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Franzosenbusch History

The name Franzosenbusch is German and it means literally "Frenchman's Grove".  Donna Freymark's Old Names of DuPage County Towns explains that an area known as Frenchman's Woods, named after the large landowner Nicholas Torode from the French-speaking Channel Island of Guernsey, was located in a grove centered at the intersection of York and Roosevelt Roads.

Topics related to Franzosenbusch

• Schoolhouse 150^th Anniversary     Updated 11/17/2003
• Schoolhouse -- 1852 or 1853?
• Immanuel Lutheran School      Updated 07/21/2003
• Immanuel Lutheran Church     Updated 05/15/2003

• Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery     Added 05/15/2003

• Map of Franzosenbusch And Adjacent Areas
• Early Settler History (1833 - 1850)
• Life in Proviso (1850 - 1900)     Updated 04/11/2003
• Franzosenbusch House Through The Years      Updated 07/21/2003

Overview/background Material:

• America in the mid-1800s     Updated 04/11/2003
• History Overview and Timeline
• Torode Homestead Displaced By TriState
• Torodes Woods
• Savanna Views

We welcome any comments, questions and corrections.  In accumulating this information we have found conflicting evidence.  We have endeavored to use the most reliable sources available BUT we can not be sure we have all of the facts completely accurate.  We need your help.  More information from the families of these nine "Founding Fathers" would be of great value to this ongoing project in order to maintain accuracy.  At this time, we are especially interested in photos, journals, letters, etc., which would describe the southeast corner of 22^nd Street (Cermak) and Wolf Road in Hillside, prior to the 1860's.  This will help us now, as we work on the restoration.

Please feel free to contact me at j.arbuthnot@sbcglobal.net.  I will route your email through our other researchers.

Last Modified:  11/17/2003