Bruemmer 4th Generation The Family Of
Gerhard and Maria
German Roots Part 2
Starting in 1868 through 1889 a total of eight children were born in the family of Gerhard Anton and Maria. In this posting and the following ones, I will talk about each of their children and extended family of spouses and grandchildren.
In my blog posting of Meet Me In St Louis - I had mentioned that my research into the Bruemmer family was leading me to A LOT oof rare photos off other Ancestry Trees that I had never ever seen before!! This even included some of the husband/wife/children of the Bruemmer siblings in later generations!
A short note on Gerhard and Maria. In the early 1903, they lived in an apartment above a grocery store. The building was owned by Gerhard with the lower part always leased out to a grocer. Their son in law Heinrich Friedrich Johannsmeÿer was the executor of Gerhard's will. When Gerhard's wife Maria Adelaide passed away, the building was sold and Heinrich moved in with the Johannsmeyer family until his death in 1915.
CHILDREN OF GERHARD ANTON AND MARIA BRUEMMER
Of the eight children, Elizabeth is the only one whose photo I have yet to find. All the Bruemmer siblings got married and had children. By 1911, Gerhard had a total of 42 grandchildren! Maria did not live to see all of them since she passed away in 1907.
Also, just like within the Holmes Cook and Steele families where two siblings of one family married two siblings of another family, the same happened in this fourth generation of Bruemmers. John Henry and his brother Aloysius married two siblings of the Aherns Family ~Mary and her sister Anna Maria ! More on that below!
LIZZIE BRUEMMER
The first born child, Elizabeth was born in Missouri on December 9 1868. To her family and friends she was always known as Lizzie. In 1893 Lizzie married Heinrich Friedrich Johannsmeÿer.
JOHANNSMEYER FAMILY
Heinrich Friedrich (later known as Henry) and his brother Charles Williams were the only children of Johann Fredrich W and Marie Eleanor (Rabe) Johannsmeyer. The Johannsmeyer family came from Hanover, Region Hannover, Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen), Germany. Below is a map showing the approximate area.
ARRIVAL IN AMERICA
Their father Henry was born on Jan 1, 1827 in Germany and arrived in America by 1867 or possibly earlier. A census from that time shows him living in New York working as a cabinet maker. His wife Marie Eleanor Rabe born in 1811, appears to have arrived in America in 18 years earlier in 1849.
Henry and Marie were married in St. Louis in/around 1861 1862. Yet both sons were born in Germany not America, so it is possible Henry and Marie decided to return to their homeland shortly after their marriage.
The first son to arrive in America was Charles Williams in 1888. Born on January 27, 1870 he would marry Caroline Flotken Efken. Caroline was born in St. Louis Missouri on January 27 1870.They had a total of 12 children!
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Maria Eleonore (1889–1984)
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Edward Carl (1891–1949)
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Caroline Josephine (1892–1966)
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Antoninett Anna (1894–1966)
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Franciska Frances (1895–1962)
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Henreyette Henrietta (1897–1967)
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Wilhelmine Magdalena (1899–1983)
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Heinrich Carl (1901–1901)
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Bernard Alhouisius Ben (1902–1961)
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Catharina Antoinetta (1906–1965)
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Herman Carl (1907–1957)
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Erhardt "Rudy" (1910–1993)
No doubt moving to America influenced his younger brother Henry to immigrate in 1891. The following year Henry would marry Lizzie Bruemmer in the area of St. Louis Independent Cities Missouri.
In 1892, Henry and Lizzie moved to Quincy, Adams, Illinois where many of the Bruemmer ancestors lived!
Why Quincy, Adams, Illinois? According to the Historical Society of Quincy & Adams County -Germans came to the Midwest because they were attracted to the rich farmland. They first moved to Missouri, but many of the Germans were opposed to slavery, so they went across the river to Illinois.
Henry and Lizzie had two sons:
Born on October 11, 1893, their oldest son Henry Edward was approx 6 1/2 feet tall with brown hair and brown eyes. Henry was first married to Martha P. Schonhoff. Born on September 16, 1894, Martha and her sister Stella were the only children of Bernard Heinrich "Henry" and Ernestine (Klues) Schonhoff.
Both parents were born in Germany with Ernestine's family arriving in America in 1870 and Bernard Heinrich's the following year in 1871. Bernard Heinrich "Henry and Ernestine were married on April 29 1884 in Quincy, Adams County,
Their oldest daughter Martha and Henry Edward were married on June 13 1916 in St. Mary's Catholic Church in Quincy. Sadly it was not meant to be forever. Martha died two years later at age 24 on October 20, 1918.
Nine years later, Henry Edward would remarry on December 31, 1925! The bride was Elma C Kaiser born in Illinois May of 1888.
Elma was one of five children born to Frederick Michael and Amelia Wilhelmina Fedreka (Begeman) Kaiser. By 1910, the Kaiser family had moved from their home in Adams Co., IL to Creek, Sumner, Kansas, where their father Frederick Michael worked as the manager of a large farm. Sumner, Kansas was once one of the most important towns in Atchison County. Though long gone today, this old town has a fascinating history! To give you an idea of where this township once was, I have provided a map below, along with some great photos of the area as looked like during the Kaiser family's time there.
Elma's mother Amelia lived to age 78 passing away on February 23, 1943. Her father Frederick Michael lived to the grand age of 89 passing away on March 10, 1952.
Henry Edward would live to age 62 passing away on January 27 1956. Elma outlived him passing away at 91 on January 19, 1980. It does not appear that they had children.
Henry's younger brother Frederick Francis was born on June 8, 1896. Taller than his older brother, Frederick stood at 6 3/4 tall with brown hair and brown eyes. In 1930, he married Frances Angelene Sharp. Born on January 2, 1901, Frances was one of four children in the family of Charles Watson and Ida Florence (Musick). As I continued my research on this branch of the family I was delighted to find not only pictures but also to learn that her mother Ida was an actress in local theater productions!
Frances marriage to Frederick was in fact not her first marriage. Frances had already been married twice before! Her first husband was Vada Allen whom she married in 1920 and then second husband was Edward Haddenhorf whom she married in 1925. It does not appear that she had any children from any of the three marriages.
Frederick and Frances met in Missouri and spent their lives there until their passing. Frederick lived to age 58 passing away November 1, 1954. Frances lived until age 68 passing away November 9, 1969. As you can see from the headstone pictures below, Frederick was a private in WW1.
THE KAISER CHILDREN
Sadly, two of the children, Clarence and Florence died very early on. I have chosen some RIP images of babies in caskets from that time period to represent them.
Although I could not find pictures of Elma or her sister Delia, I was able to find some of their brother Chalon Leonard. This one of his wife and young child is just so sweet.
Chalon Leonard Harmon Kaiser with his wife Mary Ellen Stitt and their son Charles Philip
Charles Watson Sharp
Ida Florence (Musick)
Below is a gallery of pictures of the Sharp Family.
Henry Edward and Frederick Francis's father Heinrich Friedrich Johannsmeÿer lived to age 56 passing away on May 11th 1932.
Their mother Lizzie lived well into her 88th year passing away on May 7 1957.
JOHN HENRY BRUEMMER
BRUEMMER FIFTH GENERATION
John Henry Bruemmer was the second son of Gerhard and Maria born on May 26 1870 in Missouri. It is with him that the fifth generation begins.
However, since there is more story to share on the descendants of Gerhard and Maria, this posting below on John Henry and Mary will be short and conclude in a separate blog posting.
John Henry worked as a farmer, then later as a machinist for a small laundry company as well as a hauling contractor.
To all of us cousins, John Henry would be our great grandfather. As you may recall, I had created a blog page as well as a posting on Facebook regarding the BRUEMMER look. Comparing the faces below you can see the similarities in each facial structure!
On May 17 1892, John Henry Bruemmer would marry the lovely Mary Aherns. Mary was born on September 13 1872 in St Louis, Missouri. She was one of six children in the family of Herman John and Margaret Elizabeth (Mueller) Aherns.
AHERNS FAMILY
The Aherns family arrived in America on December 8, 1847. Margaret Elizabeth Mueller's family did not arrive in America until 1867. Both families resided in St Louis Missouri and it was in 1871 that Herman and Margaret would marry.
Their daughters Mary and Anna Maria were not only sisters but also sisters in laws-a fact that I just recently found out as mentioned in the beginning of this blog! Mary Aherns married John Bruemmer in 1892 and then her sister Anna Maria married John's brother Aloysius in 1908!
Below is the photo of John and Mary on their wedding day. The photo was originally a xeroxed copy among some papers my mom recently found while cleaning out her sewing room. Online, I found out a way to make this photo from what it was to now and what an amazing difference!
From 1892 through 1902 a total of six children were born to John and Mary.
When I first began my ancestry venture, Aunt Susan put me in touch with one of the St Louis relatives by the name of Dave Bruemmer. Not only was Dave willing to share documents and pictures, he was open to any questions I had by email. In return I sent him a flash drive of everything I had discovered about our family that he did not have. We have even talked by SKYPE video a few times!
Below is a family picture that Dave sent to me. You are looking at the original Bruemmer family photo of Henry and Anna. Thankfully someone had the sense to write the name of each person.
Of course, when My Heritage came out with their picture program, I did an immediate revival of the above photo which made these ancestors come alive!!
The Bruemmer family resided at this home known as 2312 Texas Ave in St. Louis MO.
The last son to be born was Harry on May 1st, 1901. However, the joyous occasion was suddenly cut short when both Harry and his mom Mary developed Rheumatic fever (acute rheumatic fever).
Rheumatic fever is a disease that can affect the heart, joints, brain, and skin. It can develop if strep throat and scarlet fever infections are not treated properly. Today, early diagnosis of these infections and treatment with antibiotics are key to preventing rheumatic fever. But in the early 1900's, before the advent of widespread antibiotics to treat strep throat, rheumatic heart disease was the most important cause of heart valve diseases and the leading cause of death for 5-20 year-olds in the U.S.
Harry did not make it and even more tragic was the loss of Mary five days later on May 6th. Below is Mary's death certificate.
The grieving period for the Bruemmer family, must have been terribly difficult. To loose a child, a sibling, a mother could not have been easy. Questions and wonderment as to why this happened?!
But I am assuming (somewhat) that they had a lot of support from the family members of both the Bruemmer and Ahern families.
Mary was buried at The Old Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Cemetery located in St. Louis City MO. Below is her headstone.
ANTON PHILLIP BRUEMMER
Anton Phillip Bruemmer was the third child and second born son of Gerhard and Maria. Back in July of 2021, I was on my ancestry site when I suddenly noticed that my hints button (which looks like a green leaf) kept flashing. To my wonderful delight it was an actual picture of Anton Phillip! What amazed me was how much it looked like Uncle John! Above is the original photo I found and the revised version.
On November 8, 1900 Anton would marry the lovely Annie G Dieters (later spelled Deters)
Born in 1881, Annie was one of eight children in the family of Bernhard Johann George and Caroline "Lena" (Dopis) Deters. Both the Deter and Dopis families came from the Niedersachsen, Hanover, Germany area as shown in the map below. Though difficult to detect on previous maps, the more specific towns were Hollenstede (Deter) and Hanover, Stadt (Dopis).
Bernhard and Caroline were married in 1878. Four years later, they would make the grand immigration to America with their three children Ella (age five), Bernard John George (age two) and Johannes (age one).
Upon their arrival, the Deter family would move to Quincy Ward 3, Adams, Illinois. An early census shows Bernhard working as a Laborer in a Pork House.
By definition (from the mid 19th century) this was described as a warehouse, shop, etc., trading in pork and specializing in pork.
From 1883 through 1896, Caroline would give birth to five more children:
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Anna (1883–)
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Henry (1884–1969)
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Josephine Mary (1888–1939)
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Katherine J (1891–1920)
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Mary (1893-1910)
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Minnie (1896–1920)
Caroline would live to age 52 passing away on October 20, 1905. Her husband Bernhard Johann lived to age 64 passing away on July 17, 1916. Both are buried in the Calvary Cemetery of Quincy Adams County Illinois.
\Anton held a variety of different jobs over his lifetime, A 1908 census shows that Anton worked as a laborer. In 1910 he worked as a beer bottler at Dick Brothers Brewery.
In 1920, Anton's place of employment was at a show case store where he worked as a stainer filler. Like most men of that time, Anton did register for the draft during WW1. Below is an actual copy of his draft card
Anton and Anna raised a family of seven children. Sadly daughter Dorothy died at age 3 and Arthur in infancy.
As it sometimes happens in my research, you can find a picture of one ancestor but not their spouse or visa versa! Be that as it may, here is what I was able to find on the above children of Anton and Annie Bruemmer
Bernard Anton Bruemmer
Bernard was born July 16, 1902. In 1925, he would marry Estella Antoinette Hemmer. Estella was born July 14, 1906 in Quincy Adams Illinois. She was one of three children in the family of Bernard Theodore and Katharine B. (Enghauser) Hemmer. Her siblings were the twins Bernard L and Mildred C born in 1909.
Bernard and Estella just had one daughter Betty Jean. Born July 30, 1930, Betty would marry Walter Anthony Babicz. Walter was born February 25, 1927 in Chicago. Below is a gallery of pictures found on Ancestry, updated and revised!
Betty and Walter raised a large family of five children:
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Debra
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Nancy
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William
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Laurence
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Lawrence Bernard
Their father Walter who was a US Army WW2 vet, lived to age 85 passing away on December 2, 2012. Two years later, Betty died at age 83 passing away on May 1, 2014.
Betty's mother Stella died at age 49 on September 7 1954. Her father Anton died at age 57, passing away on July 17, 1959.
Dick Brothers Brewery company was founded by three German brothers-Matthew, Jacob and John Dick in 1858. Closed during the prohibition years from 1920-1933. Reopened again but closed down in 1951 after competition from other breweries with more modern equipment became difficult to beat.
Frank O Bruemmer
Frank O (which probably stood for Otto) was born on January 11 1905. A white pages directory from 1925 shows Frank working for an auto wrecking co.
Then in 1926, Frank began working for WOLF Manufacturers which actually has quite story of it's own! The story below comes courtesy of the Historical Society of Quincy and Adams County and was written by Joseph Newkirk on January 6, 2019.
"This is the June 15, 1914, letterhead of Wolf Manufacturing, founded in Quincy in 1889 by Frederick A. “Fred” Wolf, a native-born German immigrant. During World War I, his company received $1.8 million in military contracts, but in August 1918 he was arrested on conspiracy to defraud the government and later sentenced to Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary after being found guilty of placing American soldiers’ lives in danger and the war in peril.
"After immigrating to the United States from Germany in 1869 at age 18 and settling in Quincy two years later, Frederick A."Fred" Wolf began living the American Dream.
"He was a meat cutter for nine years before partnering with Joseph Michael and Henry Blomer in a pork packing facility; there he learned business and managerial skills.
"Venturing out on his own in 1889, he founded the Western Harness Co., a plant that manufactured leather products. The business at first was at 10th and Broadway and later moved to 116 N. Third. It eventually became one of Quincy's major industries, and by the beginning of World War I, employed 150 people. The company's name was changed to Wolf Manufacturing.
"Fred Wolf married a native Quincy woman of German descent, Elizabeth Vandenboom, in 1879, and they had eight children. They turned Wolf Manufacturing into a family-run business: Fred as president, son Paul as secretary and Fred Jr. as treasurer.
"Besides being a prominent businessman, Wolf was a devout Roman Catholic, an officer in the Quincy German Catholic Federation and a trustee of St. Mary Hospital.
"Wolf became so successful and well-liked that in 1901 he ran for mayor. Although he lost his party's nomination to John A. Steinbach, who would later be elected mayor, a Quincy Daily Journal editorial praised him and his 22 years in local business.
"During World War I, the U.S. government awarded Wolf 10 contracts totaling $1.8 million to produce harnesses, halters and scabbards for the war. Wolf shifted to 100 percent war work and increased his workforce to 300 employees. His plant became the city's leading war producer and one of the country's largest leather manufacturers.
"In public though, and in local editorials and letters to the editor, Wolf decried American "jingoism" in foreign affairs. From the beginning of World War I in 1914, he denounced England's attacking of his German homeland and later American intervention. Before long, officials began scrutinizing him more closely, perplexed by how a native-born German opposed to the war could secure such large military contracts, and whether he was fulfilling them properly. Their suspicions proved fruitful.
"On Aug. 20, 1918, federal marshals arrested Wolf and his sons Paul and Fred Jr. on conspiracy to defraud the government and placed Wolf Manufacturing under police surveillance. Prosecutors charged that Wolf had removed "rejected" stamps that inspectors placed on some of his products and shipped defective goods to soldiers -- placing American lives in danger and the war in jeopardy.
"The Quincy Daily Journal on Aug. 21, 1918, now intimated treason: "The charge is one of the most serious that can be brought against any man. If true, it means robbing of the country which is fighting for the accused ... and merits the harshest possible penalty. (He) is an outcast among the right thinking people of Loyal America."
"After being indicted by a grand jury, the trial of United States v. Frederick A. Wolf Sr. and Paul Wolf began Sept. 4, 1919, in Quincy's federal district court with Judge Louis Fitzhenry of Bloomington presiding. Prosecutors dropped charges against Fred Wolf Jr.
"Before the trial began, Wolf fired Ed Pelgren, his chief foreman -- and several other foremen -- when he learned they might be called to testify. As reported in the court coverage of the Quincy Daily Whig on Sept. 5, 1919, Pelgren stated that Wolf had told him to remove rejection marks with acid and reassured him saying, "Now, Ed, you stand on your hind legs and stick by me and we will see this thing through."
"Pelgren further testified that Wolf had said, "Tell the (expletive deleted) inspectors to go to hell. I'll make them take the straps."Wolf also had told his employees to ship them because "They are liable to get to the bottom of the sea anyway, and nobody will know the difference."
"Testimony among the 30 other witnesses included statements reported in the Sept. 10, 1919, Daily Herald that rejected and remarked that products were "So rotten that they were unfit for any service." Mr. Nichols, a government inspector, testified that his official stamper denoting "approved" or "rejected" had been stolen, and he later discovered it in Wolf's office.
"Defense attorneys Hugh Graham and Harry Converse of Springfield and George Govert of Quincy countered that anti-German hysteria and prejudice had gripped Quincy, and as recorded in the Sept. 19, 1919, Quincy Daily Whig, "Everyone saw a German spy hiding behind every tree."With strong ties to his homeland and anti-war views, Wolf had become a victim of the government's overzealous pursuit of German-Americans.
"After a two-week trial and five hours of deliberation, jurors found Frederick A. Wolf, Sr. and his son Paul guilty of felony conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government and sentenced Frederick Wolf to one year and one day in Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary in Leavenworth. Paul Wolf was sentenced to two years in the same prison.
"Wolf's lawyers immediately began convoluted legal maneuvers: appeals to the circuit court, U.S. attorney general, Supreme Court and even President Warren G. Harding, but to no avail. In February 1923, nearly five years after their arrests, father and son entered prison. On Feb. 19, 1923, the Quincy Daily Herald stated they were "trembling with fear that the penal institution was like the prisons of old and expected harsh and rough treatment."
"President Harding paroled Fred Wolf after he had served one-third of his sentence, and he returned to Quincy. Paul returned after eight months in prison. The now disgraced founder of Wolf Manufacturing received a passport in 1925 to spend six months in his birthplace of Gleiswceler, Germany. Shortly after his arrival back in Quincy, he died Aug. 24, 1926, and after a Requiem Mass at St. John's Catholic Church, survivors buried him in the family plot in Calvary Cemetery. None of Fred Wolf's eight pallbearers had ties with his soon-to-be-disbanded company."
On April 14, 1928, Frank would marry Ada Irene Graff.
Born on February 13 1908 Ada Irene (later known as just Irene) was one of nine children in the family of Roy and Mary Josephine (Warning) Graff.
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Mary Margaret (1905–1905)
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Katherine Emma (1906–1975)
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Irene (1908–1999)
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Oscar A. (1909–2001)
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Ralph Ernest (1911–1996)
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Robert Elmo (1912–1952)
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Leonard Lon (1914–1982)
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Frederick C. (1915–1985)
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Floyd Henry (1920–1999)
The Graff family came Liberty, Adams County, Illinois where Roy owned and operated his farm. Their daughter Irene and Frank Bruemmer were married on April 14, 1928.
Their only child was a son by the name of Milton Eugene "Butch" Bruemmer. Milton was born on September 15 1943. His wife was Carolyn Ann "Fluff" Edwards.
Carolyn was born July 10, 1945 in Denver, Colorado, the daughter of Charles Leroy and Dorothy Mae Bell Edwards. She married Milton E. "Butch" Bruemmer on July 18, 1972 in Quincy, Illinois.
Milton and Carolyn only had one child named Michele (Dates of birth and/or death unknown as this time). Milton lived to age 71, passing away on May 26. 2015. Carolyn passed away three year later on May 16, 2018.
Her two page obituary (found online) is a wonderful tribute to whom Carolyn was:
"Carolyn was a graduate of Payson Seymour High School. She was employed as a sales associate at Sears until her Retirement in 2004. Prior to working at Sears, she worked at the Brown Drug lunch counter. In her earlier years, Carolyn worked as a bartender at 4th and Cedar, and she would always tell of her fond memories of her jobs and all the fun she had. Carolyn was a member of Our Redeemer Lutheran Church.
Carolyn's actual family was very small; however, she "adopted" many people into her life over the years and created enduring friendships, many of which spanned over 50 years. Carolyn is survived by an aunt, Zela (Dale Barnett) Edwards of Lewistown, Missouri, and she dearly loved her cousins, the Bunte family, in Payson, who were always good to Carolyn and Butch. She enjoyed keeping in touch with her Payson classmates."
Above are pictures of Milton and Carolyn. Milton's father Frank died June 14, 1974 at the age of 69. His mother Irene died at age 78 on March 27, 1987. The family is buried at Quincy Memorial Park.
