When Ferdinand Hellwege was married in 1886, the marriage record from Concordia Lutheran Church in Frohna said that he was the oldest son of Heinrich and Fredericke Hellwege.  He was not the oldest son of Heinrich Hellwege, and he was not the oldest child of Heinrich and Fredericke, but he was the oldest son of that couple.  The story of Heinrich was told in the post, The Fourth Marriage, which pointed out that Fredericke was Heinrich’s fourth wife.  That couple had a daughter before Ferdinand was born in 1860.

Ferdinand was born on this day, May 25th, in 1860, making him today’s birthday boy.  He was baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg.  Here is his baptism record from that church’s books.

Just a sidelight.  The #19 on the left of this record indicates that this was the 19th baptism at Trinity during 1860.  There were 33 baptisms at that church during that year.  Trinity just had a baptism this past Sunday, and they are looking forward to another one in the coming weeks.  However, those two will be some of the only baptisms in that congregation this year.  Things have changed.

Meanwhile, in Frohna, Missouri, Amalia Ross was born on August 2, 1867.  She was the daughter of Johann and Gertrude (Distle) Ross.  Amalia was baptized at Concordia Lutheran Church in Frohna.  Here is her baptism record from that church’s books.

Ferdinand had several other siblings who were born after him.  The last two of those were baptized at Concordia in Frohna in 1871 and 1873.  It appears that the Hellwege family must have moved closer to the Frohna congregation at about that time.

When Ferdinand was 26 years old and Amalia was 19 years old, they were married at Concordia.  Their wedding date was October 24, 1886.  They were married on a Sunday.  Here is the Concordia marriage record.

Here is their marriage license.

The German Family Tree lists 12 children born to this couple.  However, many of them died early.  Here is the 1910 census showing the Hellwege family.

This record shows 6 children from ages 21 down to a matter of months.  If you look behind Amalia’s name, you will see the numbers 12 and 6.  That indicates that Amalia gave birth to 12 children and only 6 of them were living.  In addition to that, Elda, the youngest, would die in 1910 not long after this census was taken.  That means less than half of their dozen children lived to adulthood.

Ferdinand was a farmer, and his land was located near Frohna.  We can see two parcels of land owned by him on this map made in 1915.

For those of you who live near here, you know that the intersection just north of Ferdinand’s property is known as the “Crossroads” now.  His land was also located near the Indian Creek Bridge which was just re-opened this week after being replaced.  The Apple Creek is located just south of his land, and the Indian Creek is located just west.

Ferdinand died in 1930.  Here is his death certificate.

Amalia died in 1934.  Here is her death certificate.

Both Ferdinand and Amalia are buried in the Concordia Lutheran Cemetery in Frohna.  Here are their gravestones.

 

One final note.  When I attended Concordia Teachers College in Seward, Nebraska, there was a professor there by the name of Hellwege.  Ferdinand had a brother, Leopold Reinhold, who was a pastor in Nebraska and is buried in a cemetery in Seward.  I am guessing that if I would take the time, I would find a connection between the pastor and the professor.