Carl Friedrich Moeckel (he went by “Fred”) was born on July 19, 1883. He was the firstborn child in the family of Charles and Mathilda (Sewerosky) Moeckel. Fred was baptized at Concordia Lutheran Church in Frohna. Below is his baptism record.
One more child was born and baptized at Concordia, Frohna, but when their third child was born in 1889, he was baptized at Christ Lutheran Church in Jacob, Illinois. The 1900 census shows Charles as a farmer in Fountain Bluff Township in Jackson, Illinois with Fred being 16 years old.
On April 3, 1910, Fred married Lydia Amschler at Christ Lutheran Church in Jacob. Lydia was the daughter of John and Margaretha (Rathjen) Amschler. She was born on September 20, 1891 and baptized at Christ Lutheran. Here is her baptism record.
The church record for Fred and Lydia’s marriage is shown below.
A fairly recent post titled, Finding a Bride Across the River, told the story of Lydia’s parents. We have the wedding photo of Fred and Lydia.
Fred and Lydia must have been married before the 1910 census was recorded because we find them as being married in that document. Their household was located right above that of Lydia’s parents in that census, and Fred was a farmer. I am guessing that Fred and Lydia were living on the same land as her parents, and Fred was farming with his father-in-law.
One son was born to this couple in 1911, but sometime after that child arrived in their family, they moved to St. Louis. That is where we find them when Fred had his World War I draft registration completed.
Two facts on this form are worth noting. First, Fred was working as a motorman for the United Railway Company which was located on Park and Vandeventer in St. Louis. The United Railway Company operated streetcars. In an old map, we see this company and its3 location.
The actual building can be seen in this photograph along with one of the company’s streetcars.
The second interesting fact from the World War I draft registration is the fact that Fred and Lydia were living in Wellston, a municipality that was part of St. Louis. Wellston had a loop that was part of the system of streetcar lines, and Fred likely was a motorman for that particular loop.
The 1920 and 1930 censuses continue to show Fred working as a streetcar motorman. The 1920 entry shows that one of Lydia’s brothers was living in their household.
The 1930 census indicates that another son had just been born. That would have been a span of about 18 years between their first child and this one.
The last census in which we find Fred and Lydia was the one taken in 1940. At that point, Fred is listed as having no occupation.
Fred died in 1947 at the age of 63. Here is his death certificate. Late in his life, Fred must have taken a job as a packer in a paper company because that is indicated on this form as his occupation.
Just a quick side note about the above document. It says the funeral home involved in Fred’s death was Math Hermann & Son. When I played Little League baseball growing up in St. Louis, I once wore a uniform with “Math Hermann” on the front because they sponsored our team.
Lydia died in 1956 at the age of 65 as a result of lung cancer. We also have her death certificate.
Both Fred and Lydia were buried in the Laurel Hill Cemetery in St. Louis, but photos of their gravestones are not available.
The death certificates indicate that the Moeckel’s lived at 8557 Partridge Ave. Here is their house as it looks today.
I found photos of the two Moeckel boys. First, here is a photo in an obituary for Alfred Moeckel.
Because of his service in the military, he was buried in the Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery.
I also found a yearbook photo for Forest Raymond Moeckel from Beaumont High School. This photo was included in the 1948 yearbook, so this was published one year after his father’s death.
I am going to close this post by including a video I found titled, Streetcars of St. Louis. Since the film footage is in color, it must have been recorded near the end of the streetcar era in St. Louis. I have some memories of seeing streetcars like this when I was young and driving around St. Louis with my family. I thought you might enjoy seeing them in this video.
I was just about to post this article when I took a look into the Amschler family binder that we have in our research library. I am placing some more photographs in a gallery with thumbnails that can be clicked to enlarge.
