Herman Dickmann is today’s birthday boy. He was born on October 14, 1895, thus making today his 130th birthday. Herman was the son of Charles and Amanda (Tuschoff) Dickmann. Below are photos of Herman’s parents. I only found individual photos, but these images were obviously part of a single photo of both of them, which I did not locate.
Herman was baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Friedheim. We can view his baptism record from that church’s books here.
Charles is found in the 1900 census at the age of 4. His father was a farmer in the Apple Creek Township.
Next, we find Herman in the 1910 census at the age of 14. This was the same year that he was confirmed at Trinity, Friedheim.
Herman had his World War I draft registration completed in 1917. It gives him an Arnsberg address and says he was farming with his father.
Herman did serve in the military during that war. His military record is shown below. There is no indication that he was sent overseas.
The 1920 census is the last one in which we find Herman as a single man. Herman’s father had died in 1918, so his widowed mother was the head of the household. The mother is called the farmer, but her two sons, Herman and Rosco, were farm laborers.
Herman got married during the next decade, so we will now turn our attention to the woman who would become his bride. Her name was Letha Geneva Harris, who was born on December 2, 1914. Letha was the daughter of Benjamin Franklin and Marie Pearl (Malden) Harris. Letha did not get baptized as a child. She would be baptized after she got married. Letha was born in the Pike Township in Carter County, Missouri. That is located near the city of Van Buren. Letha is found in the 1920 census at the age of 5. Her father was a laborer on a farm.
The only piece of evidence that I have for when the marriage took place between Herman Dickmann and Letha Harris is found in Herman’s later obituary. It says he was married in 1928 in Edwardsville, Illinois. I am going to make an effort to not be judgmental, but just present the facts about this situation. Letha was just 14 years old (quite possibly 13) when she married the 33 year-old Herman. Add to that the fact that a child was born to this couple in March of 1928. That child was baptized at Trinity, Friedheim, and that baptism record says the parents were Herman and Letha Dickmann. That would indicate that this pair was married early in 1928. I was not able to locate any documentation for this couple getting married in Edwardsville. One more thing. Letha’s father married his wife when he was just 18 years old, and his bride was just 17.
At this point, I will share the only two photos I have of Herman and Letha. The one of Herman is apparently a cropped picture of him wearing his military uniform. The one of Letha has her holding a young child.
A second child was born in 1929, so in the 1930 census, we find Herman and Letha with 2 children. The head of the household was Herman’s maternal grandmother. Herman was a laborer for the highway department. I think Herman’s age of 31 in this entry is incorrect.
A special event took place in the Dickmann family in 1932. On June 12th, Letha was baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Friedheim.
Even more interesting, you may notice that the above record is at the top of a page. On the bottom of the previous page, we discover that there was another baptism on that same day. It was the baptism record for Iva Dickmann, who was the wife of Gustav Dickmann, Herman’s older brother. He had married Iva Bell Penny in 1919.
So, two Dickmann wives were baptized as adults on the same day. Both of the above records say the baptisms took place in the presence of the congregation elders, Fritz Bangert and Henry Grass.
I located some information about the Charles Dickmann family in the Arnsberg binder we have in our research library. Herman had another brother, Rosco, who married Opal Harris in 1937. Opal was the sister of Letha.
In the 1940 census, we see that a son was born not long before this census was taken. Herman was a machine operator doing road repair. The Dickmann family was still living in the Apple Creek Township.
Herman had his World War II draft card completed when the United States joined that war. He is given a Friedheim address, and it says he was born in Arnsberg.
The last census the public can view is the one taken in 1950. Their daughter, Goldie, had married Ancel Medlock in 1946, but he died in 1948. The widow, Goldie, and her son, Wesley, were also living with the Dickmann’s. Herman and Letha’s son, Berry, was also included in the household, along with a lodger named Hatie Broom. This time, it says Herman was a farmer.
Herman Dickmann died in 1980 at the age of 84; Letha Dickmann died in 1996 at the age of 81. Herman and Letha are buried together in the Cape County Memorial Park in Cape Girardeau.
I can understand how Herman’s brother became acquainted to his Harris wife because that pair was married after Herman and Letha. However, I have no idea how a man in his 30’s living near Friedheim managed to become acquainted with such a young woman from Carter County. Perhaps it is better if I did not know.