Related Records

1. A Competent Witness Georgina Yoke and the Trial of H. H. Holmes - Nickels, Judith

   Record Type: Library

   
2. 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

   
3. Charles Hitchcock - Charles Hitchcock Chicago Tribune photo.

   Record Type: Photo

   
4. 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

   
5. 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

   
6. 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

   
7. 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

   
8. Faierstain Murder-Suicide - A "murder-suicide" occurred at 346 East North Avenue in 2003. Paul Faierstain shot his wife, Renee, in the head, then repeated his actions on himself. However, according to a telephone message left on their answering machine, spoken by Paul, this fateful decision was agreed upon by his wife due to building family turmoil. Copy of a newspaper clipping from the Waukegan News-Sun printed on July 1st, 2003.

   Faierstain Murder-Suicide

   Record Type: Archive

   
9. 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

   
10. 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

    
11. 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

    
12. 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

    
13. 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

    
14. Lake County Star - REACTION TO THE PRESIDENT'S DEATH IN LAKE BLUFF - Quotes citizens of Lake Bluff on President John F. Kennedy's death. Lake Bluff Grieves

    Lake County Star

    Record Type: Archive

    
15. 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

    
16. 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

    
17. The Furnace Girl - Moreland, Kraig Moreland, Kraig

    2018

    Record Type: Library

    
18. 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

    
19. The Mystery of the Gardener's Daughter - A Xerox article from Liberty magazine titled: The Mystery of the Gardener's Daughter about the murder of Marion Lambert. A copy from the Illinois Bar Journal, November 1976 about the Orpet - Lambert case. A copy of four pages from the Circuit Court Record for March 16, 1916. College sophomore William Orpet was on trial for the murder of his former girlfriend Marion Lambert. He was suspected of poisoning her when they visited the woods near the Sacred Heart woods in Lake Forest.

    The story as told by tracks in the snow

    Record Type: Archive

    
20. The Orpet-Lambert Case - 1916 - An excerpt from Chicago Murders by Elizabeth Bullock published in 1945. The article is titled The Orpet-Lambert Case - 1916 by Otto Eisenschiml about the murder of Marion Lambert and the trial in Waukegan. Twenty two pages. College sophomore William Orpet was on trial for the murder of his former girlfriend Marion Lambert. He was suspected of poisoning her when they visited the woods near the Sacred Heart woods In Lake Forest.

    The Orpet-Lambert Case - 1916

    Record Type: Archive

    
21. To Arms - Charles Hitchcock - A 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

    
22. Village Furnace - Village Furnace 1928.

    Village furnace Oct. 31, 1928

    Record Type: Photo

    
23. 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

    
24. Village Hall Furnace Room - Enlarged Photo of furnace room at Village Hall circa 1928; sight of Elfrieda Knaak death

    Photo 7105

    Record Type: Photo

    
25. 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

    
26. William Orpet - Two Xerox copies from the Chicago History Museum website: William Orpet surrounded by several men in Lake Forest. Another is an image of Orpet inside the courtroom with his attorney Leslie Hanna College sophomore William Orpet was on trial for the murder of his former girlfriend Marion Lambert. He was suspected of poisoning her when they visited the woods near the Sacred Heart woods in Lake Forest.

    William Orpet

    Record Type: Archive