Posted on by Michelle Anderson

The Whole Picture

Frank Burd, Ann Burd, Peter Bourscheidt, Katie Bourscheidt, Oscar Bourscheidt, Emilie Betty Bourscheidt

To conclude our tour of 11 S Parkside Avenue, Chicago, Illinois I bring to you a wonderful photograph of the Bourscheidt’s and the Burd’s. 

For some reason I like looking at photos of Frank and Ann pre-Jean, either together or taken separately.  Here we have a lovely photo of them side by side. Frank in his suit with his starched collar.  And Ann with her simple but dainty and light-weight blouse.  In my opinion though it’s her skirt that catches my eye.  Such a simple A-line skirt, but with those buttons outlining the pockets your eye is drawn to the middle of her body and it has a slimming effect.  

Next we have Peter in his matching suit, waistcoat and pants.  I just love his bowtie.  In all the photos I’ve seen of Peter he seems almost larger then life to me and I imagine he was an extremely boisterous and charismatic individual.  And his moustache! Why I bet in person it was just mesmerizing. Holding her own next to him is his wife Katie.  She married Peter several years after Frank and Oscar’s mother Emma died which I’m sure came with challenges.  Her dress is so light in the photo that it leads one to believe that it was white.  At that time white for any age woman during a warm month was appropriate.  

Finally we have Franks older brother Oscar Bourscheidt and his wife, Emilie who later in life went by Betty.  Oscar looks equally handsome in his high starched collar, waistcoat, jacket and pants.  Betty like Ann has a a simple light-weight blouse and A-line skirt.  You can’t tell as much detail on them in this photograph, but I bet there was much.  She and Ann seems to be looking at the photographer while everyone else seems to be looking elsewhere.  

While there is no date on this photograph the fact that Cousin Jean has named Frank and Ann to both be Burd, leads me to believe this is photograph was taken after their wedding which was July 26, 1916.  From this angle you can see the entrance to the apartment behind them, a big door paned with glass, common to that time frame in architecture.  And while we no longer have Frank, Ann, Peter, Katie, Oscar or Betty with us, I think it would be fun to recreate this photo somehow using Bourscheidt descendants.  Anyone want to meet me in Chicago to take a photo? 

Posted on by Michelle Anderson

Bourscheidt Men

Oscar Bourscheidt, Peter Bourscheidt, Frank Burd

I just love this photograph.  Here we have the Bourscheidt men. And even though I think that this photo was taken after Frank and Anna got married, July 26, 1916, I like to think of our Frank as still being a Bourscheidt.  I’ve never really questioned why he was adamant about changing his name.  I know that he would have mail go missing in Chicago as many did not like those of German descent in Chicago.  But I now wonder if guilt from Leo’s death could have truly driven his desire to change his name?  Frank changed his name in 1916 and since Anna never changed hers from Bourscheidt to Burd, I’m inclined to think that his name change was completed before they were married. 

Here we have Oscar, eldest of Peters son’s with Emma and Frank the middle born in front of the apartment building that I believe Frank and Anna resided in, 11 S Parkside Ave, Chicago.  I love how dressed up all three of them are on this nice sunny day.  I hope that they were getting ready do something fun.  Oscar a dashing man, gentle in both his speech and manner, husband of Betty (Amelia), who looks a bit hot in this photo with his hat tipped back allowing his father to take him by the arm.  And patriarch of the Bourscheidt Clan, Peter.  In most photos I’ve seen him in he has this look, head tilted just a smidge, with a smile on his face.  I wonder what kind of hat he’s holding in his hand?  And our handsome Frank with hands in pockets looking as if he’s speaking to the group.  I love how you can see his watch fob there by the pocket of his pants.  

While they are three very different men in character and mannerisms, they are Bourscheidt men all the same.  Happy Father’s day Peter, Oscar and Frank!  

Photograph is courtesy of Cousin Jean Bourscheidt. 

Posted on by Michelle Anderson

Emma Bourscheidt January 19, 1894

I have always wondered about Emma.  Probably more then I’ve wondered about others in our family.  Emma Schaefer was born March 11, 1863.  I’m not sure where she was born, but she and her parents lived in Peoria.  On November 15, 1885 at 22 years of age, she married Peter Bourscheidt in Peoria, Illinois.  And after 9 years of marriage and three sons, she died on January 19, 1894 at the age of 30 from complications of child birth and is buried in Peoria.  The newspaper reports that it is a very sad bereavement,  it to me sad doesn’t even begin to describe what Peter and his boys were experiencing.  

I like to imagine that Emma was swept away by the dashing and foreign Peter.  A person who had lived an exciting life serving in the German Army, then lived in Paris training to be a furrier and finally traveled to America to visit his brother and decided to make a life in America for himself.  And to give him the gift of three boys perhaps was an even bigger honor.  

Oscar was the oldest and was born in 1888.  Then came Frank born in 1891.  And finally Leo in 1894.   When she died, Oscar was 5 and Frank was 3.  How they must have missed her.  And how lost Peter might have been for now he had two young sons and an infant to care for. and a wife to mourn, who I hope was the love of his life.   But life brings all sorts of people into our lives and love in different ways.  

Peoria Journal Star

Jean took me once to where Emma was laid to rest.  She is in a lovely little part of the Saint Joseph’s Cemetery tucked into the back she lies between her parents, Charles who died in 1901 and Josephine who died in 1904.  Then on the other side of Josephine is her oldest son Oscar and his wife Emilie.  And behind her is her youngest, Leo.  

I hope some day to learn more about Emma Schaefer Boursheidt, especially more about her parents and where they were from.  But until that day comes, I will think fondly of the short time she had with her family and the impact she had on their lives.