page_title: Elsie Paroubek
section_title: Funeral
hierarchical_section_title: Elsie Paroubek / Funeral
caption_attribution_description: English: Rudolf Jaromir Pšenka, Czech author and playwright, editor of the Chicago Daily Svornost (Concord) from 1909 until his death in 1939. He was also co-founder of the Czech-American News Agency. A veteran of the French Foreign Legion, he wrote several books about his experiences. Pšenka was described as a "Czech-American Renaissance Man" in Malynn Sternstein's book Czechs of Chicagoland. In May 1911 he gave two addresses at the funeral of 5-year-old Elsie Paroubek, whose disappearance was the subject of great public attention and whose murder has never been solved.
context_page_description: Eliška "Elsie" Paroubek was a Czech American girl who was a victim of kidnapping and murder in the spring of 1911. Her disappearance and the subsequent search for her preoccupied Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota law enforcement for six weeks. Her funeral was attended by between 2000 and 3000 people.
  The story of the girl's death, and especially her photograph in the Chicago Daily News, were inspirations for Henry Darger's immense fantasy novel The Story of the Vivian Girls.
context_section_description: Elsie Paroubek's funeral was held at 10:00 a.m. on May 12, 1911 on the lawn of the Paroubeks' home and attended by between 2,000 or 3,000 people. The Chicago Inter Ocean newspaper, however, gave the number of attendees as 5,000. Hours before the ceremony, Albany Avenue and the Paroubek back yard, along with the balconies and porches of nearby houses, were filled with mourners. There was no hall in the neighborhood large enough to hold them all. Frank had been offered the use of a hall, but he indicated the huge gathering and said "They have come to say goodbye to my Elsie. Don't let them be disappointed." Reserves from the Hinman Street station were called in to keep order and prevent the crowd from breaking down the fence.
  Elsie's white coffin rested on two brass stands, surrounded by lilies of the valley, roses and carnations sent by Mayor Harrison, Judge Sabath and other city officials. Eight little girls dressed all in white, including Josie Trampota and her sister Mary, brought out huge sprays of lilies and roses and encircled the bier. Someone brought two chairs out of the Paroubek home, set them near the casket, and laid a board across them to hold the hundreds of floral offerings. Karolina was seated at the head of the coffin, while Frank and the other children stood nearby.
  As the Paroubeks were not Catholics but freethinkers, there were no prayers, and the service was read by Rudolf Jaromír Pšenka, editor of the Bohemian Chicago Daily Svornost. He spoke of the need to cooperate with police to find Elsie's killers. As the undertaker went to lift the coffin into the hearse, Karolina begged him to open it so she could see Elsie's face once more, but her relatives persuaded her not to insist on this and led her away. Most of the attendees followed Elsie's casket to Bohemian National Cemetery, where Pšenka gave another address.
  Frank Paroubek was quoted as saying, "My little girl is at rest and nothing matters to her now, but I shall never rest until I see her murderers paying the penalty for taking her life."
  Police Chief John McWeeny vowed to devote the entire Chicago police force to finding the killer. Alderman Cermak asked Governor Deneen to increase the reward by $200, "as is possible under the statutes." Cermak said, "I will also ask the governor to issue a proclamation calling upon all the people of the state to interest themselves in this case in order that her murderer be apprehended." Coroner Peter Hoffman started a public reward fund, contributing $25.
  Considering where Elsie was found, detectives suspected the actual killer might be Joseph Konesti. According to the Rockford Republic,  Konesti was definitely identified as the killer by detectives under the command of Police Capt. Wood. Described as a "bearded Bohemian" and a "hermit peddler", he was said to have "frequently enticed little girls to his hut by the drainage canal,"  on West 33rd St. and South Kedzie Ave., about a mile and a half from Elsie's home, and had "frequently been seen near the Paroubek home." Searching the shack, detectives found a green hair ribbon which they intended to take to Karolina for identification, along with "indications of a small hole dug in the ground" and "an old hemp sack, which might have contained the body." The owner of the shack, Mrs. David Shaughnessy advised police that she had complained to Konesti about his "bringing children around the house," and had evicted him on May 9. Konesti threw himself in front of a train on May 10. Five days later he was cleared of any wrongdoing.
  On May 13, the body of a well-dressed man was found in the canal at Willow Springs, some 20 miles from Lockport and 14 miles from Albany Avenue. He had no identification, only a Catholic holy card with a prayer in Polish, with the words "Sig. Hoff" written on it. Detectives believed this man also may have had some connection with Elsie's death. An anonymous letter was said to have been received by the detectives. The writer described having seen a little girl walking along the canal with a young man the day Elsie disappeared. On the same 
caption: Rudolf Jaromír Pšenka, Czech author and playwright, editor of the Chicago Daily Svornost (Concord) from 1909 until his death in 1939.
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