Benton County Missouri was the home to a relatively large population of German Immigrants. These people tended to stay together, in land purchases, in social gatherings, in churches, and in marriages. In my Family Tree, two Tietjen women married two Gardner men. Notice the changes in spellings throughout the years. Johann Carl Gaertner's name changed at least three times during the 1850-1865 years, when he purchased property, when he joined the "German Home Guards" during the Civil War, and later when he was discharged. It all depended on how well the clerk spoke the German language. And his name was easy compared to other German names! For more information go to: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~weilfamily/BentonDescendants.html