Today was the wedding day for Oswald and Gustav. That may seem quite unusual, but for some reason not known to me, Augusta Pfeiffer became known as Gustav, a name almost exclusively associated with men. A family history on Ancestry.com refers to Augusta as “Gustav”. Today would have been the 123rd anniversary for Augusta and Oswald Haertling. These two were married on July 5, 1896 at Immanuel Lutheran Church in New Wells, Missouri. Below is their marriage license.
If you look closely, the bride’s name is shown to be Gusta(ve) Pfeiffer.
Let’s start by looking at the early days of Augusta Pfeiffer. Augusta was born on March 7, 1877. She was the daughter of Herman and Louise (Klaus) Pfeiffer. Her father was a blacksmith in Shawnee Township in northern Cape Girardeau County. Below is her baptism record.
We find Augusta in the 1880 census for Shawnee Township. Augusta was 3 years old.
Oswald Haertling was born on March 4, 1872, the son of Herman and Sophia (Koenig) Haertling. Here are photos of Oswald’s parents.
Oswald was baptized at Immanuel Lutheran in New Wells. Here is his baptism record.
For some reason, I could not locate the Haertling household in the 1880 census. Therefore, the first census in which we find Oswald was in 1900, and by then he was already married. We looked at their marriage license earlier, but we can also look at their marriage record in the Immanuel, New Wells books.
The 1900 census shows the Haertling household living in the Apple Creek Township of Cape Girardeau County. They had 3 children at that time, and Oswald was a farmer. Augusta is shown as Gusta on this form.
Our German Family Tree shows 11 children born into this family, two of which did not live long. The 1910 census shows them still living in the Apple Creek Township with 8 children, all sons.
The last of the 11 children was born in 1917, and they finally had a girl. She is shown in the 1920 census.
1930 was the last year in which we find the Haertling household in the Apple Creek Township.
We have photos which were taken of Oswald and Augusta Haertling.
At the age of 68 and 63 respectively, Oswald and Augusta were living in Altenburg. They were living with their daughter and son-in-law. Nelda Haertling had married Bernard Schuessler. We also see one of our museum’s docents, Richard Schuessler, in this entry.
It was in September of that same year, 1940, that Oswald died. We have his death certificate.
Augusta died in 1956 at the age of 79. Below is her death certificate.
Both Oswald and Augusta are buried in the Trinity Lutheran Cemetery in Altenburg.
The Oswald Haertling family takes up six pages in our German Family Tree. The biggest reason for this is that so many of his children were boys so their descendants can be found in the Haertling section of that document. Although the Haertling surname got its start in northern Cape Girardeau County, there are now several Haertling families to be found in East Perry County. And the next time I see Richard Schuessler, I will have to ask him why one of his grandmothers was named Gustav.
This is Sharon Haertling Rosenberg. They are my great-grandparents. My grandparents were Edgar and Hertha Haertling. My parents are Norman M and Verna Fuehler Haertling. I attended CTLS from 1957 to 1965. My mother was the daughter of Gustav and Clara Hollmann Fuehler of Oak Ridge area. My grandparents were married on October 24, 1920. My grandfather was born October 21, 1892 in Frohna Mo. He passed in late April 1992 (99 1/2). Oswald brother that was a pastor at Christ Lutheran in Neurat Il presided over the marriage. They were married almost 69 years. The grandfather was the oldest of at least 9 children (2 boys and 7 girls). The family moved to north Cape County after the 2 child was born. The story is told that when one of his sister was due to be born, he had to take the horse and buggy from north Cape County, over the creek at New Wells, to go to Frohna to bring his grandma Schmidt to help with the baby. Grandpa would have been in school yet. He would attend school in New Wells. Apparently his father Paul Fuehler was left in Frohna with relatives. He met and married one of the Schmidt girls (the only family with mostly girls). My first and second grade teacher Laverne Wachter was the granddaughter of Great-Grandmother Fuehler’s brother. The story goes that since Paul father disappeared, none the rest of his family came to US except for his brother Alfred (later a Lutheran pastor, married to Vernon Meyr aunt). Alfred stayed with a family near Uniontown after Paul sent for him. My mom’s great-uncle Alfred would bring a bus from St Louis and Grandpa were take him to Shaweetown. The story is told that one time Paul came into his son garage and found Uncle Alfred, Pastor Vogel (nephew of Great-Grandma Fuelher), and Laverne’s grandfather playing cards in the garage. During a hospital in July 1972, one of the nurses that took care of me was Uncle Alfred granddaughter. I found out because I asked about the name tag. Ours is the only family that spelled the name Fuelher. I thought the information about my great-grandparents were interesting. Sharon Haertling Rosenberg
My Grandmothers name was Augusta and her nickname was Gustie I really don’t know how to spell it, it just kind of rolled off your tongue. Her bothers name was August and of course they called him Gus. Thanks for the intresting read!!
My mother’s name was Augusta. She most often was called Gusta or Gustie as well. Luella Franke