Elizabeth Reddick and ELiza Funk in front of mansion
Elizabeth Reddick and Eliza Funk
in front of their home.
 
 
 
Oil painting of Eliza Collins Reddick
Portion of an oil painting
of Eliza Collins Reddick, wife of William
 
 
 
 
 
Painting of William Reddick
Oil painting of William Reddick,
guardian of Elizabeth Funk Reddick
 
 
 
 

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The Reddick Family

Elizabeth Burrier Funk Reddick

Elizabeth Funk Reddich as a young womanElizabeth Burrier Funk was born on November 10, 1840, in Coblenz, Bautzen, Saxony, Germany to Francis and Elizabeth Burger Funk.  W elcoming Elizabeth’s arrival were two older siblings – Margaret and John, who was born in 1838.

In 1843, Francis Funk, with his wife and two younger children, immigrated to the United States, arriving at the Port of New Orleans on July 10 of that year.  For some reason, the oldest daughter, Margaret, stayed in Germany where she was to live the rest of her life.  The Funk family then made their way to LaSalle County in Illinois.

Hardly more than a year after the Funks settled in the United States, tragedy struck with the death of Elizabeth Burger Funk on December 30, 1844 in Ottawa.  She was buried in the DeBolt Cemetery near Wedron, Illinois, where her gravestone can be seen today.  Francis Funk, a carpenter by trade, was left with the upbringing of John, age six, and Elizabeth, age four.

It was at this point that the lives of William and Eliza Reddick and Elizabeth Funk would connect.  While circumstances are unclear as to how and when the arrangements were made, Elizabeth Burrier Funk came to live with the Reddicks between 1844 and 1850 as her name first appears with theirs on the 1850 census.  Elizabeth’s obituary in the February 26, 1887 edition of the Ottawa Free Trader states,

"Mrs. Reddick, being of a charitable disposition, heard of the little girl’s bereaved condition and took her home.  The childless couple soon learned to love the little one and adopted her as their own.  They gave her all the loving care that parents could have bestowed upon their own offspring, and in return, her love went out to them in the fullest of childish trust and reverence, which, as she grew up ripened into the respect and devotion of a daughter to her parents.”


Elizabeth Funk Reddick in mourning clothingAfter Eliza Reddick’s death in 1883, Elizabeth, at the urging of William Reddick, had her name officially changed to Elizabeth Burrier Funk Reddick.  Upon his death in 1885, Elizabeth inherited a sizeable portion of his estate.  William Reddick’s relatives contested his will, which led to a court trial beginning in December of 1886.  Unfortunately, Elizabeth died on February 22, 1887 of “catarrhal consumption and a chronic affection of the throat” before the case was settled.  Because Elizabeth had never married and had died without a will, her brother John stood to inherit Elizabeth’s estate.  He eventually settled the case with the Reddick relatives.

Headstone for grave of Elizabeth FunkReddickElizabeth Burrier Funk Reddick was laid to rest with William and Eliza Reddick in the Ottawa Avenue Cemetery on February 24, 1887, after her funeral at the Reddick Mansion which she had called home for much of her life.

 

 

Click here for a genealogy report of the descendants of Francis J. Funk.
(PDF file size is 1050 KB and is 70 pages)

Click here to view the certificate of death issued for Elizabeth B. F. Reddick

Click here for an account of William Reddick’s life.

Click here for an account of Eliza Collins Reddick’s life.