The journey we will be on today will take us to Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, and California. Hang on! We’re going on a wild ride.
The main character in today’s tale is August Karl Essmann, who was born on March 28, 1874, so today is a special birthday for him. If he was still alive, he would be blowing out 150 candles on his birthday cake. August was the son of Charles and Wilhelmine (Wegmann) Essmann. Before I get too far, let me tell you that this person would go through a few changes in his name. First, his middle name would go through the normal change from Karl to Charles, and was even called Charley. Secondly, His surname, which appears to begin with a double “n” at the end will be buried without one of the “n’s” on his gravestone. Mostly, he went by the name August. He was born in Grand Tower, Illinois.
August is only found in our German Family Tree because he was baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in New Wells. That means this family must have decided to have their son baptized across the river at a Lutheran church. There was no Lutheran church in that Grand Tower vicinity, although efforts had begun at about that time to establish the congregation that became known as Christ Lutheran Church in Jacob. August was not baptized until October of that year. Below is an image of his baptism record from that church’s books. We also find another spelling difference in this record. Essmann is spelled with just one “s”, but I think that is a mistake made by the pastor when he documented this event.
When the 1880 census was taken, we find the Essmann family living in Grand Tower. August was 6 years old, and his father was farming.
August’s mother died in the same year as the above census. We have to wait 20 years before we can view another census entry in 1900, and a lot of events likely happened during that time. In 1900, we find the Essman household living in the Iowa Township of Rooks County, Kansas. That township no longer exists, but it was once located near Stockton, Kansas, the county seat.
Now, we will take a look at the woman who would become August’s bride. Her name was Caroline Ahazzarah Wilson, who was born on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1883. About all I know about her birthplace is that she was born in Nebraska. Her parents were living in or near Lincoln, Nebraska when the 1880 census was taken, and her father was called a railroad engineer. By the time of the 1900 census, the Wilson’s were living in the same township that we find the Essman household. This time Caroline’s father was a farmer. Caroline was 16 years old at the time.
Although I do not have any documentation for it, a family tree on Ancestry.com says that August Essman married Caroline Wilson on Christmas Day, December 25, 1901. I did find a smidgeon of evidence stating that this marriage took place in May of that year, but getting married on Christmas Day makes for a more interesting story line. I found census entries that indicated that this couple had 3 children, all boys. When the 1910 census was taken, we find the Essman household living in the Valley Township of Hayes County, Nebraska.
The map below shows the relative locations of the two counties, Rooks County in Kansas and Hayes County in Nebraska.
The Essman’s were still living in the Hayes County in Nebraska when the 1920 census was taken, but in a township with a different name. There were still 3 sons in the household. Only the oldest one was born in Kansas. The other 2 were born in Nebraska.
I was unsuccessful at finding this Essman family in the 1930 census. I have a suspicion that they had moved to California at about that time. I did find a 1934 city directory for Sacramento, California that included the names of August and Caroline Essman. I assume the carp refers to August being a carpenter.
The photograph shown below is attached to Caroline Essman’s Findagrave.com site. No explanation is given concerning who is in the picture, but it is perhaps August and Caroline with their sons and their families. I must admit that I really wanted to display this photo because it made me giggle. I count 5 people in the photo who are not looking at the camera. They are looking at the dog.
August Essman died in 1936 at the age of 61. Caroline is found in the 1940 census living with her son, Lewis, who is also seen in the city directory above.
The last census we can view is the one taken in 1950. We find the same pair in the household.
Caroline Essman died in 1974 at the age of 90. Both August and Caroline are buried in the East Lawn Memorial Park in Sacramento.
If August and Caroline did, in fact, get married on Christmas Day in 1901, then we have a situation in which Caroline would have been celebrating her birthday on Christmas Eve, and then August and Caroline would have been celebrating their anniversary on Christmas Day. Just imagine that scenerio taking place at a time when their family was celebrating the birth of Jesus. What gifts would have been found under the Christmas tree? Christmas presents for the boys? Birthday presents for the mother? Anniversary presents for the husband and wife? One can only imagine.