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The Franzosenbusch Prairie House

The year 2002 is the 150^th anniversary of the founding the the Immanuel Lutheran school district for which the school house was built.  To commemorate this occasion we are presenting the following pages:

• Prairie House Schoolhouse Research, part 1 which describes some of the findings of our group's investigation concerning the 1853 Immanuel Lutheran Schoolhouse
• Prairie House Schoolhouse Research, part 2 which describes what would have been found in the schoolhouse in the 1850s.  Also included are pictures and description of some items which have been procured for a future exhibit.
• A "Fact Page" for each of the Founding Fathers of the Immanuel Lutheran School .
• A map of Franzosenbusch with its adjacent areas in York, Proviso, Addison and Leyden Townships.

The Zion Lutheran Church was the "mother" church of the Immanuel Lutheran Church of Hillside.

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.

The primary compiler of this information was Lana Gits with:

• Jim Arbuthnot

• Larry Godson

• Drew Reaves

• Patricia Reaves

• Shirley Slanker

Last Modified:  10/15/2002