I can almost imagine four-year old Susan Block playing with her siblings on the deck of the S.S. Teutonia under the watchful eyes of their parents Jakob and Susanah. The gentle rocking of the ship lulled newborn Abraham to sleep in his mother’s arms. He was born along their journey, but before they set sail. After leaving the Franzthal, Moletchna region of Russia (now Ukraine), the Block family traveled by train to Halbstadt.
Along with a group of 184 German Mennonite families (967 people), this young family left Hamburg by ship on August 16, 1874, 
eager to build a new life in a new land. They crossed the endless waters of the North Atlantic Ocean enroute to New York City, arriving on September 3, 1874. Many of these families then boarded a passenger car of the Santa Fe Railroad and traveled through rolling hills, acres of timber, great rivers, and massive prairieland before reaching Topeka, Kansas.
Can you hear the rhythm of the rails as these newcomers made their way across unfamiliar land? Imagine their thoughts. What would this new land bring for their families? Would their hard work and effort be enough to support them as they started over? What struggles would they meet? Wild animals? Harsh weather? Unfriendly terrains? So many unknowns, yet they traveled on with faith in themselves because of their faith in God.
These Mennonite immigrants were known as good citizens. A frugal, honest, and cooperative people with a strong faith in God who believed in the dignity of hard work. They bought farmland for $2 an acre and homesteaded near Goessel in Marion County, Kansas, where they planted seeds from their homeland to raise Turkey Red Wheat. The crop still flourishes in the area today. These families adjusted to life in Central Kansas, living amidst skunks, grasshoppers, and other native varmints where tornadoes pose a real threat.
Jakob Block purchased an 80-acre plot East of Goessel, and later added another 160-acre plot. Life was good and the family continued to grow in their new home. Their children included: Anna, Isaac, John (Jogann), Jacob, Susan (Susanna), Gertrude*, Abraham*, Abraham, Henry, Peter, and Helena (Lena). Two of their little ones – Gertrude* and Abraham* – died in infancy.
These German Mennonites from Russian spoke what is called Low German when they arrived in Kansas and learned to communicate their needs to those who spoke only English. With each generation, German was slowly relinquished, their accent was lost, and English became their spoken language. As newcomers, they farmed amidst skunks, grasshoppers, and other critters where tornadoes also posed a real threat. Family narratives tell of how they endured hardships with their strong faith intact.
Jakob was baptized and accepted for membership (1856) in the Margenauer (Mennonite) Church in Russia. In Kansas, he joined the Alexanderwohl (Mennonite) Church (1876). The family lived not far from where that church still stands. Before moving to America, Jakob had never tasted a watermelon. Can you imagine? Yet, this German quickly grew to love the juicy fruit. According to family stories, he even concocted a tasty watermelon syrup. Oh, how I wish I had his recipe.
Jakob’s wife, Susanah, died in her mid-50s (January 31, 1885). At the time, their children ranged in age from 2 to 24. 
My husband’s great-grandma, Susan, was only 15 when her mother died. That same year, Jakob became an American citizen (March 2, 1885) in Marion County, Kansas. In 1914, Jakob retired and moved to Hillsboro, transferring his membership to the local Mennonite Church. He died in 1916 at the age of 79. The patriarch suffered from dropsy in later years. His obituary reads “death forever relieved him from it (dropsy) when he was called home to his Lord in whom he completely put his trust during his suffering.”
There is much more I could share about the Block family and their descendants, but let me focus on a family mystery that intrigued me. It’s been 140+ years since Susannah died, and 109+ years since Jakob died, yet no record exists of where they were buried. No one seems to know. There are no tombstones. No sacred place exists where the family gathers to remember the impact and influence of this ancestral couple. Nothing.
Until recently!
Until we met Brian Stucky, a well-known local historian with limitless energy and excitement for life.
Stucky is known for pinpointing historic trails, foundations of buildings, graves, and other traces of lost civilization across the prairies of Kansas relying on the ancient art of dowsing, mixed with a healthy dose of research and modern technology. Geophysicists agree that magnetic patterns existing in undisturbed earth are significantly different than the magnetic patterns that exist in earth that was once disturbed by foundations or cellars that were dug or where wagon ruts crisscrossed the open prairies.
Fascinating, to be sure!
Mr. Stucky offered to help Jim and I search for the lost graves of Jakob and Susanah, explaining that – in those days – family members were often buried on family farmsteads. To say we were excited at Stucky’s offer is an understatement. Let’s do this!
We knew the approximate location of the Block land and even had a snapshot of their small, modest home. Home Sweet Home on the Kansas prairie, where they eeked out a modest living beginning in the 1870s.
Brian knew the location of the Block homestead and he also knew the current landowners. He asked their permission to investigate and invited us to come along. We met at the edge of a wheat field where a small creek meanders through trees in Menno Township, just ten miles Southwest of where Jim and I now live in Hillsboro, Kansas.
Between the trees, iris peeked out of winter’s carpet of brown leaves and fallen limbs. I wondered . . . were these hardy flowers planted by the ancestors who called this place home? We followed a path carved out among the trees to the edge of a gently rolling field. Its current wheat crop stretched upward, seeking sunshine and awaiting gentle rains to nourish it before summer’s harvest.
This plot of land has been farmed for decades. No trace of a homestead exists, yet we knew we were in the right spot. One of the landowners who accompanied us remembers the Block place from her childhood. She spent hours here, exploring and wading in the nearby creek with friends and siblings.
The sunshine misled us to trust its promise of warmth on that day. A gusty springtime breeze sent shivers as we watched the skillful master doing his thing. Stucky gripped an L-shaped copper pipe at an upward angle, exerting just enough tension to keep natural gravity in check. He walked, waiting for the unmistakable magnetic pull from the earth below.
Even in a steady hand, that rod dropped whenever Stucky neared an area of disrupted earth. He stopped in his tracks, leaned over, and placed a survey flag at that spot before taking another step. Within moments, the gravitational pull returned. Another flag was set. Then another. These flags soon outlined buildings that once graced this farmland. The footprint of abandoned buildings became more evident. Well-worn paths of wagon wheels were visible as flags were placed. Smaller flagged areas indicated the sites of two hand-dug graves – side by side – just north of where the home once welcomed its family.
Jim and I stood there in silence, equally fascinated and overwhelmed to be on hallowed ancestral land and to witness the re-awakening of a century-old homestead. This is where Jim’s ancestors worked and played. This is the land where they lived and where they died.
A rare privilege was ours that day, thanks to the expertise of Mr. Brian Stucky. As we watched, Stucky discovered and documented a garage (9’4″ x 12’8″), home (16’7″ x 18’5″), water well, outhouse (a 2-holer, mind you), and side-by-side gravesites (2’8″ x 7’7″ and 3’2″ x 6’9″). GPS coordinates for the gravesites are: N 38* 16′ 07.2″ and W 97* 16′ 48.4″. Stucky suspects a barn and other outbuildings may have existed further to the West, but time didn’t allow for more investigation.
The ages-old family mystery was solved in one chilly afternoon, thanks to Brian Stucky. We now know the location of the gravesites of Jim’s 2x great grandparents, Jakob and Susanah Block.
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