A Final Resting Place

A Final Resting Place

     “The Rouse Simmons and her crew were gone to the good land where it is always Christmas.”

Toronto Evening Telegram

Toronto, Canada

December 29, 1945

      “Though Captain Schuenemann’s body was never recovered, his wife is buried in the Acacia Cemetery in Chicago.  Strangely, the grave is said to produce the scent of fresh cut spruce and balsam.”

Jim Graczyk

www.ghostguides.com

 (Obituaries for Captain and Mrs. Barbara Schuenemann are included at the end of this attachment.)

            Two names are etched into the granite of the Schuenemann headstone in Acacia Park Cemetery in Chicago, but only one body lies below: that of Barbara Schuenemann.  She was laid to rest on June 19, 1933, in Grave #4, Block #21, Lot #2 of the cemetery.

Captain Herman’s name is here, but he is not. He was laid to rest on the bottom of Lake Michigan nearly twenty-two years earlier.

          Because no bodies were recovered from the Simmons shipwreck, no public obituary acknowledging the captain’s death was published in the newspaper.  However, a memorial obituary for Captain Schuenemann was written by his pastor, Reverend Rudolph A. John. The obituary paid tribute to the captain whom Reverend John saw as “a good man, sturdy, honest, faithful.”

          Barbara Schuenemann was also memorialized by St. Pauls at her death. In June of 1933, the church newsletter announced her passing with these words: “The sudden death of Mother Schuenemann has brought much sorrow to her loved ones. More details about this remarkable woman, whom the people of Chicago loved because of her devotion to the children at Christmastime when she brought the Christmas trees to them, will be given in the next issue.”

          One month later, in July of 1933, Pastor Jacob Pister paid honor to Barbara’s life by speaking of the “indomitable faith” she displayed in facing her greatest trial. He affectionately referred to her as “Mother Schuenemann” who “was known and loved by thousands, and hundreds of thousands, throughout our great metropolis.”

Her memorial service was held June 19, 1933, at St. Pauls. Then, “from the Church she loved so well, her weary body was carried to its rest and her motherly soul consecrated to the Lord of Life…”

 …Death brings its own resurrection, but so, too, does life - the continuous resurrections we experience while we yet live: resurrections of hope, of joy, of love, and of faith. Barbara Schuenemann resurrected a reason for living in the midst of her tragedy. She rose up from the Valley of Shadows where sadness could have turned her heart to stone, and she turned her eyes, instead, off her pain and toward that which remained: faith, hope, love. Death could not destroy these for it “could not kill what does not die.” Tragedy could swallow the captain, but it could not swallow the love he left behind, nor could it bring death to the faith and hope his loved ones still clung to…

 …Pauls Church acknowledged altar flowers donated in remembrance of Captain Schuenemann in their December 1915 newsletter. The article read: “On the 28^th day of November beautiful flowers were sent to the altar in memory of Captain Herman Schuenemann, who went down with the Christmas Ship three years ago, by his dear wife and daughters. Thus the flowers of love are always sweet and bright, even though the snow and storms of winter make the land bleak and dreary. For love’s flowers grow in the heart and, if we but ask it, there God’s sunshine is always warm.”

Love.  St. Pauls Church saw it as “God’s sunshine” – and so did the Schuenemanns.  It was love that had sustained them in their most difficult moments. They turned to it by turning to each other and were as close-knit of a family as there ever was…

…A modest stone, flush with the ground, marks the final resting place of the Schuenemanns on this side of eternity. Their shared gravestone lies in the “Wistaria” section of the cemetery, named for the ancient flower whose meaning is “I cling to you.”

OBITUARY FOR CAPTAIN HERMAN SCHUENEMANN

Written by: Pastor Rudolph A. John, December 1912

   It is indeed a hard and heart breaking task to write of Captain Schuenemann, our good faithful brother, who for so many years has been with us in our work and in faith. The papers of our city, and perhaps of all the land, have told in prose and song and picture the sad tale that has made many eyes moist and many hearts heavy.

   We can add nothing to what has been published again and again. For almost thirty years this good man, sturdy, honest, faithful, has sailed the waters of the Great Lakes, in summertime in the lumber trade and in November, braving many an angry storm and rough sea to bring great cargoes of trees and branches and red berries to make the children’s holidays brighter and happier.

   And this time he has not returned. In former years Captain Schuenemann’s arrival with his load of trees was the signal for the real Christmas activity to begin. Hundreds of thousands of little trees he brought to the great city – and this time he has not returned.

   What more can we say? We do not know the secret of the waves, they have not yet given up the awful story of disaster. His good wife and three daughters, as good and faithful members of our church as the husband and father was, have heard in the sleepless hours of many a night the angry roar of the waves and have strained their eyes to find a light in the darkness. But he has not returned.

   So we hold out our hand to them in silent sympathy that finds no words because it comes so deep from the heart. God comfort them! He who once stretched forth His hand to the sea and bade it hush its angry roar, walks upon the earth no more, but He who made the sea and the land and man and woman, He still lives and loves His children. And into His safe-keeping we commit the hearts that are sobbing in their loneliness and looking out into the voiceless darkness of the night.

DEATH NOTICE FOR MRS. BARBARA SCHUENEMANN

St. Paul’s Church Newsletter, Chicago, IL, June 1933

   The sudden death of Mother Schuenemann has brought much sorrow to her loved ones. More details about this remarkable woman, whom the people of Chicago loved because of her devotion to the children at Christmas-time when she brought the Christmas trees to them, will be given in the next issue.

OBITUARY FOR MRS. BARBARA SCHUENEMANN

Written by: Pastor Jacob Pister, July 1933

   Barbara Schuenemann, 158 Eugenie Street, nee Schindel, the widow of the departed Captain Herman Schuenemann, passed into life eternal on the 15^th day of June, 1933, aged 67 years, 10 months, 13 days. Fare-well services were held in her honor on June 19^th at St. Paul’s Church and interment followed at Acacia Park.

   Mother Schuenemann was known and loved by thousands, and hundreds of thousands, throughout our great metropolis. When 20 years ago the ill fated Christmas Ship plying its way through the perilous tempests of the turbulent waters of the lake finally yielded to the winds and waves and disappeared with its precious cargo of human souls and Christmas trees, a feeling of horror and sadness was evident everywhere.

   The widowed mother and her three daughters gathered day after day with mingled feelings of hope and distress, trusting that by some special dispensation of Divine Grace their loved one might still make his way into some nearby port. These hopes proved in vain, the genial captain who had sailed the waters in the decades of the past was destined not to set his foot upon the threshold of his home nor to return to his dear ones again.

   As the bereaved mother and her children began to realize the extent of their loss they were fortified by the calming grace of an indomitable faith. In the power of their renewed trust in Him whose ways are always good unto those that believe in Him, she resolved then and there to carry on the work and thus every year the Christmas season brought her to the front with her large assortment of Christmas trees for all of Chicago.

   Dr. Scherger, in his very appropriate words at the last rites, very feelingly referred to his visit with Mrs. Schuenemann many years ago and his urgent wish to purchase the largest tree for the little children of his Armour Mission. Reluctantly, and yet very kindly, Mother Schuenemann said to him, “I am sorry Dr. Scherger, but I cannot sell you this beautiful tree for this one is sent by me as a special gift to my dear St. Paul’s Church and its children.”

   A few years ago the departed mother had fallen gravely ill. Humanly speaking, it appeared as though the Lord was about to call her away from us. She came to her Church once more and said farewell to us believing, as she did, that she would not be able to come again. Then the most remark-able evidence of Divine Love was made manifest as an emergency opera-tion was decided upon. The Hand of the Lord was with the men of surgical skill and to their surprise and delight the invalid effected a miraculous recovery.

   With many thanksgivings she came back to her Church and to her societies, began to give her attention to her numerous business ventures, and a week prior to her departure, decided to take over her apartments near Lincoln Park.

   The last day of her earthly life was spent in strenuous household duties together with arranging her furniture and furnishings in her apartment. At the dinner table she complained to her children that she felt very weary. A few moments later she suddenly showed signs of extreme exhaustion and was gently carried to her bed. With heaving breath she responded to the urge within her soul and smilingly spoke affectionate words of farewell and a few moments later lay in the silence of death. She completed the day’s work in the earthly home and hastened to the home above not made by the hand of man.

   Her three daughters and their family members, including two grandchildren and an only brother and other relatives in the Father-land, mourn deeply her unexpected departure.   

   From the Church she loved so well her weary body was carried to its rest and her motherly soul consecrated to the Lord of Life.

WOMAN SKIPPER OF CHRISTMAS TREE BOATS DIES

Chicago Tribune, Chicago, IL, June 16, 1933

   Mrs. Barbara Schuenemann, “The Christmas Tree Lady,” age 67, died suddenly last night in her home at 158 Eugenie Street. Death was due to heart disease.

   Mrs. Schuenemann was the widow of Capt. Herman Schuenemann, who brought Chicago its first boatload of Christmas trees in 1887.

   In 1912 Capt. Schuenemann went down in a terrific lake storm as he was  bringing  a cargo of Christmas trees to the city on the Rouse Simmons.

   His widow continued his work, taking the helm of various craft to bring trees to the city each Yuletide for many years. Since 1925 trees have been brought by freight cars to her warehouse.

   Mrs. Schuenemann is survived by three daughters, Mrs. Elsie Roberts, Mrs. Hazel Gronemann, and Mrs. Pearl Ehling, and two grandchildren. Funeral services will be held Monday morning in St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church.

ELSIE ROBERTS, CHRISTMAS SHIP SKIPPER, DIES

Chicago Tribune, Chicago, IL, February 2, 1950

   Mrs. Elsie Schuenemann Roberts, 58, who for years helped to carry on the Christmas ship tradition of her father, Capt. Herman Schuenemann, after he drowned in Lake Michigan nearly 40 years ago, died Tuesday, it was learned yesterday.

   Captain Schuenemann had brought Christmas trees to Chicago from Michigan each  year in his schooner, the Rouse Simmons. It sank Nov. 23, 1912, in one of Lake

Michigan’s worst storms. The captain’s widow, Barbara, and her daughters, Elsie, Pearl, and Hazel, later took up his work with another boat.

   Mrs. Roberts leaves a son, Arthur, and the sisters, now Mrs. Pearl Ehling, with whom she lived at 3501 Hirsch Street, and Mrs. Hazel Gronemann. Services will be held at 2 p.m. tomorrow in the chapel at 5525 N. Clark St.  Burial will be in Acacia Cemetery.