John and Eva England Home

The home of John and Eva England was built between 1862 and 1871. John was born in Sweden on June 4, 1805 (died 1897). Eva Swanston, his wife, was also born in Sweden, in 1812 (died 1914). They were married on January 7, 1835 and had one son, August J. England born in Sweden on June 4, 1836 (died 1904). John and Eva moved to St. Charles in 1856. August ca~e to St. Charles in August of 1857. August married Sophia Lund on April 25, 186~.

Sophia also was born in Sweden on May 16, 1842. (Sophia was born in Sweden on May 16, 1842 and died in 1925.) The August England residence and property on Ncrth Avenue is of similar style and construction to the John England home on North Fifth Avenue.

August England and his family are important to the history of the John and Eva England home, because members of the original  family occupied the house on North 5th Avenue for almost one hundred years.

John England was known to be retired by 1885, and according to the 1870 census of Kane County, was a day laborer with real estate valued at $1200 and personal property of $100. August, his son and only child, was a stone mason. Both of the England families were Lutherans and Republicans. August and his wife, Sophia, had five children, all born in St. Charles:

Charles Albert, born August 14, 1865, a mason
Louisa O., born October 20, 1868
William T., born April 7, 1869, worked for the Crown Electrical Manufacturing Co.
Minnie, born October 18, 1873, never married
Edward, born September 26, 1877, employed by the Cable Piano Factory

Note: Birth dates were obtained from an 1885 city directory.

Biological considerations suggest that either William or Louisa's birth date is probably in error.

Gravesites for John, Eva, Albert F. (Chas. Albert ?), August, Sophia, William, Edward, and Minnie are all located in a family plot in North Cemetery on North 5th Avenue in St. Charles. No gravesite for Louisa exists in this family plot. Also buried with the family is Richard England, who is listed in the 1870 census as a relative. Little else is known about him.

Richard's gravestone shows his birthdate as 1852 (two years before John and Eva came to St. Charles) and his death as 1875.

Minnie England, granddaughter of John and Eva, resided in the North 5th Avenue home for many years of her adult life. At some point in her later years, she donated a piano, which she recalled playing early in her childhood, to the St. Charles Historical Museum. The piano apparently belonged to John and Eva at one time.

Telephone directories from 1928 to 1929 indicate that Minnie's brother, William, also lived in the home for a time. John and Eva England's home has been called a "National" style brick home. It is also known as an "Upright and Wing" and is a popular style from the 1840s through the 1860s. The house sits on its original limestone foundation.

The clay for the brick construction was taken from a pit in the front grounds of what is now the Old Delnor Hospital. The bricks were also fired in a nearby kiln along the river. The house has large stone lintels above the doors and windows, and the original "6 on 6" sashes still exist in the windows at the back. It is believed that sometime around the turn of the century, the stucco exterior kitchen was added onto the original structure.

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