I found this gem last night searching through the Google News Archives. The “young lad” is my grandfather, my dad’s dad. The article is from June 15, 1915. While it states my grandfather’s age is 10, he was actually soon to turn 6.
“While watching the circus parade at Thirty-second and Clybourn streets, Monday morning, William Rathkamp Jr., 10 years old, 23 Thirty-fourth street, was run down by a brewery wagon and seriously injured bout the head, face and shoulders.
When witnesses of the accident went to the assistance of the boy, he was unconscious and his head and face covered with blood.
It was at first feared that the lad had been internally injured, but an examination by Dr. F. R. Farrell, 3001 Clybourn street, showed the lad was not injured that badly.”
You can almost imagine Dr. Farrell telling his parents, “Ahhh, just rub some dirt on his face and give the lad a beer! And while you’re at it, get ‘im a haircut. He looks like a damn girl!”
Last week, my cousin Paul asked via FaceBook if I’ve dug up any “Dead Rathkamps” lately. The answer was a simple “no”. I’ve been so busy with other stuff that I haven’t really been working on any genealogy projects lately. One of my favorite nightly rituals is to log on to Google Reader and peruse a bunch of articles. Most of the feeds I subscribe to are either Tech feeds, genealogy, or history. Randy Seaver has an excellent blog whose articles occasionally catch my attention. In this particular post, Randy mentioned the addition of several Wisconsin probate and death records to FamilySearch.
I followed the link to FamilySearch and plugged in the name Rathkamp. I’ve been doing this for so many years that it’s pretty rare for me to see a name I’ve never seen before. Tonight was an exception. Right there, front and center was Esther Rathkamp. I read down a little and noticed her parents were Wm. Rathkamp and Olive Hessel. These are my great grandparents!
Genealogy has a way of providing you with lots of surprises. You run around (hopefully with some direction) trying to either solve problems or look for clues. My experience has been that often times, you end up solving one problem, and in the process create 5 more unanswered questions. Case in point:
Problem solved: This find acknowledges and confirms the 1910 US Census where Olive states she has given birth to two children, one living.
Problems created:
Why is Olive’s name spelled “Hessel” instead of Hassell or Hassel?
Why does it show “Mother’s place of birth” as Germany? She was born in Sweden.
Are Wm. and Olive married at this point? I have NOT been able to find a marriage record for them. Wm.’s first wife, Sophie Hartmann, died 11 Jan., 1906. That’s a small, but not impossible window.
Esther died on 15 July, 1909. My grandfather, also William, was born 10 days later. I can’t imagine a mother taking that kind of pain into childbirth.
EDIT (January 29, 2026) For whatever reason, Ancestry doesn’t have the marriage record for William and Olive. However, FamilySearch does. It turns out Wm. and Olive were married in Waukegan, Illinois on August 21, 1907, and I’m pretty sure I know why:
There are 204 days between the date of their marriage and the birth of Esther. That’s less than 9 months. In fact, it’s closer to 7. I’m guessing that there was some social stigma at play. Waukegan is just over the border, most likely a short train ride.
Unfortunately, FamilySearch only has the data, not a copy of the actual record. There most likely would be some additional information on that record.
