Carl Wilhelm CHARLES STRUCKMAN

<p>Carl sometimes went by the name "Charles" In the USA. In this narrative he is referred to as either Carl or Charles. I also found that he sometimes went by his initials "C. W." as evidenced by histombstone.</p><p><p></p></p><p><p>Carl's baptism record indicates that he was born in Liekwegen at 4 A.M. on April 27, 1849 and baptized at the church in Sulbeck on May 6th. The sponsors were his twograndfathers--Wilhelm (Anton) Struckmann and Friedrich Botermann. He was the second child and the first son of the first marriage for his parents. His father is listed as a farmer and a miner and histwo grandfathers are listed as miners. I believe they were coal miners. His baptism record was obtained from the Immigrant Genealogical Society of Burbank, California---see Tab 2 of Struckman FamilyHistory Binder I for their letter dated September 11, 2007. I also have his birth certificate signed and sealed by the Pastor of the church in Sulbeck on July 8, 1863. I found this certificate in mygrandfather Frank Struckman's papers---it is filed under Tab 4 of Struckman Family History Binder IC.</p><p><p></p></p><p><p>Carl was born in the Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe which became part ofthe North German Confederation in 1866-67 and the united Germany in 1871, both under the leadership of Prussia. Either of these events could have subjected Carl to Prussia's compulsory military service. I'm not clear whether this military obligation occurred at the age of 18 or the age of 20.</p><p><p></p></p><p><p>Carl immigrated to the USA in 1867 at the age of 17. Local records show he left Liekwegen on February 16th of that year. This information was obtained from the book Schaumburger Auswanderer (1820-1914) which is a compilation of immigrants from Schaumburg-Lippe prepared from local German records. A thorough search of passenger list information available online did not turn up any record of his journey. Family lore says he worked his way over on a steamer; this would have kept hisname off of any passenger lists. Most likely he left from thr port of Bremen on the Weser River down stream fom his home in Liekwegen. His naturalization papers done in 1872 in Elgin indicated that he entered the USA before his 18th birthday which was on April 27, 1867. An official document dated March 2, 1867 indicates that he was discharged from his present citizenship in Schaumburg-Lippe and authorized to immigrate. If he left Liekwegen on February 16 then this discharge record must have followed him to the USA, perhaps carried by his parents in 1870. This document is also filed under Tab4.</p><p><p></p></p><p><p>I couldn't find Carl in the 1870 census. However, there are two hired men named Struckman listed in the 1870 census at George Gottlieb Struckmann's farm in Hanover Township,Cook County. Either could possibly have been him. Several members of Carl's family---parents and siblings--- were living on this farm or the adjoining farm (actually it appears that there was one farmowned by George Struckmann with two farm houses, one occupied by George and the other by George's father Gottlieb Struckmann). The two hired men listed in the census were John Struckman and Joseph Struckman---no other record supports these names. I believe they were Charles and his brother Fred. If so, Charles' entire family--both parents and four siblings were recorded as living in these two households in August 1870.</p><p><p></p></p><p><p>Charles was naturalized in Elgin, Kane County, on October 28, 1872. He renounced all allegiance to foreign Potentates, particularly Prince Adolph (of Schaumburg-Lippe). His naturalization certificate says he entered into the United States before being 18 years old. In 1870 Elgin had a population of 5,431.</p><p><p></p></p><p><p>The next report we haveon Charles is his marriage to Amelia Greve in Chicago on March 1, 1876. The marriage license was obtained from Cook County. The marriage license states that they were married by a Minister of the Gospel whose name was Gottlieb J. Lambrecht. Another unrelated document signed by this Pastor in March 1899 says the Pastor was connected with the St Peters Evangelical Lutheran Church in Chicago. This church still exists today and is presently located at 2805 N. Linder Avenue in Chicago; it is a UCC church. A telephone call to the church confirmed that the marriage was recorded in the St Peters churchbook. There were no witnesses recorded. A copy of the marriage record obtained from St Peter's United Church of Christ in September 2007 is filed under Tab 5A of Struckman Family History Binder IB.</p><p><p></p></p><p><p>Family lore has Charles meeting Amelia when they both worked on the Kimball farm in or near Elgin, she as a domestic and he as a farm laborer. Amelia immigrated to the USA in 1872 and likely came to Elgin where she had several maternal relatives. The information was passed on to me in 2013 by my cousin Bob Struckman based on notes Bob took about 20 years earlier from conversations with his father Dick Struckman. Dick was born in 1908 but would have known Amelia, she lived until 1951. Her parents lived in Chicago after they immigrated in 1875, maybe explaining why the marriage took place there.</p><p><p></p></p><p><p>Charles' obituary in the Elgin Weekly Courier on October 22, 1898 says he came to the Elgin area in 1877. My guess is that he first came to the Elgin area when he immigrated in 1867, probably to his great uncle Gottlieb Struckmann's farm in Hanover Township just a few miles east of Elgin. He was probably still there when the 1870 census was recorded.</p><p><p></p></p><p><p>The birth record for his first son--Charles Henry Struckman--says the child was born in Elgin Township, Kane County on January 6, 1877. The father's name was listed as Carl William Struckman and his occupation was listed as farmer. It appears from this record that the child's birth may have been recorded well after the fact in 1942 and attested to by his mother. A copy ofthis birth certificate is filed under Tab 3 of Struckman Family History Binder I.</p><p><p></p></p><p><p>Charles became a farmer. The 1880 census shows Charles and his family living on a farm in Campton Township, Kane County, Illinois. Campton Township is located just west of the town of St Charles and just south of Plato Township. It is currently being developed for residential construction at afurious pace (July 2007). A review of the ownership plat for Campton Township for 1880 did not show any ownership by a Struckman. I accessed the 1880 ownership plats at the Elgin Historical Society.</p><p><p></p></p><p><p>In April 1893 Carl's widowed father passed away in Dundee. I believe he was living on Carl's farm at the time. It is believed that Carl moved to a farm in Dundee Township just east of the town of East Dundee in about 1885.</p><p><p></p></p><p><p>I found a handwritten 100 page logbook in my grandfather Struckman's papers in about 1996. It contains financial transactions starting as early as 1883 and up through 1898. These appear to be farm transactions for my great grandfather C. W. Struckman. They appear to be in German. At the end there were a few pages of additional entries in the 1918-1929 range.</p><p><p></p></p><p><p>In June 1896 Carl's brother Henry was leading a crew of nine building a barn on the J.R. Smith farm which I now believe was the farm where Carl andhis family were living and working. In a fatally tragic accident Henry fell off the roof of the barn. He died several days later at his brother Carl's house.</p><p><p></p></p><p><p>Carl's obituary in1898 says he was living on a farm two miles east of the town of Dundee where he moved 13 years before in 1885. I believe this farm was in Dundee Township, Kane County, just a mile or two east of the town of East Dundee.</p><p><p></p></p><p><p>There is some confusion whether Carl owned the farm in Dundee Township where he lived and died. One obituary says he purchased the farm thirteen years beforehe died. However, another obituary for his brother Henry says Carl lived on the Smith farm where Henry was fatally injured and it seems pretty clear that was the J.R. Smith farm. On April 24, 2008, Iwent to the Elgin Historical Society located at 380 Park Street in Elgin. There I examied the Dundee Township ownership plat for 1896. I found the J.R. Smith farm in section 25; there was no propertyowned by a Struckman in the entire Township. Therefore, I have concluded that Carl was working J.R. Smith's farm in 1898 when he passed away. This would explain why his widow Amelia moved to her deceased parent's home in Elgin as evidenced by the 1900 U.S. Census.</p><p><p></p></p><p><p>According to the 1896 plat the J.R. Smith property was 128.83 acres in Section 25. Section 25 is on the easternedge of Dundee Township and is bordered on the east by Barrington Township in Cook County. Section 25 is bordered on the west by route 25; route 72 disects it at a diagonal headed southeast to northwest. It's southern border is about one mile north of the present day Interstate 90.</p><p><p></p></p><p><p>Charles died from pneumonia with complications from Bright's Disease of the kidneys for whichthere was no effective treatment at that time. He was 49 years old. His illness from Bright's Disease lasted four years. Treatments we have today probably would have cured him or at the very least extended and improved his life. He is buried in Bluff City Cemetery in Elgin. His large tombstone shows him as C. W. Struckmann. Three obituaries in Elgin newspapers show him as Charles Struckman. Hisnaturalization papers in 1872 listed him as Charles William Struckman. When he passed away he was living at his farm in Dundee Township, Kane County, Illinois.</p><p><p></p></p><p><p>Starting with Charles, I dropped the second "n" from Struckmann and carried it forward this way for his (my) line of the Struckman family. For all the other Struckmann lines---Carl's siblings' lines and the Gottliebline---I carried forward with the double "n".</p><p><p></p></p><p>I have found no record of how tall he was, but I knew all three of his sons and they were all over six feet.

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