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Does MPHS have photographs: Misc. Images

Address in Mount Prospect: 113 W. Prospect

Birth Date: Circa 1899

Death Date:

Marriage
Date:

Spouse: Caroline

Children: Robert (maybe others)

Interesting information on life, career, accomplishments

Dr. Wolfarth was the second doctor in Mount Prospect. His first office was in the Busse Building in Busse Ave, directly above Busse-Biermann Hardware. Working with Dr. Louise Koester, the only other doctor in Mount Prospect, a small hospital was set up for car accidents and emergencies. Dr. Wolfarth supplemented his local business by also being the physician on call for the Mount Prospect Fire Department and the Chicago Northwestern Railroad. During World War II, Dr. Wolfarth left Mount Prospect and served as a doctor at an evacuation hospital for troops of General George Patton. In 1957, he and his wife, son and family friend decided to sail across the Atlantic on a 43 foot boat. They sailed from Germany to New York and then up the Hudson and the Erie Canal to the great lakes and Chicago. This traced the path that many settlers in Mount Prospect would have taken. None of the four people on the boat had extensive experience sailing, so this was a pretty brave trip. It took them four months and 8,000 miles.

Does MPHS have photographs: Yes

Address in Mount Prospect:

Birth Date: November 26, 1846, Germany

Death Date: September 21, 1927, Elk Grove, Cook, IL

Marriage
Date: October 28, 1881, Elk Grove, Cook, IL

Spouse: Engel “Ella” Wille (nee Seegers)

Children: Albert, Clara, Sophie, Christ, Adolph, Edwin, Elmer, Luella and Fred (birth order)

Interesting information on life, career, accomplishments

William Wille was one of the most influential people in the development of Mount Prospect. He had a number of different jobs over the years, but he was always involved in community matters. In 1880 he started Wille’s Cheese Factory at the intersection of Northwest Highway, Busse Ave and Wille Street. He would buy milk from local farmers, turn it into cheese and butter and then take it into Chicago for sale. After about twenty years of doing this he got tired of all the trips in and out of the city, particularly in bad weather, and closed the business in 1902. In 1895 he and William Busse were the primary forces behind getting School District 57 founded. After it was founded, W. Wille and W. Busse both donated land to create a small campus for the first school. William Wille was hired to build the first school, the Central School. This one room school house is still standing today, demonstrating his workmanship. In 1905 Wille and Busse teamed up again and re-subdivided the original Eggleston triangle, making the plots more attractive and bringing in new residents. In the early 1900 William Wille also built and started Wille’s Tavern, which he ran up until prohibition, when he gave it to his son who made it into Wille’s Buffet. William Wille also built Wille hall, which was basically the first community building in Mount Prospect. It was used by clubs for meetings and also for local dances and gatherings.

 

Does MPHS have photographs: Yes

Address in Mount Prospect:

Birth Date: March 24, 1893

Death Date: December 1986

Marriage
Date: January 26, 1917

Spouse: Velda (Knigge) Wille

Children: June, Marvella, Ardell, Ruth, and Beverly Ann

Interesting information on life, career, accomplishments

Adolph Wille was the son of William Wille, one of Mount Prospect’s founding fathers. He is best known for running Wille’s Tavern for many years. He took over the business that was started by his father. During prohibition, he made it into a lunch counter, called Wille’s Buffet, and made supplemental income by working as Mount Prospect’s first licensed barber and also helping his brothers Edwin and Chris in the Wille Construction Company. Below is a selection from an oral history interview with Adolph Wille from the 1970s.

 

Adolph Willie; Interviewed by Helen Becker; December 6, 1977

Complete transcript available at the Mount Prospect Public Library.

AW: “I was born here in Mount Prospect, March 24, 1893. There were no streets, only roads: Central Road north of town and Elmhurst Road west of town, and two short roads in town — one road from the depot to Elmhurst Road and the other road from the railroad to Central Road. We lived on the road from the depot to Elmhurst Road in an old [creamery] which my dad owned. The farmers sold him the milk and he would make butter and cheese and take it into Chicago with a team and wagon. In the spring when the roads were muddy he would often get stuck in a mud hole. Then he would have to unload enough butter and cheese until the team would be able to pull the wagon out of the hole, and then he would reload the load again. He got tired of doing it so often so he closed the creamery and quit the business. My dad also did carpenter work, so he went into the building business. For years we built a lot of homes in Mount Prospect. The early residents that I remember were Moehling, Meyn, Busse and John Bauer, the first tavern in town, and the farmers in town were the Pohlman farm on the east side of town, the Schaeffer farm on the south side of town, the Hertl farm on the west side of town, and the Katz farm on the north side of town. Our children are all living in Mount Prospect: Mrs. June Schaeffer at 217 North Maple Street, Mrs. Marvella Moore at 211 North Maple Street, Mr. Ardell A. Wille at 101 North Pine Street, and Mrs. Ruth Cullen at 105 North Pine Street.”