I’m sure that you noted on the 1902 Map of Maple Hill Township, that there is a 40-acre farm owned by Mary A. Fauerbach. This farm was located just to the north of the large acerage owned by Henry and Charlotte (Kemp) Fauerbach.

That parcel of land belonged to John Mathias and Mary Ann (Kalmer) Fauerbach. John Mathias Fauerbach was the eldest son of Henry Fauerbach’s brother, Phillip Mathias Fauerbach. John and Mary Ann Fauerbach were both born in Illinois and must have migrated to Maple Hill, Kansas at the suggestion of John’s uncle around 1890. Since the US Census for 1890 was burned in a tragic fire in Washington, DC it isn’t likely the exact date will be known.

John and Mary Ann Fauerbach and they five children became very well known in the Maple Hill Community. Their oldest and youngest children, Frances C. Fauerbach and her brother Oscar Francis Fauerbach, never married and lived together nearly all their lives.

I knew both of them and visited in their home when my father would go fishing on Mill Creek, just below their house. That brings up an interesting question. That farm was originally a part of the Henry and Charlotte (Kemp) Farm. For that reason, Oscar and Francis Fauerbach’s parents must have bought that farm from the Henry and Charlotte Fauerbach heirs after their deaths. I do not know when that occurred or what the nature of the transaction was.

There was one major difference between the John and Mary Ann (Kalmer) Fauerbach family and all of the other Fauerbach family members. They were Catholic. The original Fauerbach Family in Illinois was Lutheran and they are buriedin St. Joe’s Lutheran Cemetery in Monroe County, Illinois. Both Henry Fauerbach and his brother Phillip M. Fauerbach were Lutheran, and most of the Fauerbach Family are buried in the Maple Hill (Stone Church) Cemetery. Therefore, it must have been Mary Ann (Kalmer) Fauerbach who was Catholic and raised the family in the Catholic Church.

All of the children of John and Mary Ann Fauerbach were:
Franklin Louis “Highpockets” Fauerbach – 1884 to 1933
Francis C Fauerbach – 1888 to 1969
William Mathias “Bill” Fauerbach – 1892 to 1964
Bertha Fauerbach – 1895 to 1995
Oscar Francis Fauerbach – 1897 to 1979

As mentioned earlier, Francis C and Oscar F. Fauerbach never married and remained on the farm at Maple Hill. Photographs from the Fauerbach Family were given to the Kansas State Historical Society and are now posted on the Kansas Memories website. I’ll share some of them here.

The first is a photo of Bertha, Oscar and Frank Fauerbach making hay on their farm.

The second is a photo of John M. Fauerbach and two of his children cutting wood on the Fauerbach farm.

The third is a photo of Frances C Fauerbach riding side saddle on the Fauerbach Farm near Maple Hill.

The fourth is a photo of Mrs. John M. (Mary Ann) Fauerbach and Frances C. Fauerbach in their buggy.

The fifth is a photo of Oscar and Francis Fauerbach, brother and sister, on their farm northeast of Maple Hill.