John Willig's 90th Birthday Bash

John Willig, 1906, photo courtesy of 'alyseb1'.

Southtown Economist, 25 Aug 1931, Page 3.  

Newspaper Article

      On August 16, 1931, John Willig celebrated his 90th birthday. His actual birth date was August 13 or 14, but the celebration was held on the subsequent Sunday. His extended family organized  a reunion in his honor in Calumet Grove, Illinois. This was the seventh reunion for the Willig family.

      One hundred and thirty relatives and friends attended, although everyone listed was a relative! Five generations were represented at the birthday party. (I only see 4 generations.) Most, if not all, appeared to live locally, including Calumet City, Blue Island, Tinley Park and Hegewisch, Illinois, and Hammond, Indiana. After significant research and verification, it appears that the named attendees are all descendants of 4 different immigrant Willig ancestors or the immigrant ancestors themselves! The 4 immigrants are John Willig, Wilhelmina (Willig) Steinhart, John Conrad Willig and Fred Willig. Currently, the relationship between these 4 immigrants is not totally clear, but they are definitely related! Living descendants of the first 3 immigrants are a DNA match to each other. 

      I am listing the party attendees in terms of how they relate to one of the 4 immigrant ancestors. If the person is within parentheses, they did not attend, but are listed in order to clarify the relationship with the immigrant. These are NOT the only descendants of these immigrants, simply those listed as attending the party. The number in parentheses represents their estimated age.

Party Attendees, John Willig Family.

1)     John Willig, 11701 Vincennes Ave.

                  a)   August Willig (69) married Elizabeth Schmidt (63).  Blue Island.

i)     Theresa Josephine Willig (43) married (William Rick) and then Emil Jacob Feddeler (41). 10224 Eggleston Ave

(1)   Ruth Ann Rick (6), d/o Theresa and William.

(2)   Emil Feddeler Jr. (9), s/o Emil with earlier wife.

ii)    Caroline Willig  (41) married (Edward Fehsel) and Fred Schink (43).  Blue Island,

(1)   Lucille May Fehsel (20), d/o Caroline and Edward.

iii)  Anna C. S. Willig (38) married Jacob Louis Mager (43).  Blue Island.

(1)   Russell Mager (18).

(2)   Earl Mager (14).

(3)   Lloyd Mager (11).

(4)   LaVerne Mager (7).

(5)   Norman Mager (2).

iv)   William Willig (36) married Myrtle Louise Ely (35).  Blue Island.

(1)   Mary Dorothea Willig (9).

(2)   William Willig (4).

(3)   Catherine Willig (2).

v)     Edward John Frederick Willig (34) married Sadie Taylor (25).  Blue Island.

(1)   Betty Grace Willig (1).

vi)    Mabel Anna Clara Willig (31) married William Paul Rhode (33).  Blue Island.
                        

          b)  (Elizabeth Catherine Willig married Carsten Albinus Thedens.)

i)      (Elise Thedens married) Carl Vogt (52). Elise died in 1929. Tinley Park.     

(1)   Johanna Vogt (20) married Harold Bormet (26).

(2)   Laura Vogt (12).

(3)   Mildred Vogt (8).

          c) Louisa Willig (62) (married Claus Reuss).  Blue Island.

i)      William Reuss (42) married Bessie Brough (38).  Blue Island.

(1)   William Reuss, Jr. (16)

(2)   Lois Reuss (14).

(3)   Emery Reuss (8).

ii)    Charles Reuss (38).  Lives with mother Louisa.
iii)   Charlotte C. Reuss (34) married Raymond Mulligan (33).  11826 Woodland Ave.

(1)   Norma Jean Mulligan (8).

(2)   Raymond Mulligan, Jr.(6).

iv)   Clarence Reuss (28) married Elsie M. Yeo (25). Blue Island.             

(1)   Clarence Reuss, Jr. (5).

(2)   Gayle Reuss (3).

v)     Grace Reuss (25).  Lives with mother Louisa.

vi)    Louise C. J. Reuss (23) married Roy Ostendorf (29).  Blue Island.

vii)  Wilbert Reuss (19).  Lives with mother Louisa.

                  

          d) William Willig (60) married Minnie Witdorp (55).  11701 Vincennes Ave.  

i)       Florence Willig (34) married Henry Schwaar (42).  9031 Paulina Street.             

ii)      Ethel Willig (28) married Ernest Graf (30).  9515 Hamilton Avenue.     

(1)   Shirley Graf (4).

(2)   Winifred Graf (2).

iii)    Ruth Willig (21), 11701 Vincennes Ave, later married George Frandsen (20), 10022 Malta Street.

          e) Charles Willig (57) married Anna Witdorp (51).  1520 W. 99^th Street.

i)       Emil Willig (26) married Genevieve Bannis (22).  11729 Church Street.

(1)   Raymond Willig (6).

ii)      Margaret Willig (21) married John Aldous Jr. (23). 1528 W. 99^th Street. 
 (1)  Shirley Ann Aldous. 

 (2)   NOTE: Mother of John Aldous Jr. (49) also attended.  7831 Ellis Ave.

          f)      John F. Willig (56) married Ida Mary Feddeler (52).  11831 Woodland Ave.

i)      Myrtle Willig (31) married John Vanderwall (34).  11709 Vincennes Ave.

(1)   Gordon Vanderwall (9).

(2)   Evelyn Vanderwall (6).

(3)   John Vanderwall, Jr. (2).

ii)    Gladys Willig (27) married Raymond Heckler (31).  12504 Maple Ave. [mistakenly identified as John]

(1)   Howard Heckler (7).

(2)   Gerald Heckler (4).

iii)    Herbert Willig (24) married Mabel (21).  7105 Stewart Ave.

iv)    Mildred Willig (19) married William Danner (24).  11701 Vincennes Ave.

 Party Attendees, Wilhelmina (Willig) Steinhart Family.

2)     Wilhelmina Willig (68) (aka Anna Mina Willig) (married Fidel Steinhart).  Blue Island.

           a)    Amalia Steinhart (41) married Leonard Ames (42).  Blue Island.

i)       Leonard Melvin Ames. (19)

ii)      Mildred Ames. (14)

iii)    Irene Ames. (13)

           b)     (Oscar Steinhart married) Ada Yates (34).  Lived with mother-in-law Minnie. 

i)       Victor Steinhart (13).

           c)    Fidel Steinhart (37) married Anna Gebanes (37).  Blue Island.

i)       Dorothy Steinhart (12).

ii)      Jack Steinhart (5).

            d)  Amanda Erma Steinhart (34) married Cornelius “Nick” Buis (37).  (Evergreen Park)

 i)       John Buis (16), son of Cornelius by first marriage.

 ii)      Peter Buis (13), son of Cornelius by first marriage.

 iii)    Richard Buis (10), son of Cornelius by first marriage.

             e)    Arthur Steinhart (32) married Minnie (about 26). Lived with mother Minnie.

 i)       Joan Steinhart (10).

 ii)      Georgette Steinhart (7).

 iii)    Loydine Steinhart (6).

 iv)    Ardeth Steinhart (2).

             f)   Erwin Steinhart (28) married Mary Marshall (26).  Lived with mother Minnie.

 i)       Shirley Steinhart (7).

 ii)      Merle Steinhart (5).

             g)     Harold Steinhart (25).  Blue Island.

Party Attendees, Johann Conrad Willig Family.

3)     (Johann Conrad Willig (71) married Wilhelmina Reinhardt (68).)

           a)     Mary Willig (43) married August Littman (45).  Hammond.           

i)       Marie Littman (19).

ii)      Paul Littman (17).

iii)    Edward Littman (12).

iv)    Erwin Littman (11).

            b)   Louisa Willig (36) married Orville John Collins (35).  Hammond.

            c)    Roy Willig (27) married Margaret Ann Byrd (25).  Hammond.

 i)       Mary Lou Willig (3).

Party Attendees, Fred/George Willig Family.

4)     (Fred Willig married Elizabeth.)

                     a)   George Willig (64) (married Carolilne Moeller).  Hegewisch.  
                i) Annie Willig (27) married Albert Conrad (31).  Hegewisch.

Short Bio of John Willig

      John Willig was born on August 13 or 14, 1841, in Kassel, Germany, in the state of Hesse. He married Karoline Branholz in Hesse and their 2 eldest children were born in Hesse. In about 1864, they emigrated and came to Chicago. Six additional children were born in Illinois and all 8 of their children reached adulthood. John worked as a tailor and later became a road commissioner. His wife Karoline died in 1904 and one of his daughters, Lena, died in 1905. So, at the time the above picture was taken, he had suffered 2 significant losses. Six of his children attended his birthday party. The only children not attending were Lena, who was deceased, and Anna Addie, who was living in San Diego. John Willig died in the same year of his birthday celebration, on November 21, 1931, in Lockport Township, Will County, Illinois. Months later, he was buried in Mount Greenwood Cemetery in Worth, Illinois, next to his wife.


Identification of Party Attendees

      As with any newspaper article, there are errors introduced during the publication. Since there was a logical order to the listing of party attendees, I believe I could determine who was intended, when there was no ready match. On the other hand, I could have introduced errors of my own.
      For example, the article lists Mr. and Mrs. Williams, Mary, William, and Catherine. This entry is immediately after the entry for August Willig, eldest child of John Willig. August Willig had a son William, who had children Mary Dorothea, William and Catherine, so this is who I assumed was intended.
      A second instance is the mention of George Willig of Hegewisch. I am quite certain this would be the George Willig working in Hammond as a machinist.  In addition, he is buried in the same cemetery as Johann Conrad Willig. His likely father Fred came to the U. S. in 1862 and was mustered into service in the Civil War from Chicago. He later moved to Kansas City, Kansas, where he died. His son George evidently returned to Chicago. This narrative, however, needs more exploration.  
      Initially, I thought that Mr. and Mrs. Albert Conrad were actually Johann Conrad Willig and his wife, but I have since determined that Albert Conrad married George Willig's daughter Annie! This makes more sense, since Albert is listed immediately after George. But this does raise the question, "Why didn't Johann Conrad Willig and his wife Wilhelmina attend the party?". They were 71 years old and 68 years old respectively.


Observations

      Finding this article was like hitting the mother lode! The celebration/reunion is a testament of the importance of family to the Willig clan. Some of the value placed on family may be related to the immigrant experience. The records of births, marriages and deaths recorded by the Lutheran church in the Chicago area were recorded in German! Many years later, in 1988, Great Aunt Annie and her son convened another Willig Family reunion in the Chicago area, keeping an old tradition in play.
      Having the celebration recorded in the local newspaper was an amazing legacy to leave to future descendants! Clearly, these people are related to each other. They share the Willig name, 3 of the immigrant ancestors were born in Kassel, Germany, and they all ended up in the Chicago area, attending the same party. The icing on the cake is that living descendants of John Willig, Wilhelmina (Willig) Steinhart and Johan Conrad Willig are DNA matches to each other!



Sources

1. Southtown Economist (aka Suburbanite Economist), 25 Aug 1931, page 3, column 1, “Willig Is Feted By Relatives”.
2. Photo of John Willig, taken in 1906, provided by Ancestry User “alyseb1”.
3. Ancestry, www.ancestry.com.
4. Family Search, www.familysearch.org.
5. Find A Grave, www.findagrave.com.