Hello,
I would appreciate some ideas if anyone has any on this family.
This is what I know:
Joseph Wilmes, b. 24 Aug 1831, and Anna Marie Ohrmann, b. 17 Jan 1842, came
to America on 3 Sep 1864 on the ship Johanne Marie from Bremen to New York.
Anna Marie Ohrmann is listed with her maiden name on the ship record.
There is a 3 year old Joseph Wilmes with them.
Also an Anton Wilmes and a Franz Wilmes.
They spend a few years in St. Louis and eventually settle and spend the
rest of their lives in Pike County, Missouri.
Though I've never found a marriage record they eventually have 12 children
including Joseph.
None of the records in St. Clement Catholic Church in Pike County ever list
where they came from or any parents for either of them.
In the 1880 census in Cuivre, Pike, Missouri, Anna's father, Anton Ohrmann,
is living with them.
I found an Anton Ohrmann on the ship Ferdinand dated December 1863, and he
is with a Heinrich Wilmes.
Anna's mother's name is never mentioned anywhere. Joseph's parents are
never mentioned.
All records that I can find here have been exhausted.
I have researched the other Wilmes families that I have found and come up
with nothing.
I have searched microfilm after microfilm after microfilm with zero
results. I can find Wilmes families but not Ohrmann's in the same area. I
can find Ohrmann's but not Wilmes in the same area. Finally, I found a
record in Schwefe, Germany, for an Anna Ohrmann with a father named Anton
with a very close date but the record was Lutheran. Keeping an open mind I
looked at the film. I got very, very excited because not only were there
Wilmes families in the same records but at least 6 to 8 other family
surnames from the same Pike County area in Missouri. I am so certain that
I am in the right area but I have still come up empty handed.
I poured over both the Lutheran and Catholic records for Schwefe, Welver,
and Soest. I even looked at the records at Werl.
I looked for a marriage record for Joseph and Anna. I looked for a birth
record for Joseph Junior. I looked for a birth record for Joseph and a
birth record for Anton. I found a couple records close to the birth date
for Joseph ( off by months) but none of them are actually named Joseph. I
didn't really find the name Joseph at all in the area. Same for Joseph
Jr. I did find a birth record for Anton Ohrmann and it is the right time
frame though his age fluctuates by 8 years or so depending on the record.
I was as certain as I could be that this Anton Ohrmann is the right one
until I noticed he has a death date listed by his birth record and it's 10
years off. I also just found a marriage record for this Anna Ohrmann and
it is not to Joseph Wilmes. So....this record is definitely not the right
one. But, with both surnames in the area AND so many surnames of other
families that came from the same area in Westphalia, Germany, to the Pike
County area I can't believe they are not somewhere close.
In the birth record for Anna Ohrmann her mother is listed as Clara
Elisabeth Beuter. Even that surname is in Pike County, MO, though she is
not the right Anna Ohrmann.
I'm beyond discouraged and do not know what else to try. I have so little
information to go on as it is, with no way of acquiring any more. I have
exhausted all the records that I can find in Missouri.
Are there any databases for the area that might lend a clue? Or does
anyone have any other ideas? I know this information is choppy but I've
already listed so much. Thank you to anyone who gets through it all. 
Janet