A large, red brick, Italianate home stands at Eighth and Cook streets, just a block from the Elijah Iles House at Seventh and Cook. Built in 1865, it was the home of Dr. Henry Wohlgemuth, who influenced Springfield in his work as a physician, city alderman and longtime president of Oak Ridge Cemetery. Without him, Springfield may never have had its beautiful cemetery or a working water system.
Wohlgemuth was born in Hanover, Germany, in 1822 and had begun studying medicine at the age of 16, about the same time his father died. In 1845, he, along with his mother and siblings, emigrated to the United States. Coming alone to Springfield, then a town of 3,000 people, he set up a medical practice.
He married Mary Elizabeth Wolgamot in 1849 and through the years they had eight children. He also returned to medical study in 1854 and graduated from the Eclectic Medical Institute in Cincinnati, Ohio. Later, he became the first president of the Illinois Eclectic Medical Association.
Springfield once had a city physician, and Wohlgemuth served in this capacity from 1856 till 1861. When the position was combined with the county physician, Wohlgemuth was appointed to the expanded role and served from 1861-1863. Ads in the local newspaper listed him as a “German and Eclectic Physician; Surgeon and Accoucheur, President of Eclectic Medical College” (accoucheur refers to an obstetrician). By the time he turned 50 in 1872, he was the longest practicing physician in Springfield and in 1881, still practicing, he was the oldest physician in the county. He continued his practice until 1905. His 1869 assessment of the health of the 22,000 residents of Springfield reported that there had only been 384 deaths during the year and so Springfield was “healthy.”
His work as a doctor was just one of his many roles that helped improve Springfield. Oak Ridge Cemetery became his passion, and he helped develop it into the world-renowned cemetery it is today. Starting in 1864, he served on the board of managers for Oak Ridge, and then served several terms as president, 1866-1870, 1873-1875, and 1878 until his death in 1905.
He helped turn the area from a wild animal setting to a beautiful park-like setting. He kept records and advocated for its continual development. Some of this work included changing the cemetery incorporation from the city of Springfield to the board of the cemetery (1869), building a gatekeeper lodge (1879), and working to move graves from the Hutchinson Cemetery (where Springfield High School stands now) to an area of Oak Ridge. No doubt, Wohlgemuth was in attendance at the dedication of the cemetery in 1860. It is believed Abraham Lincoln attended as well.
During the same time, he also served as an alderman (1863-1865) and on the Board of Education in 1866, when Springfield schools had an enrollment of 2,350 students. In 1865 he was appointed the head of the water commission and was instrumental in setting up the Springfield Water Works. Work had started as early as 1859, when an artesian well was dug at Washington and 19th streets, but even after digging down 1,100 feet, no water was found. Talk, but little action, had occurred over the years, but under Wohlgemuth’s direction, 30 acres of land where Lanphier High School now stands was purchased in 1866 for a new reservoir to access water from the Sangamon River. This was completed in 1868 at a cost of $460,000, and was hailed as the second Illinois city after Chicago to have “pure water,” despite the occasional pollution from various businesses and distilleries in the city.
Tragedy struck in 1873 when his daughter, Marietta, died at the age of 22. Wohlgemuth designed a tall obelisk tombstone to honor his daughter in Oak Ridge Cemetery. Standing in Block 8, it towers over many other graves.
Wohlgemuth was a Democrat who spoke against “clique elections” in the party, and a member of the Knights Templar. He helped organize Farmers National Bank, served as chair of the Springfield Medical Association (1881), and continued his medical practice for over 60 years, retiring on his birthday May 22, 1905.
Only a few months later, he died at his home, the beautiful structure still standing.
Cinda Ackerman Klickna writes often about the people, houses and history of Springfield.
This article appears in Field of dreams.
