Comments on Revitalize Des Plaines!: Peter Hoffman's Log Cabin, 796 Center Street

I am researching for a book on Peter Michael Hoffm...

2011-06-30T16:39:29.495-05:00

I am researching for a book on Peter Michael Hoffman, Cook Co. sherrif. If you have any information, please email me at kenjstoll@yahoo.com...I would really appreciate it. Thanks

Hey everyone, we are going back on the market, her...

2011-01-17T23:18:52.632-06:00

Hey everyone, we are going back on the market, here are some pictures I just had taken, really looks great. Larry, the current owner has poured money into it this last year, making the exterior very nice and set for maybe another 90 years? Please if someone has any interest or has a friend who can live here and keep it intact, have them give me a call. The underlying zoning allows a lot of condos, in a 10 story building, so when the condo market comes back, I would like to see this already in the hands of someone who will keep it as a log cabin. We had condo builders try to buy it in the past. I think we have enough of them.

http://tours8.vht.com/CBI/T50156893

I just love your blog and I think your article is ...

2010-12-05T09:41:24.027-06:00

I just love your blog and I think your article is so awesome!! I love antiques and what a way to go green!! I think the towels would just be so adorable also. Thanks for sharing the story about how it was made. Makes it that more special! Take care, Fran.

Although I suppose it's a bit curious that a m...

2010-10-17T20:45:57.360-05:00

Although I suppose it's a bit curious that a man who bounced around so many different occupations would be able to afford a large, elaborate home at age 30, unless Peter paid for it.

I found some more interesting information regardin...

2010-10-17T20:17:25.179-05:00

I found some more interesting information regarding Lela Rae and Jack Howard O'Connell. Shortly before their marriage, a reporter discovered that they had in fact married nearly three years earlier in Waukegan, a fact suppressed by the Lake County Clerk. Their participation in the double marriage was, in fact, a re-marriage.

Rae Hoffman's home is actually directly behind my own. It's a beautiful yellow brick colonial. I have also heard the gangster rumors - my grandmother says she visited with Rae a few times, and she said Jack had been an "importer-exporter" and died in early February, 1946.

I looked him up on ancestry.com; his 1918 draft card lists his occupation as "Examiner for Cook County Commission". His 1930 Census lists "Real Estate Broker" and his 1942 draft card lists his employer as Mar-Salle, 168 N. May St. A classified ad in the Tribune from 1942 shows a bottling plant at that address. So who knows...

Brad: Peter Hoffman had one son, Gordon. Gordon ...

2010-10-09T12:22:20.874-05:00

Brad: Peter Hoffman had one son, Gordon. Gordon died without issue. Pete did have a grandson, Peter Johnson, the son of Evelyn Hoffman Johnson and Bennett Johnson, and this grandson also had a son, Peter. My son is named Peter after Peter Hoffman as well, who whould be Pete's great, great, grandson.

I'm so relieved to see all the quality work go...

2010-09-27T21:27:03.226-05:00

I'm so relieved to see all the quality work going on this summer. Thank you for preserving this wonderful house.

I live at the cabin since July 09. I love the pla...

2010-09-27T21:15:44.889-05:00

I live at the cabin since July 09. I love the place. Your articles was wonderful and filled me on the history. I think Peter was one hell of a man, larger then life type of guy. Thank You Kyle

Marguerite and Edith married brothers Wallace (Kin...

2010-08-21T13:15:31.805-05:00

Marguerite and Edith married brothers Wallace (Kinder Hardware) and George Kinder (Des Plaines Mayor). Lela Rae and Evelyn married John F. O'Connell (Goodyear salesman) and Bennett Johnson (realtor), respectively, in a double ceremony. Annette J. Hoffman married Bennett's brother, Ellis A. W. Johnson. So, no, I don't think so.

I heard that one of his son-in-laws was a bootlegg...

2010-08-20T19:44:35.063-05:00

I heard that one of his son-in-laws was a bootlegger during prohibition and supposedly had to go into hiding because he served the gun men of the St. Valentines Day Massacre after the shooting.

There used to be a letter by Peter Hoffman that hu...

2010-08-20T19:11:31.752-05:00

There used to be a letter by Peter Hoffman that hung to the left of Mr. Kinder’s desk at his hardware store. It was a public thank-you written to the people who helped in the aftermath of the Eastland Disaster.

I wonder if Des Plaines History Center may have a copy of it to add to this site?

Thanks MS for the name of that play. I never hear...

2010-08-18T23:15:44.932-05:00

Thanks MS for the name of that play. I never heard much about the "The Front Page" or this side of Peter Hoffman. I'm interested in exploring more of my family roots. I was was so excited to find this web page about a relative that I chimed in before even reading it.

I am a decedent of Edith Mae Hoffman. As I’m sure you know, Edith was one of your grandmother, Evelyn’s, many sisters. Edith married George Kinder and they lived most of their married lives in the Kinder House that is now the Des Plaines Historical Society. From what I’ve heard that block were The Cabin and the Kinder House sat was kind of a Hoffman/Kinder compound. Between the two family’s weren’t there at least four houses that many of them lived in?

I believe Evelyn had two daughters and a son? Which one of her children is your parent.

It must have been great spending so much time in "The Log Cabin" over all of those years. I remember how breathtaking it was around the holidays with the giant Christmas Tree at the top of the staircase.

What was ever done with all of those heads that hung above the front door?

Someone jokingly told me Peter went on a hunting trip with Teddy Roosevelt.

I never saw but heard that there was an apartment above The Cabin’s garage.
Was it also decorated like a hunting cabin inside?

M.S., Would you be willing to share any information with me about Peter Hoffman’s
childhood and also about the Pete side of our family history? I would like it for my own genealogy research. Didn’t the Pete’s own land by Dam#2 on the Des Plaines River?

-I'm also interested in hearing more about Peter Hoffman’s daughter, Auntie Rae and Jack O'Connell. As a kid people used to say there were bullet holes on the side of there house in Des Plaines. Did this have anything to do with Peter Hoffman being Sheriff during the 1920's?
-What was the name of Peter Hoffman's son was it “Peter” also? Was he the youngest?
Did he have any kids? I don’t know much about him.

Interesting. Is there anything you'd like to a...

2010-08-18T07:10:38.881-05:00

Interesting. Is there anything you'd like to add to this story to make it more complete, beyond what I could piece together from newspapers and books?

Brad, you indicate you are a great-grandson of Pet...

2010-08-18T01:10:57.439-05:00

Brad, you indicate you are a great-grandson of Peter M. Hoffman. I'd be interested in learning more about your relationship...for instance, what are the names of your parents? For nearly 35 years, I spent considerable time with my grandmother, Evelyn M. Johnson, at "the" cabin. I don't recall ever hearing about any of her nieces or nephews, having a son named "Brad." The "recollections" contained in your comment are all regurgitated from the article. And, the "The Front Page," which featured a caricature of the Sheriff, was certainly not a one-man show -- there were a cast of characters. Get your facts straight, "second cousin."

Thanks Brad! It's unfortunate that Mr. Hoffman...

2010-08-17T10:18:18.457-05:00

Thanks Brad! It's unfortunate that Mr. Hoffman's accomplishments have been overshadowed. I've noticed recently that the cabin is getting a lot of work - many of the logs are being peeled, other logs are being replaced, and they are being re-chinked. The roof is also being reinforced.

That's my Great grandfather your talking about...

2010-08-17T00:15:40.095-05:00

That's my Great grandfather your talking about. I remember as a boy looking up at all of that different animal heads that hung above the front door. There was a one man play written about him. He did play a crucial role in the Eastland Disaster. Now that was a tragic event. Waht is now the Des Plaines Historical Society used to sit just to the North of this Beautiful Logcabin made of wood from Michigan.

Your "blog" on Sheriff Peter Hoffman was...

2010-08-14T17:17:00.289-05:00

Your "blog" on Sheriff Peter Hoffman was a nice "read" and will help me write a history of Chicago in the 20s. I of course will provide my source for whatever I use.
Thanks,
Wayne Klatt
author of "Chicago Journalism."

2010-07-14T16:25:08.014-05:00

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