Wrigley Field, a Distant Connection

Buna in her pink Cubs cap at the age of 102

I’m a life-long Cubs fan.  So was my maternal grandmother, Buna.  She and my grandfather lived on Mildred Street not far from Wrigley Field.  As a child in the 1950s, I went to Ladies’ Day at Wrigley Field so my connection to the ball park goes back decades.  However, I recently learned that I have an even older connection to Wrigley Field.

 
Last year I received copies of letters my paternal grandfather, Howard A. Olson, had exchanged with a friend over a 40 year period.  Among the 200 or more copies of letters was a copy of an article from an April 6, 1957 Roto Magazine from the Chicago Daily News.  The article is dominated by a photograph of a wooden bell tower with my grandfather and his uncle at its base.

 The article tells how the “bell was used to call worshippers to St. Mark’s Lutheran Church” which once stood on the property that is now Wrigley Field.  I had filed the article away and didn’t think of it again until I was in Chicago last week.

I went to the Chicago History Museum during my trip to Chicago last week, and looked up some family events.  I remembered the bell on the property that is now Wrigley Field.  With the help of staff, I found a Sanborn Map from 1894.  I also did some Internet searches and found out that St. Mark’s Lutheran Church was built about 1874.  It was the birthplace of the seminary that grew over time.  However, the neighborhood continued to grow too, and the seminary eventually vacated the property in 1910.  It became a ball park after that.

Sanborn Map, Volume 9 1954, Sheet 116 (a portion)

My grandfather is 9 years old in the photograph.  Since he was born In June 1882, the photo was taken about 1891.  One article I came across says that the Seminary officially opened on October 1, 1891.  I wonder if the photo was, in part, to commemorate the opening of the seminary.  I guess I’ll never know.  I haven’t been able to find any other information about the “bell on the ball field.”

I spent some time in Wrigleyville last week.  I just had to buy some CUBS garb while I was there.  So much of the old neighborhood has the same feel that it did when I was a child.  I felt that I had traveled back in time to my childhood.  Now I have a photograph that takes me back to my grandfather’s childhood 125 years ago.  Wow.  I’m overwhelmed.  Some people say there is no such thing as time travel.  I beg to differ.  The research I do into my family tree is a fascinating journey through time.