Flower in the River: A Family Tale Finally Told

Survived But Not Saved: The Lingering Legacy of the Eastland Disaster

• Natalie Zett • Season 2 • Episode 67

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In today's episode, we explore the unique and tragic case of  Chrissie McNeal Lauritzen  who survived the Eastland disaster but succumbed to long-term health issues years later. We discuss how her story, and others like hers, have been overlooked in the broader narrative of the disaster. We also talk about the surprising discoveries from DNA testing that reshaped my understanding of my family's history, and the creative projects that have come from these revelations.

 **Key Topics Covered:**

  • **DNA Discoveries**: How a commercial DNA test led to a surprising connection with a German relative from the Pfeiffer line.
  •  **Creative Projects**: The creation of a family scrapbook and a video featuring my family's journey from Poland to Johnstown to Chicago, with photography by Chicago-based photographer Ervin Eliud.
  • **Honoring Forgotten Victims**: The story of Chrissie McNeal Lauritzen a survivor of the Eastland Disaster who suffered long-term health effects and eventually succumbed to them. Her story highlights the overlooked long-term impacts on survivors and the importance of remembering every life affected by this tragedy.
  • **Public Health Concerns**: Discussion on typhoid fever and other health risks faced by those who were in the Chicago River during the disaster.
  • *Creative Spark**: How I created a song and a video, "Eastland Hymn," to honor the upcoming disaster's anniversary. 

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Natalie Zett:

Hello, I'm Natalie Zett and welcome to Flower in the River.

Natalie Zett:

This podcast, inspired by my book of the same name, explores the 1915 Eastland disaster in Chicago and its enduring impact, particularly on my family's history. We'll explore the intertwining narratives of others impacted by this tragedy as well, and we'll dive into writing and genealogy and uncover the surprising supernatural elements that surface in family history research. Come along with me on this journey of discovery. Hi, this is Natalie, and welcome to Episode 67 of Flower in the River Podcast, and I hope you had a good week. So we have to dive right in because, as always and forever, there's a lot to talk about. We spent the last two episodes talking about the connections between the General Slocum tragedy, which took place in New York, and the Eastland disaster, and indeed they have many connection points. They have many connection points and after spending time with the General Slocum tragedy, I've concluded that, well, for me, they seem to be sister tragedies, everything from their passengers' demographics to their shared obscurity in history. There are similar events, too, that have slipped away from history and, down the road, I expect that I will be exploring them as well.

Natalie Zett:

Back in 2016, I was strongly encouraged, aka strong-armed into doing one of the commercial DNA tests and I was kind of resistant to it. I wasn't sure what the value would be. I mean, after all, I knew my ethnic background, particularly because I had all this other information from my mother's sister, my Aunt Pearl, about the Pfeiffer line and the Eastland disaster and that side of the family. I thought everything was complete. But curiosity, as always, got the best of me and this work colleague that was encouraging me to do this. She said you will meet all these long lost cousins and distant relatives. And I thought that's not going to happen. I know who I'm related to, I know everybody or know of everybody. And well, she was right. And the bottom line is that it blew my mind and it upended everything that I thought I knew about my family, everything that I thought I knew about my family. And I want to share one of these stories with you because it definitely factors into what's happened here with the podcast and with my writing.

Natalie Zett:

So right before the pandemic, I think, a DNA connection from Germany reached out to me, based on our mutual family trees that we posted, and it turned out that this woman I'll call her Ursula she descended from the Pfeiffer line. That's the same line that I profiled in my book. And her ancestor, her great-great-grandmother, was the sister of my great-grandfather, herman Pfeiffer, and this sister did not immigrate and she remained in what was Poland, what became Germany and then what became Poland again. It's super confusing, but that's how things were over there. That's how things were over there. And this newfound cousin, ursula she told me some horrific stories about what happened to that branch of the family during World War I, world War II and the Cold War. Her grandmother, being multilingual, even became a spy. So it's quite the interesting background that this branch of the family has. And Ursula actually knew a lot about the family members who immigrated to the United States. But when I told her about the Eastland disaster she was equally horrified. She too once believed that those who immigrated to the United States had it better and were walking on those streets paved with gold. And as Ursula and I talked and Zoomed, we began to own each other's family stories and we began bringing those branches together. I'd talk about our family in Poland and Germany and she would talk about her family in Chicago, meaning my relatives who immigrated. We did start with separate histories with missing puzzle pieces, but through knowing each other and exchanging these stories and going back and forth, we began to embrace the totality of who our Pfeiffer family was and is.

Natalie Zett:

Ursula said something that stayed with me and it actually continues to haunt me. She said continues to haunt me. She said do you think it's different for us because we lost someone on the Eastland? At first I thought that was strange, so I probed deeper. She was relating it to war, to all the wars that were fought on her native soil. She said some families' sons, daughters, mothers and fathers came home and some did not. And she said again your aunt, my cousin, did not come home from the Eastland. What did that do to our family? I shared that it took a long time for our family to recover. Maybe we never fully did, but learning this story ignited in me a drive to tell our family's story, knowing that no one else might do that, considering its obscurity. And this research led me to question why so many other stories weren't told.

Natalie Zett:

In my book there's a line where the main character, zara Vrabel, says why do I feel as if I'm racing against time, when time ran out for us long ago? Initially, that line applied to uncovering my own family's story, the Pfeifers. Now, as you know, if you've been listening to this podcast, it's gone way beyond that, as it should, I think. Even though time ran out for all of these people long ago, I will continue to race against it. This quest has taken me into the bowels of old archives, as well as to social media, uncovering layers of history that would otherwise remain hidden.

Natalie Zett:

As another anniversary of the Eastland disaster approaches, I felt compelled to do something different and engage in a couple of creative activities that aren't my usual. In other words, I once again needed to move out of my comfort zone. So what I did was I began assembling a family scrapbook honoring my immigrant ancestors' journey from Poland to Johnstown, to Chicago. Okay, I collected my family photos, along with other images, footage and graphics from the turn of the 20th century and my own personal photos that I took in the late 1990s and early 2000s, when I first discovered my family's deep connection to Chicago. Well, those photos that I took from that era we're talking about the late 1990s, early 2000s. They were in really bad shape, much worse shape than the photos that were taken over 100 years ago, go figure. I'm not sure why they faded so badly, but I thought these things need an update.

Natalie Zett:

So I follow a lot of Chicago-based photographers on Facebook and Instagram. Honestly, to me, chicago is gorgeous and a photographer's delight. But there's this one photographer I've been following for a few months now because he's doing something different now because he's doing something different. Irvin Eliud is his name and I will share the link to his Facebook page in the show notes. The joy and love that he has for Chicago is what I think I picked up on from his work, and what's very unusual and sets Irvin apart is that he goes into a great deal of history about the places in Chicago that he photographs. So I reached out and I asked Irvin if he was available to photograph my great-grandparents' house, which is still standing in Little Village, chicago. Coincidentally, he once lived down the street from their house and was glad to be back in his old neighborhood. He actually knew this house even before I pointed it out to him. So that's another one for the overflowing coincidence folder that I've been keeping for 25 years around this project.

Natalie Zett:

I also asked Irvin if he'd go to Bethania Cemetery to photograph the headstones for Martha and my great-grandparents. He'd never been to Bethania, which is just outside of Chicago in a village called Justice, illinois, and Irvin was excited for the adventure. And the resulting photos were well, they were beyond wonderful. Irvin has this incredible eye and he knows how to frame a shot, and I've been to my great-grandparents' home in Bethania many, many times during my visits to Chicago. But his photos I don't know. They let me see these very familiar places in new ways and it made me think and ponder what else is here? What else have I missed?

Natalie Zett:

At first, I was simply going to upload the photos to my website. Then I thought of combining them with my existing family photos and creating a video, and so I did, and the final touch was adding one of those old, faded photos that I took. It's a photo of my reflection in my Aunt Martha's headstone, with her name, her date of birth, date of death and the words off die Island on the Eastland, superimposed on my very blurred image. The video's live on YouTube and I'll share the link. I want to thank Irvin Helud for being a part of this and for reigniting my own creative sparks. I also think that Irvin's love, not just of Chicago, but of the entire creative process, is infectious in a good way. We'll be talking about the other side of that word later in this podcast.

Natalie Zett:

Now it's time to introduce you to someone from the past. Meet Chrissy McNeil-Luritsen. She's another person who didn't die on the Eastland, but she seemed to definitely die of the Eastland. Several months ago I found this memorable and striking obituary from the Rockford that's in Illinois Morning Star, dated Saturday April 8th 1922. And it's about a woman who fell overboard during the Eastland disaster. She survived that harrowing, awful day but was plagued by illness for the rest of her life and ultimately she succumbed to it. Her sister firmly believed that the Eastland was to blame for her untimely death and she went to the papers about it, which I think is awesome. And as far as I know, chrissy's story has never been acknowledged in any entity associated with the Eastland disaster, and today I want to change that. It is so crucial that every voice, every life affected by this tragedy is remembered in one way or the other. Affected by this tragedy is remembered in one way or the other.

Speaker 2:

So this is from the Rockford Morning Star, saturday, april 8th 1922.

Natalie Zett:

Headline is Monroe Center. That's where she was living. April 7th Mrs L Streeter received word Thursday morning of the death of her sister, mrs Chrissy McNeil-Luritsen, whose demise occurred at her home in Hinsdale, illinois, wednesday April 5th, of a complication of diseases brought on from her terrible experience at the time of the Eastland disaster in Chicago, july 24th 1915. Mrs Lauritsen was a passenger on the boat at the time it capsized, clinging to the side of the boat until rescued after what seemed hours to her. She has never been well since that time. She was born on a farm near Monroe Center July 24, 1875, was married in 1899 to Mr Charles Lauritsen of Sycamore. Besides the husband she is survived by a daughter, viola, one sister, mrs Ella Streeter of Monroe Center, three brothers, abe McNeil of Belvedere, jack McNeil of Cassin, minnesota, and Dan McNeil of Hinsdale. A sister, mrs Flora Banahan, died several years ago. Funeral services will be held Saturday morning at the home in Hinsdale. The body will be brought to Monroe Center on the 1245 train and burial will be at the Dutch Town Cemetery with short services at the Union Church at one o'clock.

Natalie Zett:

To reiterate, chrissy McNeil-Luritsen was born in 1875 in Illinois and married Charles Luritsen on November 30, 1899 in Winnebago County, illinois. Charles was born in Denmark and, according to the 1920 census, charles was working as a laborer. They were still living in Chicago and Chrissy and Charles' daughter, viola, who was born in 1903, died in 1972. Here's the thing about this there's no apparent connection between Chrissy and Western Electric, so it's unclear as to why she was on the Eastland in the first place. Her sister, sarah Ella McNeil, who was interviewed for Chrissy's obituary, also had no connection to the Eastland, as far as I could see. Despite this, I'm grateful that Sarah, her sister, wasn't shy about speaking up for her sister, and when I first found this obituary once again, I thought about all the other people like Chrissy who had no one to speak up for them, who may have died quite a number of years afterwards as a result of being in the water.

Natalie Zett:

I'm not talking about the emotional impact of losing people, because I've also discussed those families as well. Certainly, people suffered a lot of what could be characterized as grief, post-traumatic stress, etc. But I'm just talking about the people who ended up in that water and what did that do to them? Surviving a traumatic event like the Eastland disaster and experiencing a decline in health could also be attributed to a lot of different factors and I'm afraid we'll never know what those were in Chrissy's case, but they could be physical and psychological. Also, we take so much for granted in terms of the medical advances that have occurred in our lifetime that I don't know about you, but it's impossible for me to comprehend what life was like for our ancestors who lived in the early 20th century In terms of those who spent time in the Chicago River after they were thrown off or jumped off of the Eastland.

Natalie Zett:

The biggest concern was, according to some reports that I've read in the papers, typhoid fever. So who knows if Chrissy contracted that and if her immune system was such that it gave way to other problems that she lived with that it gave way to other problems that she lived with. Typhoid fever I bet you've heard this term and there's a person the actual person called Typhoid Mary who was a carrier for this. But typhoid fever is a serious illness caused by the bacterium Salmonella typhi and in the early 20th century it was a significant health concern, especially in urban areas like Chicago with poor sanitation and of course you know somebody ending up in the Chicago River for any length of time. That would have also compromised their system. Here's a detailed look at typhoid fever, including its symptoms, transmission and treatment during that era. So let's start with the symptoms.

Natalie Zett:

Typhoid fever typically progresses through several stages over a few weeks, if untreated. The first week someone will have a gradual onset of fever, malaise, headache and cough. The fever increases daily, often peaking at 103 to 104 degrees Fahrenheit. At 103 to 104 degrees Fahrenheit. Second week sustained high fever, severe fatigue, abdominal pain and a characteristic rash of rose-colored spots on the trunk of the body. There might be intestinal symptoms such as constipation or diarrhea. Third week without treatment, patients can experience severe complications like intestinal bleeding or perforation, delirium and shock. Fourth week if the patient survives, the fever gradually subsides, but recovery can be prolonged and the story gets worse.

Natalie Zett:

Typhoid fever spreads primarily through the ingestion of food or water contaminated with the feces of an infected person. Yeah, don't dwell on that too long, but that's what happened. Poor sanitation and hygiene are key factors in the spread. So again, drinking contaminated water hello Chicago River contaminated food and so on. By now you probably get a pretty good picture of what this was all about. I didn't know we were going to have a public health session in this podcast, but it's all part of this story as well. I will continue. I will continue.

Natalie Zett:

So, in the aftermath of the Eastland disaster, health officials were particularly concerned about the risk of typhoid fever and hopefully now you understand why they were so concerned. And don't forget the crowded conditions, so the rescue and relief efforts, with large groups of people in close quarters it's also the summer in Chicago and those can get really hot and there was no air conditioning and the disaster area and the makeshift hospitals may not have had adequate sanitation to prevent the spread of typhoid. So it's a pretty bleak picture as to what happened to people, and it didn't matter if they could swim or not. If they were in that water for any length of time, depending on things like their age, their immune system, they were going to be exposed to some potentially deadly things that would keep revisiting them throughout their lives, deadly things that would keep revisiting them throughout their lives. And don't forget, as they were being treated in hospitals or if they were even rescuers helping out with the makeshift morgues, everywhere, they too were exposed to this. So it really must have been quite something.

Natalie Zett:

And there were forms of antibiotics back then, but they were not as powerful as the ones that we take for granted today. And when they would try to treat typhoid fever, they would try to make sure that the patient was hydrated and give them a bland diet if they could keep the food down and try to manage the fevers. Those are really high fevers for adults to be carrying for that many days and they would apply cold compresses and use different fever reducing medications like aspirin. And if they could isolate them, they would isolate them. But I have the feeling, given that situation, it was probably difficult and bed rest because, well, I don't think the person had that much energy after going through something like that. Anyway, and here's the thing long-term impact and this very well might have been what happened to Chrissy and I think that's the gift of Chrissy to this podcast is that she's pointing out another thing that happened that has been somewhat overlooked in the telling of the Eastland disaster story.

Natalie Zett:

And I also want to bring back a special friend here who I have such fondness for, Coroner Pete M Hoffman. And I profiled Coroner Hoffman in another episode on February 3rd, coroner's Conundrum. Coroner Hoffman was a colorful and notable figure in Chicago's public health and safety landscape at the turn of the 20th century and if you know a little bit about Coroner Pete Hoffman. He was very complex and involved in a number of situations and activities, but it's important to remember his contributions to public health, and Coroner Hoffman was right there on the scene after the Eastland disaster and was instrumental in organizing things so people could get the assistance that they needed.

Natalie Zett:

Before we go, I want to share another act of creativity from this week. Yep, I learned from genealogist Megan Smolniak about a new tech tool that lets you write music. I tried it out and created a piece called Eastland Hymn, and I was pleasantly surprised with the result and felt further inspired to take that tune and make another video. This particular video, eastland Hymn, is packed with a lot of the research artifacts that I've accumulated during my Eastland research. You often hear about these things and findings in the podcast, but you rarely see them except in the collages that I make for each episode. So I made another video, two videos and one podcast in a week. That is a record that I don't expect I will be continuing to do. But, that said, I do want to credit Irvin and his magnificent creative spirit, because when you're around somebody like that, even if it's at a distance, virtually, it is infectious in a good way, and it also helps your own creativity.

Natalie Zett:

Let me share the lyrics of this song with you. It's called Eastland Hymn, copyright 2024. Concept is by Natalie Zett that's me and it is generated via Via Sunmo. Here's the lyrics River, deep, so tragic, fell Eastland's tale. We now do tell Morning light, we say goodbye. Tears and sorrow fill the sky, city's heart in rivers, cold Stories, lost but must be told. Whistles blow, the silence breaks. On this day, the heart it aches. Here comes the chorus. Eastlands call. Through time it rings Memory of the pain. It brings Souls. We honor spirits high In our hearts. They never die. And how about if I stop talking and close out this episode with that song? Here you go.

Speaker 3:

River, deep, so tragic, found Eastland's tale, we now do tell Morning light. We say goodbye. Tears and sorrow fill the sky, city's hearted rivers, cold, stories lost but must be told. Stories lost but must be told. Whistles blow. The silence breaks On this day. The heart it aches. Eastlands call through time. It rains, memory of the pain. It brings Souls. We honor spirits high In our hearts. They never die. Families boarded dreams at night. Morning peace, it turned to cries. Life so fragile, death so near. This land shall ever clear. In the currents whispers low voices of the time ago. We remember. We recall Eastland's journey. Final fall. Eastland's call through time. It rains, memory of the pain it brings souls we honor. Spirits hide in our hearts. They never die. In the currents Whispers low Voices of a time ago. We remember. We recall Eastland's journey. We remember. We recall Eastland's journey. Final fall. Eastland's call through time it rings, memory of the pain it brings Souls. We honor spirits high In our hearts. They never die Bye.

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