Miss Lottie Goldquist made a strong impression on her students in her classroom in the Galesburg school system. Among them was Carl Sandburg. He and the other boys in his class said she had “git up and git.” She was strict in the classroom, but smiling and cheerful at the same time. Her favorite word was “ed-u-ca-tion.” She said you could never get enough of it. She earnestly told the pupils that character and principles were as important as knowledge and ambition.

 

As a teacher, Miss Goldquist tried to instill the habit of reading in the boys and girls in her classroom. She firmly believed lifelong reading was the key to a successful and satisfying life. She also encouraged an interest in the surrounding world. The students went on nature walks to study plants and flowers. They learned about fossils encased in rocks which gave details of the development of the earth and the past life on it.

 

Lottie Goldquist taught in the Galesburg school system for more than thirty-six years. She was a classroom teacher as well as a principal of the Seventh Ward, Douglas and Hitchcock schools during her career. She and her family lived on the west side of Broad Street two doors south of Brooks Street, next to the Knox College campus. Each day Miss Goldquist walked from her home to the school building where she was teaching.

 

Both F.G. Goldquist and Fredericka Peterson had been born in Sweden. In 1848 Fredericka's family had made the perilous water journey across the Atlantic and the Great Lakes to Illinois. They were part of a small group which settled in Bishop Hill, Illinois. Several relatives in the party died of cholera during the journey. He worked as a caretaker at Knox College in the days when iron stoves heated each room. Mrs. Goldquist was known in the community for her charitable works. She was a friend of Mary Ann “Mother” Bickerdyke, the famous Civil War nurse.

 

Five children were born before Mr. Goldquist died in 1864. Lottie was the oldest, having been born November 20, 1854. Emma, Louis, Carrie and Frank were born in that order. Mr. Goldquist's early death left his widow and five young children in straitened circumstances. Consequently, the children had to work hard to survive.

 

In the 1880 census Lottie Goldquist is listed as a teacher. Her sister Emma was a dressmaker, Frank was a tanner and Louis was a machinist. The other daughter, Carrie, had married Joseph M. Luckey  during that year.

 

Louis found employment with the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad. Emma became a seamstress. Frank Goldquist had a number of careers. He joined the Galesburg fire department, eventually becoming its chief in 1891. He was also in the entertainment world, working as a show manager in circuses. He enjoyed performing as a magician and ventriloquist.

 

Lottie had the most distinguished career of her brothers and sisters. Although she had taught in the Galesburg school system for many years, her death was barely noticed. A single paragraph in the newspaper stated she had died after a short illness. The funeral was held March 27, 1926, from the First Methodist Church and burial was in Hope Cemetery.