The birthday girl for today is Maria C. Tuschhoff, who was born on August 21, 1851. That means today would be her special 175th birthday. Mary was the daughter of Christian and Philippine (Richter) Tuschhoff. The page shown here is from the Arnsberg binder we have in our research library. It contains many facts about Mary’s parents and their children.
I am unaware of where Mary was baptized, but I do know that she was born in Missouri. Mary is found in the 1860 census at the age of 9. Her father was a farmer in the Apple Creek Township.
Next, we find Mary in the 1870 census at the age of 18. I think that in the occupation column, it simply says “help”.
Now, we will take a look at the man who would become Mary’s husband. His name was Franz Wilhelm Dickmann, who was born on May 18, 1847. William was the son of Caspar and Christina (Meyering) Dickmann. He was born in Westbarthausen, Germany and baptized at the parish in nearby Dissen. We can view his baptism record from that parish shown below.
William’s Dickmann family came to America in 1858 aboard the ship, E F Gabain. We can see this family on the passenger list shown here. William was 11 years old at the time.
William is found in the 1860 census at the age of 12. His father was a farmer in the Union Township of Bollinger County.
I was unsuccessful at finding William in the 1870 census. No one on Ancestry.com or Family Search has been able to locate that census entry for William either.
William Dickmann married Mary Tuschhoff on February 9, 1875. According to the 2 civil marriage records shown here, this couple was married by a justice of the peace in Cape Girardeau County.
According to the information that is found in the Arnsberg binder about the William Dickmann family, this couple had 3 children, one of which was stillborn. The other 2 children were baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Friedheim.
In the 1880 census, the two Dickmann children are listed, along with William’s brother, Henry. William was a farmer in the Apple Creek Township and was helped on the farm by his brother.
Mary Dickmann died in 1883 at the age of 31. I was not able to determine her cause of death. I think it is likely that her church death record would be found in the books of Arnsberg Lutheran Church. William did not marry again. In the 1900 census, he was called a widower and was living with his 2 daughters, who, by then, were in their 20’s. William was still farming in the Apple Creek Township.
The last census in which we find William is the one taken in 1910. His daughter, Clara, had married Alvin Leine in 1907, and by 1910, that couple had one child. That young family was living with William. William and Alvin were farming together.
William Dickmann died in 1915 at the age of 68. His death certificate below says he died of pancreatitis.
Even though his church death record is found in the books of Trinity Lutheran Church in Friedheim, William is buried in the same cemetery where his wife had been buried…the Arnsberg Lutheran Cemetery. Their two gravestones are pictured below.
The way I have it figured, when the Arnsberg Lutheran Church was in existence, two of the prominent names found among its members were Dickmann and Tuschhoff. Today’s couple was one which brought these two surnames together. I think the surprising thing in this story is that this couple was married by a justice of the peace, not a Lutheran pastor.