Over the Christmas holiday, Cullman native Ray Buchmann took his family on a hay ride through history, visiting the creek where is great-great-grandfather, John Buchmann, drowned while attempting to cross the flooded bridge.

Julie Burks, event coordinator and researcher at the Cullman County Museum, shared the information she had found on John, including that he was born in Switzerland in September of 1842, and emigrated to the United States, showing up in the Dakota Territory in 1858, according to documents.

Two years ago, Burks had been doing research on photos for the museum and contacted Ray to get more information on John and his wife, Margaret, who were among the first settlers in Cullman.

“Julie’s been a real influence on me,” said Ray. “We spent two hours with Julie then, and it really sparked my interest.”

Ray had some of the oral history of his family – including John’s drowning at what is now known as Ryan Creek on Welti Road, SW. John had been driving a wagon pulled by mules when he approached the bridge over the creek. There was water covering the bridge, which did not have rails, and John Buchmann apparently underestimated the depth of the water covering the bridge. When he attempted to cross, the mules, the wagon and Buchmann were swept away by the flood waters.

Ray’s family – daughter Anna, son Ray and their spouses and children – heard about the family history at the Bachmann’s home before loading into a trailer to drive by the creek. Escorted by a Sheriff’s Office deputy so as to not block traffic, the family listened as Burks painted the picture for them of what the area would have looked like in February, 1890. She explained that the road crossing the creek would have been much more narrow and rough, and where today the road sits well above the creek, in 1890 it would have been much lower.

In her research, Burks found newspaper clippings and Census data to track the early Buchmanns. She discovered Margaret, whose family was also from Switzerland, lived in Missouri, so John must have traveled between Missouri and South Dakota. Burks speculated that he traveled mostly on the Mississippi River, a heavy trade route.

She said, “I thought that was interesting, the fact that he drowned, knowing that he lived on the river. He was very much aware of the seriousness of flooding.”

He was 32 when he married Margaret, who Burk estimated to be around 18 at the time. She said it was unusual that a man that age would be getting married for the first time. “It’s not out of the realm of possibility that he may have had another wife that died before he married Margaret,” she said. “I would be really shocked if he didn’t.”

Records indicate that John Buchmann was in Yankton, South Dakota in 1875. “He would have first-hand account of the Sioux War and the Gold Rush that were going on there,” said Burks.

Five years later, according to the 1880 Census, the Buchmanns had arrived in Cullman, which was settled in 1873. Less than 10 years later, John died in the accident at the creek.

Margaret, said Ray, then had to move into town. Burks said she discovered the will left by Margaret’s mother who died in 1892 or 1893. The will left some land in St. Louis to Margaret, which likely provided her with some income for her family.

There are periods in John Bachmann’s life that Burks can’t find information for and questions she still has. But she said the amount of information they do have is remarkable. “It takes a really long time to research this stuff,” she said. “The only reason I have as much as I do is because I actually researched some of the family two years ago just by documenting photographs.”

Ray’s granddaughter Mary Joy noted that she knew more about the other side of her family before the trip organized by her grandfather. “It was interesting to know about this side of the family history,” she said.

Her brother, Spencer, said actually going to the spot where John Buchmann drowned brought the story to life. “It was very realistic,” he said.

For Ray Buchmann, it was important to share the family history with his children and grandchildren. “I wanted to perpetuate the history of the Buchmann side of the family,” he said.