You never know what might be hiding in that old closet, or in this case some old luggage... We recently received a photograph from long time friends and former private owners to the property that surrounds the cemetery. That's right, ancestors of the Schmidt family have once again come to the rescue. This time they were able to save a piece of history from 1914. So we now have a matching set of photographs for both homes that used to stand a very short distance west of the cemetery.

Now that we are able to witness what both homes used to look like we can now piece together a mystery. Back when the Schmidt's sent in the 1890s photograph it was unclear as to which area it belonged in. Was it for the foundation north or south of the old Midlothian Turnpike? Closer inspection of the 1890s house has what appears to be some sort of curved road behind it. It turns out that there was a curved road that stretched from the old Midlothian Turnpike to 143rd Street, which connected near the west side of the 143rd Street bridge. There are also aerial photographs that show this same road which can be viewed on the Directions page.

In the 1914 photograph you can see that the formation of the house is in a sort of "L" formation. This would coincide with remains found on-site which was indicating this same formation. On top of the physical evidence we are also fortunate to have a living member of the Schmidt family (80+ years old)  that used to pass by the house in the 1930s and 1940s. He was able to confirm that the photograph is indeed their old family farm house from Bachelors Grove.

A great big thank you goes out to Steve Schmidt and his father for providing and confirming this piece of history! It is efforts like yours that really help keep the spirit of Bachelors Grove alive (no pun intended). Keep up the great work guys!!!