Today’s tale will be yet another one in which one of the main characters is a grandchild of J.G. Hemmann, one of the most prolific fathers in the early history of German Lutherans in Perry County. Heinrich Louis Hemman was born on December 14, 1887, the son of Julius and Gesche (Hesse) Hemmann. Perhaps you noticed that Louis’s surname has an “n” missing at the end. Several descendants of Julius Hemmann have that “single n” version of that surname. One of our local businesses, the Hemman Winery, is run by a descendant from that family that just uses one “n”. Louis was baptized at Grace Lutheran Church in Uniontown. An image of his baptism record is pictured here.

Louis is found in the 1900 census for the Salem Township at the age of 11. I have to display his family in two images. They are from the notorious pages that are often hard to read. In this case, the first image is actually quite clear, while the next page is not. Fortunately, Louis is found in the first image.

I was unable to find Louis in a 1910 census. I do know that he was not living with his parents. I did find this interesting entry for a Lewis Hemann who was the right age and was living in a hotel in Wisner, Nebraska in 1910. Wisner is in a region of Nebraska where plenty of Perry County natives settled. However, this entry says Lewis was born in Nebraska and his parents were born in Austria-Hungary.

I knew that Louis would eventually end up living in Kansas, partly due to the fact that Louis was mentioned in a previous blog, Hemmann, the Kansan. That story highlighted one of Louis’s brothers, Paul Hemman. I did not find Louis in a 1910 census from Kansas either. The first evidence of Louis living in Kansas I did find was his World War I draft registration completed in 1917 or 1918. This document says Louis, at the age of 29, was a farmer in Selden, Kansas. The previous blog displayed images of this Hemman draft registration, along with those of two other Hemman brothers from Perry County that were also living in Selden.

At this point, I am going to take a detour to present day news. The devastating tornadoes that occurred this past Friday caused incredible damage both north and south of Perry County, Missouri. We were spared. However, in doing a quick search for Selden, Kansas, I discovered that some tornadoes went through there in May of this year (2021). Here is a video showing footage of that event.

Louis Hemman was not the only Perry County native living in Selden, Kansas when the 1920 census was taken for that location. We see Louis, his brother, Paul, and Theodore Steffens in the entry below.

Paul and Louis Hemman continued to live in Kansas much of their lives, but Theodore Steffens returned to Perry County to live the rest of his life there, making him another one of the boomerangs that were discussed in yesterday’s post. In the case of Louis Hemman, he did return to Perry County, at least to get married, so we’ll turn our attention to his bride.

Ida Lizabeth Mathilda Herring was born on February 15, 1896, the daughter of William and Louise (Bingenheimer) Herring. There is only this one Herring/Bingenheimer family representing the Herring surname in our German Family Tree. I find it interesting that William Herring appears for the first time in Perry County living in my great grandfather’s household in the 1870 census at the age of 11. I have no idea why William was living with Gottwerth Schmidt.

Ida Herring was baptized at Grace Lutheran Church in Uniontown. Here is an image of her baptism record.

Ida’s mother died in childbirth in 1900 when Ida was only 4 years old. The 1900 census including Ida is displayed below.

Ida is next found in the 1910 census when she was a teenager. Wilhelmina Bingenheimer, Ida’s grandmother, her brother, Henry Dickmann, and Ida’s sister, Hilda Herring, were living with Ida in this household. I have no record for when Ida’s father died, but it looks like he died before this census was taken.

I was unable to find Ida in the 1920 census. Since she was about 9 years younger than Louis, I do not know how Louis would have developed a romantic interest in her from all the way in Kansas. There must be a story there that I do not know. Louis Hemman married Ida Herring on February 12, 1922, and that wedding took place at Salem Lutheran Church in Farrar. Here is the church record for that occasion.

We can also view this pair’s marriage license. Neither the church record nor the marriage license indicate that Louis was from Kansas. Perhaps he had come back to Perry County for a while. However, we know this couple would be living in Kansas in all future documents.

Louis and Ida are back living in the Bloomfield Township of Kansas when the 1930 census was taken. This couple had 3 children in their household at that time, and Louis was a farmer.

In the 1940 census, the Hemman family is found living in the Parnell Township, which is located near the Bloomfield Township. Now there were 5 children in their household.

I found Louis Hemman in several county census records over the years. Here is one for him in the one taken in 1961. I don’t often get to look at census records in the 1960’s. It says he was living in Hoxie, Kansas at the age of 73.

Late in their lives, Louis and Ida had these photos taken.

Louis Hemman died in 1974 at the age of 86; Ida Hemman died in 1983 at the age of 87. These two were buried in the Hoxie Cemetery in Hoxie, Kansas, but Findagrave.com has no gravestone photos for them.

I could have titled this story, Another Hemmann, the Kansan, but I chose not to do so. As a farmer during his lifetime, I’m sure his move to Kansas made his farm a lot flatter than it would have been if he had remained in Perry County.