The following was submitted by Steve and David Schmidt, ancestors of the Schmidt family.
The photograph dates back to the mid-to-late 1800s.

 



Awarded photograph of the month
June 2001

Dorothea Schmidt, Margarethe Schmidt, Emma Schmidt and Edwin Suhs.

 

   This photograph shows Dorothea Schmidt (wife of Fredrick Schimdt who "originally" purchased the land from the Everdons), Dorothea is with her daughter-in-law Margarethe and Dorothea's granddaughter Emma and great grandson Edwin Suhs. The order in which to identify each person has not yet been clarified but looking at the photograph carefully it appears that the order goes like this:

Dorothea Schmidt - Left
Edwin Suhs - Center (baby)
Emma Schmidt - Center
Margarethe Schmidt - Right

   It may seem confusing by the spelling of the first names but Fredrick Schmidt was the father of Fredrich Schmidt. Although Margarethe Schmidt had sold the land to the forest preserves this is because she was the wife of Fredrich. The deed to the property appears to have been transferred at some point to Fredrich from his father Fredrick. Hope this helps to understand why Dorothea is said to be the wife of "Fredrick."