You will read another story that describes a man from across the river in Jackson County, Illinois who finds a bride from this side of the river in Perry County, Missouri. Then, once this couple gets married, they make their way to Kansas. This tale begins with a birthday boy.

Hans Joachim Johannes Heitmann was born on January 30, 1880, so today would be his 145th birthday. John, as he was called most of the time, was the son of Joachim and Maria (Brunkhorst) Heitmann. John was baptized at Christ Lutheran Church in Jacob, Illinois. We can take a look at his baptism record below in 2 images.

John was born early enough in 1880 for him to be found in that year’s census. In his first few censuses, he was called Hans. He was 5 months old in this entry. His father was a farmer in the Fountain Bluff Township.

John’s mother died in 1882 shortly after giving birth to another child. Since we cannot view the 1890 census, it is the 1900 census when we find John next, and by that time, he was 20 years old. His father had also died in 1896, not long before that census was taken. We find that John was a farm laborer living in the John Brunkhorst household in the Fountain Bluff Township. John Brunkhorst was a dealer of groceries.

Now, we will take a look at the woman who would become John’s bride. Her name was Ida Thekla Engert, who was born on October 20, 1883. Ida was the daughter of Gotthilf and Anna (Gerler) Engert. She was baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Altenburg. Two images of her baptism record are pictured here.

The only census in which we find Ida prior to her marriage is the one taken in 1900. She was 16 years old, and her father was a farmer in the Brazeau Township.

I do not know how a young farmer from Illinois managed to get to know a farmer’s daughter from Missouri. Then, on November 6, 1902, John Heitmann married Ida Engert at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Altenburg. The church marriage record for this couple is displayed below.

The Missouri marriage license for this pair can also be viewed.

The first 3 children born to John and Ida were baptized at Immanuel, Altenburg. The last one born in Missouri was baptized in 1908. By the time of the 1910 census, we find the Heitmann’s living in Kansas. In this entry, we find those 3 sons who were born in Missouri. This family was living in Garden Plain, Kansas, which is located near the city of Wichita. John was doing odd jobs.

John had his World War I draft registration completed in 1918. He is given a Mulvane, Kansas address and was said to be farming.

I am going to place a map below to help you get an idea of where the Heitmann’s were living during their time in Kansas. The pins and other towns on the map are places that will show up in this article as we go along. You can see that all of them are located near Wichita.

In the 1920 census, we find 7 children in the Heitmann household. Family trees on Ancestry.com list as many as 9 children born to John and Ida. This time John was called a farmer. One son was old enough to be helping him on his farm. This time, they were living in the Salem Township in Kansas.

Two more children were born in the 1920’s. In the 1930 census, there were 6 children in the Heitmann household. A few of the older children were no longer living with their parents, and there were 2 young children added. This time, John was farming in the Ohio Township of Sedgwick County, Kansas.

The 1940 census finds the Heitmann’s in the same location. Just 3 children remained in their household.

John had his World War II draft card completed in 1942. He is given a Clearwater, Kansas address.

The last census the public can view is the one taken in 1950. John was farming in the London Township in Sumner County, Kansas. Even though he was no longer in the Sedgwick County, you can see on the map above that London is just across the county line from Sedgwick County.

John Heitmann died in 1964 at the age of 84; Ida Heitmann died in 1968, also at the age of 84. These two are buried together in the Clearwater Cemetery in Clearwater, Kansas. Their gravestone indicates that the Heitmann’s had removed one of the final “n’s” from their name at some point in time.

I am not an expert on farming, but I find it amazing that almost every document I found for John Heitmann over the years had him living in a different place, even though they were all in the vicinity of Wichita. I am thinking that he was renting farmland during his life and not purchasing his own land.

Last night when I was gathering the information for today’s post, I certainly was not aware that the city of Wichita would be a city in the news as a result of the plane crash in Washington, D.C. last night. We certainly need to keep a lot of families in our prayers who are now grieving the loss of loved ones, some of which were likely from the Wichita vicinity.