Wendell Family Story, Chicago

The story, as I know it...

In the 1890's, my ancestors somehow wound up in Chicago. The eldest immigrant, my great great grandfather Sven, had come over first in 1887. He worked the coal mines of Pennsylvania, saved money & prepared for his wife and 6 children to come across the Atlantic. How and why they migrated from Pennsylvania to Chicago is unknown. Previous posts discuss life in Sweden and the voyages across, as well as the loss of Sven's wife Carolina to TB before she left Sweden. She was to be the last one across.

The story picks up again in 189- , with Sven's children in Chicago.

Alma, eldest, is a talented cook (I faintly know of a story about her working as cook for a Pennsylvania mayor... it's a good story & I need to find it!). Alma was working and living on her own by the age of 14 in Sweden. Jennie is a teenager and an accomplished seamstress. She was on her own by age 15 in Sweden.Tekla and Anna I don't know about at all.

Not sure when these photos were taken, but I do know where they were taken!

All of the photos were taken at Schmidt Photography at 925 W. North Avenue, Chicago.

A Love Story: Carl & Alice

Sven's sons Carl (my great grandfather) and his brother Janne ran a delicatessen in Chicago. At some point, Carl went to Kansas, near Osage City, to change gears and do farm work. Maybe he didn't care for the air and noise of the industrial era and missed the farm life back in Sweden. While in Kansas, Carl stayed at a boarding house that was run by Mame Davis (of the original 11 Davis kids who drove a covered wagon with their household in it from Missouri to Kansas... to meet up with their parents who took a train), on her farm. The place was hopping, and Mame needed help. Mame wrote to her younger sister Alice, who was still at home, and she came to help serve all the farm hands at meal time. Maybe Carl gave Alice a wink here- maybe she brought him some really tasty apple pie- who knows! But we do know that they fell in love during this time in Kansas!

The two love birds decided to go back to Chicago, and lived above the delicatessen for a time. Alice recalled standing on her balcony and watching mixed race couples walking down the street together hand in hand- something she had never seen before. She was amazed at the progressiveness of the city.Their first daughter Ruth was born in Chicago. A year later, they were back in Kansas, where Ruth died from the infuenza. Carl worked in the Kansas coal mines and they had three more children, my grandmother among them.

Sven's Later Years

Meanwhile, over the years back in Chicago, Sven remarried, to a woman named Laga Bunska (?).

On October 12, 1907, great great grandpa Sven died in Chicago, after a week in the hospital due to chronic bronchitis from coal mining. His "place of usual residence" was listed as 5840 W Chicago Avenue. He was buried at Mount Olive Cemetary in Chicago on October 15, 1907.

Chicago Details

• Chicago Delicatessen owned by Janne Wendell? (Carl Wendell worked here too)
• 5840 W Chicago Avenue address listed as Sven's "usual place of residence"
• Schmidt Photography, 925 W. North Avenue, where family photos were taken
• Sven is buried at Mount Olive Cemetary in Chicago
• Ruth Wendell was born in Chicago to Carl & Alice
• 5517 W Chicago Avenue home address for Carl & Alice in the 1910 census (3/17/11)
• --this, according to grandma, is above the delicatessen where Carl worked (3/17/11)
• --indeed, Carl lists himself as grocery clerk in the 1910 census (3/17/11)
• John Wendell (Janne Svensson Wendell, Sven's other son) owns the store Carl works at, according to grandma (3/17/11)
• --1910 census is blurry. Looks like 5157 W Chicago Ave as residence for John Wendell. (3/17/11)
• --John lists himself as a grocery dealer in the 1910 census. (3/17/11)
• ** I would love to find photos & information about this store!** (3/17/11)
• **A 1917 draft card for John Wendell lists the name of the business & the address, but it is not legible. In 1920 he lists himself as a wholesale grocery salesman, living at 7529 Evans, Chicago. (3/17/11)




Reid Murdoch Building,
my great grand uncle John Wendell
worked out this place as a grocery salesman in 1917.
Prior to that, he was a store owner, details tbd!
photo credit:
060415http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Reid_Murdoch_Building_060415.jpg


• On looking with a crooked eye, I made out Reid-Murdoch Co...  so John Wendell later worked out of this office building, which I've seen so many times along the Chicago River! It now houses Encyclopedia Britannica. (3/17/11)