Friederich and Anna Guenther & family settle in Arkansas

The Günther family, now spelled Guenther (and pronounced Ginthur with a hard G), arrived in Logan County, Arkansas by late autumn 1881.  It was in the midst of a terrible drought with little or no rain falling from May until October resulting in a total crop failure that the family took possession of their 120 acres. Officially the date was November 22,

page one of sale-click on image to enlarge

 1881, when Anna Marie Mesel Günther’s brother, Anton, sold the land to his brother-in-law F. W. Günther for the sum of $780 as had been arranged.  Anton made a profit of $20 on the sale.  Whether Anton originally bought the farm for himself or with the intent of turning it over to his sister and brother-in-law is unknown.

The drought led many settlers to move in attempt to make a better life elsewhere, but the Günther family stayed and began construction of a log cabin on their new property in the midst of an influx of other German Catholic immigrants.  Perhaps there was a structure of some fashion that the family lived in until the log cabin was completed.   
Nearby in Subiaco was a tiny Benedictine settlement staffed with Swiss monks called St. Benedict’s, and St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Paris that served the family’s spiritual needs.  They were devout Catholic's and though Sunday was the Lord's Day it was the only day of relative leisure.  Following Mass German immigrants would often bring out their violins, accordions, and other musical instruments and play while others in the group danced.  This was done to the dismay and disapproval of the local Sounthern Baptists who seriously frowned on that sort of behavior.  There were incidents when the sheriff was called to subdue revelers not long before the Guenthers arrived in Logan County.  

Anna Guenther's baptism record

The following spring on March 11, 1882, a baby girl conceived in Bavaria was born in the log cabin with a dirt floor on the Günther farm near Paris. Anna Marie Günther, the youngest of four living children was the first and only American born child in her family.  Anna was baptized in St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Paris, Arkansas.  

The Friederich and Anna Guenther family were settled in their cabin outside Paris. Like other families they spent the day farming and making improvements to their cabin, their land, tending their livestock.  The children were schooled by the nuns at St. Joseph's.  They had made friends of neighbors and fellow German settlers.  
Wilhelm, now Americanized as William to some, was showing an interest in politics and debating issues of the times.  There was talk that he might go into politics.  It never happened.  On July 18, 1895 a burst appendix took his life and dreams at the age of 27. He was laid to rest at St. Joseph's Cemetery west of Paris, Arkansas.  His dying was the dying out of the Guenther name in Friederich's branch of the family.  Friederich, Anna, at this time both aged 53, and Wilhelm's three younger sisters mourned their son and brother sorely.  At his age he had so much ahead of him.  He was THEIR Wilhelm who took care of much of the farm work, was depended on, and surely loved.  

Friederich and Anna Günther

This photo blew  out of an open window of the old Willems homeplace after the house was sold.  The picture was given to Frank Willems and is thought to be Elisabeth Günther, although she and her sister Anna shared a striking resemblance causing some discussion.

Anna’s older sister Margaret met  Tobias Post of Altus.  He was the son of Jacob and Mary Ann (Lailer) Post of Altus, Arkansas who like the Guenther's migrated from Bavaria.  They, however, first settled in Delphi, Indiana where Tobias and several of his siblings were born, and arrived in Arkansas shortly before the Guenthers.  According to the marriage license Tobias was 23, and Margaret 25 years of age when

they married on November 21, 1899.   The newlyweds continued to live in the area through at least 1906. 

Margaret Guenther

Tobias Post

Other relatives


Henry Kraemer, Friederich Guenther's nephew, the son of his sister Maria Cleopha and brother-in-law  Heinrich Wilhelm Kraemer migrated to the USA as well and was ordained as a Benedictine brother taking the name Frater Fintan March 21, 1888, at St. Benedict's at Subiaco, Arkansas later becoming a priest.  During his career as a priest he organized a church for black folks at Little Rock and served St. Andrew's German Catholic Church from 1893 to 1898.

Henry's sister Margaret also migrated to the Paris/Subiaco area.  She married the widowed businessman Conrad Elsken in 1900.  He'd had eight children by his first marriage, several of whom were deceased by the time of his second marriage.  Conrad and Margaret had seven children together.

This is the record of Henry's birth and christening:

father:  Wilhelm Kraemer
mother:  Maria Cleopha Guenther
Name  Heinrich Wilhelm Kraemer
Gender  Male
Christening Date  19 Apr 1868
Christening Place  LEISTADT,PFALZ,BAVARIA
Birth:  18 April 1868
Father's Name  Wilhelm Kraemer
Mother's Name  Maria Cleopha Guenther
Indexing Project (Batch) Number  C97325-3
System Origin  Germany-ODM
GS Film number  1050045 

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