Johann W. "John" Schwanke was born to his loving parents on Friday August 29, 1834 at Masschultz Poland Germany. I believe John's mother's maiden name to be Dotatea Theresa "Dorothy" Bauer. John's father's name was Martin Jr. per Zion Lutheran Church 1904 records. Per my research Martin Jr. was interred at Newton, Marquette County Wisconsin in 1860. Please make a note that this biography information is over a hundred years old, but believe to be correct. My research found no information on John's childhood or schooling. John immigrated to the United States with his family in 1854 and lived one year in Detroit Michigan. John moved to Wisconsin around 1860 and was united in marriage to Ernestine Katz a few months later. In 1864 John and Ernestine moved to Peoria, Peoria County Illinois. Sadly Ernestine passed in 1866 leaving John with four small children. John moved to Fremont, Dodge County Nebraska in 1867 and was united in marriage that year to Fredericke Zander at West Point, Cuming County. The couple later moved near Snyder, Dodge County. In 1901 John and Fredericke purchased a farm east of Alva, Woods County Oklahoma. John was a Christian gentleman, friend, and neighbor. John was living at Alva at the time of his death. Sadly John passed on Saturday June 9, 1917 at the age of 82 years, 9 months, 11 days which does not include his last day, he lived a total of 30,234 days. John's funeral service was held Tuesday June 12, 1917 at the Lutheran Church with the Rev. Vetter officiating. John was interred in the Lutheran Church Cemetery southeast of Alva. John's information was provided from researching many resources and my memory. This biography was created as an honor to John by his great grandson Loren R. I believe all lives matter, even the lives of those who have passed. Many details are still missing from his life, if you have any more details I will be happy to edit the additional information into this biography. Please send your info to me at my email address [email protected]

Possible Son with Ernestine: Christian Henry Schwank (1865 - 1940) listed on familysearch.org (L2VQ-BYZ)

Credits: Contributor Tim (Renfrew's Records), Zion Lutheran Church 1904 Records, familysearch.org (LKMT-15T), timeanddate.com
Revised: 08/29/2021