Philip Landwehr Biography
Following his discharge from the service on August 27, 1861, Philip returned to the Berger neighborhood, where he was reunited with his family. Like his older brother, Henry, Philip probably went back to work as a farm laborer as soon as he was able.
We feel confident that Henry Landwehr soon crossed the Missouri River to find work in southern Warren County. There is reason to suspect that Philip also may have found work in Warren County. Years later, when Philip filed a claim for a government pension based on his military service during the Civil War, he claimed to have served in the Warren County Home Guards. This statement certainly suggests that Philip spent some time in Warren County during the Civil War years.
By the spring of 1862, guerrillas became a serious threat to all individuals and communities in Missouri loyal to the Union cause, particularly those in western Missouri. The regular pro-Southern army had been forced out of central Missouri in the autumn of 1861, never to return except on raids. However, nominally pro-Southern guerrillas, often called bushwhackers, pillaged the countryside six or more months each year, during the warm season, until the war's end. By August of 1862, the disorder created by the guerrillas proved so great that Missouri's Governor Hamilton R. Gamble created a new militia, the Enrolled Missouri Militia (E.M.M.).
The issuance of General Order No. 24 required all able-bodied men to join the E.M.M. or to register as disloyal. Philip joined immediately, enrolling in Franklin County as a Private in Company G of the 54th Regiment. One record indicates that Philip enrolled in Company G at Washington, Missouri on August 15, 1862, under the command of Captain Pahde, while another record indicates that the Company was enrolled and organized at Beofftown on August 29, under the command of Captain Christian Weber.
The intent of the E.M.M. was to aid existing state and federal forces in the defense of Missouri, putting down internal disorders, protecting life and property, and defending against Confederate invasions. The use of the E.M.M. also released Union troops for other duty. Units of the E.M.M. garrisoned strategic areas, insured uninterrupted transportation and communication, protected the United States mails, and sent out scouts to discover any hostile forces and initiate proper action. All E.M.M. units not on active duty remained subject to immediate call to service. Philip's company was ordered into active service for the first time at Washington, Missouri on April 23, 1863, and relieved from duty thirty-three days later, on May 26.
But in spite of the conduct of the war, and his enrollment in the E.M.M., Philip went on with his life. Quoting Katie Wolff:
"In 1863 he (Philip Landwehr) married a happy hearted maiden."
The marriage of Anna Landwehr's second son, Philip Landwehr, was recorded in the Church Book of the Hermann Circuit of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Rev. Wm. Kleinschmidt wrote that he married "Johann Philipp Landwehr, of Franklin County" and "Elisia Juliana Augusta Guese, of Franklin County" on November 24, 1863.
There can be no question about how Philip and Elisa met. Elisa Guese was Philip Landwehr's step-sister. Elisa was the only daughter of Henry Guese. Henry Guese married Philip's mother, Anna Landwehr, a few weeks after the Landwehr family arrived in Franklin County. For further information about the marriage of Anna Landwehr and Henry Guese, see :hdref refid=first.. For further information about the Guese family, see :hdref refid=guese..
When Philip and Elisa were married by the minister of the Hermann Circuit in 1863, the three congregations of the Hermann Circuit of the Methodist Episcopal Church were all located within five miles of Berger. It seems likely that Philip and Elisa would have been married six miles south of Berger, at the home of their parents, or possibly at the nearby farmstead of Elisa's brother, Fritz Guese.
.There is evidence that Philip and his new bride did not immediately set up housekeeping in the neighborhood where their parents lived. The evidence is found in the records of the Zion Congregation of the Methodist Episcopal Church, now located at Leslie. At that time it was a country church, as the village of Leslie did not exist until much later. The membership records at Leslie suggest that Philip and Louise (Elisa) Landwehr applied for membership in the Zion Congregation on December 6, 1863, less than two weeks after they were married. And their address was recorded as Shotwell, a small community located one mile east of the present site of Gerald, Missouri.
Perhaps Philip had been working as a laborer in the Shotwell area, and was able to make arrangements for a cabin where he and Elisa could spend their first winter together. In any event, they did not remain in the Shotwell area long. The Zion Congregation records also indicate that Philip and Louise transferred their membership the next spring, on May 22, 1864.
Only two days later, on May 24, 1864, the names of Philip and Louise (Elisa) Landwehr appear again in the Church Book of the Hermann Circuit. It appears that they were accepted as full members of the Hermann Circuit, apparently by letter of transfer from the "Union Bezirk", or Union Circuit (which included the Zion Congregation at Leslie). However, instead of membership in the Zion or Immanuel congregations of the Hermann Circuit, which were located three and five miles south of Berger respectively, their membership records are among a small group in the Church Book preceeded by a reference to "an der Boeuf". This suggests that Philip and Elisa may not have moved back north to the area immediately south of Berger, but may have settled along the Boeuf Creek, which flows to the northwest, midway between Gerald and Berger.
It is probably at about this point in the life of Philip and Elisa Landwehr that Katie Wolff's history resumes with a recollection that emphasizes the lonliness of life on the frontier:
"The young couple made their home in a little one room house near the Franklin and Gasconade County line. Farmhouses were very scarce in those days, but it just happened that they had a close neighbor. Then one day the young husband who happened to be my father had to go to see about a horse he had bought, left the young wife alone overnight. She was brave but still a chill creeped over her I suppose for she said, I put the table and chairs in front of the door and pulled the latch string tight then went to bed. But before she went to sleep she heard voices outside and keeping quiet soon recognized the voice which was calling her name. Mother knew it was the good neighbor lady and she had come for mother to go home and stay with her for the night. Mother was glad to go. They lived there a while till they got a more convenient place that was called Georgetown. I think old Georgetown is still there yet."
Since the spring and early summer of 1861, when the Civil War had first erupted in Missouri, Franklin County had enjoyed comparative peace. Then, in the fall of 1864, about four months after Philip and Elisa Landwehr transferred their church membership to the Hermann Circuit, Confederate General Sterling Price decided to take some pressure off Confederates further east by leading his Missouri army on a great raid through its home state.
Price began his invasion of Missouri on September 19 with an army of approximately 15,000 soldiers, rounded-up deserters and raw recruits, as well as twenty pieces of artillery. On September 26, Price suffered a shattering defeat at the battle of Pilot Knob in Iron County. The defeat and the thousand casualties sustained by the Confederates caused them to abandon their goal of capturing St. Louis. Instead, they headed toward Jefferson City. Meanwhile, Federal militia commanders reported large bands of guerrillas apparently moving through every locality at will.
On September 29, the 54th and 55th Regiments of the E.M.M. (from Franklin County) were ordered into active service, and all able-bodied arms-bearing men in Franklin County between the ages of eighteen and forty-five were called to arms. As Price's army marched toward Jefferson City, they entered Franklin County on September 30, 1864. As a part of the reaction to the raid by General Price's army, Philip's company of the E.M.M. was ordered into active service at Washington by Capt. Weber on October 1, the day after Price's army entered the county.
Price's army was in Franklin County from September 30 until October 4. They marched through Union, Washington, New Haven, Berger, and then on to Hermann, leaving a path of destruction fifteen miles or more in width. At a low estimate, the amount of property destroyed, including horses and mules driven away, amounted to $500,000. The number of men killed by his army was never definitely ascertained, but it was estimated at about sixty. Philip's unit of the E.M.M. was not relieved from duty until November 14.
Elisa must have been very anxious for Philip to return from duty with the E.M.M.. Only three weeks after Philip's unit was relieved from duty, their first child was born. On December 9, 1864, Elisa gave birth to a son, who they named Johann Heinrich Landwehr (possibly after Philip's older brother). The records of the Hermann Circuit show that Rev. Wm. Kleinschmidt, Minister of the Hermann Circuit, baptized the son of "Philipp & Elise Juliana Auguste Landwehr gab Guese" on January 22, 1865.
Katie continues her narrative with a description of early married life for Philip and Elisa:
"...when the folks started they sure did not have much live stock, maybe one cow for milk and maybe a few hogs, most not enough for meat all year round. Near Senate Grove (about six miles south of Berger) there was a place, a bare place where they salted deer. They called that deer lake. They would come by droves and people would go there with their old musket and get one most any time."
Katie continues her narrative with a recollection of a raid by bushwhackers. She indicates that the following event occured after the end of the Civil War, and she was probably right about that. But, it is also possible that her account refers to Price's raid in October of 1864:
"Then came the time that the so-called BUSH wackers came through the country. That was after the war was over. That was just a bunch that stole, kill, and done all kinds of sinful things. Men had to flee for their lives and hide. Women who did not have older people with them also had to hide. My mother had her husband's 15 year old brother (probably William Landwehr) with her one day when the word came the bushwackers were coming this way. All men ran to hide. My father hid in a corn shock for days and days. My mother picked herself and the boy up and took horses and rode about 15 miles to her father (Henry Guese) at Big Berger. That is all that saved them. The two horses and maybe themselves too. When they passed that burg where her father lived they passed by without searching. One of the band must have known the place because he had said don't go there, just an old shoemaker lives there and there is nothing there to plunder, not knowing that their two horses were hid a way back in a shed in back of the house. Finally the news came they were gone. Everybody was glad to come out of hiding and go home. When my mother got home lo and behold they had been there. She said it was a sight. All her good clothing she had from when she worked in the city were all over the room and her hat looked like they stood on it with their feet and tore the ribbon off and scattered it all over the house and father's things, my, my, and they found his discharge from the Army they knew who lived there. But the biggest wonder was they did not destroy it. They had found it but did not harm it."
Philip and Elisa had two children who have not been identified--children who apparently died at young ages. Based on a review of the dates of birth of their six surviving children, it appears likely that one of the unidentified children was born about 1866-67.
For the first four years of their marriage, Philip and Elisa apparently lived on rented farms. Then, on September 16, 1867, Philip purchased their first farm. Philip purchased his 120-acre farm from William and Caroline Steineker for $1863.00. The farm was located just north of Cedar Fork, an early post office situated five miles north and one and one-half miles east of the present location of Gerald (the farm is listed as the F. Vogt farm in Section 18 on the map provided by :figref refid=mphil.).
As a part of the financial arrangements for purchase of the farm, Philip and Elisa signed a deed of trust, borrowing $1000 from Frederick Lucker, to be repaid in three years at 8% interest. As security for the loan, Philip and Elisa mortgaged the farm property to R. J. Emmons, a local Justice of the Peace. Philip apparently borrowed another $500 from Frederick Grube, to help pay for the farm. Frederick Grube was a well-to-do Prussian farmer (he valued his personal property at $6000 in 1870), who operated a store on his farm, less than two miles southeast of Philip's farm (see :figref refid=mphil.). Mr. Grube was apparently a source of cash for many of the farmers in the area, including both Philip Landwehr and his brother-in-law, Christopher Lichte.
Philip and Elisa must have been very pleased with new neighbors that bought a nearby farm in October of 1868, a year after Philip bought his farm. Cristopher and Maria Lichte, Philip's sister and brother-in-law, having moved to Franklin County from Warren County, bought a farm just one-quarter mile east of Philip's farm.
On January 25, 1869, only sixteen months after Philip bought his farm, he and Elisa sold their farm to Frederick Vogt, of Lyon, for $2250. The sale was subject to the deed of trust to Frederick Lucker. The deed of trust was assigned by Vogt. The sale was also subject to the deed of trust made to Frederick Grube for $500 plus 10% interest, which was also assigned by Vogt from the date of this sale. For some reason, Philip and Elisa had decided to become renters again.
On April 3, 1870, Rev. Peter Hehner of the Hermann Circuit of the Methodist Episcopal Church baptized Emma Augusta Louisa Landwehr, a daughter born to Philip and Elisa on September 6, 1869.
While Philip and Elisa sold their farm to Frederick Vogt in 1869, Mr. Vogt did not immediately move onto the farm, and Philip and Elisa apparently remained on the farm as renters. On August 17, 1870, the Federal census of Lyon Township of Franklin County included Philip's family. Philip was listed as a farmer who owned no property, with personal property valued at only $205. The household was comprised of Philip, age twenty-six, Elisa, age twenty-four, Henry, age five, and Mina, age nine months.
On April 21, 1872, Friedrich Wilhelm Landwehr, son of Philip and Elisa Landwehr, was baptized by the minister of the Ebenezer Evangelical Church. Friedrich Wilhelm had been born a month earlier, on March 20, 1872. His godparent (and probably his namesake), was Philip's brother, Friedrich Wilhelm 'Fritz' Landwehr. Fritz's first child, Georg, was baptized at the same ceremony, with Philip serving as Georg's godparent. The Ebenezer Evangelical Church was located less than three miles north of the farm that Philip had earlier purchased and then sold, suggesting that he and his family were still living in that neighborhood.
.fig id=mphil frame=box depth='6.7i'.
:figcap.Map of Cedar Fork area
:figdesc.From Atlas Map of Franklin County, Missouri,
published in 1878.
:efig.
Philip continued to work rented farms. On August 8, 1872, Philip signed the following agreement with the same Frederick Grube that lent Philip $500 toward purchase of his farm in 1867:
"Fred Grube agrees to let Phillip Landwehr have all tenable grounds except twenty acres around the house......Phillip Landwehr is to give F. Grube One Third of what he raises and half of the hay. The grain is to be delivered in the bushel and the hay in the shock. And the Oats in the Shock. F. Grube agrees to let said Landwehr have the place three years. And the privilege of using all the fruit for his own family of the Good Place except five of the young trees. And all the small grain which is to be threshed said Grube agrees to pay his Part."
Two months later, Philip's brother-in-law and sister, Christopher and Maria Lichte, sold their farm back to Frederick Grube (see :hdref refid=maria.).
Philip and Elisa continued to rent in the same neighborhood. On August 28, 1873, Philip sold the following personal property to Frederick Grube, for $139.75:
.in +5
:ul.
:li."one sorell horse about ten years old and purchased from
Frederick Grube about one year past"
:li."one bay mare about 12 years old"
:li."one two horse, wagon, and all my other farming implements"
:eul.
.in -5
The sale was made on the condition that Philip could buy the items back for the same sum, plus interest, according to the condition of two notes.
Frederick Grube played an important role in the lives of both Philip Landwehr, and his sister, Maria Lichte. After coming from Prussia to the U.S. in 1851, Frederick Grube brought his family to Franklin County in 1858. He later started a store on his farm, which he operated until his death in 1875. He owned several farms, and apparently was a source of loans for a number of people. When he died in 1875, his estate included a note executed May 4, 1872, lending Christopher Lichte $8.00, and two notes executed August 28, 1873, but not yet satisfied, obligating Philip Landwehr to repay him a balance due of $41.30 in September of 1874, and $74.75 in September of 1875.
Our best guess is that the second unidentified child of Philip and Elisa Landwehr was born some time in 1874. Philip probably moved his family back north to the Etlah neighborhood between late 1873 and early 1876. A medical bill dated January 10, 1876, was addressed to Philip at Etlah. The bill, in the amount of $25.00, was from Dr. A. Werth, M.D., of Washington, Missouri. Philip and his sister, Maria Lichte, were apparently close. After living as neighbors further south for several years, their families apparently moved north to Etlah at about the same time. Maria's husband probably died shortly after their move to Etlah.
A daughter, Louise Florentina Landwehr, was born to Philip and Elisa on October 9, 1876.
Philip's sister, Maria Lichte, remarried after her husband's death, and continued to live in the Etlah neighborhood, but she also died in January of 1879.
On November 16, 1879, Ida Mathilde Louise Landwehr, "Tochter v. Philipp Landwehr u. seiner Ehefrau" (daughter of Philip Landwehr and his wife) was baptized by the minister of the "Evangelische St. Johannes Gemeinde" (St. John's Evangelical Congregation) at Berger. Ida was born on September 6, 1879. The church where Ida was baptized was the same church that Philip's sister was affiliated with at the time of her death, earlier that year.
On June 14, 1880, the Federal census of Beouf Township of Franklin County included Philip's family. Philip was renting a farm in the Etlah neighborhood for a fixed money rental. An analysis of census and land records suggests that the farm was probably immediately north of Etlah. A description of Philip's farm is provided by :figref refid=fphil2.. The members of the household were Philip, age forty, Elisa, age thirty-eight, Henry, age fifteen, Mina, age ten, William, age eight, Louisa, age two, and Ida, age nine months.
.fig id=fphil2.
.ce
PHILIP LANDWEHR FARM
.br
.sk 1
DESCRIPTION OF FARM
.br
.in +5
:ul compact.
:li.Tilled Land: 50 acres
:eul.
.in -5
LIVE STOCK
.br
.in +5
:ul compact.
:li.Horses: 2
:li.Milk Cows: 1
:li.Swine: 12
:li.Barnyard Poultry: 50
:eul.
.in -5
1879 PRODUCTION
.br
.in +5
:ul compact.
:li.Calves: 1
:li.Butter: 100 pounds
:li.Eggs: 300
:li.Corn: 1000 bushels from 20 acres
:li.Oats: 40 bushels from 1 acre
:li.Wheat: 340 bushels from 30 acres
:li.Potatoes: 25 bushels
:eul.
.in -5
VALUES
.br
.in +5
:ul compact.
:li.Farm: $2500
:li.Farming implements and machinery: $150
:li.Live stock: $200
:li.All farm production sold, consumed, or on hand in 1879: $750
:eul.
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:figcap.Philip Landwehr farm in 1880
:efig.
Henry Guese, Elisa Landwehr's father, who had probably continued to live about six miles south of Berger, died in 1880. With his death, and the death of Philip's sister in 1879, Philip and Elisa had less reason to remain in northwest Franklin County. Philip's two younger brothers, Fritz and William, both owned farms near Champion City. On September 1, 1881, Philip also moved his family from Etlah to Champion City.
Philip did not immediately purchase a farm in the Champion City neighborhood, but instead continued to rent. It was during this brief period that Philip's youngest daughter, Katie, was born. Katie was born near Champion City on March 20, 1882.
Then, on February 13, 1883, Philip purchased an eighty-acre farm from A. J. and Sarah V. Bell for $500. With the purchase of this farm, Philip became the third Landwehr brother to permanently settle in the Champion City community. The eastern end of Philip's new farm butted up against one of the parcels of land owned by Fritz and Katharine (Lefmann) Landwehr, and the south edge of the eastern half of Philip's farm butted up against the northern edge of William Landwehr's farm. The Bourbeuse River separated Philip's farm from most of the land in the Fritz Landwehr and William Landwehr farms. On the map provided by :figref refid=mfritz., Philip's farm appears as a forty-acre tract in the southeast corner of Section 6, owned by J. H. Wilmesher, and a forty-acre tract in the southwest corner of Section 5, owned by F. Hacker.
The previous owners of Philip's new farm loaned Philip the money to purchase the property. To guarantee repayment of the loan from A. J. Bell, Philip and Elisa mortgaged the farm via a Deed of Trust to A. McCallister. The note, dated January 1, 1883, called for payments by Philip and Elisa to A. J. Bell of $100 in two years, $100 in three years, $100 in four years, and $200 in five years. Interest was to be paid at 7%.
The land that Philip bought didn't have a house on it, and the land had probably not been cleared. Katie Wolff describes the task that faced her parents, as it faced so many of the early settlers:
"First thing my father and mother did first when they bought the land. They got busy getting logs down to build a log house. A bunch of men came together to raise a house and clab boards were made for the roof. My oldest brother (Henry) done all the carpenter work, and not so long the house was done and ready to move in. Then a cistern was dug, small but good. It still holds water today and that is 63 years ago."
A few months after Philip and Elisa moved onto their new farm near Champion City, they lost one of their sons. Friedrich Wilhelm Landwehr, eleven years old, died on August 5, 1883. Philip and Elisa buried their son in the Dutch Hill Evangelical Church cemetery west of Spring Bluff. The burial is believed to have been the first in that cemetery, suggesting that Philip and Elisa may have been among the founders of that church.
It appears that A. J. and Sarah V. Bell may not have had clear title to forty acres of the land that they sold to Philip Landwehr in 1883. Four and one-half years later, on August 21, 1887, Philip paid Frank Flacke, a widower living in St. Louis, $500 for the eastern half of the farm he had earlier purchased, thereby doubling his cost. The deed indicates that the grantor's father, also Frank Flacke, received a government patent on the land on June 10, 1859, and left the land to the grantor and Charles Flacke and Minnie (Flacke) Steinwand. The grantor purchased the one-third parts belonging to the other two heirs, and then resold the property to Philip.
In order to pay Frank Flacke the $500, Philip and Elise borrowed $600 from Ferdinand Lenau for six years at 6% interest, and signed a Deed of Trust mortgaging their eighty-acre farm to guarantee repayment of the note.
Once Philip and Elisa established their home, the task of clearing the land began. Katie Wolff described the process:
"Then the cleaning began, all the big black and white oaks had to be gotten down and cleaned up. All brush was burnt and lots of good wood too, only what was used for lumber and rails and pailing boards for roofs for stable, corn crib, hen house and other things. That was when my grandmother told me all the stories about her trip and home for I had to stay with her at the house."
"Those days most people drove oxen and most people made their own clothes from wool and flax. They spun and knit and weaved and sewed by hand for the whole family. When I was a child mother did most of her spinning and knitting and sewing by night for she did much out of door work such as clearing new land, making rail fences and burning brush."
"Gardens weren't so much those days. All things were put out late no canning was done, beans, cucumbers, cabbage, all were pickled in big earthern jars, 5, 10, and 15 gallon jars, and most people made molasses sargums for to spread on bread in the fall. They would gather and make molasses, not in vaperators, but in iron pots. I remember well my brother made a furnace like with rocks and clay and places for the big iron pots to fit in. The cane press was run by a horse. Then day by day this would be the job for weeks, when one family was done the other's would start and put the molasses in wooden barrels and kegs."
Philip also raised tobacco on his farm, and his daughter Katie would later recall the hard work in the tobacco fields. Ted Wolff, Philip's grandson, recalled the farm as he remembered it in later years. It included two large log barns, with center driveways, and stalls on each side. There was also a log corn crib. Apparently, in later years, newer building were added, including a granary, a hen house, a sawed-lumber barn, a big corn crib with two sheds, and a smoke house.
Philip evidently filed his first claim for a Federal government pension, based on his service in the Civil War, in 1888. He claimed a pension on the basis of his service in Company F of the 5th Missouri Volunteers, in the Warren County Home Guards, and the 54th Regiment of Enrolled Missouri Militia. In applying for a pension, Philip reported that he was disabled by "Diarrhoea, Cholera Morbus & Affection of Bowels at St. Louis & Springfield Mo.". He indicated that he was treated in the hospital at the Arsenal at St. Louis. The War Department was not able to find any record of any disability or treatment while Philip was in the service, and the Federal Government did not grant pensions for service in state units, such as the Enrolled Missouri Militia, and the War Department had no record of a military unit called the Warren County Home Guards. Philip's claim was apparently denied, probably because there were no pension benefits available at that time for soldiers who had served only ninety-day Federal enlistments.
Philip's eldest daughter, Minnie, was married at Philip's home in Champion City, on December 13, 1888, to John C. Bartel, Jr. John Bartel, a widower, was twenty-seven years old, and Minnie was nineteen. Surprisingly, they were married by a Justice of the Peace, rather than by a minister. And on May 14, 1891, Philip's oldest child, Henry, was married to Emma Schebaum. They were married at the John Schebaum residence by Rev. F. E. Wenkel.
An Act of Congress approved in June of 1890 extended pension benefits, under certain circumstances, to veterans who had served ninety days or more. Philip filed another claim in 1892. Again, he had trouble proving his claim, and the "red tape" took years to complete. In one of the documents that Philip filed, his brother Fritz addressed the extent of Philip's disability, stating
"I know that he was sick more or less every year and that his disiase has encreased to such extent that he had to sell hes farm not being able to work it."
It would be some time between 1896 and 1898 before Philip began receiving his pension.
The winter of 1893-94 was extremely difficult for Philip and Elisa. Their eldest daughter, Minnie Bartel, died on January 15, leaving her husband and a young son. Their daughter-in-law, Emma (Schebaum) Landwehr, died two months later, on March 21, leaving her husband, Henry Landwehr, with an 18-month-old daughter, and a newborn daughter.
When, later that same year, a Methodist congregation was organized at Champion City, Philip was one of the leaders in the enterprise, and continued to be an active leader of the Champion City Methodist Episcopal Church until his death.
Philip's son, Henry Landwehr, was a carpenter, and he built a new house on the Philip Landwehr farm after Henry's wife died. The new house was located near the old log house, and consisted of a kitchen, a downstairs room, and an upstairs room. Henry apparently lived in that house on his father's farm until he was married a second time on February 6, 1896, to Delora V. 'Dora' Phillips. They were married at Walbert by Rev. David Froeschle. And the next year, on June 13, 1897, Philip's daughter Louise was married at Champion City to Wilhelm C. 'Bill' Schauf Jr. They were also married by Rev. David Froeschle.
Everett Bromelsick, a grandson of Philip's brother, William Landwehr, recalled that his mother, Clara (Landwehr) Bromelsick:
"would talk about Philip in later years. They had Grand Army picnics at Spring Bluff. Philip Landwehr was a great hand with that. When that music would play, Philip couldn't keep his feet still--he had to march. They would always have a great time--always on Decoration Day or 4th of July. Clara always said that Philip, when he got older, seemed like he couldn't do much. But when time came for that picnic, he would come by, and he would always say 'We got to march today', and that would just straighten that old man up. There was another old feller, old man Schebaum who lived on the old Schebaum place close to Orville Braun's place, who would get together with Philip, and they would have a time. Old man Schebaum was a Civil War veteran too."
:fig id=phphil frame=box depth='6.9i'.
:figcap.Philip and Elisa (Guese) Landwehr
:figdesc.With their daughter Katie. Courtesy of Frances (Landwehr)
Edwards.
:efig.
The census records of 1900 give us another glimpse of the Philip Landwehr household. In June of 1900, the household consisted of:
.in +5
.kp on
:ul.
:li."John Landwere" (Philip Landwehr)
:li."Eliza" (Elisa Landwehr)
:li."Cattie" (Katie Landwehr, Philip's 18-year-old daughter)
:li."Henry Wolf" (Henry Wolff, a 19-year-old farmhand)
:li."Winnie Landwehr" (Philip's 7-year-old niece, who was Henry
Landwehr's daughter from his first marriage)
:li."B. A. Dahlem" (William A. Dahlem, 25-year-old assistant minister
of the Champion City Methodist Church, who was a boarder at the
Philip Landwehr home)
:eul.
.kp off
.in -5
Henry Wolff, the 19-year-old farmhand working for Philip in 1900, lived in the new house on the Philip Landwehr farm. He must have made a good impression on the family. Four years later, on May 4, 1904, Henry married Katie, Philip's youngest daughter. After their marriage, Katie and Henry Wolff continued to live on the home place with Philip and Elisa, making their home in the new house.
Philip filed a new Declaration for Pension in February of 1907, less than three weeks after the passage of the Act of February 6, 1907. He immediately began receiving a pension of $12.00 per month under this new act, which he continued to receive until his death two years later.
Philip complained of heart trouble for some time before his death. His last sickness lasted about three weeks. Philip died on August 22, 1909, in the original log house that he built in 1883. The old log house later had strips of weatherboard nailed over the logs, and it still stands today, on the Herb Wolff farm.
Philip was buried in the cemetery of the Champion City Methodist Church, which he had helped organize fifteen years earlier. His funeral was described in his obituary:
"...after an appropriate funeral service conducted by Rev. Lotz in the presence of a very large audience, the remains of the deceased were interred in the Champion City grave yard, to await the call of the great arch angel for the resurrection of the dead."
Philip's made his final will in August of 1907. Henry Kampschroeder and August Koppelmann witnessed his mark. In his will, Philip bequethed his farm and personal possessions to Elisa, with provisions for division of his estate after her death. Upon Elisa's death, Philip's son-in-law, Henry Wolff, was to inherit Philip's farm. But before Henry took possession of the farm, he was to pay the following legacies to Philip's children, or their heirs:
.in +5
.kp on
:ul compact.
:li.Henry Landwehr $900
:li.Louise Schauf $700
:li.Ida Brinkmann $700
:li.Katharine Wolff $700
:li.Wilhelmine Bartel (deceased) $1
:eul.
.kp off
.in -5
Three weeks after Philip's death, his 64-year-old widow, Elisa Landwehr, filed a Declaration of a Widow for Original Pension. Her son-in-law, Henry Wolff, and brother-in-law, Fritz Landwehr, witnessed her mark. Elisa continued receiving Philip's $12.00 monthly pension the rest of her life.
After Philip's death, Elisa moved from the log house to the new house, where she lived with Katie and Henry Wolff. Henry Landwehr and Henry Wolff added two rooms to the house, and one of those rooms was Elisa's bedroom.
In January of 1915, Philip Landwehr's heirs sold the Philip Landwehr farm to Henry and Katie Wolff for $3000, the sum of the legacies stipulated in Philip's will.
Elisa (Guese) Landwehr died in the new house on the Philip Landwehr farm on April 6, 1915. She was buried beside Philip in the Champion City Methodist Church Cemetery.
We feel confident that Henry Landwehr soon crossed the Missouri River to find work in southern Warren County. There is reason to suspect that Philip also may have found work in Warren County. Years later, when Philip filed a claim for a government pension based on his military service during the Civil War, he claimed to have served in the Warren County Home Guards. This statement certainly suggests that Philip spent some time in Warren County during the Civil War years.
By the spring of 1862, guerrillas became a serious threat to all individuals and communities in Missouri loyal to the Union cause, particularly those in western Missouri. The regular pro-Southern army had been forced out of central Missouri in the autumn of 1861, never to return except on raids. However, nominally pro-Southern guerrillas, often called bushwhackers, pillaged the countryside six or more months each year, during the warm season, until the war's end. By August of 1862, the disorder created by the guerrillas proved so great that Missouri's Governor Hamilton R. Gamble created a new militia, the Enrolled Missouri Militia (E.M.M.).
The issuance of General Order No. 24 required all able-bodied men to join the E.M.M. or to register as disloyal. Philip joined immediately, enrolling in Franklin County as a Private in Company G of the 54th Regiment. One record indicates that Philip enrolled in Company G at Washington, Missouri on August 15, 1862, under the command of Captain Pahde, while another record indicates that the Company was enrolled and organized at Beofftown on August 29, under the command of Captain Christian Weber.
The intent of the E.M.M. was to aid existing state and federal forces in the defense of Missouri, putting down internal disorders, protecting life and property, and defending against Confederate invasions. The use of the E.M.M. also released Union troops for other duty. Units of the E.M.M. garrisoned strategic areas, insured uninterrupted transportation and communication, protected the United States mails, and sent out scouts to discover any hostile forces and initiate proper action. All E.M.M. units not on active duty remained subject to immediate call to service. Philip's company was ordered into active service for the first time at Washington, Missouri on April 23, 1863, and relieved from duty thirty-three days later, on May 26.
But in spite of the conduct of the war, and his enrollment in the E.M.M., Philip went on with his life. Quoting Katie Wolff:
"In 1863 he (Philip Landwehr) married a happy hearted maiden."
The marriage of Anna Landwehr's second son, Philip Landwehr, was recorded in the Church Book of the Hermann Circuit of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Rev. Wm. Kleinschmidt wrote that he married "Johann Philipp Landwehr, of Franklin County" and "Elisia Juliana Augusta Guese, of Franklin County" on November 24, 1863.
There can be no question about how Philip and Elisa met. Elisa Guese was Philip Landwehr's step-sister. Elisa was the only daughter of Henry Guese. Henry Guese married Philip's mother, Anna Landwehr, a few weeks after the Landwehr family arrived in Franklin County. For further information about the marriage of Anna Landwehr and Henry Guese, see :hdref refid=first.. For further information about the Guese family, see :hdref refid=guese..
When Philip and Elisa were married by the minister of the Hermann Circuit in 1863, the three congregations of the Hermann Circuit of the Methodist Episcopal Church were all located within five miles of Berger. It seems likely that Philip and Elisa would have been married six miles south of Berger, at the home of their parents, or possibly at the nearby farmstead of Elisa's brother, Fritz Guese.
.There is evidence that Philip and his new bride did not immediately set up housekeeping in the neighborhood where their parents lived. The evidence is found in the records of the Zion Congregation of the Methodist Episcopal Church, now located at Leslie. At that time it was a country church, as the village of Leslie did not exist until much later. The membership records at Leslie suggest that Philip and Louise (Elisa) Landwehr applied for membership in the Zion Congregation on December 6, 1863, less than two weeks after they were married. And their address was recorded as Shotwell, a small community located one mile east of the present site of Gerald, Missouri.
Perhaps Philip had been working as a laborer in the Shotwell area, and was able to make arrangements for a cabin where he and Elisa could spend their first winter together. In any event, they did not remain in the Shotwell area long. The Zion Congregation records also indicate that Philip and Louise transferred their membership the next spring, on May 22, 1864.
Only two days later, on May 24, 1864, the names of Philip and Louise (Elisa) Landwehr appear again in the Church Book of the Hermann Circuit. It appears that they were accepted as full members of the Hermann Circuit, apparently by letter of transfer from the "Union Bezirk", or Union Circuit (which included the Zion Congregation at Leslie). However, instead of membership in the Zion or Immanuel congregations of the Hermann Circuit, which were located three and five miles south of Berger respectively, their membership records are among a small group in the Church Book preceeded by a reference to "an der Boeuf". This suggests that Philip and Elisa may not have moved back north to the area immediately south of Berger, but may have settled along the Boeuf Creek, which flows to the northwest, midway between Gerald and Berger.
It is probably at about this point in the life of Philip and Elisa Landwehr that Katie Wolff's history resumes with a recollection that emphasizes the lonliness of life on the frontier:
"The young couple made their home in a little one room house near the Franklin and Gasconade County line. Farmhouses were very scarce in those days, but it just happened that they had a close neighbor. Then one day the young husband who happened to be my father had to go to see about a horse he had bought, left the young wife alone overnight. She was brave but still a chill creeped over her I suppose for she said, I put the table and chairs in front of the door and pulled the latch string tight then went to bed. But before she went to sleep she heard voices outside and keeping quiet soon recognized the voice which was calling her name. Mother knew it was the good neighbor lady and she had come for mother to go home and stay with her for the night. Mother was glad to go. They lived there a while till they got a more convenient place that was called Georgetown. I think old Georgetown is still there yet."
Since the spring and early summer of 1861, when the Civil War had first erupted in Missouri, Franklin County had enjoyed comparative peace. Then, in the fall of 1864, about four months after Philip and Elisa Landwehr transferred their church membership to the Hermann Circuit, Confederate General Sterling Price decided to take some pressure off Confederates further east by leading his Missouri army on a great raid through its home state.
Price began his invasion of Missouri on September 19 with an army of approximately 15,000 soldiers, rounded-up deserters and raw recruits, as well as twenty pieces of artillery. On September 26, Price suffered a shattering defeat at the battle of Pilot Knob in Iron County. The defeat and the thousand casualties sustained by the Confederates caused them to abandon their goal of capturing St. Louis. Instead, they headed toward Jefferson City. Meanwhile, Federal militia commanders reported large bands of guerrillas apparently moving through every locality at will.
On September 29, the 54th and 55th Regiments of the E.M.M. (from Franklin County) were ordered into active service, and all able-bodied arms-bearing men in Franklin County between the ages of eighteen and forty-five were called to arms. As Price's army marched toward Jefferson City, they entered Franklin County on September 30, 1864. As a part of the reaction to the raid by General Price's army, Philip's company of the E.M.M. was ordered into active service at Washington by Capt. Weber on October 1, the day after Price's army entered the county.
Price's army was in Franklin County from September 30 until October 4. They marched through Union, Washington, New Haven, Berger, and then on to Hermann, leaving a path of destruction fifteen miles or more in width. At a low estimate, the amount of property destroyed, including horses and mules driven away, amounted to $500,000. The number of men killed by his army was never definitely ascertained, but it was estimated at about sixty. Philip's unit of the E.M.M. was not relieved from duty until November 14.
Elisa must have been very anxious for Philip to return from duty with the E.M.M.. Only three weeks after Philip's unit was relieved from duty, their first child was born. On December 9, 1864, Elisa gave birth to a son, who they named Johann Heinrich Landwehr (possibly after Philip's older brother). The records of the Hermann Circuit show that Rev. Wm. Kleinschmidt, Minister of the Hermann Circuit, baptized the son of "Philipp & Elise Juliana Auguste Landwehr gab Guese" on January 22, 1865.
Katie continues her narrative with a description of early married life for Philip and Elisa:
"...when the folks started they sure did not have much live stock, maybe one cow for milk and maybe a few hogs, most not enough for meat all year round. Near Senate Grove (about six miles south of Berger) there was a place, a bare place where they salted deer. They called that deer lake. They would come by droves and people would go there with their old musket and get one most any time."
Katie continues her narrative with a recollection of a raid by bushwhackers. She indicates that the following event occured after the end of the Civil War, and she was probably right about that. But, it is also possible that her account refers to Price's raid in October of 1864:
"Then came the time that the so-called BUSH wackers came through the country. That was after the war was over. That was just a bunch that stole, kill, and done all kinds of sinful things. Men had to flee for their lives and hide. Women who did not have older people with them also had to hide. My mother had her husband's 15 year old brother (probably William Landwehr) with her one day when the word came the bushwackers were coming this way. All men ran to hide. My father hid in a corn shock for days and days. My mother picked herself and the boy up and took horses and rode about 15 miles to her father (Henry Guese) at Big Berger. That is all that saved them. The two horses and maybe themselves too. When they passed that burg where her father lived they passed by without searching. One of the band must have known the place because he had said don't go there, just an old shoemaker lives there and there is nothing there to plunder, not knowing that their two horses were hid a way back in a shed in back of the house. Finally the news came they were gone. Everybody was glad to come out of hiding and go home. When my mother got home lo and behold they had been there. She said it was a sight. All her good clothing she had from when she worked in the city were all over the room and her hat looked like they stood on it with their feet and tore the ribbon off and scattered it all over the house and father's things, my, my, and they found his discharge from the Army they knew who lived there. But the biggest wonder was they did not destroy it. They had found it but did not harm it."
Philip and Elisa had two children who have not been identified--children who apparently died at young ages. Based on a review of the dates of birth of their six surviving children, it appears likely that one of the unidentified children was born about 1866-67.
For the first four years of their marriage, Philip and Elisa apparently lived on rented farms. Then, on September 16, 1867, Philip purchased their first farm. Philip purchased his 120-acre farm from William and Caroline Steineker for $1863.00. The farm was located just north of Cedar Fork, an early post office situated five miles north and one and one-half miles east of the present location of Gerald (the farm is listed as the F. Vogt farm in Section 18 on the map provided by :figref refid=mphil.).
As a part of the financial arrangements for purchase of the farm, Philip and Elisa signed a deed of trust, borrowing $1000 from Frederick Lucker, to be repaid in three years at 8% interest. As security for the loan, Philip and Elisa mortgaged the farm property to R. J. Emmons, a local Justice of the Peace. Philip apparently borrowed another $500 from Frederick Grube, to help pay for the farm. Frederick Grube was a well-to-do Prussian farmer (he valued his personal property at $6000 in 1870), who operated a store on his farm, less than two miles southeast of Philip's farm (see :figref refid=mphil.). Mr. Grube was apparently a source of cash for many of the farmers in the area, including both Philip Landwehr and his brother-in-law, Christopher Lichte.
Philip and Elisa must have been very pleased with new neighbors that bought a nearby farm in October of 1868, a year after Philip bought his farm. Cristopher and Maria Lichte, Philip's sister and brother-in-law, having moved to Franklin County from Warren County, bought a farm just one-quarter mile east of Philip's farm.
On January 25, 1869, only sixteen months after Philip bought his farm, he and Elisa sold their farm to Frederick Vogt, of Lyon, for $2250. The sale was subject to the deed of trust to Frederick Lucker. The deed of trust was assigned by Vogt. The sale was also subject to the deed of trust made to Frederick Grube for $500 plus 10% interest, which was also assigned by Vogt from the date of this sale. For some reason, Philip and Elisa had decided to become renters again.
On April 3, 1870, Rev. Peter Hehner of the Hermann Circuit of the Methodist Episcopal Church baptized Emma Augusta Louisa Landwehr, a daughter born to Philip and Elisa on September 6, 1869.
While Philip and Elisa sold their farm to Frederick Vogt in 1869, Mr. Vogt did not immediately move onto the farm, and Philip and Elisa apparently remained on the farm as renters. On August 17, 1870, the Federal census of Lyon Township of Franklin County included Philip's family. Philip was listed as a farmer who owned no property, with personal property valued at only $205. The household was comprised of Philip, age twenty-six, Elisa, age twenty-four, Henry, age five, and Mina, age nine months.
On April 21, 1872, Friedrich Wilhelm Landwehr, son of Philip and Elisa Landwehr, was baptized by the minister of the Ebenezer Evangelical Church. Friedrich Wilhelm had been born a month earlier, on March 20, 1872. His godparent (and probably his namesake), was Philip's brother, Friedrich Wilhelm 'Fritz' Landwehr. Fritz's first child, Georg, was baptized at the same ceremony, with Philip serving as Georg's godparent. The Ebenezer Evangelical Church was located less than three miles north of the farm that Philip had earlier purchased and then sold, suggesting that he and his family were still living in that neighborhood.
.fig id=mphil frame=box depth='6.7i'.
:figcap.Map of Cedar Fork area
:figdesc.From Atlas Map of Franklin County, Missouri,
published in 1878.
:efig.
Philip continued to work rented farms. On August 8, 1872, Philip signed the following agreement with the same Frederick Grube that lent Philip $500 toward purchase of his farm in 1867:
"Fred Grube agrees to let Phillip Landwehr have all tenable grounds except twenty acres around the house......Phillip Landwehr is to give F. Grube One Third of what he raises and half of the hay. The grain is to be delivered in the bushel and the hay in the shock. And the Oats in the Shock. F. Grube agrees to let said Landwehr have the place three years. And the privilege of using all the fruit for his own family of the Good Place except five of the young trees. And all the small grain which is to be threshed said Grube agrees to pay his Part."
Two months later, Philip's brother-in-law and sister, Christopher and Maria Lichte, sold their farm back to Frederick Grube (see :hdref refid=maria.).
Philip and Elisa continued to rent in the same neighborhood. On August 28, 1873, Philip sold the following personal property to Frederick Grube, for $139.75:
.in +5
:ul.
:li."one sorell horse about ten years old and purchased from
Frederick Grube about one year past"
:li."one bay mare about 12 years old"
:li."one two horse, wagon, and all my other farming implements"
:eul.
.in -5
The sale was made on the condition that Philip could buy the items back for the same sum, plus interest, according to the condition of two notes.
Frederick Grube played an important role in the lives of both Philip Landwehr, and his sister, Maria Lichte. After coming from Prussia to the U.S. in 1851, Frederick Grube brought his family to Franklin County in 1858. He later started a store on his farm, which he operated until his death in 1875. He owned several farms, and apparently was a source of loans for a number of people. When he died in 1875, his estate included a note executed May 4, 1872, lending Christopher Lichte $8.00, and two notes executed August 28, 1873, but not yet satisfied, obligating Philip Landwehr to repay him a balance due of $41.30 in September of 1874, and $74.75 in September of 1875.
Our best guess is that the second unidentified child of Philip and Elisa Landwehr was born some time in 1874. Philip probably moved his family back north to the Etlah neighborhood between late 1873 and early 1876. A medical bill dated January 10, 1876, was addressed to Philip at Etlah. The bill, in the amount of $25.00, was from Dr. A. Werth, M.D., of Washington, Missouri. Philip and his sister, Maria Lichte, were apparently close. After living as neighbors further south for several years, their families apparently moved north to Etlah at about the same time. Maria's husband probably died shortly after their move to Etlah.
A daughter, Louise Florentina Landwehr, was born to Philip and Elisa on October 9, 1876.
Philip's sister, Maria Lichte, remarried after her husband's death, and continued to live in the Etlah neighborhood, but she also died in January of 1879.
On November 16, 1879, Ida Mathilde Louise Landwehr, "Tochter v. Philipp Landwehr u. seiner Ehefrau" (daughter of Philip Landwehr and his wife) was baptized by the minister of the "Evangelische St. Johannes Gemeinde" (St. John's Evangelical Congregation) at Berger. Ida was born on September 6, 1879. The church where Ida was baptized was the same church that Philip's sister was affiliated with at the time of her death, earlier that year.
On June 14, 1880, the Federal census of Beouf Township of Franklin County included Philip's family. Philip was renting a farm in the Etlah neighborhood for a fixed money rental. An analysis of census and land records suggests that the farm was probably immediately north of Etlah. A description of Philip's farm is provided by :figref refid=fphil2.. The members of the household were Philip, age forty, Elisa, age thirty-eight, Henry, age fifteen, Mina, age ten, William, age eight, Louisa, age two, and Ida, age nine months.
.fig id=fphil2.
.ce
PHILIP LANDWEHR FARM
.br
.sk 1
DESCRIPTION OF FARM
.br
.in +5
:ul compact.
:li.Tilled Land: 50 acres
:eul.
.in -5
LIVE STOCK
.br
.in +5
:ul compact.
:li.Horses: 2
:li.Milk Cows: 1
:li.Swine: 12
:li.Barnyard Poultry: 50
:eul.
.in -5
1879 PRODUCTION
.br
.in +5
:ul compact.
:li.Calves: 1
:li.Butter: 100 pounds
:li.Eggs: 300
:li.Corn: 1000 bushels from 20 acres
:li.Oats: 40 bushels from 1 acre
:li.Wheat: 340 bushels from 30 acres
:li.Potatoes: 25 bushels
:eul.
.in -5
VALUES
.br
.in +5
:ul compact.
:li.Farm: $2500
:li.Farming implements and machinery: $150
:li.Live stock: $200
:li.All farm production sold, consumed, or on hand in 1879: $750
:eul.
.in -5
:figcap.Philip Landwehr farm in 1880
:efig.
Henry Guese, Elisa Landwehr's father, who had probably continued to live about six miles south of Berger, died in 1880. With his death, and the death of Philip's sister in 1879, Philip and Elisa had less reason to remain in northwest Franklin County. Philip's two younger brothers, Fritz and William, both owned farms near Champion City. On September 1, 1881, Philip also moved his family from Etlah to Champion City.
Philip did not immediately purchase a farm in the Champion City neighborhood, but instead continued to rent. It was during this brief period that Philip's youngest daughter, Katie, was born. Katie was born near Champion City on March 20, 1882.
Then, on February 13, 1883, Philip purchased an eighty-acre farm from A. J. and Sarah V. Bell for $500. With the purchase of this farm, Philip became the third Landwehr brother to permanently settle in the Champion City community. The eastern end of Philip's new farm butted up against one of the parcels of land owned by Fritz and Katharine (Lefmann) Landwehr, and the south edge of the eastern half of Philip's farm butted up against the northern edge of William Landwehr's farm. The Bourbeuse River separated Philip's farm from most of the land in the Fritz Landwehr and William Landwehr farms. On the map provided by :figref refid=mfritz., Philip's farm appears as a forty-acre tract in the southeast corner of Section 6, owned by J. H. Wilmesher, and a forty-acre tract in the southwest corner of Section 5, owned by F. Hacker.
The previous owners of Philip's new farm loaned Philip the money to purchase the property. To guarantee repayment of the loan from A. J. Bell, Philip and Elisa mortgaged the farm via a Deed of Trust to A. McCallister. The note, dated January 1, 1883, called for payments by Philip and Elisa to A. J. Bell of $100 in two years, $100 in three years, $100 in four years, and $200 in five years. Interest was to be paid at 7%.
The land that Philip bought didn't have a house on it, and the land had probably not been cleared. Katie Wolff describes the task that faced her parents, as it faced so many of the early settlers:
"First thing my father and mother did first when they bought the land. They got busy getting logs down to build a log house. A bunch of men came together to raise a house and clab boards were made for the roof. My oldest brother (Henry) done all the carpenter work, and not so long the house was done and ready to move in. Then a cistern was dug, small but good. It still holds water today and that is 63 years ago."
A few months after Philip and Elisa moved onto their new farm near Champion City, they lost one of their sons. Friedrich Wilhelm Landwehr, eleven years old, died on August 5, 1883. Philip and Elisa buried their son in the Dutch Hill Evangelical Church cemetery west of Spring Bluff. The burial is believed to have been the first in that cemetery, suggesting that Philip and Elisa may have been among the founders of that church.
It appears that A. J. and Sarah V. Bell may not have had clear title to forty acres of the land that they sold to Philip Landwehr in 1883. Four and one-half years later, on August 21, 1887, Philip paid Frank Flacke, a widower living in St. Louis, $500 for the eastern half of the farm he had earlier purchased, thereby doubling his cost. The deed indicates that the grantor's father, also Frank Flacke, received a government patent on the land on June 10, 1859, and left the land to the grantor and Charles Flacke and Minnie (Flacke) Steinwand. The grantor purchased the one-third parts belonging to the other two heirs, and then resold the property to Philip.
In order to pay Frank Flacke the $500, Philip and Elise borrowed $600 from Ferdinand Lenau for six years at 6% interest, and signed a Deed of Trust mortgaging their eighty-acre farm to guarantee repayment of the note.
Once Philip and Elisa established their home, the task of clearing the land began. Katie Wolff described the process:
"Then the cleaning began, all the big black and white oaks had to be gotten down and cleaned up. All brush was burnt and lots of good wood too, only what was used for lumber and rails and pailing boards for roofs for stable, corn crib, hen house and other things. That was when my grandmother told me all the stories about her trip and home for I had to stay with her at the house."
"Those days most people drove oxen and most people made their own clothes from wool and flax. They spun and knit and weaved and sewed by hand for the whole family. When I was a child mother did most of her spinning and knitting and sewing by night for she did much out of door work such as clearing new land, making rail fences and burning brush."
"Gardens weren't so much those days. All things were put out late no canning was done, beans, cucumbers, cabbage, all were pickled in big earthern jars, 5, 10, and 15 gallon jars, and most people made molasses sargums for to spread on bread in the fall. They would gather and make molasses, not in vaperators, but in iron pots. I remember well my brother made a furnace like with rocks and clay and places for the big iron pots to fit in. The cane press was run by a horse. Then day by day this would be the job for weeks, when one family was done the other's would start and put the molasses in wooden barrels and kegs."
Philip also raised tobacco on his farm, and his daughter Katie would later recall the hard work in the tobacco fields. Ted Wolff, Philip's grandson, recalled the farm as he remembered it in later years. It included two large log barns, with center driveways, and stalls on each side. There was also a log corn crib. Apparently, in later years, newer building were added, including a granary, a hen house, a sawed-lumber barn, a big corn crib with two sheds, and a smoke house.
Philip evidently filed his first claim for a Federal government pension, based on his service in the Civil War, in 1888. He claimed a pension on the basis of his service in Company F of the 5th Missouri Volunteers, in the Warren County Home Guards, and the 54th Regiment of Enrolled Missouri Militia. In applying for a pension, Philip reported that he was disabled by "Diarrhoea, Cholera Morbus & Affection of Bowels at St. Louis & Springfield Mo.". He indicated that he was treated in the hospital at the Arsenal at St. Louis. The War Department was not able to find any record of any disability or treatment while Philip was in the service, and the Federal Government did not grant pensions for service in state units, such as the Enrolled Missouri Militia, and the War Department had no record of a military unit called the Warren County Home Guards. Philip's claim was apparently denied, probably because there were no pension benefits available at that time for soldiers who had served only ninety-day Federal enlistments.
Philip's eldest daughter, Minnie, was married at Philip's home in Champion City, on December 13, 1888, to John C. Bartel, Jr. John Bartel, a widower, was twenty-seven years old, and Minnie was nineteen. Surprisingly, they were married by a Justice of the Peace, rather than by a minister. And on May 14, 1891, Philip's oldest child, Henry, was married to Emma Schebaum. They were married at the John Schebaum residence by Rev. F. E. Wenkel.
An Act of Congress approved in June of 1890 extended pension benefits, under certain circumstances, to veterans who had served ninety days or more. Philip filed another claim in 1892. Again, he had trouble proving his claim, and the "red tape" took years to complete. In one of the documents that Philip filed, his brother Fritz addressed the extent of Philip's disability, stating
"I know that he was sick more or less every year and that his disiase has encreased to such extent that he had to sell hes farm not being able to work it."
It would be some time between 1896 and 1898 before Philip began receiving his pension.
The winter of 1893-94 was extremely difficult for Philip and Elisa. Their eldest daughter, Minnie Bartel, died on January 15, leaving her husband and a young son. Their daughter-in-law, Emma (Schebaum) Landwehr, died two months later, on March 21, leaving her husband, Henry Landwehr, with an 18-month-old daughter, and a newborn daughter.
When, later that same year, a Methodist congregation was organized at Champion City, Philip was one of the leaders in the enterprise, and continued to be an active leader of the Champion City Methodist Episcopal Church until his death.
Philip's son, Henry Landwehr, was a carpenter, and he built a new house on the Philip Landwehr farm after Henry's wife died. The new house was located near the old log house, and consisted of a kitchen, a downstairs room, and an upstairs room. Henry apparently lived in that house on his father's farm until he was married a second time on February 6, 1896, to Delora V. 'Dora' Phillips. They were married at Walbert by Rev. David Froeschle. And the next year, on June 13, 1897, Philip's daughter Louise was married at Champion City to Wilhelm C. 'Bill' Schauf Jr. They were also married by Rev. David Froeschle.
Everett Bromelsick, a grandson of Philip's brother, William Landwehr, recalled that his mother, Clara (Landwehr) Bromelsick:
"would talk about Philip in later years. They had Grand Army picnics at Spring Bluff. Philip Landwehr was a great hand with that. When that music would play, Philip couldn't keep his feet still--he had to march. They would always have a great time--always on Decoration Day or 4th of July. Clara always said that Philip, when he got older, seemed like he couldn't do much. But when time came for that picnic, he would come by, and he would always say 'We got to march today', and that would just straighten that old man up. There was another old feller, old man Schebaum who lived on the old Schebaum place close to Orville Braun's place, who would get together with Philip, and they would have a time. Old man Schebaum was a Civil War veteran too."
:fig id=phphil frame=box depth='6.9i'.
:figcap.Philip and Elisa (Guese) Landwehr
:figdesc.With their daughter Katie. Courtesy of Frances (Landwehr)
Edwards.
:efig.
The census records of 1900 give us another glimpse of the Philip Landwehr household. In June of 1900, the household consisted of:
.in +5
.kp on
:ul.
:li."John Landwere" (Philip Landwehr)
:li."Eliza" (Elisa Landwehr)
:li."Cattie" (Katie Landwehr, Philip's 18-year-old daughter)
:li."Henry Wolf" (Henry Wolff, a 19-year-old farmhand)
:li."Winnie Landwehr" (Philip's 7-year-old niece, who was Henry
Landwehr's daughter from his first marriage)
:li."B. A. Dahlem" (William A. Dahlem, 25-year-old assistant minister
of the Champion City Methodist Church, who was a boarder at the
Philip Landwehr home)
:eul.
.kp off
.in -5
Henry Wolff, the 19-year-old farmhand working for Philip in 1900, lived in the new house on the Philip Landwehr farm. He must have made a good impression on the family. Four years later, on May 4, 1904, Henry married Katie, Philip's youngest daughter. After their marriage, Katie and Henry Wolff continued to live on the home place with Philip and Elisa, making their home in the new house.
Philip filed a new Declaration for Pension in February of 1907, less than three weeks after the passage of the Act of February 6, 1907. He immediately began receiving a pension of $12.00 per month under this new act, which he continued to receive until his death two years later.
Philip complained of heart trouble for some time before his death. His last sickness lasted about three weeks. Philip died on August 22, 1909, in the original log house that he built in 1883. The old log house later had strips of weatherboard nailed over the logs, and it still stands today, on the Herb Wolff farm.
Philip was buried in the cemetery of the Champion City Methodist Church, which he had helped organize fifteen years earlier. His funeral was described in his obituary:
"...after an appropriate funeral service conducted by Rev. Lotz in the presence of a very large audience, the remains of the deceased were interred in the Champion City grave yard, to await the call of the great arch angel for the resurrection of the dead."
Philip's made his final will in August of 1907. Henry Kampschroeder and August Koppelmann witnessed his mark. In his will, Philip bequethed his farm and personal possessions to Elisa, with provisions for division of his estate after her death. Upon Elisa's death, Philip's son-in-law, Henry Wolff, was to inherit Philip's farm. But before Henry took possession of the farm, he was to pay the following legacies to Philip's children, or their heirs:
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:li.Henry Landwehr $900
:li.Louise Schauf $700
:li.Ida Brinkmann $700
:li.Katharine Wolff $700
:li.Wilhelmine Bartel (deceased) $1
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Three weeks after Philip's death, his 64-year-old widow, Elisa Landwehr, filed a Declaration of a Widow for Original Pension. Her son-in-law, Henry Wolff, and brother-in-law, Fritz Landwehr, witnessed her mark. Elisa continued receiving Philip's $12.00 monthly pension the rest of her life.
After Philip's death, Elisa moved from the log house to the new house, where she lived with Katie and Henry Wolff. Henry Landwehr and Henry Wolff added two rooms to the house, and one of those rooms was Elisa's bedroom.
In January of 1915, Philip Landwehr's heirs sold the Philip Landwehr farm to Henry and Katie Wolff for $3000, the sum of the legacies stipulated in Philip's will.
Elisa (Guese) Landwehr died in the new house on the Philip Landwehr farm on April 6, 1915. She was buried beside Philip in the Champion City Methodist Church Cemetery.