My Aunt Dorothy was the last of the aunts and uncles on my father’s side of the family to die. She was a wonderful lady who loved to laugh. She was a pleasure to be around. The photo below shows most of my Schmidt aunts and uncles. Aunt Dorothy is kneeling in front on the right with the red blouse.
If Aunt Dorothy would have had such a photo of her Schaupert family, it would include the main characters in today’s post. Leonard Andrew Schaupert and Hulda Boxdorfer were married on November 26, 1911, so tomorrow would have been their 118th anniversary. I have to confess that I thought these two were married on November 25th because that is what our German Family Tree says. After quite a bit of research on this story, I discovered that the wedding actually took place on the 26th, but I decided to go ahead with this story today anyway.
We will start by looking at Leonard’s early years. Before I do so, though, let me point out that almost all the documents for him list his name as Lonnie. His gravestone even has Lonnie on it, so that is what I will call him. Lonnie was born on November 1, 1878, the son of Michael and Christina (Bergmann) Schaupert. I have this photo of Lonnie’s father, Michael.
Early in his life, the folks in the Schaupert family were members of Peace Lutheran Church in Friedenberg, so that is probably where he was baptized. There were six children in the Michael Schaupert family, and all of them were boys. In the Ancestry.com family tree below, we see that Lonnie was the second boy born into that family. By the way, my Aunt Dorothy’s father was Elmer.
We find Lonnie Schaupert in the 1880 census for Central Township in Perry County.
The 1915 plat maps for Perry County show a parcel of land owned by Michael Schaupert outside Perryville. This is likely where Lonnie grew up, and I believe he also would be farming on that land himself later in his life. The Cinque Hommes Creek flowed through a portion of that land.
The 1900 census shows all six of the Schaupert boys. I am guessing that the Wilma Hornberger listed in this census was brought in to help Christina take care of all those boys and their healthy appetites.
Lonnie did not get married until he was 33 years old, so we still find him living with his parents in the 1910 census.
Now, we turn our attention to Hulda Boxdorfer. She was the daughter of Henry and Elizabeth (Rauh) Boxdorfer. Like her future husband, the folks in her Boxdorfer family were members of Peace Lutheran Church in Friedenberg, so that is probably where she was baptized. Hulda was born on December 4, 1887, so she would not be found in a census until 1900. Hulda was the 9th of 10 children in this Boxdorfer clan. The Henry Boxdorfer family was highlighted in a story on this blog earlier this month titled, Baltimore Boxdorfer.
There was a parcel of land in the 1915 atlas that shows it was owned by Henry Boxdorfer. That is likely where Hulda spent her early years.
As said before, Lonnie Schaupert and Hulda Boxdorfer were married on November 26, 1911. Below is their marriage license. The German Family Tree probably got its November 25th date from the time this couple got their license.
Lonnie had his World War I draft registration completed in 1918.
We see this couple with two sons by the time the 1920 census was taken. They were then living in a different township. There was a son born in 1916 who died in 1918 that did not make it into a census.
There were 3 children that lived to adulthood from this family. We see them in the 1930 census. Also, it appears that Lonnie’s younger brother, Martin, was helping run the farm.
The last census in which we can view this family was the one taken in 1940. It looks almost identical to the 1930 image except the people are ten years older.
Lonnie was required to fill out a World War II draft card even though he was well beyond the age for active service. Whoever filled out this form had a little trouble spelling Lonnie’s first name, Leonard.
Lonnie died in 1954. His death certificate indicates that he died in a St. Louis hospital at the age of 75.
Hulda died in 1973 at the age of 85. Her death was too recent in order to view her death certificate. Lonnie and Hulda are buried together in the Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery in Perryville.
I looked into a phone book to see if there were any Schaupert’s in it. I found just one name. The name I found was a male, so there is still a chance that the Schaupert name has not yet died out in Perry County.
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