Today’s tale will bear a certain resemblance to the one I told yesterday about Jake Holcumbrink. A man by the name of Gustav Wiebusch entered our German Family Tree by marrying a girl who was a member of Christ Lutheran Church in Jacob, Illinois. That is the same thing that happened with Jake Holcumbrink. This story is another one that introduces us to that new surname…Wiebusch.

Friedrich Gustav Wiebusch was born on March 11, 1856. He was the son of Christopher and Hanna (Kipp) Wiebusch. Gustav was baptized at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Chester, Illinois. We have a binder filled with some of the records from that congregation, and we do find a transcription of Gustav’s baptism there. This binder has quite a few records highlighted. As near as I can tell, someone in the Kipp family did the highlighting, so Gustav’s record is highlighted because his mother was a Kipp.

I will add that Gustav’s father, Christopher, was a charter member of St. John’s Lutheran Church in Chester. We find his name on the list of charter members pictured here.

I can also display this photo of Christopher Wiebusch.

Gustav is found in the 1860 census at the age of 4. His father was a farmer in Randolph County, which is where Chester is located.

I was unable to find the Wiebusch family in the 1870 census, but I have every reason to believe that they lived in or near Chester. Before the 1880 census was taken, Gustav got married, so we will now turn our attention to the woman who would become his bride. Her name was Emma Schuerenberg, who was born on August 9, 1859. I found evidence on Ancestry.com that Emma was born in Dubuque, Iowa, but when she was 6 years old, her family returned to Germany, where she was educated. She apparently returned to America prior to 1880. 

Gustav Wiebusch married Emma Schuerenberg on February 5, 1880, so today would be that couple’s 144th wedding anniversary. They were married at Christ Lutheran Church in Jacob, Illinois. Theirs was just the 2nd marriage that is found in that church’s books. 

Based on other records found in that church’s books, I think Emma came back to America first, and she was followed by other members of her family who also became members of that congregation. Later in 1880, when the census was taken, we find this pair of newlyweds living in the Degognia Township, not far from Jacob. Gustav was farming.

According to the GFT, this pair had 4 children, all of which were baptized at Christ, Jacob. Emma gave birth to a set of twins in 1884, but she died a day after they were born. After his wife died, Gustav gave up farming and went west and during the next year or so, he worked in Kansas, Nebraska, and Missouri. Then, he returned to Jackson County, Illinois and bought a store in a place called Wagner’s Landing. I was unable to pinpoint that location, but it must have been a landing on the Mississippi River, probably between Jacob and Chester. 

Gustav would get married again. His second wife was another Emma, Emma Dorothea Bueckmann, who was born on July 19, 1858. She was the daughter of Frederick and Doris (Heitmann) Bueckmann. Emma was born in Chester, but I did not find her baptism record in the St. John’s, Chester books. She is found in the 1860 census at the age of 2. Her father was a merchant in Chester.

Next, we find Emma in the 1870 census, although she is called Emilie. This time, her father was a farmer in a township near Chester.

When the 1880 census was taken, the Bueckmann’s were back living in Chester, and her father was once again a dry goods merchant. Perhaps it was because Emma’s father was a merchant that he came in contact with the merchant, Gustav Wiebusch, from Wagner’s Landing.

Gustav Wiebusch married Emma Bueckmann on March 7, 1886 at St. John’s, Chester. Their church marriage record can be seen below.

I also found a marriage license for this couple. If you look toward the bottom, you will see that the Rev. Mueller in the above record was Rev. J.A.F.W. Mueller. Rev. “Alphabet” Mueller was the first graduate of the Log Cabin College (Concordia Seminary, Altenburg), and St. John’s, Chester was last congregation where he served.

Gustav and his second Emma had 7 children. Only 2 of them managed to live past 1900. In fact, in the same cemetery in which Gustav and Emma are buried, you can find the gravestone below which marks the graves of their children who died early.

By the time of 1900 census, Gustav was no longer a merchant at Wagner’s Landing. He and his family were living in Chester where he is called a ranch man. There were just 2 children in their household.

At this point, I am going to display a biography of Gustav Wiebusch that is found in a publication titled, Portrait and Biographical Record of Randolph, Jackson, Perry and Monroe Counties. It gives more details about Gustav’s life. I have to display it in 2 images. The thumbnails can be clicked to enlarge them.

The second Emma Wiebusch died in 1904 at the age of 45, leaving Gustav as a widow. In a book, “The History of Southern Illinois” there is a biography that says Gustav became a merchant in Claryville, another river landing in Perry County. Then, in 1906, he moved to Colorado. In 1909, he moved to Wyoming and went back to farming. I do not know the last part of Gustav’s story, the part where he died in Montana in 1919. We can take a look at his Montana death certificate below. He died of pneumonia in St. Ignatius, Montana at the age of 63.

Gustav’s body was brought back to Chester to be buried. He and his second wife are buried together in the Evergreen Cemetery in Chester.

Gustav Wiebusch certainly took a journey through several states during his lifetime. Part of that life had him living in the Mississippi River Valley near here, and he managed to get his name into our German Family Tree. His story also enabled me to enter the books of St. John’s Lutheran Church in Chester. I do not get many opportunities to do that, and I learn something about that nearby Illinois church every time I do.