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John H. Hohmann was born 14 June 1857 in Rochester, Monroe, New York, the child of Johannes Hohmann and Katherine Reiss who were married in Reiffelbach, Lautereken, Kaiserslautern, Palantine kingdom of Bavaria and immigrated to the United States in 1852. In 1859, when John was a small child, the family moved west to northern Illinois living in Oak Park and Peotone. John is listed in the 1870 census as a laborer, but also as attending school. | |
| On 19 June 1878, he married Katie Walsh, born December 20, 1858 in Rochester, New York. She was the daughter of Patrick Walsh and Anna Killen Walsh, both born in Ireland. In the 1880 census John and Katie are shown living in Austin, Illinois, with a son, John, 1. He was working as a teamster. In 1900 John is recorded in the census as a policeman and living on Iowa Street. In 1920 he is listed as a self-employed carpenter. John and Katie had 9 children in all: John D., ca. 1879; Grace, September 1880; Elizabeth, September 1883; Sara W., March 1886; Thomas E., December, 1891; Marie Jeanette, 30 April 1894; Harriet, 6 September, 1897; Katherine, 1903; and Genevive, 13 June 1905. |  |
| John Hohmann is remembered as a kindly and soft-spoken man. For a number of years his daughter, Marie, lived just down the block and he would frequently walk down the alley to her house. His grandchildren would visit him in the woodworking shop behind his house, where he kept squirrels in a cage. | |
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| John had built his house at 5812 Iowa Street, including extensive cabinet work in the dining room and throughout, and kitchens on the main floor and in the basement. His wife Katie, who was of a more serious disposition, took great pride in it.
John died of cancer, May 24, 1926. Katie died May 26, 1927, of chronic myocarditis and adnesive pericarditis. They were buried at Forest Park Cemetery.
Photo credit: Anna Harrison Griessel (5812 Iowa Street) | |