It can often feel like a lost cause to submit Find A Grave Photo Requests for graves that are situated in enormous, urban cemeteries, but as I learned last week, when an anonymous contributor answered my plea for two photographs from Concordia Cemetery in Cook County, Illinois, it is possible to get lucky.

Joachim and Sophia (Cammin) Wiese were Pomeranian immigrants who spent most of their adult lives in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois. On 1 November 1868, accompanied by their young son, Frederick “Fritz” Wiese, and a host of other relatives, they boarded the Electric in the great port of Hamburg.¹ Their voyage lasted nearly two months; they arrived in New York the day after Christmas, 1868.²

Apparently without further ado, the family made their way to the Midwest. 1870 found them living in the urban center of Chicago, where Joachim was employed as a day laborer.³ The Chicago Fire of 1871 must have had an impact on their early years in the city; the family belonged to the predominantly German First Bethlehem Lutheran Church,⁴ established in an area that was developed in the years following the fire.⁵ By 1880, Joachim Wiese was employed as a tailor,⁶ a trade he continued at least for the next two decades.⁷ Perhaps Sophia was able to assist her husband with his work, in addition to raising their children.

In all, six children were born to the Wiese family: Frederick (1866-1914),⁸ Mary (1870),⁹ John C. (1873-1943),¹⁰ Minna (1876-1945),¹¹ William (1879-1882),¹² and Arthur Louis (1886-1932).¹³ Five children survived to adulthood; sadly, William died of diphtheria at the age of two.¹⁴

Sophia (Cammin) Wiese died of pneumonia at their home on Marion Place on 26 May 1907, at which time she was said to be sixty-four years of age.¹⁵ Joachim Wiese died at home on 2 June 1915 at seventy-four years of age.¹⁶ Their funeral services were held at the First Bethlehem Lutheran Church, and they are buried beside their son at Concordia Cemetery in Forest Park, Cook County, Illinois.

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SOURCES
¹ “Hamburg Passagierlisten, 1850-1934,” digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 13 July 2014), manifest, Electric, Hamburg to New York, leaving 1 November 1868, Joachim Wiese; citing Bestand [inventory no.] 373-7I, VIII, A1 (Auswanderungsamt I [Emigration List – Indirect]), Band [vol.] 022; Staatsarchiv Hamburg microfilm series K1701-K2008, S13116-S13183, and S17363-S17383.
² “New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957,” digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 13 July 2014), manifest, Electric, December 1868, Joachim Wiese.
³ 1870 U.S. census, Cook County, Illinois, population schedule, Chicago Ward 15, sheet 753A, p. 315 (penned), dwelling 1903, family 2873, Jachim Veis; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 13 July 2014), citing National Archives microfilm publication M593, roll 208.
⁴ First Bethlehem Lutheran Church (Chicago, Illinois), “Baptisms,” no. 1309, Minna Friederike Christine Wiese baptism (1876); parish rectory, Chicago.
⁵ “History,” First Bethlehem Lutheran Church (http://fblcchicago.org/about-us/history : accessed 13 July 2014).
⁶ 1880 U.S. census, Cook County, Illinois, population schedule, Chicago, Enumeration District (ED) 150, sheet 454B, p. 38 (penned), dwelling 214, family 381, Joachim Wiese; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 13 July 2014), citing National Archives microfilm publication T9, roll 196.
⁷ 1900 U.S. census, Cook County, Illinois, population schedule, Chicago, Enumeration District (ED) 424, sheet 12B, p. 86 (stamped), dwelling 77, family 182, Joseph Wiese; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 15 July 2013), citing National Archives microfilm publication T623, roll 262.
⁸ Cook County, Illinois, death certificate no. 27281 (reg. no.), “Fredrick Wiese,” 14 October 1914; digital image, Cook County Clerk’s Office: Genealogy Online (http://cookcountygenealogy.com : accessed 13 July 2014).
⁹ 1870 U.S. census, Cook County, Illinois, population schedule, Chicago Ward 15, sheet 753A, p. 315 (penned), dwelling 1903, family 2873, Mary Veis; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 15 July 2013), citing National Archives microfilm publication M593, roll 208.
¹⁰ “Illinois, Deaths and Stillbirths Index, 1916-1947,” database, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 13 July 2014), entry for John Wiese, 6 December 1943, Chicago; citing “Illinois Deaths and Stillbirths, 1916–1947.”
¹¹ “Illinois, Deaths and Stillbirths Index, 1916-1947,” database, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 13 July 2014), entry for Minnie Buchholz, 22 February 1945, Chicago; citing “Illinois Deaths and Stillbirths, 1916–1947.”
¹² “Illinois, Cook County Deaths, 1878-1922,” database, FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org : accessed 13 July 2014), entry for William Wies, 3 January 1882, Chicago.
¹³ “Illinois, Deaths and Stillbirths Index, 1916-1947,” database, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 13 July 2014), entry for Arthur Wiese, 21 March 1932, Chicago; citing “Illinois Deaths and Stillbirths, 1916–1947.”
¹⁴ Cook County, Illinois, death certificate no. 1066 (reg. no.), “William Wies,” 3 January 1882; digital image, Cook County Clerk’s Office: Genealogy Online (http://cookcountygenealogy.com : accessed 13 July 2014).
¹⁵ Cook County, Illinois, death certificate no. 14694 (reg. no.), “Sophia Wiese,” 26 May 1907; digital image, Cook County Clerk’s Office: Genealogy Online (http://cookcountygenealogy.com : accessed 13 July 2014), and First Bethlehem Lutheran Church (Chicago, Illinois), “Deaths,” no. 50, Sophia Wiese geb Kamin (1907); parish rectory, Chicago.
¹⁶ Cook County, Illinois, death certificate no. 15564 (reg. no.), “Joachim Wiese,” 2 June 1915; digital image, Cook County Clerk’s Office: Genealogy Online (http://cookcountygenealogy.com : accessed 13 July 2014), and First Bethlehem Lutheran Church (Chicago, Illinois), “Deaths,” no. 38, Joachim Wiese geb Kamin (1915); parish rectory, Chicago.