Monday, April 19, 2010

19th Century Neighbor


Here’s a shot I took myself of a pretty cool gravestone in Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery. Sometimes also called Hickory Cemetery, the place is between Mokena and Frankfort and rests on the south side of St. Francis Road, just west of the intersection with 88th Avenue. Most people might not know this old graveyard right off the bat, which is understandable seeing how it’s sort of set back off the road. Its oldest burials probably date back to the 1850s, around the time the original Immanuel Lutheran Church was built at this site.

Here we see the grave of Mrs. Katharina Volck, wife of Heinrich Volck. (Heinrich’s dad owned a huge farm on what is today 191st Street) Just looking at the monument tells us a lot about Katharina and the era in which she lived. Notice how young Mrs. Volck was when she died; she was only 21. It makes me wonder if she died in childbirth or maybe in some nasty epidemic that was making its rounds in the area.
The fact that her gravestone is in German (as are most of the oldest stones in the cemetery) tells us that her Germanic heritage played an important part in her and her families’ lives. This was probably the language she spoke in her everyday life. Maybe she was an immigrant herself?
There is actually an interesting amount of symbolism in the gravestone, too. The open book and the clasped hands were two common motifs seen in 19th century cemeteries. The book usually represented perfect knowledge or the Bible, and the two hands, which if you look closely, you’ll see have a male and a female sleeve, represent holy matrimony.

Kind of poignant, isn’t it? You can definitely tell that Katharina Volck was a very loved lady.