Person:Anna Rosenberg (1)

Anna was born in Stockholm Sweden. Her mother died when Anna was still a child, and her father remarried. Anna did not get along well with her step-mother, so she came to Chicago to live with relatives at the age of 12. She felt she was treated like a servant, rather than a family member. When she turned 18 she went to work for a wealthy family on the north side. There she met Frank Lindstedt, who was the groomsman/coachman for the family. They married and moved to Rockford Illinois to a rented farm. In 1900 they were able to buy a farm near Burdick (Chesterton) Indiana.

There is a family lore of "Muldoon's Ghost". I do not know the exact particulars, but Muldoon's ghost was the evil source of any and all misfortune that befell the family. Here is how I think it happened. Before Frank and Anna bought their farm near Burdick, it was occupied by Arthur Muldoon. One morning Mrs Muldoon went to the barn to milk the cows, and did not return when expected. When they went to look for her, she was found dead in the doorway of the barn. I suspect that this event was the initial basis for "Muldoon's Ghost". Soon it became a scare tactic to get the children to behave such as "You had better behave, or Muldoon's ghost will get you." One evening, as the days grew shorter, and the winter winds whipped around the corner of the barn, a young Arthur Lindstedt was sent to do chores in the barn. With the thought of Muldoon's ghost fresh in his thoughts, and the dim lantern light flickering through the rafters, Arthur swore he saw the apparition in the barn with him. An old man with white flowing hair and a white beard. And the legend of Muldoon's ghost began to grow.

The farm was located next to the railroad tracks. The milk trains would make frequent stops to allow farmers to ship their milk into town. It was much easier to take the train into town, and there catch another train into Chicago, 70 miles away, than it was to hook up the horses to the wagon and drive into Valparaiso. On one such shopping trip, Anna bought an area rug for the house. The rug was rolled up into a long cylinder, which she carried on her shoulder. As she arrived at the train station, a large crowd was there listening to a campaign speech given by the President, who was running for re-election. As she made her way to the track to catch her train, the crowd was dispersing. She claims that in the confusion and chaos, she nearly knocked over the president with her rug. It is not known which year, or which President that would have been. My best guess is that it was Teddy Roosevelt running for re-election in 1904, having taken over the presidency after McKinley's assassination.