|
The Mendel family had been prominent in Neola, Iowa, for over thirty years. In 1903
they moved to Chicago so their boys could attend the University
of Chicago, but their roots were deep in Neola, and at Christmas
time that year, they probably missed friends and traditions from
home.
On December 30, 1903, Augusta M. Mendel* (b. 1850), age
fifty-three, attended an afternoon matinee of Klaw & Erlanger's
Christmas pantomime from Drury Lane in London, Mr. Bluebeard.
The performance took place at Chicago's newest luxury playhouse,
the Iroquois Theater on Randolph Street. Her theater companions
and seating location are unknown, but it was reported in one
newspaper that she was crushed to death. If accurate, she was
most probably on the third floor. It was also reported that she
attended the theater with friends. The wording was such that it
is possible her husband was also at the Iroquois and survived.
|
|
|
Prior to marriage Augusta Margaret Burke was one of the first
school teachers in Neola, a small community on
Iowa's southwest border. She was the daughter of
John Burke. In 1875 she married German immigrant
merchant Herman Mendel (1846–1908). Daughter Grace
came along five years later and went with her
parents in 1881 on an eight-month tour of Europe.
Sons Max and Herman jr. appeared in 1882 and 1884.
The European tour made such an impact on Herman, and
he talked of it so often that Neola townsman took to
calling him "Commodore.
Tragedy interrupted their prosperity and comfortable
life in 1885 when they lost little Gracie, cause
unknown.
Herman had immigrated to America in 1867 when he was
twenty-one years old, locating in Neola in 1869 and
founding his first store with $300.† Neola Township
was platted that same year, and the Chicago, Rock
Island & Pacific Railroad (aka Rock Island Line)
reached the city.
His fortunes continued to grow over the following
three decades as the Mendels became part of the
fiber of their community. Herman served as a Neola
mayor in 1888, a city councilman in 1894, and
dabbled a bit in Democratic politics at a state and
Pottawattamie county level. He was a co-founder of
the State Bank of Neola in 1893 and an officer in
the Neola Agate 423 Masons lodge. The boys played in
the Mendel's fife and drum corp for children,
sponsored by their father, and Augusta, a society
matron, was active in Eastern Star. Interestingly
given their wealth and customs of the period, they
did not have live-in domestic help. There is in
Neola today a street named Mendel that I suspect was
named after the family but have failed to confirm.
Omaha, Nebraska, where they had relatives and
Council Bluffs were an hours train ride away, and
the Mendels visited regularly. When they decided to
move to Chicago in 1903, they were surely missed by
the community.
|
 |
The move to Chicago was made so the boys could attend
the University of Chicago. Education may have been
emphasized in the Mendel household. Both Augusta and
Herman's boys graduated from college, and both their children went on to do
the same and became teachers. The family settled at
5555 Washington in a year-old structure, in one of
six seven-room flats that rented for around $65 per
month ($2,000 today). Before 1903 was out, both boys
were members of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity.
Identification and funeral
Augusta's body was found at Jordan's or Rolston's
funeral home and identified by Herman and Max. She
was buried next to Gracie on Sunday, January 1,
1904, in the family plot in Neola Township Cemetery,
followed five years later by Herman.
In the years after the fire
Herman established a fund for the school in Neola in memory of his wife
with an annual donation for the duration of his life
of $100 ($2,700 today) for scientific apparatus. May
1 was established as Mendel Day. He and the boys
continued living on Washington Ave for a short
while, then he and Herman Jr moved to the Hotel
Windermere.
Max L. Mendel (1882–1958) received an SB degree in
1905, served his internship at St. Joseph Hospital
in Chicago, and went on to develop a medical
practice there, taking a break to serve as a captain
in the medical reserve corps during World War I. He
married in 1910, and his son Robert became a college
professor.
Herman Mendel jr (1884–) got a PhB degree and in 1907 worked for a time in real estate. He married and had
one child, Bruce, who moved with him to Milwaukee,
Wisconsin, where Herman worked as a salesman. Bruce
also went into education.
|
