Wilhelm[1] Kirmse  was the fifth child and fourth boy born to Julius and Barbara (Kraus) Kirmse. When Wilhelm was born on May 21, 1875, near Farrar, Missouri, his father, Julius, was 40 and his mother, Barbara, was 33.

William’s Parents: Julius and Barbara (Kraus) Kirmse

• • WHAT: Portrait of Barbara (Kraus) and Julius Kirmse
  • LEFT TO RIGHT: Barbara (Kraus) Kirmse; Julius Kirmse, Parents of William Kirmse
  • WHEN: Circa 1900 –  just a guess from their apparent ages.
  • WHERE: Missouri – possibly Farrar, Missouri or Perryville, Missouri
  • SOURCE: Scanned from Dale Kirmse’s Ancestors Album, March 24, 2015.

Julius Kirmse was born on February 6, 1835, in Fichtenhainichen, Duchy of Saxe-Altenburg and immigrated to the Buffalo, New York in 1853 eventually making his way to Perry County, Missouri about 1858. Barbara Kraus was born on May 7, 1842 in Hutschdorf, Bavaria. She immigrated with a sister to Perry County about 1862.

Julius and Barbara married on November 20, 1866 in Perry County, Missouri and had seven children in 12 years: Maria “Mary” Kirmse (1868-1947); Johann Kirmse (1869-1869); August Karl Kirmse (1870-1958); Joseph Kirmse (1873-1957); Wilhelm Kirmse (1875-1968); Louis Kirmse (1877-1963); Johanna Katharina Kirmse (1880-1962).

Julius died on December 12, 1915, near Farrar, Missouri, having lived a long life of 80 years, and was buried in the Salem Lutheran Church Cemetery at Farrar, Missouri. Barbara died on February 20, 1920, near Farrar, Missouri, at the age of 77, and was buried in the Salem Lutheran Church Cemetery at Farrar, Missouri.

Julius Kirmse Farm

After William’s parents were married they made their home on a farm near Farrar, Missouri.

• WHAT: Former Julius Kirmse Farm
• WHEN: ca 1995
• WHERE: Farrar, Missouri
• SOURCE: Helen (Kirmse) Hacker shared October, 2003
• NOTES: The former Julius Kirmse farm is now owned by his granddaughter Helen (Kirmse) Hacker

The following map shows the location of the 40 acre property that Julius Kirmse purchased in 1859  (Now owned by his granddaughter Helen Kirmse Hacker).

• WHAT: Township 1993-1994 landowners map showing the location of former Julius Kirmse farm
• WHEN: 1993-1994
• WHERE: Salem Township, Perry County, Missouri

Growing Up

William Kirmse grew into adulthood during the several Oklahoma land rushes. The first of these was April 22, 1889. Other runs followed in 1891, 1892. 1893, and 1895. After that, there were also “land lotteries.”[2]

The newspapers of the time had many articles about the mad dashes that settlers made to claim cheap Oklahoma lands.

Each week when the weekly paper came, William’s father, Julius Kirmse, would read the paper out loud by the light of an oil lamp to the family after the evening meal. William wished that he were old enough to make one of the runs and dreamed about going out to Oklahoma and obtaining his own land.

At age 18, William Kirmse took up the carpenter trade building houses and barns. He would walk to the construction site at the beginning of the week, be housed there during the week and then walk home on the weekends to get his clothes washed. He later purchased a bicycle and rode it to and from work.

In 1901, William Kirmse made a trip to the town of Alva in the Cherokee Outlet of the Oklahoma Territory to file a land claim. He chose Alva because he knew people from Perry County, Missouri who had moved to Alva. Also, there was a direct train connection between St. Louis and Alva. However, he was too late as all lands had been claimed.

In 1902, William Kirmse made a second trip to the Cherokee Outlet. He worked as a carpenter during the week. And, on weekends, he walked through the countryside. He said that he fell in love with the Alva community and wanted to make it his home.

However, William became ill with scarlet fever and returned in 1903 to his family home near Farrar, Missouri to recover[3]. When I first saw the following photograph, my impression was the man in the portrait was very weak and barely able to stand up.

• WHAT: A sick young man
• WHO: Wilhelm “William” Kirmse, son of Barbara Kraus and Julius Kirmse
• WHEN: Circa 1904
• WHERE: Cape Girardeau, Missouri – as per the photographer imprint on the picture frame
• SOURCE: Shared by Donna (Kirmse) Martin, April 26, 2015
• NOTES: In those days, if you lived in southeast Missouri, Cape Girardeau, Missouri was the place to go to get medical treatment.

He was slightly slumped over and he was leaning on the chair for support as if he needed to walk with a cane.  Later, I found that this was my Grandfather William Kirmse.

Notes

1. Wilhelm, William, Willie, Bill – are several variations of my Grandfather Kirmse’s first name. Wilhelm was his birth given name. William was the Anglicized version of Wilhelm and was used later in life. Willie is the name by which his Missouri family called him. And, I remember some people addressing him as Bill. In this book I use Wilhelm and William interchangeably. I knew him as my Grandpa Kirmse.
2. For more details see: OKGenWeb, “Oklahoma Land Openings 1889-1907.” http://okgenweb.net/~land/
3. Scarlet fever can cause severe complications and even today, it is considered essential to isolate persons with the disease to prevent its spread. How William Kirmse was able to or even allowed to travel from Oklahoma to Missouri is a good question.