John Edward Weik – UPDATE

John Edward Weik is my great-grandfather who was born on April 15, 1846, but where he was born is a question mark.

UPDATE: I have continued to look for evidence that my great-grandfather was born in Germany and not in the United States as was stated on his Death Certificate. I came across the 1860 Illinois Census of Harlem, Stephenson, Illinois and he and his brother Richard were living with the James Randlier family along with their Grandfather Sabastian Hoover. John’s birthdate was calculated as birth being in 1854 and that his brother Richard was born in 1849 as stated below. That would fall into place with the arrival date into the United States as 1854. Gertraud could have been pregnant with John as they traveled to this country.

Now my next question is finding out who was James Randlier or G Clome and how they are related to my family members.

On his Death Certificate, it says his birth state was Illinois but all of the siblings were born in Katholisch, Ketsch, Mannheim, Baden, Germany. My father, Merle Otto Weik either didn’t know his birthplace or he just didn’t want to share it with his family. So at this writing, I am going with his birth in Germany.

John Edward Weik parents were Jacob Weik and Gertraud Hoover/Huber. He had eight siblings, Eduard Albert 1837, Franz Wilhelm 1838, Otto 1840, Eva Katharina 1842, Louis 1846, Verna Susanna 1847, and Richard Weik 1849 all born in Baden, Germany.

From my research, it looks like Jacob and Gertraud and family came to America around 1853-54. I have not found any immigration information on John but since he had a younger brother Richard who came to America I am assuming John was with them when they made the journey. Once again I have no proof of this except what I have found on his other siblings.

The Weik family settled in and around Freeport, Stephenson, Illinois on a farm outside of town in a smaller town called Cedarville. This is where John and his siblings grew up in their new country. I did remember my father telling me that when they arrived in America their parents told them it was time to learn English and not speak German. He also told me when there would be disagreements between relatives German was spoken exclusively! So let’s just say they saved their German for special occasions!

John was twenty-seven years old when he meant and married Elizabeth Brandt on April 15, 1873, in Freeport, Illinois. They started their family by having a son named Edward John in 1874 in Freeport.

For some unknown reason, they decided to travel from Illinois to Grant, Riley, Kansas with their new baby and to settle down and be farmers. The family started to grow as more children joined the family, Peter Jacob 1877, Elizabeth Katherine 1878, Susan Ann 1880, Louis Franklin 1883, Otto Richard (my grandfather) 1885 and Maude Weik 1889. The family also lived in Leonardville and Sherman.

He never served in any of the wars, his age always had him too young or too old. On August 1, 1927, in Leonardville, Kansas John Edward Weik died of apoplexy after suffering a stroke or cerebral hemorrhage. He was eighty-one years old, he had lived a good life being a farmer and raising a family in the Kansas plains. He was buried in the Fairview Cemetery in Riley, Kansas.

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