The Ficke-McCallister Cemetery: Who's Buried There and How Are They Related?

Ficke Cemetery, Franklin County, Missouri (partial list)

Also called the McAllister Cemetery

Located Section 1, T.41N-R.4W

South of Gerald on H, East on Red Oak to McCallister Road.

Taken in 1987. This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb

Archives by: Joe L. Miller < [email protected] >

Ficke Cemetery is located 18 miles North West from Sullivan, Mo. where North Service Road intersects Highway "h". Go 15.5 miles to McCallister Road on "h". Then turn right on McCallister & go 1.4 miles to Red Oak Road. there will be a rough gravel road to your right. Ficke Cemetery is a short walk up a field & past a small pond. It is enclosed in a fenced area. It is in poor condition overgrown with weeds. It is mowed once a year by the Cuneio twins Floyd & Lloyd. (Ed. Note: This info was received via E-Mail on 3/15/2000 from [email protected]) Franklin County, Missouri Cemetery Inscription Sources: David A. Lossos, updated September 24, 2007.

(N.B. For many years this cemetery was maintained by Ray Farrell at the request of Edna V. Ficke. BGB)

Over the past several years my Ficke cousins and I have wondered who is buried in this cemetery, and how we are related to them, since we didn't recognize most of the names. Using the partial listing provided by Joe Miller in 1987 on GEN-Web as a starting point and adding information from the census reports and death certificates that I was able to obtain, I have been able to piece together an interesting, if not complete, history of this small cemetery. E.B. Forster makes a distinction between plot and story, saying plot is "The king died; the queen died." and story is "The king died, and the queen died soon after of a broken heart." I have attempted to tell some of the story of our ancestors here.

Since it is located on what was originally a piece of an old Ficke farm, I will start with them. (An asterick following a name indicates that I have a death certificate for that individual; underlining means I have added the name to Joe Miller's original list.)

FICKE, 2 MAY 1892 28 MAY 1892 D/J. F. & S. C.

FICKE, G. F. 21 JAN 1887 21 FEB 1889 S/J. F. & S. C.

FICKE, John F. 1864 1953 Father.

FICKE, John F. 29 DEC 1819 6 SEP 1894 H/Mary A. E.

FICKE, Mary A. E. 5 AUG 1829 29 APR 1895 W/J. F.

FICKE, Susan C. 1866 1912 Mother.

FICKE, Tona A. 19 JUL 1897 8 MAY 1898 S/J. F. & S. C.

FICKE, William Hermann ( 4 JUNE 1857 12 FEB 1927 )

BEUCKE, Sarah Francis Ficke ( 5 NOV 1867 29 OCT 1947)

BELL, Amelia Alice 25 APR 1867 4 SEP 1917 W/A.L.

BELL, Gertha Pearl 4 JULY 1892 4 AUG 1892 D/A.L. & A.A.

BELL, Andrew Lee ( 31 MAR 1867 28 DEC 1947 )

WEST, George M. 18 JUL 1855 12 JAN 1940 H/Henrietta (2)Martha J.*

WEST, Henrietta 3 AUG 1860 25 JUL 1881 W/George M.

WEST, Martha J. 2 MAR 1865 4 JUN 1911 W/George M. (2)*

John (Johann) Frederick Ficke was born in Hanover, Germany on December 29, 1819, and immigrated to America in 1835, along with his parents Frederick Ficke and Catherine Heidwig Franksen, and his siblings Anna, Herman, Elizabeth, Joanna, George Adolphus, and Jacob. (Three other siblings--Adolf, Luder, and Heloise--had died in Germany.) Catherine and Jacob died and were buried at sea on the voyage over, but Frederick and the remaining children settled in the Meramec Valley, acquiring considerable farm property between them. John was the eldest, and married Mary A.E.Jamieson on December 23, 1847. They had nine children: Frances Jane, Mary Elizabeth, Joanna, William Herman, Henrietta, John Frederick, Martha Ann, Amelia Alice, and Louise. John, Sr. died in September, 1894, and his wife, Mary the following year in April, 1895.

William Hermann Ficke* was born on June 4, 1857 and married Sarah Francis Brown*, the daughter of John Walker Brown and Mary Elizabeth Rodgers, on September 10, 1882 in Gasconade County, Missouri. They had eleven children. William was a farmer, and died of a cerebreal hemmorrhage on February 12, 1927 at the age of 69 after an illness of seven months. His death certificate states that he belonged to a religious sect that refused to take medicine. He was buried from his home near Tea after services conducted by the Reverend King of Union, Missouri, on February 14, 1927. Sarah subsequently married George Edward Beucke, on February 27, 1937 in Rosebud, Gasconade County, Missouri; they had no children. (His first wife was her sister, Caroline; they had two children.) Sarah was born on November 5, 1867 in Rosebud, Gasconade County, Missouri, and died there on October 29, 1947.

John Frederick Ficke* was born on July 15, 1864 according to both the cemetery headstone and the 1880 census. His death certificate gives the year as 1860, but all other recoreds suggest this was an error on the part of the informant or the transcriber, particularly since his sister Henrietta's records indicate she was born on August 3, 1860. Around 1885, he married Susan Catherine Souders*, born to William Souders and an unknown mother on July 13, 1865. They had seven children, three of whom died in infancy and are also buried in this cemetery: an un-named daughter in 1892, and two sons--G.F. in 1889 and Tona A. in 1898. Susan died of liver cancer on June 10, 1913 at the age of 47. They were living at 2515 South 7th Street in Saint Louis, but she was buried in Gerald on June 12, 1913. John died at 89 (or 92 according to the death certificate) of cancer of the esophagus on July 12, 1953. He was living in Saint Louis at 2258a Jules Avenue with Goldie Ficke, his youngest son. His marital status is listed as "widowed". Susan apparently went by the name "Catherine", since that is how his spouse is listed. (On the birth certificate for their son G.F. in 1887 her name is recorded as "Cate".) He was no longer farming, but his occupation was given as "car builder, American Car and Foundry". His funeral was on July 14, 1953.

Amelia Alice (Ficke)Bell was born on April 25, 1867 and on February 21, 1889 married Andrew Lee Bell*, born on March 31, 1867 in Champion City, Franklin County, Missouri to Andrew J. Bell and Sarah McAllister. She died on September 4, 1917; he died on December 28, 1947 in Miller's Nursing Home in Sullivan and was buried on December 30, 1947. His occupation was listed as "mail handler". Their infant daughter, Gertha Pearl Bell was born on July 4, 1892 and only lived until August 4, 1892.

Henrietta West, another daughter of John Ficke and Mary Jamieson, was born on August 3, 1860 and died on July 25, 1881 in Tea, Gasconade County, Missouri in childbirth. She married George M. West on February 3, 1878 in Franklin County; they had two children. He was born on July 18, 1855 in Walbert, Franklin County to John W. West and Nancy Jane Ankrum, and died on January 12, 1940 in Cuba, Crawford County, Missouri. After Henrietta's death he married Martha Jane West *, the daughter of John Walker Brown and Mary Elizabeth Rodgers on July 26, 1885. She was born on March 2, 1865 and died on June 4, 1911 in Crawford County, Missouri at 46 years of age of "tuberculosis of the lungs". She also had bronchial pnuemonia and breast cancer. She lived in Oak Hill, but was buried on June 6, 1911 in Gerald. Henry Hundfeldt of Cuba, Crawford County, Missouri handled the arrangements. George married a third time on September 7, 1916. She was Mary Ann Elizabeth Conner, born on August 23, 1856 to John Conner and Sarah Ann Falwell. She died on February 17, 1935 in Oak Hill.

BROWN, John W. 26 APR 1835 6 SEP 1907 H/Mary E. (Rodgers)*

BROWN, Mary E. 1 JUL 1840 27 JUL 1901 W/John W.*

BROWN, William H. 19 MAR 1861 15 MAY 1936 S/John W. & Mary E.

FORTNER, Harriet A. 14 JUN 1923 W/H. 53y.

FORTNER, William Henry 12 Aug 1857 12 May 1926

CUNIO, 5 AUG 1904 8 AUG 1904 D/E. A. & E. V.

CUNIO, Bricel R. 5 SEP 1901 21 SEP 1901 S/E. A. & E. V.

CUNIO, Elax A. 1871 19?? H/Ettie V.

John Walker Brown and his wife, Mary Elizabeth Brown nee Rodgers, are also buried here. He was born on April 23, 1835 and died on September 6, 1907; Mary was born on July 1, 1840 and died on July 27, 1901. Their son William H. Brown was born on March 19, 1861 and died on May 15, 1936. His older sister, Harriet Alice Brown Fortner * was born sometime in September, 1860 in Tea, Gasconade County, Missouri and died of "billiary calculi, probably due to cirrhosis of liver" on June 16, 1923. She was buried in Ficke Cemetery on June 18, 1923. Her husband, William Henry Fortner* died of "cerebral apoplexy" three years later, on May 12, 1926. He was born in Franklin County on August 12, 1857 to Arch Fortner and an unknown mother; both his parents were from Virginia. He was buried on May 13, 1926, with the arrangements made by J. T. Williams of Sullivan, Missouri.

Elax Cunio* was born in Italy on July 14, 1871 to Marion Cunio and unknown Phillips. He was a carpenter and died on October 17, 1951 at Alexian Brothers Hospital in Saint Louis ten days after suffering a stroke. His death certificate states that he was buried on October 19, 1951 in Owensville, Missouri, but there is a grave marker for him in the Ficke-McCallister Cemetery. His first wife was Ettie V. Farrell, the daughter of Thomas Frank Farrell and Elizabeth Ficke, the daughter of John and Susan Ficke. Two of their children are also buried here; a son, Bricel, and an unnamed daughter who lived only 3 days. The death certificate for the son reads "Brissel Raymond Cunio*" and lists the date of death as September 28, 1901 and his age as 21 days old. The cause of death was "congenital debility due to congenital deformity", and the undertaker was William Michel of Sullivan. His second wife, Katherine Margaret*, the daughter of William W. Thompson and Ida Mae Wiley, died on June 30, 1948 and is buried in Wood Lawn Cemetery in Desoto, Missouri; arrangements were by Chas. A. Schmidt of Gerald. (Ettie V. died in 1932 and is buried in New Friendship Baptist Cemetery in Franklin County.)

FARRELL, 16 AUG 1885 28 JUL 1886 S/ F.T. & M.E.

FARRELL, Forest B. 4 Jan 1898 23 July 1899 S/ JF & JA

FARRELL, Lesley C. 5 Aug 1874 27 Mar 1875 S/T.F. & M.E.

FARRELL, M. E. 8 Jan 1851 2 Dec 1900 S/T.F (Here S stands for spouse)

FARRELL, T.F. 13 Nov 1843 23 Jan 1916 S/M.E.

The Ficke-Farrell ties are quite strong. Our great-grandfather George Adolphus Ficke, John Frederick Ficke, Sr.'s younger brother, married Ann Cleveland Farrell and her brother, Thomas Frank Farrell, married John's daughter Mary Elizabeth. Thomas Frank Farrell * was the son of James Radford Farrell and Mary Catherine Billups who both came to Missouri from Virginia. They married on November 2, 1837 and settled in Franklin County. Thomas was born on November 13, 1843 and died suddenly on January 23, 1916 of apoplexy. He was attended by Dr. J. P. Johnson who also delivered several of our grandmother Ida Julianna Ficke's babies. (Her later children were delivered by Dr. Fitzgerald, for whom the town of Gerald was named.) The 1880 Federal Census for Franklin County, Missouri shows the T. F. Farrell farm to be adjacent to the Ficke one.

Mary Elizabeth Farrell was born on January 8, 1851 to John and Mary Ficke, the second oldest of their children. She died on December 2, 1900 and is buried here with her husband and two infant sons. Lessley C. Farrell was born on August 5, 1874 and died at eight months of age on March 27, 1875. Another son (the stone simply reads Farrell ) lived almost a year; he was born on August 16, 1885 and died on July 28, 1886.

Forest B. Farrell was only six months old; he was born on January 4, 1898 and died on July 3, 1899. He was the son of JF & JA Farrell. I have not been able to find any more information about him or his parents, but Thomas and Mary Elizabeth's first child was a son named James F., who married Amy Virginia Bell, so it is quite possible this is their son.

BLANKENSHIP, 21 DEC 1880 3 JUL 1891 D/C. P. & M. E. (This entry appears to have been misread, and refers to the stone for Ivy G. Blankenship.)

BLANKENSHIP, Cecil E. 25 SEP 1899 22 OCT 1962

BLANKENSHIP, Charles P. 1861 1919 H/Mamie E.

BLANKENSHIP, Edith I. 12 SEP 19090 27 FEB 1916

BLANKENSHIP, Ivy G. 21 DEC 1889 3 JUL 1891 D/C. P. & M. E.

BLANKENSHIP, Mamie E. 1873 1914 W/Charles P.

BLANKENSHIP, Nancy J. 12 NOV 1841 31 AUG 1918 W/R. J.

WEIRICH, Fannie F. 1890 1919 W/Herman E.

WEIRICH, Herman E. 1889 1946 H/Fannie F.

WEIRICH, Mamie Alice Tyree 16 Aug 1883 27 Aug 1941

The relationship of the Blankenship family is less close and appears to be linked through the Bell, Jamieson, and Farrell families. Mamie Elizabeth and Nancy J. (Mary Nancy, called Jane) are the daughters of Sarah Catherine Bell and Henry Jameison. They were married in Franklin County on September 5, 1860 and had four children: Mary Nancy, John, Sally Ann, and Mamie Elizabeth. Sarah Catherine "Kittie" Bell's two younger sisters, Elizabeth Frances and Mary Polly Josephine, were the first and second wives of Beverly Tucker Farrell, the older brother of Thomas Frank Farrell. I have not yet been able to establish a link between Henry Jameison and Mary A.E. Jamieson, the wife of John Frederick Ficke, Senior. (This surname appears as both "Jamieson" and "Jameison" on various records.)

Charles Price Blankenship* was born in Franklin County, Missouri on November 11, 1861 to Charles H. Blankenship and Catherine Elizabeth Johnson. He married Mamie Jameison on March 28, 1889. He was a farmer who had been a widower for five years when he died of "uremic toxemia due to cardiac hypertrophy" on October 1, 1919, just a month short of his 58th birthday. Both Dr. Walter Mattox who treated him and J.T. Williams, the undertaker who handled his funeral on October 2, 1919, were from Sullivan. His death certificate states that he would be buried in Spring Bluff, Missouri, but there is a tombstone for him in the Ficke/McAllister Cemetery.

Mamie Elizabeth Blankenship * was born in Franklin County, Missouri on November 25, 1873. She was only 40 years old when she died of "Bronchopneumonia" on February 27, 1914, and was buried the following day without an undertaker. The only information I have for Ivy G. Blankenship is the inscription on her grave marker; she was born on December 21, 1899 and died when she was 18 months old on July 3, 1891.

Edith Ione Blankenship * was born on September 12, 1909 and when she was two she contracted spinal-cerebral meningitis with resulting paralysis on her left side. She died on January 27, 1916 of convulsions due to epilepsy when she was six and a half years old, and was buried the following day, January 28, 1t. 916. She was treated by Dr. C. Carter Lee and funeral arrangements were made by J. T. Williams of Sullivan, Missouri.

Cecil E. Blankenship was born Setpember 25, 1899 and died October 22, 1962. He was the son of Charles P. and Mamie E. Blankenship.

Another child, Fannie S. Weirich * , is also buried here. She was born July 10, 1991 a week after her sister Ivy died, and married Herman Eli Weirich on April 3, 1914 in Franklin County. She died April 25, 1919 at twenty-seven of "uraemic convulsions due to puerparal state" after six hours. She was treated by Dr. W. P. Fitzgerald for what appears to have been complications following childbirth. E. F. Ottmann of Gerald handled the funeral on April 27, 1919.

Herman Eli Weirich * was employed as a city policeman in Sullivan, Missouri and died on September 12, 1946 four days after the automobile he was driving was struck by an eastbound Friscoe freight train at the Marc (?) Crossing in Sullivan. He was born in Franklin County on December 19, 1888, the son of Frederick Weirich of Germany and Carrie Parks from Missouri. He died at Missouri Baptist Hospital in Saint Louis of subdural and subarachroid hemorrages of the brain. There was an "open verdict" returned by the coroner's jury since the crew was unknown and the "cause and manner" of the accident could not be determined. The death certificate was signed by Patrick E. Taylor for the Deputy Coroner, and burial was from Hoppe Funeral Home to Ficke Cemetery on September 14, 1946.

Herman's second wife, Mamie Alice Tyree Weirich, is also buried in Ficke Cemetery. She was the daughter of Nancy Jane Jameison and Robert Julian Blankenship. She was born August 16, 1883 and died August 27, 1941 at the age of 58 years and 11 days. The funeral service was conducted by the Reverend Odis Virgin of the Sullivan Pentecostal Church.

Nancy J. (Jane) Blankenship * was born November 12, 1861 and married Robert Julian Blankenship, the older brother of Charles Price Blankenship, on November 28, 1882 in Franklin County, Missouri. They had five children; one of her daughters, Leona, died only two and a half months after she did, on November 13, 1918. Jane died on August 31, 1918 of "general paralysis due to cerebral hemmorhage". J.J. Farrell of Gerald handled the funeral arrangements on September 1, 1918.

MC CALLISTER, 11 AUG 1867 1 DEC 1867 D/S. A. & S. J.

MC CALLISTER, Cogak 24 OCT 1892 5 SEP 1893 S/S. A. & S. J.

MC CALLISTER, John 4 NOV 1876 9 NOV 1876 S/S. A. & S. J.

MC CALLISTER, Margaret 1 JAN 1878 D/S. A. & S. J. 9m.

MC CALLISTER, Samantha J. 25 JAN 1854 26 JAN 1880 W/S. A.

MC CALLISTER, Sarah J. 28 MAR 1818 18 NOV 1876 W/S. A.

BREWER, Harvard Allen DEC 1907 APR 1908

Although they are the earliest burials in this cemetery, it was difficult to establish any connection to the McCallisters buried here. They are all children and wives of Samuel A. McCallister, and the link appears to be through his cousin, Sarah V., the daughter of his father's brother Andrew. She married Andrew J. Bell and their son married Amelia Alice Ficke, daughter of John Ficke and Mary A. E. Jamieson. That was the only familial tie I could find, although the McCallister and Ficke farms at one point abutted one another.

Samuel A. McCallister was the son of Samuel McCalllister and Mary Ann Gross. He was born on September 24, 1840 and raised by his stepfather, George W. McCrow (or McGraw), his father having died when he was still just an infant. In 1859 he joined the Texas Rangers, but returned to Missouri in 1865. The following year he married his first wife, Sarah Jane Love on Octrober 30, 1866.

Sarah is the daughter of Andrew Love and Mary Jane Muir and was born on March 28, 1848. (The cemetery listing gives 1818 as her birth year, but all other records substantiate 1848.) According to the Goodspeed history she had six children, only three of whom survived her---Edwin, Virginia, and Minnie Myrtle. Mary A. McCallister was born between Eddie and Jennie (Virginia) on August 11, 1867 and died at four months, on December 1, 1867. She is buried here along with her brother, John McCallister, who was born November 4, 1876 and died November 9, 1876. Sarah died on November 18, 1876. Although I didn't locate a death dertificate for her, given the proximity of their death dates, I suspect that both John and Sarah died following a difficult childbirth.

I wasn't able to find records on the sixth child, but it might be Margaret McCallister, who died on January 1, 1878 at nine months of age. This date was almost certainly misread since Sarah died in 1876, and Samuel didn't remarry until June 8, 1879. If the date is 1873 for Margaret's death, this would place her between Mary (1867) and John (1876) and seems a reasonable assumption.

Samuel married Samantha Jane Arnhart June 8, 1879 in Barry County, Missouri. She was born January 25, 1854 and died seven months after her marriage on January 26, 1880. She was only twenty-six years old. The 1880 Census lists Sam and his three children---Eddie, Virginia, and Minnie.

Samuel was married a third time on March 18, 1883 to Emma Jane Harris. She was born in December, 1866, and was twenty-six years younger than her husband. The 1900 Census lists them as Household #44, married 16 years, and having five children: Ethel, Elmer, Roscoe, Arthur, and Nellie. (This same census places Sam's oldest son, Eddie, as a thirty year old teacher living in his cousin Elijah's household.)

One other child is buried here but there seems to be a minor discrepancy in the records. The stone identifies him as Cogak McCallister, the son of S. A. and S. J., born October 24, 1892 and who died September 5, 1893. Sarah Jane died in 1876 and Samantha Jane in 1879: but if the inscription actually reads E. J. for Emma Jane, this would place his birth between Elmer (December, 1889) and Roscoe (January, 1894). Since these are some of the oldest markers in the cemetery, it is possible that some of the inscriptions are hard to decipher.

One other interesting fact arising from the 1900 Census is that our grandparents, Gus and Ida Ficke, are recorded as Household #49, near neighbors of Sam and Emma McCallister. It is easy to imagine that Ida and Emma would have been good friends since they were both farm wives in their early thirties with a house full of little children. Emma had five between the ages of 12 and 1, and Ida had seven between 10 and six months. There probably wasn't much "free time" in either household but they might well have looked forward to spending it in each other's company!

The only individual that I was unable to link to any of the families in the Ficke-McCallister Cemetery was Harvard Allen Brewer, a four month old infant. While there were numerous listings for the surname Brewer in the Franklin County censuses for different years, I found no marriage records or other documents connecting it to the other surnames of interest here. I believe the plot was probably offered as an act of Christian charity to the bereaved family because of proximity or possibly Church or business affiliation.

I hope that this has been a kind of virtual "coffee klatch" with a gossipy old relative, and that some of our ancestors have taken on new dimensions because of it. I believe that as we come to know more about our early family members, they tend to become real people to us and not simply statistics on the pages of dusty old books and records, and that as a result our own lives are enriched by an appreciation of our heritage. As always, I welcome any corrections, additions, or comments. You can reach me at [email protected].

NOTES AND REFERENCES

1. David A. Lossos: Franklin County, Missouri Cemetery Inscription Sources and

<stlouis.genealogyvillage.com>

2. Joe E. Miller: USGenWeb Archives <[email protected]> and The Pinnell Family Network <homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~pinnell/index.html>

3. David Ficke--Genealogy Report on Frederich Ficke prepared by Jens Muller-Koppe of Historical Research Services, Bremen, Germany; also e-mails and letters.

4. Barbara Weber Essmann, Sharon Nolting-Stidham Smith, and Shirley Haase Volk---- e-mails, letters, and phone conversations.

5. "History of Franklin, Jefferson, Washington, Crawford and Gasconade Counties", Goodspeed Publishing Company, 1888

6. RootsWeb's World Connect Project: Family Bell and Others--Donna Broome <[email protected]>: Ancestors and Friends--Leslie MacConachie <[email protected]>: The Ties That Bind--Meredith <[email protected]>

7. Missouri State Archives, Missouri Death Certificates,1908-1958

<www.sos.mo.gov/archives/resources/deathcertificates/#search>

8. 1880 and 1900 Federal Censuses for Franklin County, Missouri

9. Family History and Genealogy Records <http://www.familysearch.org/eng>

10. Ancestry.com Family Trees: Weir, Bell and Allied Families (Owner: cbell2117)