 |
| John Willig, 1906, photo courtesy of 'alyseb1'. |
Introduction
My Willig research really got launched when I found the newspaper article in the Southtown Economist, 25 Aug 1931, that listed the attendees of John Willig's 90th birthday bash in Calumet Grove in the Chicago area. When I researched those attendees, I discovered that all of them were descended from one of 4 immigrant Willigs: John Willig, Wilhelmina (Willig) Steinhart, Johann Conrad Willig (aka John C. Willig) and Fred Willig. (See May 20, 2016 post.)
In subsequent posts I determined that Wilhelmina (Willig) Steinhart was John C. Willig's sister and Fred Willig was probably John C.'s uncle.
The purpose of this post is to explore the life of John Willig and determine how he might be related to John C. Willig, my husband's great-grandfather. I am wondering if he might be another one of John's uncles.
In subsequent posts I determined that Wilhelmina (Willig) Steinhart was John C. Willig's sister and Fred Willig was probably John C.'s uncle.
The purpose of this post is to explore the life of John Willig and determine how he might be related to John C. Willig, my husband's great-grandfather. I am wondering if he might be another one of John's uncles.
Current evidence for a relationship
- Dan, a great-grandson of John C. Willig is a DNA match to "SB", who according to her Ancestry Tree, is a 4-great granddaughter of John Willig. (The predicted relationship is 5th to 8th cousins, with "moderate" confidence.)
- Three of John C. Willig's children attended John Willig's 90th birthday party on August 16, 1931.
- John C. Willig and John Willig were both born in Kassel, Germany.
Life of John Willig
John Willig was born on August 13, 1841, in Kassel, Germany, in the state of Hessen. He married Karoline Branholz in Hessen in 1861 or 1862. Their 2 eldest children were born in Hessen: August on December 19, 1862, and Elizabeth Catherine on September 23, 1864.
John Willig is listed on the passenger list of the ship 'Hansa', that departed from Bremen, Germany, and arrived in New York City on July 11, 1865. He is listed as Johannes Willig, passenger 164, age 27, occupation 'taylor', from Hessia. He appears to have resided in the 'Between Deck' area. I believe he would only have been 23 years old, and I do not see his family, but I still believe this is the likeliest immigration record! Tailor is not that common of an occupation and his daughter Elizabeth's obituary states that she came to the U. S. when she was about a year old. I scanned the passenger list several times, but do not see his wife and 2 children, even though the handwriting was very good and all passengers appeared to be listed, regardless of age. Perhaps his family came on a later ship.
John came to the Chicago area where 6 additional children were born. Lena was born October 19, 1866. Louisa was born March 20, 1869. William F. was born January 18, 1871. Charles F. was born January 27, 1874, in Morgan Park. Johann Friedrich Wilhelm was born December 24, 1875. Anna Addie was born July 21, 1881. All 8 of their children reached adulthood.
The earliest evidence of residence for John is in the 1869 city directory for Chicago. He was living at 11 Liberty, where he also worked as a tailor. By the 1870's, he must have lived in Morgan Park, a community just north of Blue Island. On October 11, 1872, he was naturalized in the criminal court of Cook County, Illinois. In 1880, the census lists his residence as Morgan Park, Town of Calumet, and John is working as a farmer!
By 1890, John Willig was one of 3 Commissioners of Highways of the town of Calumet. He was active as a commissioner for 27 years. He was also active in the community in other ways and in 1892 appears to have been one of 3 judges for the polling in District 2 of Calumet. In 1897, John was drawn as a member of the September grand jury.
On April 21, 1904, John's wife Carolina died. Less than a year later, his daughter, Lena Kipp, died on January 20, 1905. So, at the time the above picture was taken, he had suffered 2 significant losses.
 |
| Ancestry, 'New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957', Johannes Willig. |
The earliest evidence of residence for John is in the 1869 city directory for Chicago. He was living at 11 Liberty, where he also worked as a tailor. By the 1870's, he must have lived in Morgan Park, a community just north of Blue Island. On October 11, 1872, he was naturalized in the criminal court of Cook County, Illinois. In 1880, the census lists his residence as Morgan Park, Town of Calumet, and John is working as a farmer!
 |
| Ancestry, 1880 US census, Morgan Park/Cook/Illinois, pg. 29, John Willig. |
By 1890, John Willig was one of 3 Commissioners of Highways of the town of Calumet. He was active as a commissioner for 27 years. He was also active in the community in other ways and in 1892 appears to have been one of 3 judges for the polling in District 2 of Calumet. In 1897, John was drawn as a member of the September grand jury.
 |
| Newspapers.com, 'The Inter Ocean', 13 Apr 1890, p. 13. |
On April 21, 1904, John's wife Carolina died. Less than a year later, his daughter, Lena Kipp, died on January 20, 1905. So, at the time the above picture was taken, he had suffered 2 significant losses.
In 1910, John is living at 11701 Morgan Street in Morgan Park. He is retired and owns his home free of a mortgage. His son William is living with him, with his wife Minnie and children Florence, Ethel and Ruth. (William works as a brick maker.) In addition, 3 members of the Heinie family are living with them: John (30), Frieda (26) and Leroy (2). John Heinie works as a gas fitter. (I am not aware of any relationship between John Willig and the Heinie family.) In March 1911, John transferred transferred real estate on Vincennes Road to his son William. This appears to be the same house that was formerly listed on Morgan Street!
In 1920, he is 79 years old and still living with William Willig and his family. William is working as a brick maker and his 16-year old daughter is working as a stenographer in an office. In addition, a young family with one child (Stuart Keehan) is living at the same address and renting.
In 1930, he is living at the same address, 11701 Vincennes Avenue, with son William, daughter-in-law Minnie and granddaughters Florence and Ruth. In addition, William and Mildred Danner are renting from them for $25 per month. Mildred is another one of John's granddaughters, daughter of John's son John!
 |
| Ancestry, 1930 US census, Chicago/Cook/Illinois, p. 4B, William Willig. |
On August 24, 1930, John Willig celebrated his 89th birthday at a family reunion picnic at Saurbler's Grove in Blue Island. Five generations were represented. John had 8 children, 62 grandchildren, 54 great-grandchildren and 4 great-great-grandchildren! I did find several relatives that did not attend the later 90th birthday party, but this party appears to have just represented the descendants of John Willig himself!
 |
| Newspapers.com, Suburbanite Economist, 2 Sep 1930, page 3. |
Six of his children attended his 90th birthday party on August 16, 1931. The only children not attending were Lena, who was deceased, and Anna Addie, who was living in San Diego. This was an even bigger birthday bash than the 89th birthday part and included descendants of John Conrad Willig, John C.'s sister Wilhelmina Willig Steinhart and Fred Willig. In the birthday announcement, it said that John Willig spent a lot of time gardening after he retired. He was also a member of the Tracey Masonic Lodge and a member of Odd Fellows, Local Harmonize No. 2.
John Willig died in the same year of his 90th birthday celebration, on November 21, 1931, in Lockport Township, Will County, Illinois. Months later, he was buried in Mount Greenwood Cemetery (Lot 262, Section 23) in Worth, Illinois, next to his wife.
 |
| Find A Grave, #47269888, John Willig, photo by William Kazupski. |
Initially, I assumed that he went to Lockport to stay with a child or grandchild, perhaps due to ill health. But the story is significantly more complicated! Anticipating a visit to Mt. Greenwood Cemetery on a trip to the Chicago area this month, I called the cemetery sexton. According to the burial permit, cause of death was drowning by suicide! I wondered why he had died in Lockport if he lived in Blue Island. The sexton said that Lockport was on a canal and he had died in the Sanitary Ship canal. Sure enough, when I checked in Google maps, both Blue Island and Lockport were on the Calumet-Sag canal. So he jumped into the canal in the Blue Island area and it probably took months for them to find his body.
 |
| Chicago Tribune; November 22, 1931; page 1. |
Summary
John C. Willig and John Willig are clearly related, based on a DNA match. I currently suspect that John Willig may be an uncle of John C. Willig. The intersection points of their lives are as follows:- Both were born in the state of Hessen in Germany, and probably, both were born in the town of Kassel within Hessen... John C.'s passenger list states that he was from Hessen and family tradition says he was from Kassel... John Willig is identified as being from Hessen on his passenger list, in the 1920 census and in a newspaper article on his 89th birthday. Several Ancestry members state that John Willig was born in Kassel, but I do not know the source of the information.
- Three of John C. Willig's children attended John Willig's 90th birthday party on August 16, 1931. (The 3 children were Mary Littman, Louisa Collins and Roy Willig, all from Hammond, Indiana.)
- They lived about 10 miles apart. John C. Willlig lived in Hegewisch, Illinois, and Hammond, Indiana, and John Willig lived in Blue Island, Illinois.
At the same time, they came to this country at different times. John C. Willig immigrated in 1882, whereas John Willig immigrated in 1865, when John C. was about 5 years old!
Next Steps
While researching other Ancestry trees, I noted that several members identified John Willig as having a brother Karl Heinrich Willig (1839 - 1901)! Since Willig is an unusual name, I want to explore the other Willigs in the Chicago area in the late 1800's to look for other possible relatives.
Soon, though, I will need to look for original records in Kassel. Preliminary explorations, however, make me think that records may be difficult to locate.
Sources
- Ancestry, www.ancestry.com.
- Find A Grave, www.findagrave.com.
- Newspapers.com.
- Chicago Tribune, Archives, http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1931/11/22/page/1/article/father-92-leaps-in-canal-before-eyes-of-son-70.
