Ed McMahon used to introduce Johnny Carson by using the phrase, “Heeeere’s Johnny.” Today’s birthday boy had the first name, John, and a middle name that began with an “E”. That should explain today’s title. This birthday boy is also a man who could also be described as another “Yount Yamnitz”.

Johann Ernst Yamnitz was born on July 29, 1891, so today would be his 134th birthday. John was the son of Ernst and Maria (Brickhaus) Yamnitz. A previous post told the story of John’s father and his two wives with a large number of children. That post was titled, Yamnitz’s in Yount. John was a child of Ernst’s second wife. He was baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Friedheim. We can view his baptism record below.

For some reason, John was not included in the Yamnitz household when the 1900 census was taken. John would have been about 9 years old, but he is not found living with his parents, nor was I able to find him in a different census entry. I think he was just missed by the census taker. We do find John living with his parents when the 1910 census was taken. He was 18 years old and helping his father on his farm. That farm was located in the Union Township of Bollinger County, which is where the town of Yount is located.

John had his World War I draft registration completed in 1917. He is given a Perryville address and was said to be farming. The form was filled out in the Brewerville precinct.

John did serve in the military during that war, but his military record shown below does not indicate that he was sent overseas.

A photo of the large Yamnitz family has shown up on this blog before. John is standing in the back row, the man farthest to the left before you see a few sisters. It is the only photo of John that I was able to locate.

When the 1920 census was taken, John was no longer living with his parents. He is found living in the Central Township of Perry County. He was a farm hand in the John Muench household at the age of 28.

John would get married later in 1920, so we will turn our attention to the woman who would become his bride. Her name was Verlie Oldin Meyer, who was born on August 21, 1900. Verlie was the daughter of Arthur and Bennetta (Thieret) Meyer. She was baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Perryville. We can seen an image of Verlie’s baptism record here.

Verlie is found in the 1910 census at the age of 9. Her father was a farmer in the Saline Township in Perry County.

Next, we find Verlie in the 1920 census at the age of 19. She is misidentified as a son in this entry.

According to this marriage article from a Granite City newspaper, John Yamnitz married Verlie Meyer on September 18, 1920, but I think that is when the article appeared in the newspaper. Other sources say that this couple was married on September 11th.

John and Verlie had just one child, a daughter named Doris, who was born in 1922. Doris was baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Perryville.

In the 1930 census, the Yamnitz’s were living in the Saline Township where John was a farmer. We find the 3 members of the Yamnitz family that we would expect in this entry.

The 1940 census once again shows the 3 Yamnitz family members. John was still farming in the Saline Township.

The last census the public can view is the one taken in 1950. John and Verlie had an empty nest.

John Yamnitz died in 1968 at the age of 77. His death certificate below says he died of stomach cancer.

A death record for John is found in the books of Immanuel, Perryville.

At some point in time, Verlie had this photo taken.

Verlie died in 1992 at the age of 91. Her death record from Immanuel’s books says that she died in a nursing home in Beardstown, Illinois. I located that information in a binder we have in our research library with records from Immanuel, Perryville. Her death record is not found in the Missouri Synod collection of records on Ancestry.com.

John and Verlie Yamnitz are buried together in the Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery in Perryville.

John is one of so many Yamnitz’s in his family, and I have now written several blog posts about children in that family. However, I am sure that there are so many Yount Yamnitz stories that remain unwritten.