Ferdinand Hoehn had a birthday on this date (April 2) in 1846.  His parents were Michael and Margaret (Bergmann) Hoehn.  His father, Michael. was one of the trustees of Peace Lutheran Church when they obtained the property which would become the home of the first church and cemetery of the Friedenberg church.  Ferdinand was baptized at that church, but as has been said in the past, the church records for that congregation were destroyed in a fire in 1942.

We find Ferdinand in the 1850 census where he is shown to be five years old.

We also find him in this 1860 census where he was said to be 14 years old.

In 1964, Ferdinand joined the Union Army during the Civil War and became part of the 64th Regiment of the Enrolled Missouri Militia.  We see his service in the following Civil War document.

Ferdinand had just turned 18 years old when he enrolled in Captain Guth’s regiment.  We also see that there is a later pension record which documents his Civil War service.

On the above form, you will see that Ferdinand’s wife was named Dorothea.  That was Dorothea (Dora) Rauh.  Dora was the daughter of Johann and Elizabeth (Baer) Rauh.  She was born on November 14, 1850 and baptized at the Friedenberg church.  Dora’s parents had arrived in America in November of 1840, landing in Baltimore aboard the ship, Neptune.  Interestingly, both Johann Rauh and several members of the Baer family came together.

Two things are likely.  First, not long after the Neptune landed in Baltimore, Johann and Elizabeth were married.  Second, it is likely that Elizabeth gave birth to their first son on board the Neptune before it arrived in America.  At the end of this passenger list, we find this notation.

I believe the note that says “2 Geboren” indicates that two babies were born at sea.  It is possible that the Rauh child was one of these.  The Dorothea in this story was a daughter that would be born later in Perry County.  We have this photo of Dorothea’s mother, Elizabeth.

On February 15, 1870, Ferdinand, already a Civil War veteran, married Dorothea Rauh at the Friedenberg church.  We have a civil record for this marriage from Perry County.

You may be able to see that Ferdinand’s name was spelled Höhn.  Like so many other German names that were “Americanized”, an “e” was placed after the “o” when the umlaut was removed.  This name is pronounced Hay-n around here.

According to our German Family Tree, there were 6 children born into this family.  Only one child was a boy, so Ferdinand is another father (like yesterday’s Matthias Mirly) who had a houseful of females.

Dorothea was not the only Rauh girl to marry a Hoehn.  Her younger sister, Margaret, married Ferdinand’s brother, Albert in 1877.

The last census in which we find Ferdinand was the one taken in 1910.  He was 64 years old at that time.

Ferdinand would die in 1914 at the age of 68.  We have his death certificate.  This document gives Longtown as his address.

One year after his death, the 1915 plat map was produced for Perry County.  I may be wrong on this one, but I think Ferdinand’s land may be the one shown on this map by the arrow.  There are several pieces of Hoehn land inside the red circle.

The last census in which we find Dorothea was the one taken in 1930.  She was living with her only son, Alfred.  She was 79 years old.

This census entry is interesting because it shows that Alfred’s wife, Wilhelmina, had a father whose birthplace is said to be “at sea”.  That would have been Adam Klobe.  He, too, arrived in Baltimore in 1840, but on a different ship than the one mentioned earlier for the Rauh and Baer couple.  Seeing this record sent me on another mission.  I went to see if I could find a record which stated that Dorothea’s older brother, Johann Rauh, was born at sea.  I hit paydirt.  In the 1910 census for Fredrick Rauh, Johann’s son, it states that Fredrick’s father’s birthplace was “at sea”.

Dorothea Hoehn died in 1938 at the age of 87.  Below is her death certificate.

Both Ferdinand and Dora are buried together in the Zion Lutheran Cemetery in Longtown, Missouri.  Their gravestone is one of those which shows the family name on the front and the two indiviual names, one on each side.

Once again, today’s story became one that ended up having a few twists and turns along the way.  I began by wanting to highlight the story of an 18 year old Civil War soldier, but it ended up being one which had quite a few other interesting highlights.  Each day, I end up learning a new story, and I enjoy sharing those stories with others.