Hobbs Park Memorial

An Account of the House and its Inhabitants
by Julia Mathias
October, 2000

The property where the house was built is Lot 43 of the original town-site of Lawrence, Kansas. The lot, along with several others on the block, originally belonged to a W.T. Williamson. Mr. Willimason built the stone house on Lot 49 that was later called the Graeber House. Quantrill's Raiders killed Mr. Williamson during their sack of Lawrence in 1863. The lot was part of the Williamson estate until Timothy Murphy purchased it c. 1867.

The original brick house was built c. 1866. It is unclear if the Murphys built the house or if it was built by others. Timothy and his wife Bridgett were Irish immigrants. No record has been found to tell where they came from in Ireland, or whether they came to Lawrence from somewhere else in the United States. The 1870 U.S. Census records indicate they had two small children, John and Mary. Timothy's occupation is listed as a laborer. Tax records indicate that they added to the house c. 1869. This addition is likely the stone addition on the west side of the building. Tax records indicate that they sold the house and land to Frederick Bromelsick c. 1871. The Murphy Family does not appear in any city directory of the time and no record of any of their deaths has been found with Oak Hill Cemetery or with the Douglas County Tombstone Index. It seems likely from this that the family moved out of the area after selling the property.

Frederick Bromelsick (sometimes Wm.) was alternately listed as a teamster or a laborer in the city directories. Frederick's work as a teamster would explain the large stable shown on the 1904 Sanborn Map. No doubt the well on the property made caring for his team easier. He was a German immigrant with a wife and family who came to Lawrence from Missouri. His wife was Katherine. Together they had six or seven children, only three, Alvina, William, and Fred, survived to adulthood. At least one of their deceased children, Lidia, was buried at Oak Hill Cemetery in 1882. Her tombstone is lost though. In addition to the lots on Pennsylvania, Frederick also owned other property in East Lawrence, including the property at 921 Delaware Street, and the southeast corner lot at 10th & New York Streets. Frederick sold the latter to the German Methodist Episcopal Church in 1872. The church that was built their still stands and is used as a private residence today.

The Bromelsick family was an active part of the German Methodist Episcopal Church. Most German immigrants fell into one of two categories; those that felt they should 'Americanize' themselves and those who wanted to preserve the ethnic traditions they came from. The Methodists tended to be in the first group, while the Lutherans and Turners (Turnhalle) tended to be in the second. In a small town like Lawrence, those distinctions may have been less visible though. As of this date no research of Turnhalle records has been conducted to determine whether or not the family participated in the Society.

An August Bromelsick was one of the trustees of the German Methodist Episcopal Church and seems to have aided in funding the construction of the church at 1000 New York. August was also a German immigrant who was about 19 years older than Frederick was. From research done to this point, it is unclear what the relationship was between the two men. August came to Lawrence in 1860 from Hermann, Missouri where he was a pioneer and a farmer. From tax record research it would appear that August paid the property tax on 909 Pennsylvania for a least one year that Frederick owned the property. This act seems to indicate a family relationship; possibly they were brothers. August owned several properties in Lawrence (and probably in Eudora). He owned three lots (72,74 & 76) on the east side of New Hampshire Street just south of 9th Street. He also owned two lots (69 &71) on the west side of Rhode Island just south of 9th Street. On one of these lots is the stone house that the Social Service League currently occupies. August lived first in one of the New Hampshire Street properties and then later he lived at 907 Rhode Island. He also owned Lot 175 on Kentucky Street for a time. August was married to Franziska and they had five children, Henry, Wilhelmina, Charlotte, Anna and William F. Henry settled in Hermann, Missouri. The other children came to Kansas. The family originally settled on a farm near Eudora. Before moving to Lawrence the family had a run in with Quantrill's men at their farm a mile west of Captain's Creek. Wilhemina and Charlotte married and lived in or around Eudora. Anna married Johann Mueller or Muller on August 2, 1865 in Lawrence. Johann Mueller was a minister with the GME Church from October 1859 to March 1861. The couple ministered at many churches throughout Iowa, Kansas and Missouri and eventually went to Los Angeles. William F. stayed in Lawrence and worked as a merchant for some time. He married Louisa P. Eisenmayer and they had two sons, Walter (William Walter), and Alfred H. None of this side of the Bromelsick family ever seems to have lived at 909 Pennsylvania.

The Bromelsick family on Pennsylvania Street took in a boarder for a time, as many established immigrant families did. The family added a frame portion to the house c. 1888. Frederick Bromelsick left his wife a widow sometime in the 1890s. No record of his death has been found with the Oak Hill Cemetery or the Douglas County Tombstone Index. However in the Douglas County Court records there is a case brought before the court in the matter of a deceased Frederick Bromelsick. This record has not been investigated as of yet. As he was a teamster it may be that he died out of town and was buried elsewhere. The surviving children did attend school and learned to read and write English. Katherine died in 1911 and was buried by her children at Oak Hill Cemetery where her grave can still be found.

The eldest surviving child of Frederick and Katherine, Alvina, worked as a seamstress for several years. She never married. Alvina was listed as living at 909 Pennsylvania at least until 1919. Her name does appear in two separate court records in Douglas County. Both are referenced to insanity. She died in Osawatomie, Kansas in July of 1924 at the age of 49. Though the court and hospital records have not been located and read, it would seem likely that she was confined to the State Mental Hospital which was located in Osawatomie at the time. Her cause of death was listed as pulmonary tuberculosis. She was buried at Oak Hill Cemetery; her tombstone appears to have been lost. William, the middle child, worked for a time as a tailor and then worked in the Kaw Valley Canning Factory for most of the remainder of his life. He never married and died at home (909 Pennsylvania) in December of 1919 at the age of 40. No cause of death was given. His brother Frederick and Will Bromelsick (possibly William F.) buried William at Oak Hill Cemetery. William's tombstone is also lost. Some time between 1919 and 1923 Frederick moved out of the house at 909 Pennsylvania and began leasing it. Fred died in 1948 and was buried in Oak Hill Cemetery -- so he likely stayed in the area, but where is unknown at this time. Fred’s tombstone is also missing and presumed lost.

The house at 909 Pennsylvania was listed as vacant in the 1923 city directory. In the 1925-26 city directory, Oscar and Della Shields were listed as the occupants. He was a laborer. For the last two directories (1927-28 & 1929-30) George and Ethel Kerr and their son, William Oliver or Oliver William, were listed as the occupants. George Kerr was a painter.

There are no city directories available after 1929-30. Some phone directories began to be published in the 1950s and some are at the Lawrence Public Library, but there is no physical evidence that the house ever had a phone.

About 1942 Fred Bromelsick sold the house and property to Rolland Pierson. Not much is known about Mr. Pierson. He lived alone in the house according to personal accounts. The house apparently was not updated as the years went by. Oral histories of the property include Mr. Pierson using an outhouse near the alley. When he died in 1959 a brother from the East Coast came out to bury him in Oak Hill Cemetery. His tombstone is surprisingly close to that of Katherine Bromelsick. He apparently had no family in the area. This same brother sold the property to Valentine and Elizabeth Romero.

Valentine Romero came to Lawrence as a boy from Mexico. His father worked for the railroad and this work brought them to settle in East Lawrence. Val and his brother Raymond grew up in the area and now own several properties in East Lawrence, many of them on Pennsylvania Street. Val was responsible for bringing.

plumbing into the house. For a time Val and Raymond's father lived in the house at 909 Pennsylvania. After their father died, Val rented the house. One of the tenants used the house as an unlicensed tannery in the 1970s. The house fell into disuse in the late 1970s and sat vacant for many years.

Val Romero had been trying to demolish the house for years, but was obstructed by individuals interested in its preservation. Val had many offers on the property, but had no wish to part with the land. In the summer of 2000, the Hobbs Park Memorial Fund and the Free State Memorial Trust, with help from the Lawrence Preservation Alliance raised enough money to have the house moved to Hobbs Park. The park is only a couple of blocks from the original location of the house. The structure will be stabilized and turned into a memorial to the days when Lawrence was a pre-Civil War battle ground for pro-slavery and abolitionist forces.

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