A previous blog post is the starting point for today’s story. A photograph was the centerpiece of that post that can be found at the following link:

Surrounded by Good-Looking Women

That post included the photograph shown below which shows Joseph and Maria Weinhold along with their 8 daughters.

The youngest of the Weinhold daughters was Adele, who is shown on the far left in this photo. It just so happens to be her birthday today. She was born on December 18, 1886 and her baptism record can be found in the Trinity Lutheran Church, Altenburg books.

Meanwhile, in northern Cape Girardeau County, a boy by the name of Rudolph Lehner was born on January 21, 1885. Rudolph was the son of Peter and Bertha (Wachter) Lehner. His baptism record can be found in the books of Immanuel Lutheran Church in New Wells.

On October 1, 1911, Rudolph married Adele in Wittenberg, Missouri. Below is the record of this marriage in the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church books.

We also have his marriage license.

I wondered how a young man from New Wells would find a bride in Wittenberg. Then I noticed that in the 1910 census for Wittenberg, you can find the names of John Lehner, Elizabeth Bruhl, Theresia Lueders, and Susanna Birner. For Rudolph, those folks would have been called Uncle John, Aunt Elizabeth, Aunt Theresia, and Aunt Susanna. In fact, I know that the Lueders residence and the Birner Hotel were practically across the street from the Weinhold home. There seems to be many reasons for Rudolph to find himself in Wittenberg where he might have come into contact with his future bride.

We have this photo of Rudolph and Adele which is said to have been taken about two years after their marriage.

There were two children born into this family, a boy and a girl. The 1920 census shows them living in St. Louis where Rudolph was working in the shipping department of a stove company. Rudoph’s World War I draft registration gives more specific information about his occupation.

This form says that Rudolph’s employer was the C. Heinz Stove Company. From what I was able to ascertain, that company was located at approximately the spot where the Gateway Arch now stands.

Many years later, when Rudolph filled out his World War II draft card, we find him working for A.G. Brauer Supply Company.

Brauer Supply Company still exists today. You can find a link to their website below.

http://www.brauersupply.com/index.html

If you click on the “About Us” tab, you can find a nice history of their company. It began in St. Louis in the 1880’s. Below are a few photos pertaining to that business.

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Rudolph died in 1944. Below is his death certificate.

Adele died two days before Christmas in 1965 at Lutheran Hospital in St. Louis. This is her death certificate.

Both Rudolph and Adele are buried in the Concordia Cemetery in St. Louis.

I am going to bring this post to an end by showing you one more photograph we have of Adele. When do you think this type of fashion will come back into style?