Moritz Dobschutz House (Victorian Home Museum)

The St. Clair County Historical Society (SCCHS) operates the Victorian Home Museum at 701 E. Washington St. The house was constructed around 1866 for Moritz Dobschutz, a prominent local businessman and German immigrant. The SCCHS bought the mansion in 1963, renovated the house, and opened the museum in 1968. The house is furnished as it would have looked in Victorian times when lived in by an upper-class family. The former Doschutz house also serves as the headquarters of the SCCHS, including offices, archives, and a research library. The Moritz Dobschutz House is one of many nineteenth-century buildings within the Belleville Historic District, listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.

Moritz Julius Dobschutz Sr. (1831-1913; sometimes spelled Dobscheutz) emigrated to America from Germany in 1856. He was born in 1831 in Rhein-Kress Neuss, in Nordrhein-Westfalen (Germany). Moritz Sr. married Nicy Ann Moore in Omaha, Nebraska in 1857. The couple had four children (John, Martha J., Moritz J. Jr., and Anna N.) before Nicy Ann died in 1869. Moritz Sr. soon remarried to Louisa Zimlich and had seven more children between 1874 and 1886 (Hermina, Lillian, William, Louise, Walter, Edward, and Jehu).

Moritz Sr. was among a group of men who established The People's Bank of Belleville, charted by the State of Illinois in 1869. The capital stock of the company was $25,000. In 1870, Moritz Sr. (age 39) worked as a real estate agent; he owned real estate valued at $30,500 and personal property worth $5,000. His wife, Louisa (21) was a Maryland native and was not working outside the home. The five children of Moritz Sr. (12 to 1) lived in the home, as well as Hermine Doschutz (30, German-born), likely the children's aunt. Catherine Knoth (19) was their live-in domestic servant.

Moritz. Sr. (49) still worked as a real estate agent in 1880 and his household was located on East Main St. He resided with his wife, Louisa (32), a milliner; seven children (17 to 11 months); and a servant, Sophie Bloom (15). Members of the Dobschutz family reportedly lived in the S. First (later E. Washington) St. house until 1893. The oldest son, John, was not a member of his father's household on Main St. in 1880, but the 22-year-old was living in Kansas City, Missouri where he was a servant in the household of a proprietor of Delmonico Hotel No. 2.

In the 1891 city directory for Belleville, Moritz Sr. lived and worked at 303 E. Main St., where he was a realtor. His wife, Louisa Dobschutz lived and worked at the same address, in millinery and dressmaking. The only other Dobschutz household listed in 1891 was J.A. Dobschutz, who lived at 234 Douglas Ave. and worked as a solicitor at Pieper & Badgely; this was likely one of the sons of Moritz Sr., either John or Jehu. Moritz Sr. died in June 1913 at age 82 and was buried in Walnut Hill Cemetery in Belleville. Louisa and Moritz Sr. lived at 101 S. Church St. by 1904 and until he passed away; several of the Dobschutz children also loved at 101 S. Church St. in 1904. Louisa ran the dress shop in Belleville for 40 years before moving to St. Louis where she lived with her three daughters; Louisa died 15 years later, in 1940, at age 92.

The Moritz Dobschuetz House is one of many buildings in the historic district constructed of locally-made red brick. The two-story, Georgian style house features prominent roof brackets, a bulls-eye attic window in the gable ends, and elaborate window lintels, all made of cast iron. Since Belleville became the site of many cast iron stove manufacturers in the nineteenth century, the cast iron details were likely locally produced. There is a balcony above the main entrance with decorative iron railings.

Suggested donation for visitors to the Victorian Home Museum, operated by the St. Clair County Historical Society, is $6 for adults and $3 per child under twelve.

Anonymous. "Obituary: Moritz J. Dobschutz." Belleville News-Democrat (Belleville) June 24th, 1913.

Belleville Directory Company. Belleville City Directory. 1904-1905. Belleville, IL. Belleville Directory Company, 1904.

Buecher, Robert. Find a Grave Memorial for Moritz Julius Dobschutz Sr., Find a Grave. August 11th, 2016. Accessed November 30th, 2022.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/168030474/moritz-julius-dobschutz.

Illinois State Legislature. An Act to incorporate the People's Bank of Belleville. Laws of the State of Illinois Enacted by the General Assembly. March 27th, 1869. 194 - 196.

Peters, Frank. McCue, George. A Guide to the Architecture of St. Louis. Columbia, MO. University of Missouri Press, 1989.

St. Clair County Historical Society. Victorian Home Museum: History, St. Clair County Historical Society, online exhibits. January 1st, 2022. Accessed December 6th, 2022. https://stcchs.org/online_exhibits/victorianhouse.php.

T., Barb. Find a Grave Memorial for Louisa Zimlich Dobschutz, Find a Grave. July 4th, 2018. Accessed November 30th, 2022. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/191108084/louisa-dobschutz.

U.S. Census Bureau. Household of Moritz Dobschutz in Belleville, Illinois, dwelling 979, family 1174. Washington, DC. U.S. Government, 1870.

U.S. Census Bureau. Household of Moritz J. Dobschutz on E. Main St., Belleville, Illinois, dwelling 67, family 75. Washington, DC. U.S. Government, 1880.

U.S. Census Bureau. Household of Conrad Scwissler in Delmonico Hotel No. 2, Union Ave., Kansas City, Missouri, dwelling 311, family 392. Washington, DC. U.S. Government, 1880.

U.S. Central Publishing Co. Belleville City Directory, East St. Louis City Directory, and St. Clair County Gazetteer, 1892-1892. Milawaukee, WI. U.S. Central Publishing Co., 1891.

Wagner, Robert. NRHP Nomination of Belleville Historic District, St. Clair County, Illinois. National Register. Washington, DC. National Park Service, 1976.

Woody, David. Find a Grave Memorial for John Dobschutz , Find a Grave. March 5th, 2012. Accessed November 30th, 2022. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/86259776/john-dobschutz.