As we share the scripts from our 2021 Cemetery Walk, we want to thank all of the people who made this event possible, including our presenters and tour guides. We were so excited to welcome history lovers back to the Cemetery in-person this year, and in an effort to continue accessibility to our programs, we are including the information shared that evening in three parts here on our blog. We hope you enjoy!

Introduction to the Warrenville Cemetery, presented by Rich Kostner

Colonel Julius Morton Warren, founded the community of Warrenville in 1833, and was elected to the state legislature in 1844.  During his time as a legislator, he was one of the sponsors of the Illinois Cemetery Act, which became law in 1845.  The Warrenville Cemetery Association was founded March 3, 1845, the second oldest organization in Warrenville, preceded only by what is now called Community Baptist Church, which had been founded in 1834 in the Warren home.  The Cemetery has been governed by a volunteer Board of Directors since that time.

 Before 1845, there was already a burial ground in Warrenville, located on the east side of First Street, today’s Winfield Road, between what are now called Greenview Avenue and Butterfield Road.  Land was purchased from Colonel Warren for a larger cemetery along Big Woods Road, today’s Warrenville Road, where we now find ourselves tonight.  The graves from the old burial ground were relocated, either to this cemetery, the Naperville Cemetery, or the Big Woods Cemetery on Eola Road.  One of the grave markers from that burial ground can be seen in the Museum on Second Street.

 The volunteer cemetery board met faithfully through the years, often meeting in one of the Academies, schools located in Warrenville in the mid-19th century.  During the Civil War, the number of burials in the cemetery nearly doubled.  Warrenville, a town of about 250, had sent 50 men and boys to the war and a third of them died in combat, prison, of from accidents or disease.  In 1885 additional property was purchased for the cemetery grounds from William Manning, often known as the second founder of Warrenville. Today the cemetery is almost 5 acres and has 2,950 gravesites, about 1,500 of which are occupied.

 Local resident John Player, owner of Player Dairy, took a special interest in the cemetery in the 20th century.  Mr. Player is responsible for the fence along the front of the cemetery as well as the columns at the entrances.  He also obtained the large planter from the right-of-way of the Chicago Aurora and Elgin railway, when the train line went out of business in 1957.  Current Cemetery Board President William Fessler procured the flagpole, which stands at the back of the cemetery, and flags are provided as needed by the Warrenville VFW Post.

Tonight, during your tour, you will meet people who will share the stories of some of the creative people who have called Warrenville home over the years. Each year the Historical Society researchers seven families to feature, but records don’t always include everything. If you have any additional information to share, please reach out Sara at the Museum.   

Anne Hinderliter 1907-2000, presented by Melissa Simmons

My name is Anne Bentham Hinderliter. I was born in Lancashire, England on February 19, 1907.  My father worked as a miner in England and sought a new life for our family in the United States. On November 13, 1909, he left from Liverpool heading to New York with contacts in Indiana, his eventual destination. After he found us a home, my mother and my little brother George and I, just 3 years old sailed from Liverpool on the Empress of Ireland. We came through Quebec, Canada, with our final destination of Terra Haute, Indiana, to reunite with my dad. 

In Terra Haute, my parents had three more daughters. Sadly my dad died in 1918 at the young age of 35. My mother remarried and had one more daughter Beulah Mary Kay, who you all probably remember as Beulah Lesh.

In 1927 I married Bernard “Bert” Hinderliter. Bert was from a tiny town in northwestern Illinois, called Buda. His father was the son of German immigrants and he worked as a farm hand in Illinois corn country before getting a job on the railroad.

Sadly just one year after our wedding, my mother passed away, leaving my youngest sisters without anyone to care for them. Bert and I adopted Beulah, who was all but 3 years old, the same age I was when I left England. Bert, Beulah and my other sister Jane, and I all moved to Warrenville.

When we first arrived in Warrenville, Bert put his construction skills to good use. Bert was a handy man who picked up odd jobs in town, and quickly he gained the favor of Adam Albright, a famous painter.

Mr. Albright was a wonderful artist and he had come to town three years before us in 1924 and opened his art studio on Second Street, I think that building is now your museum. Adam had two sons, Ivan and Malvin, and although they were very talented, they were artists, a bit weird but very focused and creative. Adam had a good head on his shoulders and despite the fact that he could earn a living as an artist, he also began building a few houses in Warrenville and renting them out, and naming streets after himself! Bert helped Adam in his houses and Adam paid Bert with paintings, beautiful scenes of children out in nature.

In 1929 we began building our own home on Albright Street, by then Bert was working as a conductor on the Chicago, Aurora and Elgin Interurban Railroad.

When we moved into our home on Albright Street we had no idea how famous Ivan, one of the Albright twins, would become for his unique, and more than a bit creepy style. If you haven’t seen his work, you should stop by the Museum and see his pieces and explore the information they have about his Warrenville models, poor souls who faced a bit of decay and ageing at the hands of Ivan’s brush!

Bert and I had one daughter of our own, Nancy. Life in Warrenville was wonderful, I did a lot in the girl’s schools, and volunteered my time with the local Girl Scouts and Mother’s Club. And not to brag too much, but I was pretty famous for homemade candies, and you can find a recipe for my Cornish Pasties in the Warrenville Heritage Cookbook! Sadly, after 33 years of working for the Chicago Aurora and Elgin and seeing so many passengers to their destination safely, Bert was forced to retire in 1957 when the line went out of business. What a shame for our community. I lived out the rest of my life in the area and passed away in 2000 at the age of 93. We are both buried here in the Warrenville Cemetery with our two daughters.

Katharine Schmidt Chapman 1906-1993, presented by Clare Barry

Warrenville gets a lot of attention for our long history of artists, but often the focus is taken by the men. It is sometimes hard to compete with the Albright’s fame, but Warrenville also had some rather talented women artists, including Katharine Schmidt Chapman.

Katharine Schmidt was born on August 21, 1906, in LeMars, Iowa. She was the fourth child born to her father Edwin, who worked as a commercial salesman, selling wholesale groceries in the Iowa town, and her mother Mertie.

During Katharine’s childhood the family moved around quite a bit. Before she was 10 years old her family had left Iowa and moved to her mother’s native Minnesota, and then Evanston, Illinois, where her father worked as a shoe salesman.

The Schmidt family moved to Warrenville in 1922 when her father got a job in real estate. The growing suburbs were the perfect place to go into the real estate business. The first few years that the family was in town they lived on Albright Street, next to the Hinderliters, who you just heard about.

In the early 1900s, women had few career options, and Katharine took one of the most popular, she became a teacher. Katharine also had a wonderful artistic talent and was able to use her creativity to teach art. For many years she taught at Carl Schurz High School in the Irving Park neighborhood on the northwest side of Chicago, commuting to work from Warrenville. In 1941 she made the Chicago Tribune for working with her students on new murals for the high school titled “The Spirit of Chicago.” Katharine helped guide her students through the painting of the Pottawatomi who first called this land home, then Fort Dearborn, and those who came to see the sights of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair.

In 1940, she was still living at home with her parents and her younger brothers, Robert and Keith, who were now working jobs of their own. To make extra income the family also rented out a room. Katharine provided much support to her mother, especially in 1946 when her father passed away. Her mother lived almost 20 more years, dying in 1964 and being laid to rest here in the Warrenville Cemetery.

One year after her mother’s death, Katharine married Albert Chapman, a widower, who had three children. Albert was the son of English and German immigrants and was born and raised in Milwaukee. He and his first wife raised their children in Chicago where he had owned a lightening company. The Chapmans lived off Irving Park Road in Chicago, not far from where Katharine had taught school and in the neighborhood Katharine and Albert met.

In 1965 Albert moved to Warrenville, joining Katharine in the still small community. Sadly, he only lived for another 8 years. After Albert’s death, Katharine stayed active in the Warrenville community, serving on the Women's Auxilary at Central DuPage Hospital, and volunteering at the Community Baptist Church.

In 1978 she moved to the Holmstad in Batavia where she spent the rest of her life, but continued her art and involvement with the Baptist Church. Katharine passed away in 1993 and was laid here to rest in Warrenville with her family. You can see some of her art work at the Warrenville Museum.