Rudolph Oswald would have been expected to remember that today was the birthday of his wife.  Margaretha Mangels was born on December 6, 1872 and baptized at Salem Lutheran Church in Farrar, Missouri.  Her parents were Johann and Engel (Mahnken) Mangels.

Rudolph Oswald was also born in 1872, but he was born across the Mississippi River in Chester, Illinois.  His parents were Christian and Margaretha (Droege) Oswald.  I do not know this for sure, but I think it is likely that Rudolph was baptized at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Chester.

If Rudolph was baptized there, the pastor who performed the baptism would have been Rev. Martin Stephan, Jr., the son of the disgraced leader of the 1838-1839 immigration to Perry County.  We do have photos of Rudolph’s parents

I am sure Rudolph did not remember his days in Chester.  His family moved to Perry County, Missouri in 1874 when he was just two years old.  They moved to the area around Farrar and became members of Salem Lutheran Church.

I figured that since Margaretha and Rudolph were both born in 1872, there was a good chance they were in the same confirmation class.  What I found in our German Family Tree is somewhat confusing.  The records state that Margaretha was confirmed on March 18, 1886, while the records state that Rudolph was confirmed a month later on April 18, 1886.  I tend to think that they were both confirmed on April 18th.  March 18th in 1886 was a Thursday, while April 18th was a Sunday.  I don’t know why there would be a confirmation on a Thursday.  And either way, I am sure that Margaretha and Rudolph were sitting in the same classes with Rev. Albrecht, and may just have caught each other’s eyes at that point.  I just hope they were also listening to the pastor’s lessons.

The marriage of Rudolph and Margaretha took place on April 9, 1899 at Salem Lutheran Church.  Here is their marriage license.

Rev. F. Schriefer performed the ceremony.  We also have this photograph of their wedding.

In the case of this photograph, thanks to Bernice Loebs, who would have called this couple her grandparents, we have an image of the back side of this photograph that gives us information about these two people.

 

Genealogists wish that more old photographs would be labeled like this one.  Maybe you should start labeling the old photographs that are part of your family history.

Rudolph had previously moved to Frohna in 1896 so the Oswalds must have established their home in the town of Frohna after they married because their first child was baptized at Concordia Lutheran Church in 1900.  Rudolph’s older brother, Otto, also was a Frohna resident.  Otto’s story was told in the post, An O-K Couple.  The census for 1900 also shows them living in Frohna where Rudolph was a butcher.

This land map made in 1915 shows the lot owned by Rudolph in Frohna.  It is indicated by the red arrow.  The blue arrow points to his brother’s lot.

It looks to me like they lived close enough for them to walk to church on Sundays.  Here is another photo of the Frohna butcher.

A family photo was taken of the Christian Oswald family.  I am almost certain that the couple shown by the red arrow is Rudolph and Margaretha.

Based on the photo below, I also believe that Margaretha was holding her daughter Flora and Grandma Oswald has daughter Ella standing in front of her.

If I am right about that, then this picture was likely taken in 1903 when Flora was a baby.  I also suspect the family photo and the picture of Ella and Flora may have been taken on the same day (although the outfits are different).

The photo of the Oswald family looks like it was taken outside the Lueders family home in Frohna where the Lueders photography studio was located.  Here is a photo of that house.

Rudolph was only 56 years old when he died.  Dr. Palisch declared him dead as a result of pneumonia on March 16, 1928.  Here is his death certificate.

Also, this obituary was printed in a local newspaper upon his passing.

After Rudolph died, Margaretha went to live with her daughter, Flora, and her husband, Elmer Popp.  Here we find her in the 1930 census.

Margaretha died on January 8, 1952 at a hospital in Cape Girardeau at the age of 79.  Here is her death certificate.

Both Rudolph and Margaretha are buried in the Concordia Lutheran Cemetery in Frohna.

This story touches my family history by marriage.  Bernice (Popp) Loebs’s husband, Norman, is my first half-cousin.  I really did not know any of this Popp/Oswald/Mangels history until I started researching for these blog posts.  It’s interesting stuff.  And I do thank Bernice and her daughter, Caroline, for providing helpful information and photographs.