This house was the Mundsinger homestead. Mundsingers had lived on Mill Road from 1880 until 2003. The home saw many generations raised there. The home which was burned yesterday was build in about 1890 with lumber hauled by horse and wagon from Montgomery. The farm was purchase by Frederich Mundsinger in about 1880. Fred and Minnie Mundsinger raised 4 children there. Their only son, Harry continued farming and enlarged the farm to both sides of Mill Road (and across the current Orchard Road) and to over 400 acres at one time He and his wife, Gertrude, raised 3 sons, two of whom farmed on Mill Road. Glenn Mundsinger with his wife, Mary, lived at the home which they farmed with Gertrude. Glenn and Mary had three children, Donna, Wayne, and Susan. Wayne returned with his wife, Cathi, to the farm shortly after their marriage and lived there until 2003. They shared the house with Gertrude who lived to be 100 years old. Gertrude had lived in the house for 69 years. Wayne had lived there for 55 years (except for his time in the service.) Drew and Anne Mundsinger were the 5th generation of Mundsingers to live in the home. While the home is now gone and the family farm no longer, many wonderful memories of the house that sheltered our family continue.
Cathi Mundsinger

It's unfortunate that Oswego does not have a policy for development aimed at savng perfectly good classic homes like the Mundsinger farm home. We've seen far too many of the classic homes in the Oswego area trashed by developers when they could have been saved by working them into any plan for development of the property on which they stand. Granted, some of those old farm houses were in terrible shape due to being neglected by their previous owners. But the Mundsinger house is an excellent example of a family home that had been kept updated and well-cared for until the land on which it stood was purchased for development. Then the house was allowed to deteriorate. If you drive down to Plainfield and Joliet you will see numerous farmsteads whose houses have been preserved and included in those properties' development plans, especially in the Caton Farm Road area. We could do the same if we wished. As it is, we're losing too much of our heritage--not to mention perfectly good houses--for no good reason other than a failure to respect our own history.

then you should have bought it

My childhood was spent on Mill Road in the next farm up from Grandma's. I spent many happy hours with her. I also have many happy memories of that time. Grandma Gertie was a special lady. I still miss her. Use to spend all my summers with her, and went on her egg route with her. All holdidays then were at her farm.
Thank goodness for memories.
Jacqueline (Mundsinger) Perkins

I too remember all the great times enjoyed at Great Grandma Gerties, and also living upstairs in the apartment, climbing the trees,and exploring the barns. Homes aren't built like Grandma Gerties anymore with a secret door out of the closet to the hallway. Many, many happy memories!!!
Dawn (Perkins) Zentmyer

Roger-- there is a plan. It's called the free enterprise system. Just as there are people like you who want to preserve the past, there are others who don't want older things and have no problem building a new replacement house on the same site. The great thing about this country is that people can spend their money however they like in order to fullfill their own dreams. But we know that you'd prefer forcing people to have to accept your viewpoint and to have the taxpayers pay for your hobbies like the Little White Schoolhouse.

I'm sorry that Mr. Ellison feels that the Little White Shoolhouse Museum is a 'hobby.' What museums and organizations like the Little White Schoolhouse strive towards is to educate residents and inspire a love of our heritage and it's history. Working with school groups and opening the museum up to civic groups for meetings and tours fosters a love of our community. In conjunction with those efforts, to those of you who are unaware, Oswego has a Historic Preservation Commission that works with homeowners and developers to provide opportunities to reuse historic structures instead of tearing them down and sending their remains to local landfills. Kendall County also has a Historic Preservation Commission which works toward preserving and reusing historic structures in unincorporated areas within Kendall County. Both organizations welcome attendees to come and learn about what we do. Maybe Mr. Ellison would like to join us at our next meeting to expand upon his thoughts?

i for one am glad oswego does not have a policy that tells people what to do with there own homes if matile wants to save old homes in and around town then open your own wallet and pay for the home and taxes dont ask the tax payers to.who are you to tell people what they should do to homes they own . if some one wants to preserve a home that is fine but it should be there choice