Forest Home Cemetery Overview
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  • History of Forest Home Cemetery
    • Native Americans
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  • Gravestones and Monuments
    • Gravestone Symbols
    • Unique Gravestone Monuments >
      • White Bronze
      • Rustic Gravestones
      • Photo-ceramic
      • Tiffany Designed Monuments
      • Druids
      • International Organization of Odd Fellows (IOOF)
    • Mausoleum
    • Ashes Scattered and Interred
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  • Labor Activists
    • Haymarket Monument >
      • The Haymarket Affair
      • Haymarket Time Capsule
      • George Engel
      • Samuel Fielden
      • Louis Lingg
      • Adolph Fischer
      • Albert Parsons
      • Michael Schwab
      • August Spies
      • Oscar Neebe
    • Radical Row >
      • Eddie Balchowsky
      • Voltarine de Cleyre
      • Eugene Dennis
      • Raya Dunayevskaya
      • Joseph Dietzgen
      • William Z. Foster
      • Emma Goldmen
      • Elizabeth Gurley Flynn
      • Ben Reitman
      • Lucy Parsons
      • Franklin Rosemont
      • Ann Sosnovsky Winokur
    • Labor and Political Burials >
      • Joe Mariani
      • Cigar Makers' International
      • International Alliance of Bill Posters and Billers of America
  • People of Interest Buried in Cemetery
    • Ashbel Steele
    • Austin Family
    • Philander Barclay
    • Edwin Oscar Gale
    • Sophy and Charles Drechsler
    • Fedinand Haase
    • Doris Humphrey
    • Flora Gill
    • Dr. Clarence and Grace Hemingway
    • Dr. Frank and Phyllis Oreland
    • Augustin and Elizabeth Porter
    • Edward Hand and Lillie Morey Pitkin
    • Martha Louise Rayne
    • Origen White Herrick
    • Dr Thomas Roberts Hurlbut
    • Joseph and Betty Kettlestrings
    • Roos Family
    • James Fletcher Skinner
    • Billy Sunday
    • Adolph Westphal
  • Ethnic and Other Groupings
    • African American
    • Dutch
    • Hispanic
    • Roma (Gypsy)
    • Children
    • Military
  • Disaster Victims
    • Eastland ship disaster
    • Iroquois Theatre Fire
    • Smallpox Epidemic
    • St. Valentine's Day Massacre
  • Cemetery Tours
  • Addtional Resources
    • Forest Park Review articles

Children

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Lars (1884-1890) and Eddie (1887-1890) Schmidt, victims of childhood diseases. Located in Section B

This poignant monument of two brothers commemorates the short lives of Lars and Eddie Schmidt, ages six and two respectively. The brothers, who lived at 869 West 21st Street (now 2038 West 21st Street) in Chicago, died of diphtheria just two days apart. They were the sons of  Lars Schmidt, an undertaker and his wife
Frieda.  They still receive small gifts on their graves and their monument serves as a landmark for many who visit the cemetery.

Before the discovery of penicillin and other antibiotics, many young children lost their lives to infectious diseases such as diphtheria, smallpox, and influenza. During the nineteenth century, children under five years of age accounted for forty percent of the mortality rate.



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Near the Des Plaine River and Roosevelt Road in section 25 there is a grouping of gravestones for children who have recently passed. This section is referred to as the Heavenly Angels. Many of these gravestones are in the shape of hearts and teddy bears and frequently are decorated with toys, books, photos and teddy bears.
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