Flower in the River: A Family Tale Finally Told

Santa Fe Railway's Eastland Victims

• Natalie Zett

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A cemetery caretaker's steady act of tending graves becomes a powerful lesson in historical preservation and honoring forgotten lives. I'll share how this unassuming influence shaped my approach to uncovering and preserving stories of the people of the Eastland Disaster. This episode includes:

  • The story of Mr. Schmidt, a German immigrant who tended church graves because, "I lost everyone over there."
  • Continuing connections with Eastland disaster descendants seeking stories beyond names and dates
  • Unexpected discovery of two Santa Fe Railway employees who perished on the Eastland
  • Details about Charles Stehlik, a 24-year-old machinist who died two weeks before his wedding
  • Information about Joe Hutchinson, a 20-year-old railway clerk whose brother, William, survived the disaster
  • The importance of fraternal organizations like the Modern Woodmen of America and Knights of Columbus in providing support
  • How individuals rather than institutions often preserve the most meaningful historical details
  • The parallel between tending physical graves and preserving historical memory

Resources:

The Santa Fe Magazine (Google Books)

Chicago Tribune, April 16, 1909

The Inter Ocean, April 22, 1909 

Chicago Tribune, July 31, 1915





Natalie Zett:

Hello, I'm Natalie Zett and welcome to Flower in the River. 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. Welcome to Flower in the River, episode 113. Welcome back. Welcome to new listeners. I'm glad you're here. As always, there's a lot to talk about, so let's do it. I want to tell you a story about one of the most influential people I've ever known, even though I didn't realize how important he was until years later. His name was Mr Schmidt. He was the custodian at my Lutheran church when I was a teenager. He was a quiet, older man from Germany at least that's where I thought he was from and he also tended the church cemetery which was across the street. I saw him almost every day on my walk home from school as I cut through the cemetery. He was usually bent over a grave, planting flowers, mowing the grass or gently dusting off headstones, like he knew every single person buried there. As far as I was concerned, that was a lot of work to do for a bunch of dead people, not exactly an audience that could express appreciation, but I was 15 at that time, so that's what I thought back then. But I like Mr Schmidt and I like to visit with him, especially since I was in my third year of German language studies and would sometimes chat with him in my awkward classroom German and he'd gently correct me. But one day I stood there watching him work and I asked Herr Schmidt, warum arbeiten Sie so fleißig darin, den Friedhof zu pflegen? Er ist doch schon wunderschön, mr Schmidt, why do you work so hard tending the cemetery? It's already beautiful. It's already beautiful. He paused, looked away for a long moment, then said quietly because I lost everyone over there, and he pointed to the sky you mean Germany, I asked? He nodded, my family was German, but we lived in what is now Poland and the war. His voice drifted off and I think he decided not to share the full story with a teenager. Then he said something, something I actually forgot for years, but it came back to me when I needed it the most. They were all killed, so I take care of these people. He pointed to the graves the way I hope someone over there is taking care of my people. I didn't know what to say At the time. I didn't fully grasp the weight of what he shared and I probably said something kind of dumb and continued on my way. I didn't know that that moment would stay with me and grow Years later, when I began working on the Eastland disaster history, I found myself in a similar place tending to so many who seemed to be forgotten or neglected, telling the stories of people whose graves, both literal and metaphorical, had been left untended.

Natalie Zett:

And that's when I remembered Mr Schmidt and I realized something that stopped me in my tracks that man quietly tending the dead while the world rushed by him had become one of the most important influences in my life. He didn't tell me how to live, he showed me. And now, decades later, I guess I'm doing the same thing, it's just in a different kind of a graveyard. And here's what's been happening lately, and this continues to give me hope, as I've shared in the last few weeks. I don't know what's going on, but I keep hearing from descendants of Eastland victims. Many of these are people who are just now learning about their connection to the disaster or they've always known. But they were searching and they might've found their person's name, but found nothing beyond the name and some dates, and that was it. Many of them did not realize that there was additional information about their person. And what people are looking for are not names and dates. They're looking for stories, they're looking for connections. And that's what's been the most gratifying of all the things that I do Finding the stories about these people. They enrich me and I'm glad that they are enriching other people's lives as well, especially the relatives of these people. And it's not just families, it's individuals across the country who have been quietly doing this work for years around the Eastland disaster. Some of the most moving, well-researched bios that I've seen were not written by institutions. They were written by strangers on Find-A-Grave People with no spotlight, no funding, just deep respect or something for the past and a desire to make sure someone's story is told. And that's what Mr Schmidt did, and that's what you're doing, and that's what I'm trying to do. That's what we're doing together. We're tending the graves.

Natalie Zett:

I was on Google Books and I was doing a search on the Eastland disaster to see if anything new had come up. And, by the way, for those who may not know, google Books is an insane digital treasure chest for historians and genealogists alike. And here's the thing you need to check it regularly, since they are constantly updating, and just because something wasn't there today, it doesn't mean it's not going to be there tomorrow. And one of the most frequent questions I get is how do you keep finding all these Eastland stories that seem to have been evading other people and organizations? I actually scheduled these searches just to make sure I don't forget and miss anyone, but this time I got an unexpected result. After entering my search criteria, what popped up when I was searching for the Eastland disaster? Get this, the Santa Fe magazine. Now, what in the heck could a railway employee magazine have to do with the Eastland? You'll find out.

Natalie Zett:

You've probably heard the name Santa Fe, maybe from a train or maybe from a town, or maybe from a Broadway lyric, but once upon a time, the Atchison, topeka and Santa Fe Railway meant movement, progress and opportunity in the American imagination. If you've ever seen the film the Harvey Girls, a 1946 MGM musical starring Judy Garland, there's a song devoted to this legendary railway and it is called On the Atchison, topeka and Santa Fe by Johnny Mercer. I wish I could play it for you, but you know copyright stuff can't do that. So the song was catchy enough to win an Academy Award. But the song, as light as it was, was grounded in something real, the Santa Fe line. Curious, of course. And I clicked and there it was.

Natalie Zett:

I found two separate articles mentioning two of its employees, that is, employees of the Santa Fe Railway who had lost their lives aboard the Eastland. Two names, two stories hiding in the pages of a company magazine. They were Joe Hutchinson from the purchasing department and Charles Stalick, a machinist at the Corwith Yard. And we will talk about these findings because there's some stuff going on there. For one thing, how did they end up on the Eastland? Maybe they were relatives of folks who worked for Western Electric? That remains to be seen.

Natalie Zett:

But first, since the Santa Fe Railway is part of the Eastland disaster experience, we need to look at the Santa Fe Railway's Corwith Yard in Chicago. Look at the Santa Fe Railway's Corwith Yard in Chicago To understand their world. We need to look at a legal case that rocked the Santa Fe Railway in 1909. And these articles are from the Chicago Daily Tribune, august 16, 1905, and another Chicago paper called the Interocean April 22, 1909. The case begins so it's 1909 and the telegraph operators at the Santa Fe Railway's Corwith Yard in Chicago. They're working 12-hour shifts with three-hour rest periods. Now the railway insists that those breaks mean the operators aren't technically working the full 12 hours, but the government, citing the Hours of Service Act, disagrees. This dispute starts with a complaint filed by HB Parham, president of the Order of Railway Telegraphers. He argues that the railway is violating federal law. George E Starbird, an inspector for the Interstate Commerce Commission, icc, investigates and confirms the violations.

Natalie Zett:

The cases brought before Judge Kennesaw Mountain Landis, a tough, no-nonsense judge known for his strict rulings. Representing the Santa Fe Railway are defense attorneys Robert Dunlap, lf English and JL Coleman. The telegraph operators, fe Hillhouse, we Sargent and FM Elliott, testify about their grueling schedules. The defense argues that the three-hour breaks mean operators aren't truly on duty for the 12 hours. But Judge Landis has a different view. He believes that if operators are expected to be available during those breaks, they are technically still working. And the government emphasizes the bigger picture. This isn't just about breaks, it's about public safety. Exhausted telegraph operators can make deadly mistakes and the law was designated to prevent that. The verdict. In the end, the Santa Fe Railway is found guilty of violating the Hours of Service Act. Judge Landis fines the company $100, a small amount, but the case itself is a big deal. It's a test case meant to clarify how the law should be applied. The Santa Fe Railway immediately announces plans to appeal.

Natalie Zett:

I think this probably went on for a while, but the historical context and parallels let's talk about that a little bit. So this case is a snapshot of a changing America during the progressive era, and this was a time of labor reform and increasing government regulation. And for two men who worked for the Santa Fe Railway at Corinth and later boarded the Eastland in 1915, this was the world they knew, a world of long shifts, tight schedules and constant pressure. What about if we get to know these two men who worked for the Santa Fe Railway and died on the Eastland? And here's some additional information that I located, and this is from a book by Ann Durkin Keating. It's called Chicago Neighborhoods and Suburbs a Historical Guide Quote the Chicago and Alton Railroad established a roundhouse in the community and industrial employment attracted German and Irish workers.

Natalie Zett:

By the 1880s and the 1890s, infrastructure and transportation improvements drew even more diverse populations. In 1887, the Santa Fe Railroad moved in building its Corwith Yards, then the busiest in the nation. In 1889, brighton Park was annexed to the city of Chicago as part of Lake Township. Much of the ethnic character of the community was carried by the churches. The first churches in the community were Protestant. The first churches in the community were Protestant, serving the Yankees who owned and managed the early firms. The Brighton Park Baptist Church dates from 1848, and the McKinley Park Methodist Church first met in 1872. In 1878, irish Roman Catholics established St Agnes Church. Eastern European Jews also arrived Later. Italians, poles and Lithuanians found jobs and homes in Brighton Park. They developed their own churches, including Five Holy Martyrs in 1908, polish Immaculate Conception in 1914, lithuanian Immaculate Conception in 1914, lithuanian St Pancratius in 1924, polish and St John's Polish National Parish also in 1924.

Natalie Zett:

And we'll have to do further investigation of this book because it sounds like it's right up our alley. Now that you have a bit of a feel for what was going on in those neighborhoods during that time, let's return to the Santa Fe Railway Magazine. Here are Fe offices were represented among the victims of the Eastland disaster by one of their number in the person of Joe Hutchinson of the Purchasing Department who lost his life when the boat rolled over into the water. Joe was but 20 years of age and had been in the employ of the Santa Fe five years. He was very popular and well thought of and the bereaved family have the heartfelt sympathy of his many friends in the service. We also learned that Charles Stalick, a Santa Fe machinist at Corwith, also lost his life at the same time, and thus our great system was bereft of the services of two capable employees.

Natalie Zett:

End of this article and here's the next article. The next article Corwith. We regret to announce the death of Charlie Stalick, a machinist at the Corwith Reclamation Plant on the ill-fated steamer Eastland, which capsized in the Chicago River July 24th. Charlie's pleasing personality and goodwill won him the respect and confidence of his fellow workers, and it was with sorrow we heard he was one of the victims of this awful disaster. The employees of the scrapyard took up a collection for the benefit of the sufferers of this great accident and a goodly sum was realized.

Natalie Zett:

What I don't know, and before I go into their bios, I'm not sure where Joe Hutchinson was working. It sounds like he was working in a different location, albeit in Chicago, but maybe not in the Corwith office. So before we go into their respective bios, I want to mention something. In my initial research I located a piece on Charles Stalick, who was described as a machinist for Western Electric. But they didn't cite their sources, so I had to do a little more digging in order to figure out where this came from. This is a very common problem, by the way, with the history of so many people of the Eastland disaster. A lot of times not always, but a lot of times there's no provenance for the photos, no source citations for the articles, and this makes it really difficult to research these people. And yet here, in two separate issues of the Santa Fe magazine, charles' employer is clearly listed as the Santa Fe Railway. So which one is it?

Natalie Zett:

Before we jump to conclusions, let's step back a little bit. Could Charles Stalick have worked for both the Santa Fe and Western Electric? It's entirely possible. In the early 20th century, skilled tradesmen like machinists often moved between jobs or even held multiple positions at once. You can see these people worked many hours, so the city's industrial corridors were filled with opportunities, and for someone with technical skills, changing employers was common. I guess Still this needs additional research, so stay tuned.

Natalie Zett:

Now the Santa Fe Railway's Corwith Yard and Western Electric's massive Hawthorne Works were both major employers in the region and while there's no documented partnership between the two that I could locate, their operations certainly intersected. Western Electric even had its own rail connections at one point. So it's not beyond reason that Charles Stalick could have been employed by both companies at different times or even simultaneously. But that's why we need to go deeper with the research on the lives and the history of these two men. And just because one record says Santa Fe and another says Western Electric, that doesn't mean that one of them is wrong. It just means we have to look deeper. And obviously he was working for the Santa Fe. But let's talk about him. Let's talk about Charles, or Charlie or Carl. He's known by different names, by the way, and this makes it very challenging.

Natalie Zett:

This is the information that I was able to locate and my sources are familysearchorg, find a grave and also the July 31st 1915 issue of the Chicago Tribune. And well, let me just read this to you. This is Charles' obituary and right out of the gate you're going to hear inconsistencies. His name is spelled Spalek S-P-A-H-L-E-K, not Stelik S-P-A-H-L-E-K, not Stelik, spalik Charles, 24 years old, 3035 West 45th Street, worked as a machinist for the Western Electric Company. So there you go. That's maybe where this unsighted source got this information. So there you go. That's maybe where this unsighted source got this information.

Natalie Zett:

He was born in Bohemia, austria and that means Czech Republic most likely but was brought by his parents to this country when four years old. He belonged to the Modern Woodmen of America and the Machinist Union. Surviving are his parents, mr and Mrs John Spalick, and two brothers. He died with his intended wife, bronslila Rutkvi, 20 years old, 3801 South Spalding Avenue. The marriage was to be celebrated in two weeks. His father is florist at Concordia Cemetery. Funeral was held from his home to the residence to his sweetheart and from there to the Five Brothers Martyr Church. The burial was at Resurrection Cemetery and this is in Justice, illinois, next to Bethania, where many of my family members are buried.

Natalie Zett:

So a little background on Charles. He was born on December 17, 1891 in the Czech Republic and he died on the 24th of July 1915 in Chicago, illinois. I found his cemetery card from Resurrection Cemetery and he's listed as the name is spelled K-A-R-O-L. Like the girl's name, but it's not, it's Carl, and the surname is spelled S like Sam T-A-H-L-I-K and in paren it is spelled S-T-E-H-L-I-K, so you can see out of the gate. It's challenging to research somebody with these many name changes.

Natalie Zett:

But let's talk about his fiancée. In the obituary she's called Branisliwa Rutkvi, but she went by the first name of Blanche, probably Americanized, and the last name, the surname, seems to be R-U-D-C-K-I, and I located Blanche's obituary, which was also in the July 31st 1915 issue of the Chicago Tribune Rutke. Miss Blanche, 21 years old, 3801 South Spalding Avenue, a former employee of the Western Electric Company, was drowned with her sweetheart Charles Spalick. She was the daughter of Albert and Mary Rutke and the sister of Joseph Stanley, john and Anthony Rutke, mary Nova, rose Wojcik and Stella Tokars. She was buried last Wednesday at Resurrection Cemetery. Again, this is from the July 31st 1915 issue of the Chicago Tribune.

Natalie Zett:

So we've got more work to do with these two people and I have the feeling that more information will emerge. I made a family tree for both of them and what I have to say? I'm not sponsored by Ancestrycom but I am a big fan because they keep adding features that are really useful for doing this type of work. A feature they recently added is called Networks and it allows you to enter information about people who were connected to the primary person that you're researching, whether or not they were related, and this fits under the category of the fan club that Elizabeth Schoen Mills talks about a lot of the time. You need to consider not just the person but the friends, family associates and neighbors of these people to get a well-rounded idea of who they were. That said, when I made the family tree for Charles Stalick, I was able to add Blanche. They didn't have the opportunity to be married, but I was able to add her to his network and add her family to the network. So as time goes by, I'll probably get more information.

Natalie Zett:

And now we're going to move on to young Joe Hutchinson. I did find Joe's obituary in the same issue of the Chicago Tribune. Place was the son of Frederick and Anna nay, lefleur Hutchinson and the brother of William. Frederick Jr, raymond, richard and Anna Jr and Charles. Now, the print here is hard to read, but I'm going to do my best here. He was a clerk at the general office of the Santa Fe Railroad and a member of the Knights of Columbus and the Crawford Young Men's Club. He and his brother, william, joined the excursion, but William was on the upper deck when the boat began to list and he jumped. The funeral was held from his home to Epiphany Church, then to Mount Carmel. That would be Mount Carmel Cemetery. And again, his dad was Frederick Hutchinson, who was born in 1868 in Canada, but his parents came from Ireland, and his mom was Anna LaFleur, born in 1893 in Illinois.

Natalie Zett:

And when I went on to FamilySearch, guess what? I found A photo of Joe, and of course I'll share that with you in the poster and on my website. But that was just wonderful to find. Another thing to mention is that even though Joe's brother, william Hutchinson, survived the Eastland disaster, he's not listed in any of the records that I've been able to find about the Eastland disaster as a survivor. He went on and got married and stayed in the Chicago area and then he died in 1955. I don't know too much about him, but at least I want to acknowledge him here as a survivor. So I'll give you some high-level information about the various organizations that both Joe Hutchinson and Charles Stalick were part of.

Natalie Zett:

First of all, the Five Holy Martyrs Church at 4327 South Richmond in Brighton Park. Well, that's a gem of Chicago's Polish Catholic heritage. It was founded in 1908, and the current building was designed by architect Arthur Foster and completed in 1920. Now my question was who were the five holy martyrs? Well, there's all sorts of information, and not all of it quite matches up, but at a high level.

Natalie Zett:

The five holy martyrs were five monks who devoted their lives to faith, prayer and service, and this was around 296 AD thereabouts. The five monks were known for their piety and unwavering commitment to God, but their story took a tragic turn when they lost their lives to thieves struck down in an act of violence that seemed to silence their holy mission. Yet death wasn't the end of their story. When their bodies were discovered, a miraculous sign was revealed they were incorruptible. Despite the passage of time, their bodies showed no decay, a phenomenon that the faithful saw as a mark of divine grace. In Catholic tradition, the incorruptibility of saints and holy figures is seen as a sign of their sanctity, a visible testament to a life lived in God's service.

Natalie Zett:

So, in honor of these five holy monks, the Polish Catholic community in Chicago dedicated a church to them, and that would be the Five Holy Martyrs Church. It became a spiritual home for generations, a place where faith, resilience and the miracle of these five monks continue to inspire, to inspire, and the church gained international attention on October 5, 1979, when Pope John Paul celebrated a special morning mass there during his first US visit. Approximately 200,000 people gathered for this historic event, making it a landmark moment for the parish and the Polish community. In the 1990s, the Polish American Association established a South Side office in the rectory of five holy martyrs, recognizing its significance to the Polish community. The church continues to honor its roots by offering masses in Polish and hosting a Saturday school for Polish language and culture. Today, five Holy Martyrs is part of a combined parish with Immaculate Conception, reflecting the neighborhood's evolving demographics. Masses are celebrated in English, polish, lithuanian and Spanish, showcasing the area's rich cultural tapestry. Obviously, there's more to learn about this church, but that is a very high-level introduction for you.

Natalie Zett:

Now let's go on to the modern woodman, which was also mentioned in Charles' obituary. So the modern woodman of America is a fraternal benefit society founded in 1883 by Joseph Cullen Root in Lyons, iowa. Inspired by pioneer woodmen who cleared forests to build communities, root aimed to clear away the problems of financial security for families. Mwa expanded rapidly in the Midwest, including Chicago, where it established local chapters known as camps. These camps provided life insurance and organized community events fostering special bonds among members. These teams were especially prominent in Chicago, where events like the Rainbow Parades showcased thousands of uniformed members halting traffic and drawing large crowds. Today, mwa continues its mission, offering financial services and community programs across the United States. And, as an FYI, in earlier episodes of this podcast there were also other Eastland victims who were members of the Modern Woodmen. So this is not the first time I've seen this, but it is interesting again to see how prominent and how important these organizations were for people.

Natalie Zett:

At this time we're going to segue into the Knights of Columbus, which I bet a lot of people have heard of. So this was an organization that Joe Hutchinson was a member of, and the Knights of Columbus is a Catholic fraternal service organization founded in 1882 by Father Michael J McGivney in New Haven, connecticut. It was established to provide financial aid and support to Catholic families, particularly those facing hardship due to the loss of a breadwinner. The organization was also a response to the anti-Catholic sentiment prevalent at the time, aiming to offer a space where Catholic men could unite in faith in service. In Chicago, the Knights quickly gained a foothold. Chicago Council no 182, instituted on July 7, 182, instituted on July 7, 1896, was one of the earliest councils established west of the Alleghenies, marking the organization's expansion into the Midwest. The city's diverse Catholic immigrant population found in the Knights a sense of community and mutual support.

Natalie Zett:

Over the years, the Knights of Columbus in Chicago have been active in various charitable endeavors, including supporting local parishes, schools and community programs. They've also played a role in civic events, such as organizing and participating in parades and public celebrations. Their commitment to charity, unity, fraternity and patriotism has made them a significant presence in the city's Catholic community. And finally, there was an organization mentioned in Joe's obituary, and it was the Crawford Young Men's Club. I couldn't find any information about it, but it was likely a neighborhood-based social club in Chicago, probably rooted in the area once known as Crawford, which is now called Pulaski Road. The name change happened around 1934, but many locals continued to refer to it as Crawford for years afterward. So that gives you an idea of how these organizations formed, why they were so important and also how they protected their members in times of tragedy such as the Eastland disaster.

Natalie Zett:

The Eastland disaster took hundreds of lives, and among them were Joe Hutchinson and Charles Stalick, both of whom worked for the Santa Fe Railway. They were two men with families, dreams and communities that mourned them, but their stories, like so many others, might have remained buried if not for people like you, like me, who are curious and who care enough to dig, to search, to remember. A railway magazine here, a Google book, search there, descendants reaching out strangers on, find a grave with no connection to the Eastland disaster as far as they know, but somehow feel compelled to research and share their findings of the people who were lost. And, of course, mr Schmidt, who taught me that remembrance isn't about grand gestures or waiting for anniversaries or publicity campaigns. It's about showing up again and again, quietly, tending to memory. He tended those graves with care, respect and the hope that somewhere someone was doing the same for those he lost.

Natalie Zett:

Here's my challenge to all of us Be someone's, mr Schmidt, find a forgotten story in your community, in your family background, and maybe write that. Find a grave bio, because looking for that person whose bio you shared and they're going to be so grateful to you for what you did, and share that family photo and ask your older relatives about their memories before they're gone, okay, we have so many ways to record information now that they didn't have, even 50 years ago. So this is phenomenal, and I think we forget about it because we never knew a world without all this cool tech stuff, right? So please remember that remembrance isn't a solo act. It's a chorus of all of our voices who refuse to let the past fade into silence. And thanks, as always, for joining me on this journey through the history of the people of the Eastland.

Natalie Zett:

And if you have a connection to the disaster or if you've discovered a story that needs telling, please reach out. I'll do what I can, because together we're not just preserving history, we're honoring lives. We're honoring those who came before us. Until next time, take care of yourselves and take care of each other. Talk to you soon. Hey, that's it for this episode and thanks for coming along for the ride. Please subscribe or follow so you can keep up with all the episodes. And for more information, please go to my website, that's wwwflowerintherivercom. Wwwflowerintherivercom. I hope you'll consider buying my book, available as audiobook, ebook, paperback and hardcover, because I still owe people money and that's my running joke. But the one thing I'm serious about is that this podcast and my book are dedicated to the memory of all who experienced the Eastland disaster of 1915. Goodbye for now.

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