The heirs of Johan Friedrich and Johanna Katz Busse are planning a family reunion, and they’ve already decided that the typical banquet or meeting hall won’t do.
They need something larger, something that will hold about 5,000 people–maybe more. So, they’ve rented the Lake County Fairgrounds in Grayslake for the June 1998 event.
Already, the reunion list has more than 3,000 names on it, “and we’re still gathering them,” said George Busse, 68, who is coordinating the affair along with his wife, Esther, also 68, and a committee of various cousins.
It figures that a family that played such a prominent role in the founding of the northwest suburbs would host more than an ordinary gathering.
According to an official township account, the history of Elk Grove Township “is practically a history of the Busse family.”
Indeed, Busses were among the earlier settlers of European descent who immigrated to the area in the mid- to late-1800s. They were prominent in business, civic and political affairs.
The 1998 family reunion will mark the 150th anniversary of the decision by patriarch Friedrich Busse to relocate his family from Germany to the U.S. to seek fortune.
The move was made at the urging of one his sons, Henry, who a year earlier had taken a scouting trip to America to check on possibilities in the New World.
Friedrich Busse moved his wife, their six children, spouses of some of his children and other relatives to Detroit, then Chicago and finally Elk Grove Township.
Family legend has it that the patriarch stopped at the old Paige Tavern in Elk Grove for food and rest. When the owner learned through his German maid that the travelers were looking to buy property, he offered to sell him his place–160 acres and all that went with it, including crops, animals, farm tools and one yellow dog–for the then-princely sum of $2,500.
Today, the family’s legacy lives on in its many descendants and in area landmarks.
There is the highway through the northwest suburbs that bears the family name. And a Cook County forest preserve is named after one of the more politically prominent Busses, William, who helped organize Mt. Prospect and served as its first village president as well as on the Cook County Board.
To coordinate the reunion, a team has been established, with members picked to research each family line descending from Friedrich and Johanna Busse’s six children: Christian, Fred, Henry, Louise, Louis and Johanna.
As for projections of the reunion’s turnout, planners say they don’t think they’re aiming too high.
“The number isn’t really that far-fetched when you consider we had over 1,000 people attend the last reunion, and that was 50 years ago,” said Margot Busse Graves, 53, a descendant of Louis Busse’s.
She is responsible for coordinating the data collected by the family researchers. The information will go in the reunion’s commemorative book.
“We’re into the ninth generation in this country,” said Graves, whose brother, William J. Busse Jr., 47, also is on the committee.
Still, 5,000 people at one family reunion is enough to boggle the mind of even the most savvy reunion planner, said Edith Wagner, publisher of Milwaukee-based Reunions Magazine.
“I’ve heard of family reunions with 500 or more people–even 1,000. But I’ve never heard of 5,000,” she said, adding that the average is 50.
Although the attendance estimate might be a bit unusual, the motivation for organizing the gathering is not: a desire to reconnect and preserve family history.
“It’s something we talked about for years, but nobody really did anything about,” said George Busse, who credits his cousin, Edward J. Busse, who died last year, with being the catalyst for the reunion.
“People are really excited about this,” said George Busse’s wife, Esther. “I talked to one guy who’s 91. He said when he went for his medical checkup, he told his doctor he had to keep him alive for at least another year–he had a family reunion to attend.”
Added Carol Peter Busse, who is married to George Busse’s cousin, Harold, “I’ve been surprised by how excited and interested the younger generation–our children and grandchildren–is in this.”
Harold Busse, a descendant of Henry Busse’s, and George Busse, a descendant of Louis Busse’s, grew up near each other in Mt. Prospect. Each met his wife while attending the old Arlington High School.
“When we were kids, there were only about 1,100 people in the whole town, and about half of them were Busses,” said Harold Busse.
The main focus of the reunion planning right now is locating people, said Graves, who is using a computer program designed for genealogical research.
“Back in 1948, when we had the last reunion, most of the people still lived in the area. Today, they’re everywhere,” she said. “The farthest place we’ve been able to track down a Busse is in New Guinea.”
For more information about the reunion, call Esther and George Busse at 847-255-3932.
