The Ewigleben Family

Back when I was posting about the Ewiglebens, I completely forgot I had this photograph.


(Click on image to enlarge)
Image courtesy of Eldon Harms.

Fred Ewigleben, Sr., is standing at center, and his wife, Tillie (née Blanchard) is seated in front of him. The photo is undated, but based on the fact that it was taken by the Hallberg Studio, as well as the fashions and apparent ages of the subjects, I'm guessing it dates to about 1920. Per the 1920 Census, Fred and Tillie had four children: Raymond (19), Fred Jr. (17), Emil (15), and Florence (13). Emil and Florence are seated on either side of their mother; the older boys are standing on either side of their father, but I don't know which is which. [2/18/2020 update: Thanks to Rita McBride of the Hobart Historial Society and an Ewigleben descendant, we now know that Fred Jr. is the young man standing at right. Raymond is standing at left.]

I'm having trouble sketching out Tillie's family background. Per her death certificate from 1946 (she died on November 21, her birthday), she was born in Chicago in 1875; her father's name is given as Charles Blanchard, but the informant apparently did not know her mother's maiden name — not even her first name. There was a Charles Blanchard in Hobart who was near Tillie's age and also born in Chicago, but his death certificate gives his father's name as John, mother's name unknown. Where the information in both cases was so lacking about the decedent's ancestry, I'm not inclined to rely too much on the death certificates. I think it's highly likely that Charles Blanchard, Sr. (he also had a son named Charles) was Tillie's brother.

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2/15/2020 update — I came across this item in the "Local Drifts" column of the Hobart Gazette of January 24, 1919:

Mr. and Mrs. Chas. Blanchard and Mr. and Mrs. Fred Ewigleben were in Chicago the forepart of the week to attend the funeral on Monday of Mrs. Anna Carleton, a sister of Mr. Blanchard and Mrs. Ewigleben. Mrs. Carleton is survived by husband, a daughter and three sons, one of whom is in France.

That establishes Tillie and Charles Sr. as siblings. The Cook County, Illinois, Deaths Index gives Anna Carleton's parents' names as John Blanchard and W. Russell. The three Carleton sons were Harold, Adolph, and William, and the daughter, who was about 12 when Anna died, was named Eva (1910 Census) or Eveline (1920 Census).