Martin Wilhelm Landgraf was born 130 years ago on this date, May 26, 1894. William was the son of Bernhard and Mary (Litzelfelner) Landgraf. He was the 3rd of 4 children in his family. William was baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in New Wells, but I am not able to display his baptism record today because I am not in Altenburg. William is found in his first census entry in 1900 at the age of 6. His father was a farmer in the Apple Creek Township.
William was a teenager when the 1910 census was taken. His family was then found living in the Shawnee Township. William was helping his father on his farm.
William had his World War I draft registration completed in 1917. He was no longer living in Missouri. We find him living in Chicago where he was a chauffeur for Mrs. C. Moore. This may have been William’s introduction to working on cars.
William did spend time in the military during that war. On a later application for a military headstone, it says that William was a mechanic in the U.S. Army Battery E., 67th Field Artillery.
When the 1920 census was taken, William was back living in the Shawnee Township, where he is called a garage mechanic. He was living with his parents once again.
William would get married during the next decade, so we will now take a look at the woman who would become his bride. Her name was Elsa Bertha Wunderlich, who was born on December 21, 1894 in Sylvan Grove, Kansas. Elsa (sometimes written as Elsie) was the daughter of Carl and Catherina (Roth) Wunderlich. Her parents had gotten married at Immanuel Lutheran Church in New Wells in 1887, and then moved to Sylvan Grove, Kansas, where her father was a farmer. If we were able to view the baptism records of Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Sylvan Grove, we would likely find Elsa’s baptism record. Elsa is found in the 1900 census at the age of 5.
The Wunderlich’s were still living in Kansas when the 1910 census was taken, but at that time, they were living in Wichita County in the Whitewoman Township. Elsa’s father was still farming.
As I researched this story, I wondered how William would have gotten to know this girl from Kansas, but that question was answered in the 1920 census. I did not notice this when I found William in that year’s entry. The Wunderlich’s were back in the Shawnee Township in 1920 and listed right next to the Landgraf’s household. William was called a mechanic/garage while Elsa’s father was called a mechanic/carpenter.
William Landgraf married Elsa Wunderlich on October 5, 1922. They were married by a justice of the peace in Jackson, Missouri. The justice of the peace was John Putz, who also married yesterday’s McLain/Hoehn couple. This document says William was living in Chicago again at the time of his wedding.
I believe William and Elsa had 3 children. When the 1930 census was taken, we find them with one daughter. They were living in Downers Grove, Illinois where William was the proprietor of a gas station. Downers Grove is part of the greater Chicago area.
In the 1940 census, the Landgraf’s were living in Westmont, Illinois, which is also in the Downers Grove Township. William was called a maintenance man at a golf course.
The last census we can view is the one taken in 1950. This time, William was a plumber. Just one teenage daughter remained in their household.
William Landgraf died in 1960 at the age of 65; Elsa Landgraf died in 1963 at the age of 68. They are each buried in the Clarendon Hills Cemetery in Darien, Illinois.
William Landgraf looks as if he spent his career working with his hands while developing a variety of skills in which he could use those hands. He met his wife from Sylvan Grove, Kansas and those two spent much of their lives in Downers Grove, Illinois.