sweets is today. 

The Engelfreidts had built a bigger operation, but they sold that one also – to the Stenger family. Barbara Stenger married Joseph Egermann, so it’s hardly surprising that in Holland’s advertisement they feature “Stenger’s Lager Beer.” Barbara and Joseph were the parents of Mary Barbara “Matie” Egermann who was the long-time librarian at Nichols Library. It is Matie’s library that is depicted in the diorama kids love to look at in the lobby. 

August Clementz, Thomas Costello, Xavier Schwein, and Otto Sieber may be less familiar names today, but they all were long-time Naperville residents back in 1886 when they were proprietors of sample rooms with billiard tables. Schwein’s history is the most elusive and all that could be discovered is that he immigrated from France, was married to Antoinett, and was the father of five children.

Clementz and Sieber became sample room proprietors after retiring from other professions. Clementz was a tinsmith and worked in the hardware business, mainly in Naperville, but also for a brief period in Prophetstown. Sieber was a stonemason. After training his sons Hultrich and Henry in the trade, he let them continue that business while he retired to be a saloon host.   

Beyond being buried in Saints Peter and Paul Cemetery, little could be found about Thomas Costello. He must have been quite the upstanding citizen, however, as Holland’s Directory made a big deal out of the fact that his “business place is a model of its kind, wherein, we are well advised may be found at all (legal) times the best beverages in the market, while order and system are very pronounced.”

John Ruchty seems to have spent less time in Naperville, although at one time he also ran the Pre-Emption House, according to The Du Page County Guide. He was also a Frink and Walker stage driver in his early career after immigrating from Switzerland. In mid-life, he married Margaret, a widow with ten children, and they moved to Fullersburg to run a tavern there.

Improved bottling and distributing techniques meant that saloons could offer more than just beer that was brewed locally. The late 1880s was a boom time for breweries and competition started heating up which prompted exclusive brewery partnerships. As you can see from the ads, Costello advertises Schlitz, Sieber sells Brand’s, and Fuchs features Blatz. Egermann proudly serves the local brew, Stenger’s, because of his family connections. 

In bigger cities, breweries purchased buildings, decorated and outfitted them, and installed managers that sold their products exclusively. Even with this emphasis on specialty beer, this doesn’t seem to be the case in Naperville and the sample rooms appear to be owner-operated. The Encyclopedia of Chicago has a great essay on city saloons. 

Unfortunately, none of the featured beers are being made today. Stenger stopped brewing in 1893 and Blatz in 1959. Schlitz didn’t quite make the new millennium, ceasing operations in 1999. Brand’s Beer survived Prohibition but shut down by 1935. Brand’s might be a less familiar name, but their brewery building was still visible on Elston Avenue in Chicago, at least until recently. It’s awful hard to tell from Google Maps. 

Although Caroline Fuchs ran her own establishment and one surmises that wives may have assisted the other owners, it’s hard to tell if women frequented these sample rooms. That research will have to wait for another day!

Hotels in Holland’s Directory

The 1886 Holland’s Directory lists three hotels in Naperville: American House, Pre-Emption House, and Washington House. All of them were on Main Street, just a stone’s throw from each other. 

Jacob Keller emigrated from Germany to Naperville in 1851 and, at first, worked for Stenger Brewery. He eventually became a saloonkeeper on Main Street around 1867, but he had grander plans.  In 1872, he built a hotel on the northeast corner of Washington Street and Jefferson Avenue which he called, naturally, Washington House. According to Holland’s, it was a “fine brick building,” but “this, not being to his mind, he sold, at a great sacrifice, in 1872." Keller moved his business back to the Main Street location in 1879, keeping the name, Washington House. The hotel was also designated as the township polling place.

American House was started by B. F. Russell in 1875 as an addition to the livery business he had been running since 1869. Russell’s livery offered ten horses and twelve different kinds of wagons for customers to rent and provided his hotel with a particular advantage in transportation. As a bonus for American House guests, Russell ferried travelers to and from the train station for free. He also ran a taxi-type service to “carry citizens to any part of the village for ten cents.”

The Pre-Emption House had the oldest history. It was originally built in 1834 by George Laird and had a series of managers. Henry Ulrich was the proprietor in 1886, sometime after his service in the Civil War. While the name Urich continues to appear in Naperville history, any relationship to Henry is unclear and Henry himself seems to be gone from town. He and his wife, Sarah, are buried in Indiana and a son, Dr. Everett Ulrich, listed Indiana as his residence when he married in 1915.

Interestingly, there are also a number of advertisements for hotels in Aurora, Nebraska, and even as far away as London! Apparently, folks did a good bit of travel in the 1880s and this was their version of hotels.com for planning purposes.

Even though the American House and Washington House hotels seem to have paid to advertise in the Directory, according to Holland’s write-up, there was “no hotel in Naperville, whose exterior appearance, might be called, in a modern sense, first-class.” Well, that seems a little rude, don’t you think?

Women Business Owners in Holland’s Directory

In honor of Women’s History Month, let’s take a look at the woman-owned businesses that were listed in the 1886 Holland’s Directory. At least seven are identified with a “Mrs.” proprietor and two shared an ad page, Mary Lindemann and Eva Blake. 

Holland’s says Lindemann’s general “store may be found on the south-side of Jefferson avenue west of Main street,” which would put it approximately where Everdine’s Grilled Cheese now operates. “Dry goods, groceries, confectionery and a fine assortment of cigars and tobacco are the chief articles in which she deals, and in each, standard goods are the rule,” the directory continues, and notes that she has been in business since 1872. 

According to Illinois marriage records, a Mary Auguste Dehnike wed John F. Lindemann on November 23, 1974. If this is the same Mary Lindemann, she was already working the counter years before her marriage. Unfortunately, no other information has been found about her, neither census, burial, nor birth records.

More details are available for Eva Blake. She married Anthony (“Andrew” in some records) in 1866. Anthony had been wounded twice during the Civil War and became ill with “chronic diarrhea.” Regardless, the young couple became the parents of daughters Annie, Mary, Emma, Marie, Maria, Matilda, Christina, and Marguerite.  

Unfortunately, Anthony Blake died in 1882, leaving Eva with their eight children to support. How she started her millinery business is unknown, but Holland’s notes that “being left a widow several years ago with only eight daughters [Their italics!] dependent on her efforts for support, she went to work with a will and constancy that has been admirable and commendable.”

Another woman business owner listed in the directory was Caroline Fuchs. Her husband, Fred, ran a saloon in town, and when he died in 1886, Caroline continued to manage the business while raising two boys, her three-year-old son and her ten-year-old step-son. She later remarried and gave birth to nine more children! 

Researching women can be a bit more difficult because of names changes and the fact that they didn’t hold office or were noted in newspapers as often as men, so learning about the other women in Holland’s Business Directory will have to wait for another time. Still, to celebrate Women’s History Month, here’s a shout-out to those business owners:

Dress makers:

• Mrs. E. A. Earnest
• Mrs. J. Harter
• Mrs. E. G. Martin
• Mrs. Harriet Millington
• Mrs. A. Saylor

Millinery shopkeepers:

• Mrs. D. C. Butler
• Mrs. C. V. Steward

H.C. Daniels & Son in Holland’s Directory

At the time when Holland’s Business Directory was published in 1886, Dr. Hamilton Daniels and his son William operated a drug store on Washington Street. This was about where Tapville Social now sits, although the building was replaced by the Frederick Kailer Block in 1897. 

On the Sanborn Map, you can see a structure labeled “Drugs” next to a structure labled “Print’g.” Elsewhere in the Directory Daniels elaborates: “It is located on the east side of Washington street, south of Jefferson avenue, next to the Clarion office,” which no doubt refers to the “Print’g.” Naperville, at this time, was not yet using street numbers for identification.

Dr. Daniels was a graduate of Rush Medical College of Chicago, served as coroner for twenty-five years, and also treated patients in an office at his Greek Revival home on Washington Street. That house was moved to Naper Settlement in 1974, although it isn’t historically restored or open for visitors. 

This Washington Street drugstore was Dr. Daniels second shop. The first, on Jefferson where Ted’s Montana Grill used to be, he operated with druggist Frank Morse. They sold that store to Dr. John A. Bell and pharmacist William Wallace Wickel. Wickel’s daughter and son-in-law took over the business and passed it along a few generations to become the Oswald and Anderson business empires. 

Dr. Daniels and his first wife, Laura, had five children, but she died of typhoid fever in 1952 at the age of 31. Their last baby, also named Laura, died the following summer. 

A fellow Naperville physician, Dr. Erastus George Hough, fell ill with cholera and died in 1849. He was only 25 and left behind a young wife and a little daughter. His widow Caroline and Dr. Daniels married in 1953 and went on to have seven more children together. 

While several of the Daniels boys went into the pharmacy business, it was one of Caroline’s boys who is the “Son” in “H.C. Daniels & Son.” William started as a drug clerk at age seventeen and at the time of the Directory publication, he would have been about twenty-four years old. In the description of the business, it says: 

"The store is principally managed by the son, whose eight years’ experience and study have made him very proficient, while the fact that he is a native of the village has given him a large acquaintance and many friends, hundreds of whom are constant customers."

After this time, however, William becomes difficult to trace. He lived for a time in Oak Park, Illinois and was married in 1893 to Amanda Solfisberg (sic) in Kane County. When the Biographical Record of Kane County, Illinois was published in 1898, then entry for Jacob Salfisberg (sic) says his daughter “Amanda, wife of W.C. Daniels, by whom she has one child, Viola May now resides at South Evanston, Illinois.” Jacob died in 1921 and his obituary puts his daughter, Mrs. W.C. Daniels, in Great Falls, Montana. Figuring out where William and his family traveled continues!

Dr. Hamilton Daniels, however, stayed in Naperville. He died in 1897 at the age of seventy-six and he is buried in the Naperville Cemetery along with both of his wives and several of his children. 

From the 1874 DuPage Atlas – C.W. Richmond

If you do any research into DuPage history, at some point you will read A History of The County of DuPage Illinois by C. W. Richmond & H. F. Valette which was published in 1857. An engraving of C.W. Richmond’s “res & nursery” also shows up in the 1874 DuPage Atlas. So who were these guys?

 

Charles W. Richmond seems to have been born in Massachusetts in 1822 or possibly 1830. As his wife Ida was also born in Massachusetts, it seems they arrived in Illinois as adults. The History of the County of DuPage says that "C.W. Richmond of Great Barrington, Mass." was appointed principal of the Naperville Academy sometime during the early 1850s and this is further confirmed by the 1854 Massachusetts Register which lists Charles W. Richmond as an instructor at the Great Barrington Academy. 

 

Once Charles and Ida arrived in Naperville, they became very involved with the community. Charles served as both principal and teacher at the Naperville Academy and later as a School Commissioner and the County Superintendent of Schools. The 1860 census identifies his profession as “teacher” and lists two children, also named Ida and Charles, which makes the research a bit confusing. Two more daughters may have been born later. 

 

For several years, the Richmonds also operated a nursery along the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad tracks, as seen in the 1869 bird’s eye map of Naperville. Nurseries were a big business in Naperville. Lewis Ellsworth ran one on property now owned by North Central College and the Ernst Von Oven family oversaw a large nursery operation at Oswego Road and the Green Acres subdivision.

 

In 1857, the Village of Naperville was incorporated and Lewis Ellsworth commissioned Richmond to research and write the village’s early history as it hadn’t yet been recorded. Henry F. Valette is listed as a co-author, although only Richmond is mentioned in the Naperville Centennial publication that relates the story.

 

Valette grew up in Wheaton and wanted to be a lawyer, but had no access to education. Through the years, he studied at home, farmed, attended private school, studied with an Aurora law firm, farmed some more, and taught school. By 1848, he was married, settled in Naperville, and finally finishing his law studies. He formed a law practice with partner H.H. Cody. How exactly Valette and Richmond worked together is unclear. The partnership with Cody was dissolved in 1869 and Valette moved his practice into Chicago.

 

Richmond seems to have been quite community-minded. He served in leadership positions at St. John's Episcopal Church and was a member of the committee that purchased Naperville's first fire equipment. He was also one of the organizers of a “Masonic and Odd Fellows celebration” held in 1858 on St. Johns Day. Still, it appears the family did not remain in town. The elder Charles and Ida are both buried in Forest Park.

Although neither Richmond nor Valette has descendants in Naperville today, local historians can’t help but bump into both of them constantly while researching! 

From the 1874 DuPage Atlas – Joshua Erb

Joshua Erb was born in 1803 in Pennsylvania Dutch country. The “Dutch” is actually a reference to “Deutch,” the German word for “German” and the Erb family emigrated from Switzerland several generations previously. A number of religious communities in early Pennsylvania followed guidelines such as plain dress and conscientious objection to war, including Quakers from England and Mennonites and Brethren from Germany. The Erbs were mainly Brethren.

In 1847, Joshua Erb arrived in DuPage, intent on buying land. He bought about 1200 acres between the DuPage River and Mill Street, some of which he sold to other relatives and friends while retaining a portion for his own family. By 1848, Joshua, his wife Sarah, and their four children were settled on their Naperville farm. Two more children were later born in Illinois.

The Erbs were instrumental in founding Naperville’s Church of the Brethren along with some other families, including the Netzleys, who also have strong roots in town. They started by gathering in each other’s homes, but by 1860, they had raised enough money amongst their members to build a meeting house. Joshua Erb donated a piece of his farm for it, as well as land for a small school and a cemetery. 

Son John and his family of seven girls and one boy took over the farm operations in the latter part of the 1800s. Joshua passed away at age 86 in 1893 and wife Sarah followed him the next year. In the early 1900s, John was also ready to retire and he handed over the farming duties to his own son, also named John. 

This John struggled to run the farm during the Great Depression, but he was able to hang on by selling off a tract that became Cress Creek Commons. In addition to farming, he also expanded into construction. A couple of his sons followed him in both careers and son Marshall seems to have been the last one to farm the Erb homestead. Marshall died in 1989 and by the 1990s, construction had begun on the land to develop what is now known as Century Farms, a nod to the long line of Erb farmers. 

While there isn’t an Erb farm in Naperville today, there are still Erbs farming elsewhere in Illinois. Also, the Erb legacy with the Brethren continues. 

In 1907, the Brethren meeting house was disassembled and moved from Joshua Erb’s farm. It was rebuilt on Benton Street and enlarged or remodeled several times over the next few decades. In 1968, the Brethren erected a brand new building on Jefferson Avenue near the DuPage River that included a preschool which is a mainstay in town to this day. The Benton Street church is also still in use, currently as a food pantry. 

Joshua and Sarah, as well as other members of their family, are buried in the old Brethren cemetery that used to be behind the meeting house. The house was moved, but the cemetery remained. It lies along West Street on the border of the Century Farms subdivision.

From the 1874 DuPage Atlas – William Henry Hillegas

While William Henry Hillegas built an upstanding reputation in the Naperville community, it’s his son that the guides on the ghost tours talk about. We’ll get to that later, but first, let’s give William his due.

Joseph and Mary Hillegas arrived in Illinois in 1857 and started farming. The family experienced several tragedies including the deaths of two sons before the move, two daughters after the move, and the death of Mary just a few years after their arrival. William and his two sisters, however, settled comfortably into the Naperville community. 

William worked downtown at the hardware store of Andrew Friedley. Friedley’s name pops up all over the early city council records for providing nails and similar items for community infrastructure maintenance. His Lemont store is a national landmark and he died in Lockport, but the family tomb, an impressive pyramid, is in the Naperville Cemetery.

In 1862, William married Maria Hartman. The Civil War was already underway and William joined the 156th Illinois Infantry in 1864, serving until the War’s end. Their first child, Ida, was born in 1863 before William enlisted, Charles was born in 1867, and Harvey in 1869.

Eventually, William took over Friedley’s hardware store, partnered with Louis Reiche. Their establishment was on Water Street, now part of Chicago Avenue, in the building that currently houses Features Bar & Grill and Frankie’s Blue Room. Their names and the date when their store was erected, 1882, are still visible at the roofline.

In addition to working at the hardware business, William was also elected Trustee of the Naperville Village Board, served as a Mason, and was extremely active both with his church and with the local G.A.R. organization. Apparently, he was of particularly strong character, even during trying times, as his obituary in The Naperville Clarion reported:

[He faced] financial trials which test men's courage and powers of endurance and frequently leave physical wrecks and shattered fortunes on the shores of time. That he weathered the storm, maintained his integrity and met every obligation was due to his faith in God, backed by an unconquerable determination to win. And when he did, maintaining to the last the unbounded respect and confidence of every man who knew him.    

William suffered a heart attack in 1906 at the age of 65 and was buried in the Naperville Cemetery. His widow continued to live in the family home, which still stands across the street from Meiley-Swallow Hall. At the time, Meiley-Swallow was the Grace Evangelical Church, but it has since served as a theatre for North Central College. 

So now let’s get back to William’s son, Charles. His gruesome story is a favorite ghostly legend, making it perfect for this time of year. 

Charles was one of many who heeded the “go west, young man” advice during that era. During his travels, he met an English girl named Jessie Robateene Massey and married her in Montana in 1901. 

Unfortunately, Jessie died in 1912, possibly from influenza. At the time, they were living in Seattle, but Charles decided to bring Jessie’s body back to be buried in the family plot in Naperville, a fact confirmed by a short paragraph in The Clarion. 

Within days of the funeral, however, Charles became convinced that Jessie had been buried alive. He was restrained from digging her up several times, but finally giving his watchers the slip, Charles disinterred his wife and brought her back to the family home where he attempted to revive her. 

The sheriff took Charles into custody and the newspaper says he was brought to Wheaton where he was “examined as to his sanity.” This no doubt refers to the DuPage County Home which started out as the County Poor Farm, a place for the old, sick, and mentally ill who could not be cared for elsewhere. The farm was established to be self-sustaining while also providing food for the county jail through the labor of its inhabitants. County Farm Road is a relic of this history. By the time Charles was admitted, however, the Home was evolving to be more like a hospital than a farm and today it’s known as the DuPage Care Center. 

Apparently, Charles remained at the DuPage County Home until his death in 1940. His funeral was in the Beidelman chapel in town and he is buried in the Naperville Cemetery, along with his wife and his parents. 

From the vantage point of time, this may be just a scary story to tell at Halloween, but it’s also a love story as well as a look at how society has historically treated mental illness. For all of those reasons, it’s a story worth retelling.