I have to admit that at least part of my reason for choosing this story today is because of the new surname that I found in our German Family Tree. That name is Grampp. The name that my grandchildren call me is Grumps, and Grampp looks and sounds a lot similar to it. And, as it turns out, tomorrow, my wife and I will travel to Yorkville, Illinois for the graduation of our twin granddaughters from 8th grade. I will gladly be addressed as Grumps for a few days.

Before I discuss today’s main character, let me tell you a bit about his parents. John Adam Grammp married Eva Bergmann on May 12, 1859 at Peace Lutheran Church in Friedenberg. The Bergmann name has appeared on plenty of occasions on this blog, but the surname, Grammp, is a new one, and this marriage is how the name, Grammp, entered our German Family Tree. Below is an image of that couple’s marriage record.

However, one puzzling aspect of this story is that I am having trouble figuring out where the Eva Bergmann fits into any Bergmann family tree. The Grammp/Bergmann couple had their first child a year later in 1860, and that boy will be a main character in today’s tale. John Michael Grammp was born on April 17, 1860. This boy’s baptism record is not found in our German Family Tree, so I do not know where he was baptized. John was born early enough in 1860 to be included in that year’s census. He was just 2 months old in the Grammp entry shown here. His father was a brewer in Perryville.

John’s father died in 1866, so his mother was a widow when the 1870 census was taken. John was the only child in his family, and in this 1870 census entry, we find John and his mother, Eva, living in the Ferdinand Bergmann household. Since Ferdinand and Eva Grampp have similar ages, I thought that they may have been brother and sister, but I found no evidence of that. However, Ferdinand Bergmann had married Anna Bergmann (a Bergmann/Bergmann marriage), and I think Eva was Anna’s sister. As a matter of fact, the Grammp’s showing up in this census entry gives credence to Eva and Anna being sisters.

Next, in the 1880 census, we find John Grampp at the age of 20. He and his mother were still living in the Ferdinand Bergmann household in the Central Township. This time, John’s mother was called a midwife, and John was called a laborer.

John would get married during the next decade, so we will now look at the woman who would become his bride. Her name was Sarah Delphina Hager, who was born on July 8, 1860. Sarah was the daughter of William and Eliza (Pecaut) Hager. Sarah was almost certainly baptized at a local Catholic parish, so I am not able to display her baptism record. Sarah was born too late in 1860 to make it into that census. The first one in which we find her is the one taken in 1870. Sarah was 9 years old, and her father was a farmer in the Cinque Hommes Township.

In the 1880 census, Sarah was 19 years old and still living with her parents. This entry included some additional members of the extended Hager family.

John Grampp married Sarah Hager on May 19, 1885, so today would be this couple’s 141st wedding anniversary. According to the civil marriage records shown below, this couple was married by a justice of the peace.

Our German Family Tree lists 6 children born to this couple, but none of them have baptism records at a local Lutheran church, so I am guessing they were baptized as Catholics. Also, I think based on a later census entry, that the Grampp couple had 7 children. In the 1900 census, the Grampp household had 6 of their children, the last one being just a baby. Also included in the entry was John’s mother, Eva. John was a farmer in the Central Township.

Next, we find the Grampp’s in the 1910 census. Six children were included in this entry, along with several others connected to the Grampp couple. There was a young girl, Ethel Walker, who was the daughter of Sarah’s sister, Martha, who had died in 1903. Also, one of the Grampp children, Loretta, had already gotten married to Jessie Tucker, and her family is included in this entry. John was doing odd jobs, and his son-in-law, Jessie, was a barber.

We find the Grampp family in a different location when the 1920 census was taken. They were living in St. Louis where John was a shipper of tobacco. Once again, a few other members of their extended family were living with John and Sarah.

There is a puzzle associated with the 1930 census that I have not been able to solve. In that year’s census, I was only able to locate Sarah. She was living in Perryville with the Tucker family. In the “marriage status” column, Sarah is called married, but John is not in this entry with her. I also failed to find John in a 1930 census anywhere.

Sarah Grampp died later that year at the age of 69. Her death certificate says she was married, and her husband, John Grampp, is the informant on this document.

We can read Sarah’s obituary below that was published in the Perry County Republican.

John Grampp died in 1935 at the age of 74. His death certificate below says that he died as a result of several types of cancer.

A church death record for John is found in the books of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Perryville.

We are also able to read an obituary for John that was printed in the Perry County Republican.

John and Sarah Grampp are buried in different cemeteries. John is buried in the Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery in Perryville, and Sarah is buried in the Mt. Hope Catholic Cemetery in Perryville.

Four of the seven Grampp children were boys, so there is a likelihood that there were grandchildren who carried on the Grampp surname to future generations.

I am going to enjoy being called Grumps for then next several days. However, it will be a bit more difficult for me to write new posts for this blog on some of those days. It is likely that I will share some old posts.