Christian Gottlieb Augustin was one of the original immigrants who was part of the Gesellschaft in 1839. When he arrived in America, he was just 19 years old, and he came by himself. We see him on this passenger list from the ship, Olbers.
Christian joined the immigrants who came to Perry County, and he was granted a 3 acre parcel of land located in the Seelitz community. It was #17 on this map of Seelitz. The passenger list above states that Christian was a cartwright, a wagon maker.
All indications are that Christian did not remain in Perry County very long. All future records we find for him are from St. Louis. On February 20, 1848, he married Elizabeth Juliane Tirmenstein in St. Louis. Her name can be seen in the passenger list above. Below is a record of that marriage.
That marriage is found in the church books of Old Trinity Lutheran Church. You can see the name of Rev. Charles F.W. Walther on the form above. A child, Herman Augustine, was born on December 7, 1848 and baptized at Old Trinity. However, on July 13, 1849, Elizabeth died of cholera. There was a horrible cholera epidemic that hit St. Louis in the summer of 1849. Rev. Walther averaged a funeral per day during July of that year.
The 1850 census shows Christian and his one-year-old son living in a household with some other people. He is still called a wagon maker.
On this day, January 4, in 1852, Christian married again. His second wife was Elisa Rau. Elisa was the daughter of Johann and Johanna (Schultheiss) Rau. Here is their marriage record.
Eight more children were born into this family. The first child by this marriage was Martin, who was born on June 20, 1853. Just a matter of weeks later, on July 16th, Christian’s first son, Herman, died of scarlet fever. The first four children in Christian and Elisa’s family had their baptism records in the books of Old Trinity Lutheran Church. The fifth child, born in 1859, and all subsequent children, had their baptism records in the books of Holy Cross Lutheran Church in St. Louis. Here is a list of baptisms at that church with the surname of Augustin.
Holy Cross officially became its own congregation in 1858. Their first baptism occurred in August of 1858. The baptism of Julius Louis Augustin was one of the early baptism in this congregation.
This 1870 census shows the Augustin family.
One child, Johann Samuel, died in 1870 before the census was taken. Christian has a new occupation. This census shows him as a grocer. That would remain his occupation the rest of his career. The location of the Augustin residence and their store was at the corner of S. Jefferson Ave. and Potomac St. The map below shows that location.
That location was about a block away from Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Concordia Publishing House, the Lutheran Hospital, and the first St. Louis location for Concordia Seminary. In the drawing shown below, which was made in 1875, you can see the neighborhood around Holy Cross. The intersection of Jefferson and Potomac is shown on this drawing (the red arrow). The Augustine grocery was said to be on the Northeast corner.
In 1867, Holy Cross Lutheran Church built a new sanctuary. It was the same year that Trinity in Altenburg was building its new sanctuary. Trinity dedicated their new church in October; Holy Cross dedicated their new church in December. Records show that Christian Augustin donated $150 to the building fund.
We have this photograph of Christian Augustin.
Christian died in 1906; Elisa died in 1909. They are buried together in the Concordia Cemetery in St. Louis. They have a gravestone that made me ask a question.
Who are the others shown on the gravestone? It turns out that Esther Heinicke was the granddaughter of the Augustin’s. I do not know why they were placed on the same gravestone. I can tell you this. Theodore Heinicke’s grandfather also lived in the same neighborhood as the Augustin’s back in 1875. Their home is designated on the map above by the blue arrow.
It appears that, despite early difficulties and hardships, Christian Augustin did rather well for himself. A few of his sons also went into the grocery business. A daughter married a Lutheran pastor. Another was in the printing business…probably at Concordia Publishing House.
In closing, I want to show you an IRS tax assessment form that includes Christian Augustin.
Two names above Christian, you will find the name, Anheuser, who was selling fermented liquors at 10th and Arsenal in St. Louis. Any idea who that might be?