Skip to content
Lake Bluff History Museum logo

Person Record

Images

1 of 1977 Charles Hitchcock
Charles Hitchcock

Metadata

Related Records

  1. Newspaper
  2. Letter
  3. Newspaper
  4. 317 East Center Avenue
  5. 317 East Center Charles Hitchcock House renovated 1990s
  6. 317 E. Center
  7. Charles Hitchcock
  8. Barney Rosenhagen
  9. Beyond the Artist Colony
  10. Charles Hitchcock
  11. Charles Hitchcock
  12. Charles Hitchcock
  13. Charles Hitchcock
  14. Charles Hitchcock
  15. Charles Hitchcock impersonator
  16. Miss Elfrieda Knaack
  17. Elfrieda Knaack Newspaper Articles - Seven Xerox newspaper articles found online covering the Elfrieda Knaak murder/suicide mystery. On October 30th, 1928, local school teacher, Elfrieda, was found with deadly burns in the basement of the Village Hall (the former police station). Her case was ruled a love related suicide in which she burned each of her limbs in the Village Hall's furnace "for purity, for love" regarding her crush on Lake Bluff Police Officer Charles Hitchcock. However, to this day, many believe her suicide was actually a passion fueled murder. Before she passed away from her injuries, Elfrieda made multiple confusing statement's while in and out of consciousness. Some of her final statements reinforce the suicide claim and other statements reinforce the murder claim. These newspaper articles dive into this debate. Nude Woman Found Burned in Furnace - New York Times, October 31, 1928 Held Limbs In Fire, Burned Woman Says - New York Times, November 1, 1928 Frank Threw Me Down - Teacher - The Sheboygan Press, November 1, 1928 Thinks Letter Clue To Burning Mystery: Illinois Sheriff Believes Miss knaak Was Not Alone in Furnace Room - New York Times, November 14, 1928 Who Killed Elfrieda Knaak? - The Charleston Gazette, November 25, 1928 Furnace Death Case Recalled by Arrest - New York Times, August 14, 1929 Reopens Knaak Mystery- New York Times, August 15, 1929 Also an artilcle from the Waukegan News-Sun with photos from 1928 and a retelling of the incident.

    Elfieda Knaack Newspaper Articles

    Record Type: Archive

    Elfieda Knaack Newspaper Articles
  18. Furnace room at Village Hall
  19. Furnace room at Village Hall
  20. Photo 3023
  21. Letter from Eleanor Mueller Finneran
  22. Maps through Time
  23. Photo 7104
  24. Public Speaking - Carnagie, Dale

    1924

    Record Type: Library

    Dale Carnagey's Public Speaking
  25. Raymond Bacon
  26. Seek Furnace Death Secret at Inquest
  27. Photo 3025
  28. The Furnace Girl
  29. The Miller System of Correct English
  30. Photo 3024
  31. The Villager September 21, 1934 (Cover)
  32. Actors on a stage
  33. To Arms
  34. To Arms
  35. To Arms
  36. To Arms
  37. Serio-Comic Players
  38. A sepia photo of a woman posing
  39. Charles Hitchcock
  40. Two actors
  41. Charles Hitchcock
  42. Village Furnace - Village Furnace 1928.

    Village furnace Oct. 31, 1928

    Record Type: Photo

    Village furnace Oct. 31, 1928
  43. Village Hall

Thank You!

Confirmation Message Here....