The Day I Made the Acquaintance of Ernest P. Schween and Katrina Schierding

Back on Sunday. Much too do between now and then.

While walking with Ann and her friend on their Halloween rounds last Sunday, we passed a vacant lot on a street called Cedarcrest Drive, deep in the heart of Schaumburg. The vacant lot was odd for being vacant, since the neighborhood is otherwise full of single-family houses and fairly mature trees, but it was also unusual for being a small hill. Next to the sidewalk and at the foot of this hillock lay a plaque mounted on a stone. In its entirety, it said:

HISTORICAL SITE

This site, commonly known as 217 South Cedarcrest Drive, is believed to be the oldest burial place in Schaumburg. Historians believe that the family of Ernest P. Schween used this site as the location of several burial plots during the mid-1800s. Unfortunately, the gravestones were removed during the time that the surrounding properties were being developed. No records have been located to verify the location of the graves or the persons buried.

In the late 1960s, the Village of Schaumburg obtained the parcel and continues to own and maintain it today.

This marker is placed as a reminder of the historic significance of this site to the Schaumburg community.

Dedicated June 30, 2001 by the Schaumburg Millennium Committee.

This is what the site looked like on the last day of October 2010.

Completely unremarkable. I'm amazed that graveyard or not, it wasn't developed during the great suburbanization of Schaumburg that began about 50 years ago. In any case, finding the place made my day. I'd never seen this particular plaque, and never seen one placed in the suburban wilds quite like that. I know a little about early Schaumburg, but I'd never heard of Ernest P. Schween. Probably the number of people who have is quite small.

But they're out there. The blog of the Schaumburg Township Historical Society says that "the cemetery has gone by many names: Schween’s Grove Cemetery, Timbercrest Cemetery and the Cedarcrest Cemetery. It is known that the family of Ernest P. Schween, one of Schaumburg Township’s original land owners, used this site as the location of several burial plots during the mid-1800s. Katrina (Ottman) Schierding, wife of Phillip Schierding, was one of the first buried there. Their daughter, Mary Schierding, married Ernest Schween."

So Ernest planted his mother-in-law there. Maybe. Never mind all the faux spook decorations on the nearby houses, this is the real deal. Time to start a rumor that the place is haunted by a vengeful Katrina Schierding. How do I know? I'm using that time-honored technique for telling ghost stories called "making it up."