Anton Mueller can be included in the list of prolific fathers in East Perry County history. He was the father of three children with his first wife, Anna Drumtra. She died in 1896. In 1897, Anton married Marie Asche, and she bore him another 13 children. Only one of those died as an infant. Of the 15 children that lived to adulthood, 13 of them were males. That led to the fact that not only were there numerous descendents from Anton, but most of them were Muellers.
I found one interesting fact about that one child who died early. His name was Ernst Mueller. He was born on June 2, 1900, and he died on June 22 that same year. Yet despite the fact that Ernst lived a mere 20 days, he managed to be included in the 1900 census which was taken on June 2o, 1900, two days before he died.
A previous post was written about two of Anton’s sons who died as a result of their military action in World War II. That post was titled, Memorial Day Tribute. However, today’s post will focus on another of Anton’s sons who was born on December 30. Gilbert “Jim” Mueller was born on this day in 1910.
Here is an atlas map of Altenburg in 1915 which shows where Anton Mueller owned his property.
If you look closely, you will see that there were five different parcels of land which list Anton Mueller as the owner. I would add that there are still some Muellers living on some of those parcels of land to this day.
I am sure Anton’s many children could be seen back in the early part of the 20th century playing in this area of town that some people refer to as L.A. (Lower Altenburg).
When Gilbert was 30 years old, he was living with his older brother, Joseph, in St. Louis. They were living in the area close to Concordia Seminary and Holy Cross in the south end of the city. Joseph had a barber shop there, and Gilbert was working in a brewery, quite possibly Anheuser Busch. Two years later, in 1942, Gilbert enlisted in the United States Army. He served in the military until the end of the war in 1945.
After the war, Gilbert returned home and married Adelma Miesner on November 4, 1945 in Farrar, Missouri. By that time, his father, Anton, had died, and his brother, Ruben, had been killed in the war.
Here is a photo of Anton Mueller’s family that was taken sometime before World War II.
Anton and Marie are sitting in the middle of the front row. My best guess is that Gilbert is on the far right of the photo, sitting in the front row.
Here is a little more casual photograph of Anton and Marie.
Gilbert died in 1985. His wife, Adelma, lived to be 100 years old and died this past year on July 17th.
You can find Adelma’s obituary here:
http://www.semissourian.com/story/2322792.html
Anton was the father of an army of boys. Several of them served the United States proudly in the military, and two of them gave the ultimate sacrifice for their country.
Thank you to Warren for including the article about Anton’s Army. Anton was my grandfather. Gilbert was my dad. My mom was blessed with good health and lived to 100 years old and died this past summer.
The picture of the Mueller’s and spouses was taken in about 1939 in front of the home place in Altenburg. The back row from left to right includes: Mollie married to Herb Hemmann, Agnes married to Tony Mueller, Ruth married to Joseph “Jake” Mueller, Lydia married to Martin Mueller, Edna married to Werner Mueller.
2nd row, left to right includes: Nora married to Herb, Ruth married to Walter Mueller, Lucille married to Eddie Mueller, Susie married to Albert Mueller (Post Master in Altenburg), Paula married to Theobald Mueller (they lived in Illinois), Dora married to Paul Lohmann
1st row, left to right includes: Ruben, Rich, my grandma, Marie and my grandfather, Anton, Harold Mueller and my dad, Gilbert.
The photo brings back a lot of memories. I was born in Altenburg in 1938 and grew next to the Altenburg Lumber Company which was right right across the street from the Mueller farm. I think I spend more time playing with Herb’s son Buddy(Marvin) on the farm than at home. I knew and met the following sons: Richard is setting on the right of his mother. I remember going to St. Louis with my parents to visit Rich at his brother’s Martin’s home where he was trying to recover from the injury received during the war. I believe it was a leg problem from which he never recover. I also knew Herb who farmed the various Anton Mueller property locations noted . Some of the property along the road was obviously sold for people to build homes. Eddie(Had a butcher shop in Altenbug, Walter worked with Eddie for a period of time at the butcher shop and than moved to Perryville, Gilbert(front right in photo),.Rudy (Post Master in Altenburg) from 1st marrageis standing directly behind Anton, Martin was an insurance salesman and after retirement in St. Louis moved to Fruitland. I’m sure there is a daughter on the photo who was married to a Hemman and they lived in Herman, MO They regularly came to visit.