I have previously told the story of August Steenbock in the post, Angeline Pi. August took the name, Mirly, after being adopted, and that was the beginning of the branch of the Mirly family tree that has been pegged with the name, “Fake Mirly’s”. Today, I will tell the story of August’s older brother, who is today’s birthday boy.

Johannes Steenbock was born on June 26, 1872, so today would be his 151st birthday. John was the son of Joachim and Maria (Wrage) Steenbock. He was born in the Schleswig-Holstein region in Germany. That region is located in the northern part of that country…almost Denmark. When Johannes was about 9 years old, his parents brought their family to America. They made the voyage across the Atlantic Ocean aboard the ship, Silesia, that arrived in New York on April 18, 1881. The Steenbock family can be seen on the passenger list shown below.

Another unlisted passenger on that ship would have been the unborn baby that Maria was carrying. She must have been quite pregnant on that trip. When the Steenbock family had made their way to Jackson County, Illinois after their arrival in this country, a son had been born on May 29th and then was baptized at Christ Lutheran Church in Jacob, Illinois on June 29th. This is when tragedy enters this Steenbock family. And it was plenty of tragedy. Not long after that baby was born, the baby died, the mother died, and John’s older brother died. A description of these events is included on the Findagrave.com entry for John.

As if that wasn’t enough, Joachim, the father, was also failing in health. He managed to come across the river to Perry County and with the help of some German Lutherans, probably in Wittenberg, the 3 remaining children were placed in families near here. August Steenbock was placed in a Mirly home in the Shawnee Township, Catharine Steenbock was placed in a Richter home, probably that of Ehregott Richter, and today’s character, John Steenbock was placed in the home of Ernst F. and Maria (Pilz) Schoen. The Schoen’s lived near Pocahontas, also in the Shawnee Township.

Before I move on, let me say that yesterday, I mentioned an Ernst R. Schoen, who had become a doctor. He was some sort of cousin to Ernst F. Schoen, who took in the boy, John Steenbock.

The only church record we have in our German Family Tree is the confirmation record for John. He was confirmed at St. John’s Lutheran Church is Pocahontas in 1886. He is still referred to as John Steenbock in this record.

By 1900, John would have been 27 years old. In that year’s census, John was no longer living in the Schoen household. Ernst and Maria had plenty of other children, all younger than John.

I was unable to find John in that year’s census. I have a suspicion that he settled somewhere in southern Illinois. Now, we will take a look at the woman who would become John’s bride. Her name was Anna Louise Mohr, who was born on February 25, 1880. Anna was the daughter of John and Anna (Wessel) Mohr. We do not find her in a census entry until 1900 when she was already 19 years old. Her father was a miller in Metropolis, Illinois, which is located just across the Ohio River from Paducah, Kentucky.

John Steenbock Schoen married Anna Mohr on May 5, 1908. The Illinois marriage record for this occasion shown below indicates that this wedding took place in Massac County, Illinois, where Metropolis is located. John was then going by the name, John Schoen, although I have never heard his branch of the Schoen family tree being referred to as the “Fake Schoen’s”. Here is the Illinois marriage record that displays Anna’s parents’ names.

Another version of this record is the one that displays John’s parents’ names. You will notice that it is his adoptive parents’ names that are listed.

The photo shown here might be the wedding photo for this couple.

This young couple shows up in the 1910 census with no children and living in Olmsted, Illinois. John was a farmer.

Below is a map that shows how near the cities of Metropolis and Olmsted, Illinois are located.

According to a family tree on Ancestry.com, this couple had 2 children. One of them was born in 1913, but died a year later. A son named William was then born in 1915. When we look at the 1920 census entry, we see John, Anna, and William.

Below is another photo of John Schoen. It is apparently cropped from a larger photo. I wish I could see the whole thing and knew who the others in the photo were.

The 1920 census turned out to be the last one in which we find John. That is because tragedy once again reared its ugly head in his life. He died of a very nasty farm accident in 1925 when he was just 52 years old. An article was published in a newspaper describing his death.

Anna Schoen is found as a widow in the 1930 census. She and her son were still living in Olmsted.

The 1940 census lists William as the head of the household. William had married Bessie Johnson by this time. Anna was a 52 year-old grandmother. They were all still living in Olmsted.

Anna was still living in 1950, but I failed to find a census entry for her. I have no documentation for it, but Anna reportedly died in 1953 at the age of 73. We see a gravestone for John and Anna Schoen in the Concord Cemetery in Olmsted. John is given a birth date and death date inscribed on the stone, but Anna has just a date of birth. I am not totally certain that she is buried here.

The name, Schoen, means “beautiful” in German. I think you will agree that John’s story was not a totally beautiful one.