John Brockman and Margaret Behrens were married on February 20, 1912 in West Point, Iowa. He is Walt’s 1st cousin 2x removed.

John Brockman was the son of William and Mary Kempker Brockman. He was the second of 6 children born to the couple. His father was an immigrant from Germany. William was a carpenter and John joined him in the business.

Margaret Behrens was the daughter of Paul and Elizabeth Bates Behrens. She was born in San Franciso, California. I’m not sure when the family moved to Iowa, but by 1910 she, her mother, and and uncle were living in Fort Madison. Her father Paul was deceased.

Marriage

On February 20th, 1912, they married at St. Marys Church. Father Jacoby was the officiant. In the photos below from the county records we can learn quite a bit. The informant was William Brockman, John’s father.

John was living in West Point and was a carpenter. He was 30 years old and it was his first marriage. He was born in West Point, and his parents were William Brockman and Mary Kempker.

Margaret was also living in West Point. She was 22 and it was her first marriage. She was born in San Francisco and her parents were Paul Behrens and Elizabeth Bates. The witnesses were Aloysius Lohmann and Helen Brockman. They were married by Rev Jacoby, Priest.

John and Margaret Brockman had 4 children, with one son dying in infancy. After they married, they lived in West Point for several years. In 1930, we find the family living in Fort Madison, where John is still working as a carpenter and their oldest son Eugene is working as his assistant.

Margaret died on February 26, 1939. John died less than a month later after a car accident on March 22, 1939. They are buried in Sacred Heart Cemetery in Fort Madison.

I wrote about John’s sister Helen in this post and his father in this post.

On Margaret’s death certificate, it lists her mother’s name as Elizabeth Betty, but I suspect that it is an error.