The things you find on a census!

We were curious about who owned what in the village of Buckman, so since plat maps include names, I thought I'd look, say in 1902:

Did John Schmolke own the NE fourth of Buckman? Most of the time, there's a tiny square on each person's land to indicate where the house is, like on Brausens or Denzens there. We know John was a leading citizen and businessman in Buckman. Maybe he lived in town and farmed the land? Could be that two lots of the six marked here were lots he no longer owned....? And see? The church and school were originally opposite of the way they are now.
So, I went to see if his residence was in town. Here's the 'In Town' part of the 1900 census for Buckman. John and Hedwig have been married 14 years, they've had 5 children but only 4 are living; they've adopted a son, and look--Hedwigs' widowed father, John Peschel, lives with them.

AND wow...remember the doctor who cared for Paul Hesch after he broke his back? It was Edward Seguin, a 25 year old, newly arrived French Canadian, who boarded at Schmolkes. (And, according to a chat with Louise, the Doctors' office was IN the Schmolke house!)

Good thing that house was big.

Their son, John M., was born in 1887. He's the 'John Schmolke' referred to in Buckman still.