Great grandmother Caroline "Carrie'' Schweigert (1854-1898) was born in Salina
Township, Kankakee, Illinois around 1854. She spoke German. Her mother, Maria "Mary"
Gossert (1829-1904), was from Alsace/Lorraine, a former region in Germany and now located
within the most eastern region of France. Mary was born on May 9, 1829 and immigrated to the
United States on August 3, 1846. In 1848, she married David Schweigert (1823-1860). David
was born in March, 1823, either in Baden or Alsace Germany. In addition to their child, Carrie,
they had six other children. They settled in Salina Township, Kankakee. David died on
September 27, 1860 at the early age of37. Sometime after David died, the family changed their
name to Swikert. Mary, being only 31 years old at the time of David's death, married a second
time. Her new husband, Heinrich "Henry" Garbs (1829-1892) was from Hanover, Hanover
Germany; he was a butcher. They lived in Kankakee and had three children. Mary died on
August 13, 1904 in Joliet, Illinois. Henry had died twelve years earlier, on June 9,1892. Both
were buried in Zion Lutheran Cemetery located in Bonfield Township, Kankakee.