R. G. Huntinghouse-Dance Instructor Extraordinaire

Rudolph G. "R. G." Huntinghouse was born Aug. 9, 1861 in West Bend, WI to Mr. and Mrs. Peter Huntinghouse. Voter registration information shows he was living in Chicago by 1886. He married Betty Schertl on 16 Jun 1888 in Cook County.

Wife Betty, R.G., and daughter Kathryn, about 1901

In the 1890s he founded the Huntinghouse Dancing Academy in Chicago and operated it for 60 years. He was the first President of the Chicago National Association of Dance Masters, 1913-1914, an organization which is still in existence. For 15 summers he taught dance at the Big Pavilion in Saugatuck, and was a strong promoter of the community. The Commercial Record of Aug. 14, 1919 reported:

"Probably more people have come to Saugatuck this summer on account of the gratuitous boosting by one Chicago man than through any other means. Professor R. G. Huntinghouse, who conducts two of the largest dancing academies in that city, has for many years spent his summers here, conducting dancing classes at the Big Pavilion. All this time he has told his Chicago clientele of the summer attractions here, and the Saugatuck reunion at his Albany Park academy in the fall is an annual event eagerly looked forward to by those who have been here. This year Mr. Huntinghouse has established a neat monthly magazine "Voices and Echoes," in which he gives free rein to his thoughts and fancies. And though ostensibly a publicity agent for his academies, the four issues so far published have more to say about Saugatuck than they do about dancing. The magazine, which is circulated free, reaches a large and receptive clientele, and without question many hundred of people came here this summer solely because of its consistent presentation of Saugatuck's charms."

-

Ads From the June 1921 Commercial Record

He purchased his summer retreat in Saugatuck in the spring of 1920. His 10 acre plot included the Burns house and it was a part of the former Calvin Whitney estate at the north-east corner of South Maple and Allegan, directly across from the Henry Barr property (now the Cappelletti house).

-

Huntinghouse Home- in the 1930s and Today

The 1900 census shows that 2 children had been born to Betty, of whom only daughter Kathryn (born Nov. 1899) was then living. R. G. and his wife lost two more children by 1910. By 1920, R. G. is shown as a widower. Daughter Kathryn, then 20, and her husband, Fred Pfaff lived in his household. Fred Pfaff was a grandson of August Pfaff Sr. of Saugatuck. R. G. retired to Saugatuck, spent the last 10 years of his life here, except for a short period during the winters when he stayed with his daughter and her family in Chicago. He died in the Douglas Community Hospital at the age of 93 on Aug. 21, 1954, and is buried in Riverside Cemetery.

-contributed by Chris Yoder

*******************************************************************************

Thanks to granddaughter Marion Britz for the photos of R.G. In a future Newsletter, watch for her stories on R.G. and the "Unsinkable Swimming Suit" and R.G.'s appearance in "Ripley's Believe It or Not".

*******************************************************************************