In a recent post, Single Schroeder Siblings, it was pointed out that a Schroeder couple was made up of a German Lutheran husband and a French Catholic wife. Each of them retained their religious denomination until their death and were buried in different cemeteries, one a Lutheran cemetery and one a Catholic cemetery. I will be telling another such story today. In fact, I have already discussed the tale of one of today’s couple’s children in the post, Lutherans and Catholics.

The story begins with a birthday girl. Marie Anne Fassold was born on June 27, 1854, the daughter of Albert and Margaret (Bergmann) Fassold. Mary was baptized at Peace Lutheran Church in Friedenberg, so we cannot view an actual image of her baptism record. Mary was the 3rd of 9 children born into this Fassold family. Some, like Mary, were born before Albert, the father, served in the Union Army during the Civil War, and others were born after his military duty. Mary appears in her first census in 1860 at the age of 6. Her father was a farmer in the Cinque Hommes Township.

Next, we find Mary in the 1870 census as a teenager. Also included in this household was Mary’s Bergmann grandfather, George.

Now, we will turn our attention to the man who would become Mary’s husband. His name was William Unterreiner, who was born on July 29, 1845. He was the son of Anton and Gertrude (Walz) Unterreiner. Almost certainly, William’s baptism record would be found in the books of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Apple Creek. According to one family tree found on Ancestry.com, there were 11 children in this Unterreiner family, with William being child #8. He is found in his first census entry in 1850 at the age of 5. His father was a farmer in the Brazeau Township.

I was unable to find William in the 1860 census, so the next census entry I can show for him is the one taken in 1870. He was 24 years old and working on his father’s farm in the Cinque Hommes Township.

William Unterreiner married Mary Fassold on December 26, 1873. This appears to be one of those weddings in which the couple waited until after Christmas so they would not get married during the Advent season. However, this was not a church wedding. It was performed by a Justice of the Peace. I assume this was a marriage in which Mary’s Lutheran pastor and William’s Catholic priest refused to perform the wedding of a Lutheran and a Catholic.

Our German Family Tree lists 5 children in this family, but the family tree on Ancestry.com says there were 7, but not all of them lived to adulthood. None of these children had baptism records in a local Lutheran church’s books, but several of them were confirmed at Zion Lutheran Church in Longtown. All of the children had been born before Zion, Longtown was established in 1897. When the 1880 census was taken, we find William and Mary with just one daughter. One of William’s older brothers, Blasius, was living with them and helping on the farm.

Since we cannot view the 1890 census, the next one we can look at is the one taken 20 years later in 1900. One son and 4 daughters were living in their household.

The 1910 census lists the same set of children, almost all of which were in their 20’s.

We find the William Unterreiner farm in the 1915 plat maps for Perry County. It was located near Biehle where another Catholic parish was located. Perhaps that is where William attended mass. You will also see that Longtown is not far away, and that seems to be where Mary and at least some of her children attended.

Next, we find the Unterreiner’s in the 1920 census. Just 3 children were still living with William and Mary. One daughter was a 28 year-old school teacher.

The Unterreiner household can be found in the 1930 census. At the age of 85, William was still called a farmer.

Mary Unterreiner died in 1936 at the age of 81. Her death certificate is pictured here.

Mary was buried in the Zion Lutheran Cemetery in Longtown.

William Unterreiner died in 1940 at the age of 94. He almost made it to his 95th birthday. He likely died before the census was taken for that year because I could not locate him. We can take a look at his death certificate below.

A brief article found in a local newspaper acknowledges that he was the oldest man in Perry County when he died. I suppose they rounded up his age to 95.

William Unterreiner is buried in the St. Joseph Catholic Cemetery in Apple Creek. He and his wife’s gravestone have the same design, but they are not located in the same cemetery.

There are still plenty of Unterreiner’s living in Perry County. The ones who have died are almost all buried in Catholic cemeteries. The few Unterreiner’s buried in Lutheran cemeteries are cases like Mary’s, in which a Lutheran woman married into an Unterreiner family.