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Knaak, Elfrieda

Related Records

Newspaper article about Elfrieda Knaak case in Chicago Daily News. See also Charles Hitchcock.

Record Type: Archive
An audio tape interview with Christian Elfert - In 1983 Catherine Shively interviewed several longtime Lake Bluff residents using an audio tape recorder. This interview is with Christian Elfert. Elfert was on the police force and later became Police Chief.

Record Type: Archive
An audio tape interview with Helen Weshinskey - In 1983 Catherine Shively interviewed several longtime Lake Bluff residents using an audio tape recorder. This interview is with Helen Weshinskey

Record Type: Archive
An audio tape interview with Henry Spruth - In 1983 Catherine Shively interviewed several longtime Lake Bluff residents using an audio tape recorder. This interview is with Henry Spruth

Record Type: Archive
An audio tape interview with Kenneth Masonick - In 1983 Catherine Shively interviewed several longtime Lake Bluff residents using an audio tape recorder. This interview is with Kenneth Masonick

Record Type: Archive
Barney Rosenhagen - A Xerox article from a Louisiana newspaper showing an image Barney Rosenhagen, who was police chief at the time of the furnace murder. The caption reads : Barney Rosenhagen is the chief of police at Lake Bluff, Ill., where Miss Elfrieda Knaak claims she burned herself in the furnace of the village hall as a test of her love for Charles Hitchcock. Another Xerox article from a New York paper about Rosenhagen and Knaak entitled: Self - Tortured Teacher is Dead, describing the encounter between Hitchcock and Knaak in the hospital after Knaak was found in the village furnace. Source: Newspapers.com
Barney Rosenhagen

Record Type: Archive
Barney Rosenhagen obituary - A Xerox obituary for Barney Rosenhagen titled : Lake Bluff Tragedy Hastens Death of Marshall Rosenhagen. Rosenhagen was chief of police when Elfrieda Knaak was found burned in the Village Hall furnace. According to the article : Rosenhagen had been suffering from a heart ailment for some years but the investigation into Miss Knaak's mysterious death aggravated the trouble and forced him to give up his duties as marshall about two weeks ago. He died during the night. A mimeograph of the Waukegan Daily News about Rosenhagen's early death.
Barney Rosenhagen obituary

Record Type: Archive
Charles Hitchcock - A 5.5 x 10 sepia photo of Charles Hitchcock. When the era of silent film began in Chicago prior to World War I in 1914, Hitchcock became a contract player of Essanay Studios, working alongside Charlie Chaplin, Gloria Swanson, Wallace Berry and Charles X Bushman. While these actors went on to become Hollywood movie stars, whatever star Hitchcock may have been working toward fizzled. He became a night police deputy in Lake Bluff, where he is notoriously remembered for his connection to Elfrieda Knaak, a 29-year-old encyclopedia saleswoman from Deerfield who in 1928 was found badly burned in the furnace room of Lake Bluff Village Hall. She died several days later.
Charles Hitchcock

Record Type: Photo
Charles Hitchcock - Four Xerox articles about Charles Hitchcock An article dated November 29, 1928 : Barney Rosenhagen, police chief at the time of the Elfrieda Knaak furnace death, too ill to resume responsibilities after the Knaak incident. Lake Bluff police officer, Hitchcock was a suspect at the time and denied that he loved Knaak, who on her deathbed maintained her love for him was only spiritual. An article from the Lake Forester dated December 29, 1928 announcing Charles Hitchcock's resignation from the police force. An article from The Belleville News-Democrat : Hitchcock of Furnace Fame is Arrested. Hitchcock confesses to robbing a hardware store of paint and tools. Another article from the Lake Forester dated August 23, 1929, announcing that Charles and his son Raymond Hitchcock, AKA Raymond Bacon, confessed to a burglary and posted bond.
Charles Hitchcock

Record Type: Archive
Charles Hitchcock impersonator - Fourteen pages from the University of Iowa archives showing various images of Charles Hitchcock and descriptions of his time in vaudeville Charles Hitchcock was an actor who traveled the national vaudeville circuit in the early 1900s and later performed in several silent films. He was also connected to Lake Bluff’s most gruesome unsolved mystery. When the era of silent film began in Chicago prior to World War I in 1914, Hitchcock became a contract player of Essanay Studios, working alongside Charlie Chaplin, Gloria Swanson, Wallace Berry and Charles X Bushman. While these actors went on to become Hollywood movie stars, whatever star Hitchcock may have been working toward fizzled. He became a night police deputy in Lake Bluff, where he is notoriously remembered for his connection to Elfrieda Knaak, a 29-year-old encyclopedia saleswoman from Deerfield who in 1928 was found badly burned in the furnace room of Lake Bluff Village Hall. She died several days later. Also, several pages showing land transfers between the Hitchcocks and others, including Charles mother Mary Hitchcock in 1907 and 1912
Charles Hitchcock impersonator

Record Type: Archive
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
Eugene Spaid and Marshall Rosenhagen - Photograph of Chief Eugene Spaid on left and Marshall Barney Rosenhagen on the right inspecting the hair fibers from Elfrieda Grace Knaak on Nov. 1, 1928.
Chief Eugene Spaid (L) and Marshall Benard Rosenhagen 1928

Record Type: Photo
Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette - Front page of the Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette. The headline reads : GRAF ZEPPLIN SAFE AT HOME. The bottom portion of the paper contains an article : STATE IS PROBING BURNING OF GIRL of Elfrieda Knaak who was found burned in the basement of Lake Bluff village hall.

Record Type: Archive
Furnace Girl Book Poster
Frame poster of "The Furnace Girl" Book cover advertising its release. Book is about the death and disappearance of Elfrieda Knaak. Signed.

Record Type: Object
Furnace Girl launch party - A brochure from the Launch Party for Kraig Moreland's book, The Furnace Girl, written by Toby Jones. This fictional account of the death of Elfrieda Knaak is told through the eyes of Griff Morgan, an orphan at the Lake Bluff Children's Home. The party, held at Crab Tree Farm, is one of the central locations in the book.
Furnace Girl launch party

Record Type: Archive
Furnace room at Village Hall - Black and white photograph of the furnace room at Village Hall, circa 1970. The Cornerstone was laid February 7, 1905. The architect was Webster Tomlinson, the only partner of Frank Lloyd Wright ever had. The building was designed with space on the main floor for the Fire Dept., village clerk, the village marshall and 2 lock up cells. The tower, equipped to pull up and dry 50 foot lengths of fire hose, was removed in the 1930s because it was falling apart, and replaced in 1995. 40 East Center Avenue Village Hall was built with $6,500 received from railroad contracts,on land donated by village president Fred Cornish and his wife Alice Cornish.

Record Type: Photo
Furnace room at Village Hall - Low angle black and white photograph of the furnace room at Village Hall, circa 1970 The Cornerstone was laid February 7, 1905. The architect was Webster Tomlinson, the only partner of Frank Lloyd Wright ever had. The building was designed with space on the main floor for the Fire Dept., village clerk, the village marshall and 2 lock up cells. The tower, equipped to pull up and dry 50 foot lengths of fire hose, was removed in the 1930s because it was falling apart, and replaced in 1995. 40 East Center Avenue Village Hall was built with $6,500 received from railroad contracts,on land donated by village president Fred Cornish and his wife Alice Cornish.

Record Type: Photo
Ghost in the furnace - An three page article on Kraig Moreland and his book The Furnace Girl about the mysterious case of Elfrieda Knaak the girl who was found in the furnace at Lake Bluff Village Hall, October 29, 1928. This fictional account of the death of Knaak is told through the eyes of orphan Griff Morgan.
Ghost in the furnace

Record Type: Archive
Gruesome Discovery Made in Village Hall Basement - Panel in Exhibit: Furnace Girl Panel lays out the story of Elfrieda Knaak and her gruesome death. The panel talks about the facts surrounding her first being found and then the story on how she came to be found in the Village Hall furnace room.
Photo 3023

Record Type: Photo
Lake County Star "A Look at Lake Bluff" - Lake Forest High School Spring Concert Lake Bluff Junior High School An look at early Lake Bluff
A Look at Lake Bluff

Record Type: Archive
Letter from Eleanor Mueller Finneran - A four page letter to Lake Bluff History Museum historian Janet Nelson from Eleanor Mueller Finneran, aunt of Marie Mueller Hitchcock who was the second wife of Charles Hitchcock. Finneran writes that her aunt Marie and Elfrieda Knaak were both in love with Charles early on; to Maire, "he was like a god" and would never say anything against him. Charles Hitchcock was an actor who traveled the national vaudeville circuit in the early 1900s and later performed in several silent films. He was also connected to Lake Bluff’s most gruesome unsolved mystery. When the era of silent film began in Chicago prior to World War I in 1914, Hitchcock became a contract player of Essanay Studios, working alongside Charlie Chaplin, Gloria Swanson, Wallace Berry and Charles X Bushman. While these actors went on to become Hollywood movie stars, whatever star Hitchcock may have been working toward fizzled. He became a night police deputy in Lake Bluff, where he is notoriously remembered for his connection to Elfrieda Knaak, a 29-year-old encyclopedia saleswoman from Deerfield who in 1928 was found badly burned in the furnace room of Lake Bluff Village Hall. She died several days later.
Letter from Eleanor Mueller Finneran

Record Type: Archive
Made in Lake Bluff - Practical and whimsical products and inventions made in Lake Bluff.
Made In Lake Bluff

Record Type: Archive
Seek Furnace Death Secret at Inquest - A copy of the Chicago Evening American article on the Furnace Mystery.

Record Type: Photo
The Central Figures - Panel in Exhibit: Furnace Girl This Panel does a deep dive into on Elfrieda Knaak and Charles Hitchcock. The panel also speculates if suicide was a posible reason for Knaak's death.
Photo 3025

Record Type: Photo
The Furnace Girl - Moreland, Kraig Moreland, Kraig
2018

Record Type: Library
The Furnace Girl The Mysterious Case of Elfrieda Knaak - Toby Jones
2018

Record Type: Library
The Mystery - Panel in Exhibit: Furnace Girl This Panel asks all the questions that many people, to this day, still have surrounding the death of Elfrieda Knaak.
Photo 3024

Record Type: Photo
Village Controversy - Community controversies circa 1894 including village incorporation and new school location.
Village Controversy

Record Type: Archive
Village Furnace - Village Furnace 1928.
Village furnace Oct. 31, 1928

Record Type: Photo
Village Hall - Photograph from the Chicago Tribune of the Village Hall taken at the time of the Furnace Mystery. The Cornerstone was laid February 7, 1905. The architect was Webster Tomlinson, the only partner of Frank Lloyd Wright ever had. The building was designed with space on the main floor for the Fire Department, village clerk, the village marshall and 2 lock up cells. The tower, equipped to pull up and dry 50 foot lengths of fire hose, was removed in the 1930s because it was falling apart, and replaced in 1995. 40 East Center Avenue Village Hall was built with $6,500 received from railroad contracts,on land donated by village president Fred Cornish and his wife Alice Cornish.
Village Hall

Record Type: Photo
Village Hall Furnace Room - Enlarged Photo of furnace room at Village Hall circa 1928; sight of Elfrieda Knaak death
Photo 7105

Record Type: Photo
Who Really Killed Elfrieda Knaack? - Article clipped from the November 27th, 2016 Chicago Tribune out of the Chicago Flashback section. The article resurfaced the Elfrieda Knaak mystery; bringing up the confusing stories, clues, facts, and bizarre statements that keeps the Elfrieda Knaak mystery interesting to this day.
Who Really Killed Elfrieda Knaack

Record Type: Archive