Sedgwick County Genealogy' Trails Kansas Hattie Waller

Hattie F. Waller

Hattie, the bright and winsome little 4-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Waller, died on Tuesday evening of hydro cephaulus after a painful illness. The funeral services will take place this afternoon at the residence, 426 North Topeka, at 2:30 p.m.
(Wichita Eagle ~ Thursday ~ May 2, 1889 ~ Submitted by Lori DeWinkler)

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FUNERAL SERVICES

The funeral services over the remains of the 4-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Waller yesterday was attended by a number of friends of the family. The services were conducted by the Rev. I. M. Read, of the First Baptist church, who, at the close of his remarks, read the following, which had been arranged for the occasion:

"Only a blue-eyed baby,
With hair of purest gold;
A patient, sweet-faced darling,
Almost four years old.

Only a pure white casket,
'Our Darling' inscribed thereon;
A short grave on the hillside,
Only a baby gone.

Only a winsome baby,
So tenderly caressed;
Happy through all the ages,
Safe on the Saviour's breast.

Cease weeping stricken parents,
Go cheerful on your way;
Each moments brings you nearer---
Heaven is not far away.

Only a home, a heaven,
Kind friends, forever true;
A Saviour, loving and tender,
And a darling waiting for you."

(Wichita Eagle ~ Friday ~ May 3, 1889 ~ Submitted by Lori DeWinkler)

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THE STORY OF WICHITA'S BEST KNOWN MONUMENT

Most Inquired About Memorial in Maple Grove Cemetery Is That Erected to Little Hattie Waller

Some 40 years ago there lived and died in Wichita a little child. Waller was her name---Hattie Waller. The name does not mean much to the younger generation but the people of pioneer Wichita remember well the Fred Wallers and their lovely little girl.

The Wallers were active and influential in the affairs of the town in that day. Mrs. Waller was a delightful hostess and beloved of Wichita society and Mr. Waller, who was a man of means and prominence, held an important position in the city's commercial circles. For some years he was engaged in the grain business but later became an official of one of the earlier banks. Their home, in the fourth block on North Emporia avenue, was the scene of much social gaiety for they were cordial and hospitable and enjoyed great popularity.

They were the parents of two children. Their son was a boy of 10 when the little girl was born. The little girl was the idol of their home. She was especially beautiful and gifted and possessed much lovable qualities that she was easily a favorite of the entire community.

She was born September 21, 1885, and was four and a half years old at the time of her death. She was ill but three weeks of a baffling malady that resembled typhoid fever.

Shortly after her burial her parents erected over her grave probably the most remarkable monument the city has ever seen.

There lived in Wichita at the time, a German stone sculptor by the name of Stephen Hesse who had learned his trade from the old masters of the land of his birth. He had a colorful history, having led a military life in old Germany in his earlier years. He had been old of the 40 soldiers which composed of the personal body-guard of the Emperor. At regular intervals after his immigration to America he received an invitation and transportation then to attend reunions of his company in the Fatherland. Evidently he preferred to stay in the raw young prairie town, however, for here he remained and followed his trade of monuming hewing at which he was a rare artist indeed.

To him the Wallers took the latest photograph of their little girl and clothing she had worn that he might obtain exact measurements and instructed him to reproduce in stone, a life-size image of the child.

Hesse set to work on a block of Vermont marble with the photograph constantly before him and created with his chesel one of the most exquisite works of art to be found anywhere in the southwest.

The portrait itself was beautifully posed, the little girl standing in an attitude of innocent composure with her hands folded before her. At her feet in a posture of protective affection is curled her dog which was her constant companion in her life. Her dress was a picturesque little high-waisted gown without sleeves and bound about the waist-line with a satin sash which was tied in a voluminous bow-tie in the back. The long shirt which reached her ankles was very full and fashioned of an elaborate pattern of solid embroidery.

All of these difficult and intricate details have been reproduced in stone with amazing fidelity. The expression of her face and the grace of her pose have been caught by the sculptor with a skill that makes the little image strikingly life-like. The water spaniel at her feet with his thick, curly coat, must have looked in life much the same as we see him today in stone.

S. E. Baird, who has been in charge of Maple Grove cemetery for over a score of years, says that he firmly believes this grave is one of the city's most interesting spots. He has learned by heart much information about the child who is buried there, so frequently has he been questioned by people curious to know her history.

A few years after Hattie's death the family moved to the east but they have returned to Wichita and provide for its care. Their present residence is in Clinton, Conn., from which address Mrs. Waller has written recently consenting graciously to the publication of this article and supplying much of the information for its preparation.

The grave is located just within the Hillside boundary of Maple Grove about midway between the north entrance and the Ninth street entrance to the cemetery. The grave is a stone vault partly submerged and surmounted by a marble slab. The statue stands in the exact center of the slab. The whole effect is so charmingly simple and so ungravelike in appearance that a visitor, chancing to come upon it, loses all sense of its charnel significance.

Forty years is a long, long time. The world moves at a swift pace. One would almost expect that a child who had died that long ago would be forgotten except by her loved ones. But little Hattie Waller has never been forgotten. All Wichita will always feel a singular warmth for the dear little girl standing there so serenely on the green hillside with her dimpled hands clasped and her dog at her feet.

Little Hattie has watched many changes in Wichita and in the world since she took her stand there those years ago. Many funerals have filled past her into the entrance of Maple Grove. At first they were like her own funeral, slow parade-like processions headed by a snowy plate-glass hearse with deep tasselled hangings of ivory broadcloth. The horses were white and their bobbing heads were adorned with high white aigrettes not unlike the trappings circus parade. Or perhaps the hearse was black and the horses black. Then the plate-glass walls were hung with sombre black broadcloth and solemn black tassels and swinging fringe. There would follow then, the long cavalcade of horse-drawn carriages proceeding at a walk, quite different from the dark, swift line of motor cars which comprises the funeral processions of today.

There was no paving on College Hill in those days and Wichita was a stark prairie on all sides of Maple Gove. There was a streetcar line, to be sure, passing within a stone's throw of the little grave, a veritable Toonerville trolley which at rare intervals bounced appallingly along upon a high grass-grown ridge.

Since that day Hattie has seen ribbons of paving spread in every direction. She has seen the passing of the horse-drawn vehicle and the evolution of the motor car. Over her very head, a matter of short months ago, Charles Lindbergh flew the plane in which he crossed the sea.

Wichita will always love her little stone child. For ages she will stand there---no doubt after this generation and its children's children are gone and forgotten. And as she stands there with her curly head bared beneath the Kansas sky and her lovely face lifted to the prairie wind, one cannot but wonder what other marvels will unfold before her eyes in the many, many years to come.
(Wichita Eagle ~ Sunday ~ November 18, 1928 ~ Submitted by Lori DeWinkler)

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GIRL'S LIFE-LIKE STATUE WATCHES WICHITA GROW

Hattie Waller has stood, in the same spot in Maple Grove Cemetery for more than 75 years, watching Wichita grow from a cow town to a major metropolitan center.

Perhaps, though, it isn't actually Hattie that has stood for so long. Instead, it is the spirit of the girl that lies beneath the life-like statue of the young lady of 1889.

Hattie was the daughter of Fred Waller, an early Wichita businessman who made a financial success of ventures into banking and grain markets. His home, in the 400 block of North Emporia, according to the newspapers of the 1880's, was one of the town's social gathering spots.

Mrs. Waller "often kept the house open until 10 p.m." entertaining Wichita's society, reports said.

Hattie was born September 21, 1885, and her life was short as typhoid fever claimed her in 1889 when she was less than four years old.

Her grief-stricken parents sought a means of constantly reminding themselves and the city of the girl and found their answer in a German stonecutter, Stephen Hesse.

Hesse was a veteran of the Prussian army and delighted in telling friends that he had served as the personal body guard of the German emporer. He emigrated to the United States and was headed for California when he stopped in Wichita for supplies and decided to stay.

He contributed his work to many early city buildings and the Wallers asked him to make a statue to adorn the girl's grave.

With a photograph of the girl and clothing she had worn on the day she died, Hesse started the statue. He consulted the parents and neighbors to determine the exact measurements of the girl.

Chip by chip, Hesse slowly carved the lifesize statue of Hattie Waller that has stood in Maple Grove Cemetery for 79 years.

The innocent composure of the girl strikes the viewer with a tinge of sympathy. The hint of a frown about the mouth is offset by a hint of humor about the unseeing eyes.

Her gown is high wasted, sleeveless and bound about the middle with a satin sash. The sash is tied in a huge bow at the back and an elaborate pattern of embroidery, now pocked by time, decorates the skirt.

A few years after the completion of the statue, the Waller family moved east and visited Wichita only occasionally. Since the mid 1930's, there have been no visitor to the child's grave.

But Hattie is far from forgotten or even unprotected. Her water spaniel pet lies carved at her feet, perhaps guarding her from progress and, even, time.
(Wichita Eagle ~ Thursday ~ April 18, 1968 ~ Submitted by Lori DeWinkler)

NOTE: The original monument is currently in storage due to aging but the monument at the grave site is an exact replica. ~~~ Lori DeWinkler