William Landwehr Biography
William Landwehr was the youngest of the five immigrant Landwehr children. Only five years old when the family disembarked at New Orleans, William had probably just arrived in Franklin County when he reached his sixth birthday, on December 7, 1859.
Between 1860 and 1870, we have no record of William's whereabouts. It would appear probable that much of this decade would have been spent living in northwest Franklin County, near his mother, sister, and brothers. But we really don't know. We assume that he attended school until he was old enough to fend for himself, and that he probably began working as a farm laborer as soon as he was old enough.
When the next Federal census was taken, in 1870, William would have been sixteen years old--old enough to be working as a farm hand. We have not been able to locate anyone in the census records that we can say with assurance is William. There is a record in Lyon Township of Franklin County, in the Stony Hill area, of a "William Landrochs", age sixteen, from Prussia, working as a farm laborer for Gottlib Schroder, a 68-year-old farmer from Prussia. It certainly wouldn't be surprising to learn that Gottlib, or his wife Dori, didn't know the correct pronunciation of their young farmhand's name when the census taker stopped at their home, or talked to one of their neighbors. But it is just a guess.
Whether William was working for Gottlib Schroder or not is of little importance. We are probably safe in assuming that by the time William was sixteen, he was working as a farm laborer, and saving money to buy a farm of his own. He bought that farm in December of 1874, just three weeks after his twenty-first birthday.
When William purchased his farm in 1874, his oldest brother Henry lived across the river in Warren County. Philip Landwehr was probably working rented farms in northwest Franklin County, possibly in the Etlah area. Maria and Christopher Lichte had sold their farm, and were probably living at Etlah. Fritz Landwehr was farming near Champion City, where he had settled after he was married four years earlier. William chose to buy a farm adjoining Fritz's farm at Champion City.
William purchased his 110-acre farm from the Henry Koppelmann estate, and from Henry's widow, Caroline Koppelmann, for $900. The farm is identified as the Wm. Landwehr farm in Section 8 on the map provided as :figref refid=mfritz.. William's farm was immediately south of the ninety-acre parcel of the Bottemueller farm where Fritz and Catharina were living, and was north of the two forty-acre tracts that Fritz owned.
At twenty-one years of age, William certainly could not have afforded to pay cash for his first farm. While no record of a note, or mortgage, to finance the purchase has been located, William undoubtedly borrowed most of the money to pay for the farm. We do know that in late November of 1876, twenty-three months after he purchased his farm, William borrowed $800 from Frederich Luecker, to be repaid in twelve months with 8% interest. Frederich Luecker is the same man who loaned Philip Landwehr money to purchase his first farm in 1867. He may have been a money-lender--a 19th century real estate banker. Perhaps William originally signed a two-year promissory note when he purchased the farm, and then paid off the original note two years later by borrowing the balance due from Frederich Luecker. As security for the loan from Frederich Luecker, William signed a deed of trust mortgaging his farm to Louis Breckenkamp.
The farm that William bought was an established farm. It is said that the William Landwehr farm and the Giebler farm one-half mile northeast of the William Landwehr place were the two oldest farms in the area--the first two farms to be "opened up".
The farm had a log house on it. The house had only one room, and at some point a small summer kitchen was added to it. We have been told that Henry Koppelmann's son, August Koppelmann, was born in that house in 1869, and was the first person born in the house. That was about five years before William bought the farm.
When William bought his farm in late 1874, he was single. William's mother apparently left her second husband, Henry Guese, and came to live with William, soon after he bought the farm. She apparently lived with him until he was married.
About five years after he bought his farm, William married Augusta C. Hammelmann, daughter of John Hammelmann. Augusta was born in St. Louis on January 9, 1853, and was raised around Stony Hill (near the Franklin-Gasconade County line). William and Augusta were married in Gasconade County, Missouri, on November 29, 1879, by Jul. Hoffmann, the Minister of the St. Paul's Evangelical congregation near Bay, in Gasconade County. The Hammelmann family were probably members of the St. Paul's congregation.
The 1880 census of Boone Township included the William Landwehr farm. The census was taken only a few months after William's marriage, and William's mother was still living with William and his new bride. A description of William's farm in 1880 is provided by :figref refid=fwill..
:fig id=fwill.
.ce
WILLIAM LANDWEHR FARM
.br
.sk 1
DESCRIPTION OF FARM
.br
.in +5
:ul compact.
:li.Tilled Land: 40 acres
:li.Woodland and Forest: 70 acres
:eul.
.in -5
LIVE STOCK
.br
.in +5
:ul compact.
:li.Horses: 3
:li.Mules, Asses: 1
:li.Milk Cows: 3
:li.Sheep: 6
:li.Swine: 22
:li.Barnyard Poultry: 75
:eul.
.in -5
1879 PRODUCTION
.br
.in +5
:ul compact.
:li.Hay: 3 tons from 3 acres
:li.Calves Dropped: 3
:li.Cattle Slaughtered: 1
:li.Butter: 150 pounds
:li.Lambs Dropped: 3
:li.Sheep died of disease: 2
:li.Fleeces Shorn: 6 (10 pounds)
:li.Eggs: 600
:li.Corn: 200 bushels from 7 acres
:li.Oats: 120 bushels from 7 acres
:li.Wheat: 204 bushels from 20 acres
:li.Potatoes: 25 bushels
:eul.
.in -5
VALUES
.br
.in +5
:ul compact.
:li.Farm: $800
:li.Farming implements and machinery: $150
:li.Live stock: $235
:li.All farm production sold, consumed, or on hand for 1879: $615
:eul.
.in -5
:figcap.William Landwehr farm in 1880
:efig.
Two months after the census was taken, William and Augusta became parents for the first time. Their first child, a son, was born on September 10, 1880. He was baptized Gustav Heinrich Philipp Landwehr. We don't what church William and Augusta were affiliated with during the early years of their marriage, but Gustav's baptismal certificate mentions the community of Drake, in Gasconade County.
When the Dutch Hill Evangelical Church was organized as the Dutch Hill German Lutheran Church about 1883, William and Augusta were probably among the first members of the congregation. The congregation built their church only two and one-half miles southeast of the William Landwehr home, near Spring Bluff.
About four years after the birth of their first son, a second son was born to William and Augusta. Born on August 23, 1884, their second son was baptized Oscar Friedrich Wilhelm Landwehr on November 27, 1884. Family recollections suggest that Oscar was baptized at the Dutch Hill Evangelical Church. Their first daughter was born in the old log house on their Champion City farm on August 16, 1886. They named her Clara Anne Landwehr.
Diphtheria was a dreaded disease in the 19th century. When diphtheria struck the William and Augusta Landwehr household in 1890, their two sons both fell victim to this disease. Ten-year-old Gustav died on November 14, and his six-year-old brother Oscar died the next day. William and Augusta buried their sons in the Dutch Hill Evangelical Church graveyard. They were survived by their parents and their four-year-old sister, Clara.
On March 27, 1893, William and Augusta became the parents of a second daughter, Nora Christine Landwehr.
The William Landwehr family probably continued to attend the Dutch Hill Evangelical Church until a Methodist congregation was organized at Champion City. When that congregation began to organize in 1893, William and Augusta were active participants, and their names appear on the list of the sixteen charter members of the Champion City Methodist Episcopal Church. William also served as a Trustee of the church during the early years of its history.
Nora was the last child born to William and Augusta. Perhaps it was the loss of their two sons, and the end of their child-bearing years, that spurred them to adopt a son five years after Nora's birth. In any event, William and Augusta contracted with the Children's Home Society of Missouri, in June of 1898, to adopt a son. The contract addressed the care, custody, and control of a male child named Virgil Leo Williams. Virgil was born on July 20, 1892, and was not quite six years old when William and Augusta signed the contract.
:fig id=phwill frame=box depth='5.7i'.
:figcap.William and Augusta (Hammelmann) Landwehr.
:figdesc.Children, from left to right, are Clara, Virgil, and Nora.
Courtesy of Floyd Landwehr.
:efig.
That same year, William expanded his 110-acre farm. In November of 1898, he bought eighty-eight acres of land from Daniel J. and Emma E. Caldwell for $700. With the exception of one two-acre piece of land that had been sold, this eighty-eight acres was the same land that Fritz and Katharine Landwehr sold to Casper Koelling in 1890, and was part of the original Hermann Bottemueller farm. To help finance the purchase, William borrowed $300 for one year from C. H. Wehr.
A year later, in October of 1899, William and Augusta sold forty-four acres (roughly the northern half) of the eighty-eight acres they bought in 1898 to Louis H. Dieckgraeffe for $350.
On August 15, 1906, William's daughter Clara married Heinrich Edward 'Ed' Brommelsick. They were married at Champion City. After their marriage, Ed and Clara bought the Toelke farm east of the St. Paul's Cemetery, east of Gerald.
On December 13, 1910, Augusta Landwehr passed away at fifty-seven years of age. A grandson, Everett Brommelsick, recalled that she died of typhoid fever. It was his belief that William had a bad case of typhoid fever at the same time, but that he recovered. However, her death certificate indicates that she died of valvular heart trouble, which had been bothering her for four years. Augusta was buried at the Methodist Episcopal Church Cemetery at Champion City.
Following Augusta's death, William Landwehr wanted his daughter Clara and her husband to sell their place east of Gerald, or rent it to someone else. Clara and Ed Bromelsick moved back to the William Landwehr farm in March of 1912. Ed would keep the other farm he had purchased for another year, and then sell it back to Bill Bermann, who had originally financed the purchase.
To this point in time, none of the immigrant Landwehr family had filed naturalization papers, to become citizens of the United States. Henry and Philip had been granted rights of citizenship as a result of their service in the Civil War, and Fritz and William had apparently felt no strong desire to become naturalized citizens. But then, on November 16, 1912, two years after Augusta's death, William filed his Declaration of Intention to become an American citizen. At age fifty-eight, William described himself as having fair complexion, five foot six inches in height, 138 pounds, with gray hair and blue eyes, and no other visible distinctive marks. He affirmed that he was a farmer residing at Champion City, and renounced allegiance to William II, the German Emperor. He listed his date of birth as December 11, 1854, rather than December 7, 1853. This apparent error in the date of his birth appears consistently in all of William's records.
Eleven days later, on November 27, 1912, William's youngest daughter, Nora, was married at Leslie to Edwin Ernst Braun.
Ten months later, on September 23, 1913, William remarried. His second marriage was to a widow, Mrs. Christina M. Rieter, daughter of August and Wilemena (Nolting) Toelke. She was born near Leslie on May 22, 1858. William and Christina were married in St. Louis by a Methodist minister. William was fifty-nine years old, and Christina was fifty-five.
When William remarried, he was still living at Champion City, as were his two daughters and their families. Soon after his marriage, he and Christina moved into Gerald.
On November 16, 1915, exactly three years after filing his intention to become a citizen, William was issued his Certificate of Naturalization. William was sixty-one years old.
On March 29, 1919, only five and one-half years after their marriage, William's second wife died at age sixty. After three days of treatment by her physician, she died of uremic poisoning. Relatives report that it was believed that she died from drinking too much tea that she had made from poke-berries. Christina was buried in the Leslie Methodist Cemetery.
After Christina's death, William stayed in Gerald, making his home with his daughter Nora and her family. A grandson, Orville Braun, remembers living with William in Gerald. His most vivid recollection is of William sitting by his wood heating stove in his room, reading his Bible.
Retirement is difficult for many farmers who have been active all of their lives, and William was apparently no exception. Another grandson, Harley Bromelsick, recalls that when William lived in Gerald, he didn't have anything to do. He would get some pine wood, and would whittle more than anyone Harley has ever seen. "He wouldn't make anything--he'd just get some wood and just keep whittling."
Then, in February of 1928, William moved back to Champion City to live with his daughter, Clara Brommelsick, and her family. About two weeks later, William became ill, and, on March 9, 1928, at 8:30 in the evening, William died on his farm. The cause of his death was listed as acute gastro-enteritis, complicated by chronic bronchitis. William was buried beside his first wife in the Methodist Episcopal Church Cemetery at Champion City.
William's last will was dated January 9, 1928, just two months before his death. In his will, he appointed his son-in-law, Edward Brommelsick, as Executor. To Virgil Leo Landwehr, who William and Augusta raised, William bequeathed $10.00. William bequethed to his daughter, Nora Braun, the 5.77 acres he owned north of Highway 50 in Gerald, appraised at $2500. He bequeathed to his daughter, Clara Brommelsick, his 154-acre farm at Champion City, appraised at $4500. To eliminate any inequity in their inheritances, William directed in his will that Clara Brommelsick was to pay her sister Nora $1000 on or before the final settlement of his estate. William left no personal property to be divided between his daughters. In his will, William also asked that Clara Brommelsick give $25.00 to the Methodist Orphans Home at Warrenton, Missouri, and $25.00 to the Methodist Foreign Missions.
The William Landwehr home place is still owned by one of his grandsons. The old log house that was on the property when William bought the farm in 1874 was situated between the current house and the Champion City Methodist Church. The old log house was torn down in 1975, after standing for over one hundred years.
Between 1860 and 1870, we have no record of William's whereabouts. It would appear probable that much of this decade would have been spent living in northwest Franklin County, near his mother, sister, and brothers. But we really don't know. We assume that he attended school until he was old enough to fend for himself, and that he probably began working as a farm laborer as soon as he was old enough.
When the next Federal census was taken, in 1870, William would have been sixteen years old--old enough to be working as a farm hand. We have not been able to locate anyone in the census records that we can say with assurance is William. There is a record in Lyon Township of Franklin County, in the Stony Hill area, of a "William Landrochs", age sixteen, from Prussia, working as a farm laborer for Gottlib Schroder, a 68-year-old farmer from Prussia. It certainly wouldn't be surprising to learn that Gottlib, or his wife Dori, didn't know the correct pronunciation of their young farmhand's name when the census taker stopped at their home, or talked to one of their neighbors. But it is just a guess.
Whether William was working for Gottlib Schroder or not is of little importance. We are probably safe in assuming that by the time William was sixteen, he was working as a farm laborer, and saving money to buy a farm of his own. He bought that farm in December of 1874, just three weeks after his twenty-first birthday.
When William purchased his farm in 1874, his oldest brother Henry lived across the river in Warren County. Philip Landwehr was probably working rented farms in northwest Franklin County, possibly in the Etlah area. Maria and Christopher Lichte had sold their farm, and were probably living at Etlah. Fritz Landwehr was farming near Champion City, where he had settled after he was married four years earlier. William chose to buy a farm adjoining Fritz's farm at Champion City.
William purchased his 110-acre farm from the Henry Koppelmann estate, and from Henry's widow, Caroline Koppelmann, for $900. The farm is identified as the Wm. Landwehr farm in Section 8 on the map provided as :figref refid=mfritz.. William's farm was immediately south of the ninety-acre parcel of the Bottemueller farm where Fritz and Catharina were living, and was north of the two forty-acre tracts that Fritz owned.
At twenty-one years of age, William certainly could not have afforded to pay cash for his first farm. While no record of a note, or mortgage, to finance the purchase has been located, William undoubtedly borrowed most of the money to pay for the farm. We do know that in late November of 1876, twenty-three months after he purchased his farm, William borrowed $800 from Frederich Luecker, to be repaid in twelve months with 8% interest. Frederich Luecker is the same man who loaned Philip Landwehr money to purchase his first farm in 1867. He may have been a money-lender--a 19th century real estate banker. Perhaps William originally signed a two-year promissory note when he purchased the farm, and then paid off the original note two years later by borrowing the balance due from Frederich Luecker. As security for the loan from Frederich Luecker, William signed a deed of trust mortgaging his farm to Louis Breckenkamp.
The farm that William bought was an established farm. It is said that the William Landwehr farm and the Giebler farm one-half mile northeast of the William Landwehr place were the two oldest farms in the area--the first two farms to be "opened up".
The farm had a log house on it. The house had only one room, and at some point a small summer kitchen was added to it. We have been told that Henry Koppelmann's son, August Koppelmann, was born in that house in 1869, and was the first person born in the house. That was about five years before William bought the farm.
When William bought his farm in late 1874, he was single. William's mother apparently left her second husband, Henry Guese, and came to live with William, soon after he bought the farm. She apparently lived with him until he was married.
About five years after he bought his farm, William married Augusta C. Hammelmann, daughter of John Hammelmann. Augusta was born in St. Louis on January 9, 1853, and was raised around Stony Hill (near the Franklin-Gasconade County line). William and Augusta were married in Gasconade County, Missouri, on November 29, 1879, by Jul. Hoffmann, the Minister of the St. Paul's Evangelical congregation near Bay, in Gasconade County. The Hammelmann family were probably members of the St. Paul's congregation.
The 1880 census of Boone Township included the William Landwehr farm. The census was taken only a few months after William's marriage, and William's mother was still living with William and his new bride. A description of William's farm in 1880 is provided by :figref refid=fwill..
:fig id=fwill.
.ce
WILLIAM LANDWEHR FARM
.br
.sk 1
DESCRIPTION OF FARM
.br
.in +5
:ul compact.
:li.Tilled Land: 40 acres
:li.Woodland and Forest: 70 acres
:eul.
.in -5
LIVE STOCK
.br
.in +5
:ul compact.
:li.Horses: 3
:li.Mules, Asses: 1
:li.Milk Cows: 3
:li.Sheep: 6
:li.Swine: 22
:li.Barnyard Poultry: 75
:eul.
.in -5
1879 PRODUCTION
.br
.in +5
:ul compact.
:li.Hay: 3 tons from 3 acres
:li.Calves Dropped: 3
:li.Cattle Slaughtered: 1
:li.Butter: 150 pounds
:li.Lambs Dropped: 3
:li.Sheep died of disease: 2
:li.Fleeces Shorn: 6 (10 pounds)
:li.Eggs: 600
:li.Corn: 200 bushels from 7 acres
:li.Oats: 120 bushels from 7 acres
:li.Wheat: 204 bushels from 20 acres
:li.Potatoes: 25 bushels
:eul.
.in -5
VALUES
.br
.in +5
:ul compact.
:li.Farm: $800
:li.Farming implements and machinery: $150
:li.Live stock: $235
:li.All farm production sold, consumed, or on hand for 1879: $615
:eul.
.in -5
:figcap.William Landwehr farm in 1880
:efig.
Two months after the census was taken, William and Augusta became parents for the first time. Their first child, a son, was born on September 10, 1880. He was baptized Gustav Heinrich Philipp Landwehr. We don't what church William and Augusta were affiliated with during the early years of their marriage, but Gustav's baptismal certificate mentions the community of Drake, in Gasconade County.
When the Dutch Hill Evangelical Church was organized as the Dutch Hill German Lutheran Church about 1883, William and Augusta were probably among the first members of the congregation. The congregation built their church only two and one-half miles southeast of the William Landwehr home, near Spring Bluff.
About four years after the birth of their first son, a second son was born to William and Augusta. Born on August 23, 1884, their second son was baptized Oscar Friedrich Wilhelm Landwehr on November 27, 1884. Family recollections suggest that Oscar was baptized at the Dutch Hill Evangelical Church. Their first daughter was born in the old log house on their Champion City farm on August 16, 1886. They named her Clara Anne Landwehr.
Diphtheria was a dreaded disease in the 19th century. When diphtheria struck the William and Augusta Landwehr household in 1890, their two sons both fell victim to this disease. Ten-year-old Gustav died on November 14, and his six-year-old brother Oscar died the next day. William and Augusta buried their sons in the Dutch Hill Evangelical Church graveyard. They were survived by their parents and their four-year-old sister, Clara.
On March 27, 1893, William and Augusta became the parents of a second daughter, Nora Christine Landwehr.
The William Landwehr family probably continued to attend the Dutch Hill Evangelical Church until a Methodist congregation was organized at Champion City. When that congregation began to organize in 1893, William and Augusta were active participants, and their names appear on the list of the sixteen charter members of the Champion City Methodist Episcopal Church. William also served as a Trustee of the church during the early years of its history.
Nora was the last child born to William and Augusta. Perhaps it was the loss of their two sons, and the end of their child-bearing years, that spurred them to adopt a son five years after Nora's birth. In any event, William and Augusta contracted with the Children's Home Society of Missouri, in June of 1898, to adopt a son. The contract addressed the care, custody, and control of a male child named Virgil Leo Williams. Virgil was born on July 20, 1892, and was not quite six years old when William and Augusta signed the contract.
:fig id=phwill frame=box depth='5.7i'.
:figcap.William and Augusta (Hammelmann) Landwehr.
:figdesc.Children, from left to right, are Clara, Virgil, and Nora.
Courtesy of Floyd Landwehr.
:efig.
That same year, William expanded his 110-acre farm. In November of 1898, he bought eighty-eight acres of land from Daniel J. and Emma E. Caldwell for $700. With the exception of one two-acre piece of land that had been sold, this eighty-eight acres was the same land that Fritz and Katharine Landwehr sold to Casper Koelling in 1890, and was part of the original Hermann Bottemueller farm. To help finance the purchase, William borrowed $300 for one year from C. H. Wehr.
A year later, in October of 1899, William and Augusta sold forty-four acres (roughly the northern half) of the eighty-eight acres they bought in 1898 to Louis H. Dieckgraeffe for $350.
On August 15, 1906, William's daughter Clara married Heinrich Edward 'Ed' Brommelsick. They were married at Champion City. After their marriage, Ed and Clara bought the Toelke farm east of the St. Paul's Cemetery, east of Gerald.
On December 13, 1910, Augusta Landwehr passed away at fifty-seven years of age. A grandson, Everett Brommelsick, recalled that she died of typhoid fever. It was his belief that William had a bad case of typhoid fever at the same time, but that he recovered. However, her death certificate indicates that she died of valvular heart trouble, which had been bothering her for four years. Augusta was buried at the Methodist Episcopal Church Cemetery at Champion City.
Following Augusta's death, William Landwehr wanted his daughter Clara and her husband to sell their place east of Gerald, or rent it to someone else. Clara and Ed Bromelsick moved back to the William Landwehr farm in March of 1912. Ed would keep the other farm he had purchased for another year, and then sell it back to Bill Bermann, who had originally financed the purchase.
To this point in time, none of the immigrant Landwehr family had filed naturalization papers, to become citizens of the United States. Henry and Philip had been granted rights of citizenship as a result of their service in the Civil War, and Fritz and William had apparently felt no strong desire to become naturalized citizens. But then, on November 16, 1912, two years after Augusta's death, William filed his Declaration of Intention to become an American citizen. At age fifty-eight, William described himself as having fair complexion, five foot six inches in height, 138 pounds, with gray hair and blue eyes, and no other visible distinctive marks. He affirmed that he was a farmer residing at Champion City, and renounced allegiance to William II, the German Emperor. He listed his date of birth as December 11, 1854, rather than December 7, 1853. This apparent error in the date of his birth appears consistently in all of William's records.
Eleven days later, on November 27, 1912, William's youngest daughter, Nora, was married at Leslie to Edwin Ernst Braun.
Ten months later, on September 23, 1913, William remarried. His second marriage was to a widow, Mrs. Christina M. Rieter, daughter of August and Wilemena (Nolting) Toelke. She was born near Leslie on May 22, 1858. William and Christina were married in St. Louis by a Methodist minister. William was fifty-nine years old, and Christina was fifty-five.
When William remarried, he was still living at Champion City, as were his two daughters and their families. Soon after his marriage, he and Christina moved into Gerald.
On November 16, 1915, exactly three years after filing his intention to become a citizen, William was issued his Certificate of Naturalization. William was sixty-one years old.
On March 29, 1919, only five and one-half years after their marriage, William's second wife died at age sixty. After three days of treatment by her physician, she died of uremic poisoning. Relatives report that it was believed that she died from drinking too much tea that she had made from poke-berries. Christina was buried in the Leslie Methodist Cemetery.
After Christina's death, William stayed in Gerald, making his home with his daughter Nora and her family. A grandson, Orville Braun, remembers living with William in Gerald. His most vivid recollection is of William sitting by his wood heating stove in his room, reading his Bible.
Retirement is difficult for many farmers who have been active all of their lives, and William was apparently no exception. Another grandson, Harley Bromelsick, recalls that when William lived in Gerald, he didn't have anything to do. He would get some pine wood, and would whittle more than anyone Harley has ever seen. "He wouldn't make anything--he'd just get some wood and just keep whittling."
Then, in February of 1928, William moved back to Champion City to live with his daughter, Clara Brommelsick, and her family. About two weeks later, William became ill, and, on March 9, 1928, at 8:30 in the evening, William died on his farm. The cause of his death was listed as acute gastro-enteritis, complicated by chronic bronchitis. William was buried beside his first wife in the Methodist Episcopal Church Cemetery at Champion City.
William's last will was dated January 9, 1928, just two months before his death. In his will, he appointed his son-in-law, Edward Brommelsick, as Executor. To Virgil Leo Landwehr, who William and Augusta raised, William bequeathed $10.00. William bequethed to his daughter, Nora Braun, the 5.77 acres he owned north of Highway 50 in Gerald, appraised at $2500. He bequeathed to his daughter, Clara Brommelsick, his 154-acre farm at Champion City, appraised at $4500. To eliminate any inequity in their inheritances, William directed in his will that Clara Brommelsick was to pay her sister Nora $1000 on or before the final settlement of his estate. William left no personal property to be divided between his daughters. In his will, William also asked that Clara Brommelsick give $25.00 to the Methodist Orphans Home at Warrenton, Missouri, and $25.00 to the Methodist Foreign Missions.
The William Landwehr home place is still owned by one of his grandsons. The old log house that was on the property when William bought the farm in 1874 was situated between the current house and the Champion City Methodist Church. The old log house was torn down in 1975, after standing for over one hundred years.