The History of Duensing Corners

The last time we encountered Henry, his intoxicating blend of lime and cola ultimately fizzled and so as there was already a very significant German population in Algonquin, Illinois, it is perhaps understandable that this small town of some 3,000 people, of which one third were already direct immigrants, would be his next choice. Another was a family connection. Frederich Duensing, another native of Crete had founded the Duensing enclave in Algonquin as well. He settled on what was then the east side of the village, on yet another farm and thus begins this story of three generations of this self same family, all of whom are also holographically named Fred. Fred begat Fred 2 who begat Fred 3or if you like Fred, Fred and Fred. Fred the Third, as we will call him is the father of one Arnold who for one reason or another broke the chain of Freds.

This store who was commanded by the Duensings, Arnold in particular, (whose interior is pictured above) would later become a hardware store, which was unceremoniously demolished in 1960, to make way for a "King's" auto dealership, but this is getting ahead of the story. There is some amount of irony in names. The store was originally named "Vette's" long before cars were on anyone's mind and in the end was destroyed to sell Corvette's.

This "dry goods" store was the precursor to a general store, and was distinct from a hardware store. Dry goods were textiles, household items and as they say, sundries, which is a lost word in of itself, which now has been replaced by the term "general merchandise." The business was a family affair as some of his brothers also worked pulling merchandise down, tallying receipts and keeping accounts. Fred's son would later enter this dry goods business by purchasing this store in 1915.Interestingly, Henry's story would come full circle, as he returned to Crete and is buried alongside of ten other Duensing's, not from his childhood farmstead, in the cemetery of The Zion Lutheran Church. As a side note to this story, there are so many German immigrants or their first generation children buried there, it is of some interest to their relations who remained in Germany.


Again. another story branches from this one in the family tree, so let's return to Algonquin to continue where we left off.


The stores location later became known locally as Duensing Corners, as evidenced by this side view of the store in all of it's late Victorian framed splendor.


Fred or Friedrich had found his niche, as evident from his home, which remains to this day,fairly much as he left it. In an age where we are bombarded with information, on March 4, 1915, the local paper reported that "Prairie Chickens were heard north of the village." At the same time a pointed editorial denounced the fact that pigs were endlessly wandering the streets,pestering the public for hand outs, whether they were future pork or just down on their luck, I don't know.

Meanwhile, back at the Algonquin farmstead, there there is the matter of the 1902 Tornado. Several animals were killed, homes damaged, electric wires tangled, the Duensing windmill was blown down, Episcopal church was twisted and wrecked, Janak's boat house was demolished, 30 trees were blown down and the liberty pole snapped which also carried away the telephone wires leading to town. The Duensing farm was later sold to the Hopp family and of course is now known as the Hopp farm, but it was founded by Fred #1.

Note the young man riding his bicycle in front of the family home, as he is yet another Duensing of a new generation, the aforementioned Arnold, who ultimately would also be later be woven and hence documented into this story of Algonquin.


A hefty Arnold Duensing here is pictured at a later date about to lead the Algonquin centennial parade of 1936 on horseback. Why he was chosen is lost to history. As far as I can determine, Arnold was either a local burgomaster or the town's buffoon judging from his unceremonious attire. I don't know. It appears from the photographic evidence that his head has outgrown his outrageously little hat.


And so we leave Henry and all the Freds and Arnold from Duensing Corners in long ago Algonquin in the midst of that parade during the Great Depression, which leads to another story, that of my Grandfather's role in opening "a lost wonder" of Chicago.



In the next post we return to the "fatherland" and meet this relation as well as other Duensing's who melded themselves into the history of Germany before we return to Duensing Americana. But that is another story...that includes the Anti-Nazi Underground, women'e rights and of course, sausage.