Guese Family History
None of the allied families featured in this book is related to our Landwehr family in more ways than the Henry Guese family. Only a few weeks after Anna Landwehr arrived in Franklin County with her five children, she was married to Henry Guese. Less than four years later, Anna's son, Philip Landwehr, married Elisa Guese, daughter of Henry Guese. And, in 1910, a grandson of Henry Guese married a great-granddaughter of Anna Landwehr.
In earlier chapters of this book, we included excerpts from the Katie Wolff family history which described early events in the history of the Landwehr family. Katie knew the stories about the emigration of the Landwehr family to America, because her father, Philip Landwehr, was seventeen years old when he came to America. And Katie's grandmother, Anna Landwehr, lived with Katie's family when Katie was growing up, and told Katie stories about her emigration to America with her five children.
Katie's mother was Elisa (Guese) Landwehr, daughter of Henry Guese. Elise was about eight years old when the Guese family emigrated to America, but she told Katie the stories that she could remember about their journey to America, and their first years in Missouri. Katie included this information about the Guese family in the history that she wrote in 1949.
While the family history that Katie Wolff wrote describes the emigration and early years in America of both the Landwehr family and the Guese family, there is no mention of the marriage of Anna Landwehr, Katie's paternal grandmother, to Henry Guese, Katie's maternal grandfather. Considering the fact that the marriage ended in separation, when Anna left Henry Guese after about fifteen years of marriage, it appears likely that the marriage was not discussed in the Philip Landwehr household, and Katie may never have known that her paternal grandmother and maternal grandfather had been married.
Henry Guese was probably born in Lippe, or Lippe-Detmold, about 1806 or 1807. Lippe was a small, independent German state, and not a part of the Prussian kingdom. The Lippe border was less than ten miles east of Joellenbeck, so the customs and dialect of the Guese family would have been very similar to those of the Landwehr family. We don't yet know the exact location of the Guese home in Lippe. The obituary of Henry Guese's eldest child, born in 1835, indicates that he was born in "Amt Aarlinghausen, Lippe, Germany", (District Office Aarlinghausen in Lippe), but we have not been able to determine a more precise location. Katie Wolff's history tells the story of their emigration:
"My mother (Elisa Guese) also came from Germany, from Lippe-Detmold. Her father (Henry Guese) started out to find the new land with a family of eight. They also sailed from Brama and they were on the water seven weeks. They had pretty good weather, only one hard storm that they could remember. She was only eight years old, but she said she could remember well her father would take the small children up on deck quite often. One day when they were up there they saw so many great big fish coming in droves up to the boat. Their heads looked like hogs' heads and the captain told them they were hogfish and when they did that it was a sign of storms. That day the captain stood on deck with his telescope to his eye watching the sky. Towards evening he saw it coming and he ordered everybody to go to their cabins and everything was closed up, the sails drawn down and not long it was upon them. The boat began to rock up and down on the high waves, but finally it passed and all went well, and in seven weeks they reached land on the new world. They, too, landed in New Orleans and went from there to St. Louis."
The Guese family followed the same emigration route, through New Orleans and St. Louis, that the Landwehr family would follow seven years later. The Gueses arrived in St. Louis on November 2, 1852. Like many other German immigrant families, they spent their first winter in St. Louis, and then moved out into the country the following spring. Katie Wolff's narrative of the Guese emigration continues:
"They stayed there (in St. Louis) for the winter. Her father (Henry Guese) was a shoe maker and the oldest sons also got work. In the spring they moved near New Haven in Franklin County. The oldest son took up farming and the two sons got work in St. Louis, although yet young. The mother and oldest daughter passed on, seemed like they would not stand the climate. The father was left with the two younger ones, little Aleasa (Elisa) and William. He managed as good as he could, but soon the girl got a little older and got a good place near home to stay. William stayed with the father until he was 16 years old, then going to the city where his two brothers were to make his way. He found a good job in a store, Famous-Barr. First as a handy boy, but he learned so quickly and so fast he soon was a clerk. He was there all of his life until he retired. The daughter (Elisa) also went to the city soon afterward."
The death of Henry Guese's wife and oldest daughter left Henry a widower, with five children to raise. As Katie Wolff's history states, his oldest son, Fritz Guese, purchased land and began farming southwest of New Haven (five miles south of Berger). Henry Guese, along with his two youngest children, probably lived on the Fritz Guese farm. The two other sons, Henry and Philip, apparently found work in St. Louis.
Fritz Guese's farm was located only one and one-half miles west of the Hermann Doermann farm, where Anna (Bonsen) Landwehr and her five children first settled when they arrived in Franklin County about the end of November in 1859. On the map provided by :figref refid=mmeyer., the farm is identified as the Fred Guese farm in Section 1. Henry Guese (a widower) and Anna Landwehr (a widow) were married about a month after her arrival, on December 31, 1859. For further information about the marriage of Henry Guese and Anna Landwehr, see :hdref refid=first. and :hdref refid=anna..
There is no evidence that Henry Guese ever owned land in America. He apparently lived on the farm owned by his son, Fritz. Katie Wolff's history mentions that he worked as a shoemaker during the winter that the family spent in St. Louis. In the 1860 census, Henry listed his occupation as that of a farmer, and in 1870, a stone mason. He lived with his second wife, Anna (Bonsen) Landwehr Guese, until about 1875, when she reportedly left him.
When Henry Guese died, family recollections indicate that his burial was either the first or the second in the current graveyard of the Immanuel Methodist Church at Senate Grove. There is, however, no gravestone for Henry in the cemetery. The records of the Hermann Circuit of the Methodist Episcopal Church seem to indicate that Henry died in 1880. This date would be consistent with the family recollection regarding his burial, as the current Senate Grove Methodist Church was dedicated in 1878.
.br
.sk 2
:hp3.Children of Heinrich Guese::ehp3.
.br
.sk 1
:ol.
:li.Friedrich 'Fritz' Guese was born in "Amt Aarlinghausen", Lippe-Detmold, Germany on July 25, 1835. He was seventeen years old when his family emigrated to America in the fall of 1852. Fritz was married to Louise 'Louisa' Riepe on December 30, 1857. They were married in Franklin County by Rev. C. Bek. Louisa was born in the Prussian village of Eickum on September 18, 1838. Eickum was located only three miles east of Joellenbeck (see #9 on :figref refid=minden.). Louisa emigrated to America, and to the Senate Grove community, with her parents when she was seven years old.
During the Civil War, Fritz served as 3rd Corporal in Company G of the 54th Regiment of the Enrolled Missouri Militia under Captain Pahde. The regiment was enrolled and organized at Beofftown, Missouri on August 28, 1862. They were ordered into active service at Big Berger that same day, and relieved from duty on January 18, 1863. They were again ordered into active service on October 1, 1864 at Washington, Missouri, in response to General Price's Confederate raid of Missouri. They were relieved from duty on November 14, 1864.
It was during the Civil War, in 1862, that Fritz and Louisa joined the Immanuel congregation of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The Immanuel congregation met at the Meyer's Church, about one and one-half miles northwest of the Fritz Guese farm.
While Fritz undoubtedly farmed all of his life, he was also a stone mason. He listed his occupation as that of a stone mason in the 1870 census, when he valued his real estate at $2000, and his personal property at $1585. As an interesting aside, we note that the most prominent name among the German immigrants in western Franklin County in the 19th century was that of Frederick William Pehle. Born in Prussia in 1839 (the same year that Henry Landwehr was born), he emigrated to America with his parents in 1840. With a background as a farmer, public school teacher, and successful real estate agent, Mr. Pehle served Franklin County as a State Representative in the 1870's, and as a State Senator in the 1880's. Frederick William Pehle lived less than a mile west of the Fritz Guese farm. When the Meyer's Store Post Office was renamed Senate Grove in 1891, it was in honor of Senator Pehle. And when Senator Pehle built a beautiful brick home just south of the current Senate Grove Methodist Church in 1887, Fritz Guese was the stone mason who built the foundation. Today, the Senator Pehle house is still impressive in appearance, and is the home of a descendant of Fritz Guese.
Fritz and Louisa apparently farmed in the Senate Grove neighborhood all of their married lives. Louisa died on February 10, 1911, and Fritz died on August 9 of the same year. Both were buried in the Immanuel Methodist Church cemetery at Senate Grove.
After joining the church in 1862, Fritz actively served the church the rest of his life. He served as the Sunday School Superintendent, Class Leader, District Administrator, and member of the Board of Trustees. Fritz was a public-spirited citizen, and a local grammer school was named Guese School after him. Fritz and Louisa were survived by eight of their eleven children.
:li.Henry Guese found work in St. Louis shortly after the Guese family arrived in America. He later married, and he and his wife Katherine apparently continued to live in St. Louis the rest of Henry's life.
:li.Elisabeth Juliana Augusta 'Elisa' Guese was born in Lippe-Detmold on February 18, 1845. She was seven years old when her family emigrated to America. Katie Wolff's history indicates that after the family settled in Franklin County, Elisa spent some time working in St. Louis before her marriage. On November 24, 1863, Elisa was married, at or near Fritz Guese's farm, to Johann Philipp 'Philip' Landwehr, son of Friedrich Wilhelm Landwehr and Anna Maria Ilsabein Bonsen. Further information about Elisa's life following her marriage is provided in the :hdref refid=philip..
:li.Philipp Guese was born on March 10, 1847. He was one of the two sons of Henry Guese who initially found work in St. Louis. Philipp was married to Mathilda 'Matilda' Frietag, who was born in April of 1858. They settled near Holstein, in southern Warren County, Missouri. Philipp died on April 19, 1891, and was buried in the Immanuel Evangelical Church cemetery at Holstein. After his death, his widow married Fritz Homeyer.
:li.William Guese was born about 1848-49. In her history, Katie Wolff indicated that William found a job at the Famous-Barr store when he went to St. Louis about 1865. He apparently worked for Famous-Barr until his retirement.
In earlier chapters of this book, we included excerpts from the Katie Wolff family history which described early events in the history of the Landwehr family. Katie knew the stories about the emigration of the Landwehr family to America, because her father, Philip Landwehr, was seventeen years old when he came to America. And Katie's grandmother, Anna Landwehr, lived with Katie's family when Katie was growing up, and told Katie stories about her emigration to America with her five children.
Katie's mother was Elisa (Guese) Landwehr, daughter of Henry Guese. Elise was about eight years old when the Guese family emigrated to America, but she told Katie the stories that she could remember about their journey to America, and their first years in Missouri. Katie included this information about the Guese family in the history that she wrote in 1949.
While the family history that Katie Wolff wrote describes the emigration and early years in America of both the Landwehr family and the Guese family, there is no mention of the marriage of Anna Landwehr, Katie's paternal grandmother, to Henry Guese, Katie's maternal grandfather. Considering the fact that the marriage ended in separation, when Anna left Henry Guese after about fifteen years of marriage, it appears likely that the marriage was not discussed in the Philip Landwehr household, and Katie may never have known that her paternal grandmother and maternal grandfather had been married.
Henry Guese was probably born in Lippe, or Lippe-Detmold, about 1806 or 1807. Lippe was a small, independent German state, and not a part of the Prussian kingdom. The Lippe border was less than ten miles east of Joellenbeck, so the customs and dialect of the Guese family would have been very similar to those of the Landwehr family. We don't yet know the exact location of the Guese home in Lippe. The obituary of Henry Guese's eldest child, born in 1835, indicates that he was born in "Amt Aarlinghausen, Lippe, Germany", (District Office Aarlinghausen in Lippe), but we have not been able to determine a more precise location. Katie Wolff's history tells the story of their emigration:
"My mother (Elisa Guese) also came from Germany, from Lippe-Detmold. Her father (Henry Guese) started out to find the new land with a family of eight. They also sailed from Brama and they were on the water seven weeks. They had pretty good weather, only one hard storm that they could remember. She was only eight years old, but she said she could remember well her father would take the small children up on deck quite often. One day when they were up there they saw so many great big fish coming in droves up to the boat. Their heads looked like hogs' heads and the captain told them they were hogfish and when they did that it was a sign of storms. That day the captain stood on deck with his telescope to his eye watching the sky. Towards evening he saw it coming and he ordered everybody to go to their cabins and everything was closed up, the sails drawn down and not long it was upon them. The boat began to rock up and down on the high waves, but finally it passed and all went well, and in seven weeks they reached land on the new world. They, too, landed in New Orleans and went from there to St. Louis."
The Guese family followed the same emigration route, through New Orleans and St. Louis, that the Landwehr family would follow seven years later. The Gueses arrived in St. Louis on November 2, 1852. Like many other German immigrant families, they spent their first winter in St. Louis, and then moved out into the country the following spring. Katie Wolff's narrative of the Guese emigration continues:
"They stayed there (in St. Louis) for the winter. Her father (Henry Guese) was a shoe maker and the oldest sons also got work. In the spring they moved near New Haven in Franklin County. The oldest son took up farming and the two sons got work in St. Louis, although yet young. The mother and oldest daughter passed on, seemed like they would not stand the climate. The father was left with the two younger ones, little Aleasa (Elisa) and William. He managed as good as he could, but soon the girl got a little older and got a good place near home to stay. William stayed with the father until he was 16 years old, then going to the city where his two brothers were to make his way. He found a good job in a store, Famous-Barr. First as a handy boy, but he learned so quickly and so fast he soon was a clerk. He was there all of his life until he retired. The daughter (Elisa) also went to the city soon afterward."
The death of Henry Guese's wife and oldest daughter left Henry a widower, with five children to raise. As Katie Wolff's history states, his oldest son, Fritz Guese, purchased land and began farming southwest of New Haven (five miles south of Berger). Henry Guese, along with his two youngest children, probably lived on the Fritz Guese farm. The two other sons, Henry and Philip, apparently found work in St. Louis.
Fritz Guese's farm was located only one and one-half miles west of the Hermann Doermann farm, where Anna (Bonsen) Landwehr and her five children first settled when they arrived in Franklin County about the end of November in 1859. On the map provided by :figref refid=mmeyer., the farm is identified as the Fred Guese farm in Section 1. Henry Guese (a widower) and Anna Landwehr (a widow) were married about a month after her arrival, on December 31, 1859. For further information about the marriage of Henry Guese and Anna Landwehr, see :hdref refid=first. and :hdref refid=anna..
There is no evidence that Henry Guese ever owned land in America. He apparently lived on the farm owned by his son, Fritz. Katie Wolff's history mentions that he worked as a shoemaker during the winter that the family spent in St. Louis. In the 1860 census, Henry listed his occupation as that of a farmer, and in 1870, a stone mason. He lived with his second wife, Anna (Bonsen) Landwehr Guese, until about 1875, when she reportedly left him.
When Henry Guese died, family recollections indicate that his burial was either the first or the second in the current graveyard of the Immanuel Methodist Church at Senate Grove. There is, however, no gravestone for Henry in the cemetery. The records of the Hermann Circuit of the Methodist Episcopal Church seem to indicate that Henry died in 1880. This date would be consistent with the family recollection regarding his burial, as the current Senate Grove Methodist Church was dedicated in 1878.
.br
.sk 2
:hp3.Children of Heinrich Guese::ehp3.
.br
.sk 1
:ol.
:li.Friedrich 'Fritz' Guese was born in "Amt Aarlinghausen", Lippe-Detmold, Germany on July 25, 1835. He was seventeen years old when his family emigrated to America in the fall of 1852. Fritz was married to Louise 'Louisa' Riepe on December 30, 1857. They were married in Franklin County by Rev. C. Bek. Louisa was born in the Prussian village of Eickum on September 18, 1838. Eickum was located only three miles east of Joellenbeck (see #9 on :figref refid=minden.). Louisa emigrated to America, and to the Senate Grove community, with her parents when she was seven years old.
During the Civil War, Fritz served as 3rd Corporal in Company G of the 54th Regiment of the Enrolled Missouri Militia under Captain Pahde. The regiment was enrolled and organized at Beofftown, Missouri on August 28, 1862. They were ordered into active service at Big Berger that same day, and relieved from duty on January 18, 1863. They were again ordered into active service on October 1, 1864 at Washington, Missouri, in response to General Price's Confederate raid of Missouri. They were relieved from duty on November 14, 1864.
It was during the Civil War, in 1862, that Fritz and Louisa joined the Immanuel congregation of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The Immanuel congregation met at the Meyer's Church, about one and one-half miles northwest of the Fritz Guese farm.
While Fritz undoubtedly farmed all of his life, he was also a stone mason. He listed his occupation as that of a stone mason in the 1870 census, when he valued his real estate at $2000, and his personal property at $1585. As an interesting aside, we note that the most prominent name among the German immigrants in western Franklin County in the 19th century was that of Frederick William Pehle. Born in Prussia in 1839 (the same year that Henry Landwehr was born), he emigrated to America with his parents in 1840. With a background as a farmer, public school teacher, and successful real estate agent, Mr. Pehle served Franklin County as a State Representative in the 1870's, and as a State Senator in the 1880's. Frederick William Pehle lived less than a mile west of the Fritz Guese farm. When the Meyer's Store Post Office was renamed Senate Grove in 1891, it was in honor of Senator Pehle. And when Senator Pehle built a beautiful brick home just south of the current Senate Grove Methodist Church in 1887, Fritz Guese was the stone mason who built the foundation. Today, the Senator Pehle house is still impressive in appearance, and is the home of a descendant of Fritz Guese.
Fritz and Louisa apparently farmed in the Senate Grove neighborhood all of their married lives. Louisa died on February 10, 1911, and Fritz died on August 9 of the same year. Both were buried in the Immanuel Methodist Church cemetery at Senate Grove.
After joining the church in 1862, Fritz actively served the church the rest of his life. He served as the Sunday School Superintendent, Class Leader, District Administrator, and member of the Board of Trustees. Fritz was a public-spirited citizen, and a local grammer school was named Guese School after him. Fritz and Louisa were survived by eight of their eleven children.
:li.Henry Guese found work in St. Louis shortly after the Guese family arrived in America. He later married, and he and his wife Katherine apparently continued to live in St. Louis the rest of Henry's life.
:li.Elisabeth Juliana Augusta 'Elisa' Guese was born in Lippe-Detmold on February 18, 1845. She was seven years old when her family emigrated to America. Katie Wolff's history indicates that after the family settled in Franklin County, Elisa spent some time working in St. Louis before her marriage. On November 24, 1863, Elisa was married, at or near Fritz Guese's farm, to Johann Philipp 'Philip' Landwehr, son of Friedrich Wilhelm Landwehr and Anna Maria Ilsabein Bonsen. Further information about Elisa's life following her marriage is provided in the :hdref refid=philip..
:li.Philipp Guese was born on March 10, 1847. He was one of the two sons of Henry Guese who initially found work in St. Louis. Philipp was married to Mathilda 'Matilda' Frietag, who was born in April of 1858. They settled near Holstein, in southern Warren County, Missouri. Philipp died on April 19, 1891, and was buried in the Immanuel Evangelical Church cemetery at Holstein. After his death, his widow married Fritz Homeyer.
:li.William Guese was born about 1848-49. In her history, Katie Wolff indicated that William found a job at the Famous-Barr store when he went to St. Louis about 1865. He apparently worked for Famous-Barr until his retirement.
