"Mr. and Mrs. John Newquist celebrated their golden anniversary Thursday with a dinner and reception for friends and relatives at their home in Steger, Ill. Mr. Newquist was born 84 years ago in Sweden and came to Minneapolis, Minn. in 1869 and to Chicago about two years later. A cabinet maker and stair builder, he has had a hand in construction of several loop buildings as well as in the Columbian exposition of 1893. Mrs. Newquist was Miss Genevieve Coughlin of Dubuque, Ia., and is 72 years old. The couple have five children and have lived in Steger for 30 years. There Mr. Newquist has been a general contractor and builder. The sons and daughters are Walter P., John, Harvey, Elmer, Leonard, and Mrs. Mary Steevens. All except Harvey, who lives in Racine, Wis., are residents of Steger." 

Among the guests mentioned in another news clipping about the anniversary are Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Newquist and two children, August  Newquist and son, Willard, and Mrs. Charles Newquist, all of Chicago. 
 
 

According to The History of Chicago, Vol. III, by A. T. Andress, John came to Chicago in 1871 (the year of the Chicago Fire) and worked at the National School Furniture Co. In 1875 he struck out on his own as a stair builder.  

According to grandson Bud Newquist, Jenny came to Chicago (probably around 1880) to work as a nanny for the Charles Comiskey family.  

In 1882, against what must have been deep protest from her family, the Irish Catholic Jenny Coughlin met and married the Swedish Protestant John Newquist. Grandson Bud, who was raised by his grandparents,  tells us: "The marriage did not have the approval of her family, and I don't believe they ever met Grandpa Newk. He was not a Catholic at the time of their marriage."  

Jenny, on the other hand, was devout.  "She had a strong belief in her religion," Bud said. "She never missed Mass, and walked there in all kinds of weather, including knee-deep snow." What possessed the religious Jenny to marry a man not of her faith is unknown. But during their years together, her faith must have been influential. On Christmas Day 1923, two weeks after his 75th birthday, John Newquist was baptized Catholic. 

The couple had some eventful years together, not the least of which were their days in Chicago, where John built stairs for such businesses as the Mandel Bros. store, the Imperial Building, and John V. Farwell's & Co., Chicago's oldest dry goods firm. He also constructed stairs for Farwell's home, as well as for four houses of Potter Palmer. It is believed that John and Jenny had a house in downtown Chicago on Michigan Avenue, south of the river. 

According to Mabel Newquist, Jenny "enjoyed her stay in Chicago, but admitted to living extravagantly." Family stories paint a picture of a well-to-do couple who traveled in the city's highest social circles, hobnobbing with the mayor and the Potter Palmer family. According to Bud Newquist, President Benjamin Harrison once borrowed John's horse and buggy while in Chicago. 

John was also involved in the construction of buildings for the Columbian Exposition, the 1893 world's fair in Chicago. Here, it seems,  is where their fate turned.  

MORE to come . . .