The Martin Boyle Farm House

Tucked away in what is now the Lakeland Park subdivision, lies the old homestead of Martin Boyle.

Born in Kilkenny, Ireland in 1815, Martin came to McHenry in 1849 and worked for several local farmers.

In 1855, he was married to Margaret Davis and purchased 110 acres of farmland slightly southwest of McCullom Lake.

The 1862 McHenry County Plat map shows the location of his home:

 

 

The 1872 McHenry County Atlas shows that he added a few more acres and again, you can see the location of the farm house:

 

Martin and Margaret had 3 children.  Mary, Margaret (Maggie) and John.  All 3 children were born in the family home.

When Martin passed away in 1899, his son John took over the farm and lived there until his death in 1931.  John Boyle was the McHenry Township Road Commissioner for 30 years.

According to Realtor.com, the home now sitting on the exact location of the Martin Boyle house, was built in 1900.  I believe this is a vague estimate.  The McHenry Plaindealer yielded no record of the original farm house ever being replaced.  

Since John Boyle was born in 1861 on the homestead of his parents, I believe the house, perhaps with some additions, is the original house built prior to John's birth.

 

There are no historic photos of the house in our collection.  Perhaps a reader has more information.  If so, please drop us an email. 

This is a current photo of the house.  (Please respect the privacy of the owners.)

Click on any image to see a larger version.

Further reading:

 

The McHenry Plaindealer Martin Boyle Obituary 31 March, 1899 

 

The McHenry Plaindealer Margaret Davis Boyle 16 Oct., 1913

The McHenry Plaindealer John Boyle Obituary 29 Oct., 1931

Murder Near The Clemens School

The Clemens school house, built prior to 1872 on what was once part of the Chester Clemens farm, was located on the northwest corner of Crystal Lake Road and Bull Valley Road in what is actually Nunda Township.

In 1872, the property where the school was located belonged to Amos Whiting.  The Clemens farm was located on the east side of Crystal Lake Road as seen on the map below.

A tragic event occurred on 20 October, 1927 at the Clemens Farm.  

Occupied by the Christopher Schumacher family, the first murder in McHenry in 20 years, took place at this location.

While milking his cows on the evening of 20 October, a shot rang out, hitting Christopher Schumacher in the head and killing him on the spot.  Two of his young children were in the barn with him at the time.

For 36 hours, it was not known who fired the shot that killed the 54 year old farmer until his oldest son, William Louis Frederick Schumacher made a full confession.

According to articles in The McHenry Plaindealer, William had been planning this for 7 years.

In November of 1927, William plead guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to 1 - 14 years in Joliet prison.

After serving 2 years and 39 days of his sentence, William was released from Joliet and restarted his life as a farmer.  In 1936, he married Eleanore Mirecki.  They lived in the Barrington Illinois area and had 3 children.

William passed away on 22 April, 1951 in Wauconda, Illinois.  

So what was William's motive for the murder of his father?  Further reading will answer that question.

Further Reading:

The McHenry Plaindealer 27 October, 1927 Page 1

The McHenry Plaindealer 27 October, 1927 Page 5 

The McHenry Plaindealer 27 October, 1927 Page 8