Heinrich Hans Vogt is said to have been born on January 26, 1846 in Germany. Some documents also indicate that Henry came to America in 1872. Henry settled in the Fountain Bluff Township in Jackson County, Illinois. The time he arrived was not long before the official formation of Christ Lutheran Church in Jacob, Illinois, which began in 1876.
On March 29, 1878, Henry Vogt married Alwine Schroeder. We have a transcription of a marriage record from Jackson County, Illinois for this wedding.
Alwine Schroeder was the daughter of Johann Christian Schroeder of Altenburg, Missouri. I find it interesting that Johann Christian was married to a woman whose name was Johanne Christiane. Her surname is a matter of debate. Our German Family Tree says it was either Karaster or Krahmer. Alwine was born on March 13, 1857 and baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg.
We find Alwine in the 1870 census for Brazeau Township in Perry County. It stretches over two pages. Alwine was 12 years old.
I do not know how a girl from Altenburg managed to find a husband across the river in Jackson County, Illinois, but she did. We also find that Henry and Alwine start showing up in the Christ Lutheran Church books at around the time of their marriage. Here is a record for communicants at that church in 1879 that includes both Henry and Alwine.
We also find their first two children being baptized at that congregation in 1878 and 1879.
Henry and Alwine can be found in the 1880 census for Fountain Bluff Township, but neither one of the children in the above baptism records are found, so they must have died. However, there was a child by the name of Mary Bridges living with them who is described as a foster child.
According to our German Family Tree, Henry and Alwine would have 6 more children of their own. One of those children was Martin Vogt, whose story was told in the post, Cowardly Clara Becomes Käsekopf.
One thing I did not tell you earlier was that Henry’s parents were Marx and Maria Elizabeth (Steenbock) Vogt who lived and died in Germany. The Steenbock surname has shown up on this blog before. A story was written about August Mirly, who started out his life as August Steenbock. That post was titled, Angeline Pi, but that story never mentioned a possible connection to the Vogt family. I think I found such a connection. A Steenbock child was born in 1881 and baptized at Christ Lutheran Church in Jacob. The baptism record for Gustav Steenbock is shown below in two images.
Notice that two of the sponsors had the name, Vogt, and one of them was Henry. Perhaps this Steenbock family that mysteriously appeared in Fountain Bluff Township in 1881 was related to Henry’s mother.
In 1898, the 18 year-old daughter of Henry and Alwine, Amalia Alwine Vogt, died. She was buried in the Christ Lutheran Cemetery in Jacob, Illinois. According to Findagrave.com, she is the only person with the surname, Vogt, buried there.
The next census in which the Vogt family appears was the one taken in 1900.
There was a William Holschen who appears to be in their household, but there is no information on him. He was another young man from Perry County.
Around this time, Henry also became the executor of the estate of a Gruebmeyer family. A story was also written about that situation titled, Look After Widows and Orphans in Their Distress.
The last census in which we find the Vogt family in Fountain Bluff Township was the one taken in 1910. This time, there was a young hired girl named Martha Hilpert living with them. The year before, in 1909, one of the Vogt’s daughters married a Hilpert from Frohna. His mother’s maiden name was Ross. Jonathan Gruebmeyer married a Ross girl. Not only was he an orphan mentioned in the above -mentioned story, but the Ross girl was part of a family that showed up in this blog just days ago, From Frohna to Fountain Bluff. The connections between previously written tales just never seem to end.
Martin Vogt, who I mentioned earlier, is not included in the above census because we already find him in a Wisconsin census in 1910. A year later, in 1911, it is said that Henry, Alwine, and the remaining members in their household also moved to Wisconsin.
Henry Vogt died in 1917 at the age of 71. His wife, Alwine, died in 1922 at the age of 65. They are buried together in the Mount Hope Cemetery in Turtle Lake, Wisconsin.
This is yet another story about personalities from each side of the Mississippi River who found each other and were married. The two we discussed today were also tied into several other folks who were in the same boat. Or should I say the same ferry crossing the river.