Nestlerest& Isaac Willard Fox
Evidence, open questions & sources

The Research

What is proven, what is probable, what remains unknown — and every source behind this site.

How strong is each claim?

Weighing the evidence

The strongest conclusions come where independent kinds of evidence converge — court cases, the abstract, newspapers, maps, photographs and village records.

The bars are an editorial summary of the research's own confidence language, not a statistical measure.

Myth or record?

Tempting stories

Several appealing stories remain unproved — or are contradicted by the record. Leaving them out makes the documented story stronger. Flip a card to check.

The research register

Questions that remain

Land, buildings & the chain of title

The Goodwin plat and title after 1891Highest priority
The transcription now shows the W½ of the SW¼ of the NW¼ of Section 20 inside the 1890 decree property (entries 67, 74, 75). Obtain the original Kate W. Goodwin subdivision plat and its recording data, the original federal decrees summarized on abstract pages 22–23, and any later conveyances or partition instruments. Explain how Eleanor Fox and the Clarks held lots by 1900 after the 1891 foreclosure. The recorded 2009 Lake Zurich Oaks plat supplies the modern comparison.
The middle ownership gap, c. 1900–1951Highest priority
Retrieve the 1951 deed into Richard Barrie — including co-grantees and the full legal description — and work backward through each grantor. Search Barrie, the source misspelling Berrie, and Barry. Establish the Clark and Flora death and property sequence, Marguerite's later role if any, and the route into Boado's 1986 purchase.
The house footprint and dateOpen
Overlay the 1857 calls, the 1861 and 1885 maps, the Goodwin plat and the 2009 survey, measuring registration error. Compare the postcard and photographs with 2009 and current views. Seek assessment changes, early building references or architectural dating for the c. 1859 claim.
The 1857 acquisitionNarrowed
Retrieve the Starr deed (Vol. 27 of Deeds, p. 228), the Book P mortgage (p. 472) and the 1849 Baldwin-to-Starr deed (Vol. L, p. 92). Resolve the April 13/16/18 discrepancy and plot the lakefront calls. Federal patent research remains open.
The 1865 school deedNarrowed
Retrieve Vol. 38 of Deeds, p. 305 to verify the description, public uses, fence obligation and reverter wording against the original.
The Kohl cottage and neighboring parcelsOpen
Obtain the 1901 Kohl-to-Klipper/Klepper deed, locate the property, and determine whether the Nestlerest name moved. Abstract No. 5482 places a Louis Klepper (d. 1894) as Koffen's mortgagee and a Chas. W. Kohl as a Lake Zurich justice of the peace in 1910 — leads for both families. Retrieve the Robertson-to-Clark-and-Kuebker conveyance and identify that Clark; Edward R. Clark, Robertson's son-in-law, is now the leading candidate.
Missing abstract pagesNarrowed
Page 17 of Abstract No. 5482 is now transcribed. Still needed: page 7 of the continuation (probably the John Koffen Subdivision plat and the start of entry 9), requested from the Ela Historical Society. Recheck the April 13/18, 1857 deed date and the April 1/11, 1885 recording date of the master's deed against the No. 1715 photographs.

People & business

Isaac's biographyOpen
Primary records for birthplace, parentage, migration and residence dates, cause of death, burial and the school-naming decision. Verify commercial addresses year by year. A failed search of the 1877 county history is a negative result, not proof of absence.
Census and family recordsOpen
Inspect the original 1870 and 1900 schedules, the Clark marriage record and later schedules. The earlier 1910 citation to T624 roll 299 is wrong for Lake County (roll 301); the 1920 ED 97 citation conflicts with Lake County's EDs on rolls 381–382. Verify Truman Fox's reported dates independently.
Henry W. Fox's probateNarrowed
Start with the Madison County, New York Surrogate's Court: the will, the June 1876 proceedings and the inventory. Resolve the May 7 / May 28 / June 1 conflict and see whether the inventory identifies Isaac's debt.
Glassworks and the inventionOpen
Complete the Durhamville / Dunbarton / Sand Lake partnership chronology. Learn whether the gas generator was manufactured, licensed or used at Lake Zurich. Identify the fire on the Chicago property without assuming it was the Great Fire.

Ice, recreation & the visual record

The ice industryOpen
Locate the 1896 lease to Harris & Foley, identify “Mrs. Fox,” and plot the ice houses and rail spur. Follow later Knickerbocker or Consumers interests through deeds and company records.
Photographs and local archivesOpen
Request full-resolution fronts and backs, dates and provenance for Dunn Museum m86.1.571 and Ela photographs p141/p142. Obtain the 2009 architectural photographs and exhibits, the Ela Library's Nestlerest file, the Queen material, assessor cards and aerials. No verified portrait of Isaac Fox or Frank Clark has been found.
The 2026 photo captionsOpen
Ask the Ela Historical Society who wrote the typed captions on the Barrie photographs, when, and from which maps or plat books — they read like successive county-map labels. Test the caption claims: “1865 Home Built,” “1879 E.R. Clark home” (possibly Frank and Flora Clark), and “1915 Est of Joseph Whitney,” a possible lead for the 1907–1951 ownership gap.
NewspapersOpen
Earlier automated searches of selected 1896–1903 issues came up empty, but OCR misses are likely. Most productive next: 1896 ice-company notices, the 1898–1902 cottage trail, and 1920s–1950s ownership and park advertisements.

Corrections to keep

  • Barrie is the preferred surname (the source has “Berrie”).
  • The Maple Street Fox house is a different building.
  • The 1869 failure predates the Great Fire.
  • Old and modern Lot 2 are not automatically the same land.
  • $58,627.92 is not a proven settlement.
  • April 1857 ownership supersedes 1858 as the earliest purchase evidence.
  • Henry's exact death date remains in conflict.
  • Francis E. Clarke, guardian ad litem for the Paine girls in 1868, is another Clark(e) — not Frank P. Clark or E. R. Clark.
Source catalogue

Sources & record locators

Numbering follows the research dossier: S1–S86 (S63 unused), A1–A7 for abstract pages examined earlier, B1–B24 for Examination of Title No. 1715, and N1 for the patent. New: K1–K25 and L1–L9 for Abstract of Title No. 5482 and its continuation. Abstract citations open the No. 1715 and No. 5482 transcriptions at the cited page.

    Modern property listings (S26–S29) are corroborative only. S70 is contextual secondary material. Original records control over abstracts, OCR and retrospective accounts.