Theodore Fischer was born on this day back in 1897. However, which Theodore Fischer was he? One Theodore Fischer was born in 1902, and he became the doctor in Altenburg for most of his life. He is not the Theodore Fischer who is today’s birthday boy. Theodore Elmo Leo Fischer was born on December 3, 1897. If I have it figured correctly, these two Theodore Fischer’s were second cousins. Dr. Theodore Fischer was a product of what I call the Altenburg Fischer’s, and Theodore E.L. Fischer was a product of the Frohna Fischer’s. One thing will make it easier for me to keep you from getting confused today, and that is the fact that Theodore E.L. Fischer was pinned with the nickname, Bud, and I will use that name today.
Bud was the son of Martin and Sarah (Palisch) Fischer and was baptized at Concordia Lutheran Church in Frohna. Below is his baptism record.
The first census in which we find Bud Fischer was the one taken in 1900. Bud was just 2 years old. I find it somewhat humorous that this census has Dr. G.A. Palisch boarding with the Fischer family in 1900. Dr. Palisch would be the doctor in Frohna for many years, and Dr. Fischer was later the doctor in Altenburg, but he was the other Theodore Fischer, not the one in this census.
Bud Fischer’s future wife would not be found in the 1900 census because she was not born until 1902. Edna Gerler was born on August 29, 1902, the daughter of Christian and Susanna (Vogel) Gerler. That would make her the daughter of the man that I recently called the Mayor of Birmingham in a post on this blog. She also qualified to be part of what folks around here call the “Lake Gerlers”. Edna was baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg. Here is her baptism record.
We find both Bud and Edna in the 1910 and 1920 censuses before they were married. Here is the 1910 census for Bud. Four more children had been added to this Fischer family since the last census.
Next, we see Edna in her first census. She was 7 years old.
In that previous post about Edna’s parents, it was said that they lived across the river in Fountain Bluff Township, Illinois for a short while. You can see in the above census that Edna was the first child born after they had returned to Missouri. Next, we will take a look at the 1920 census that includes Bud Fischer. You cannot see it on this image, but in that year, Bud was said to be a merchant in a dry goods store.
Meanwhile, we still find Edna living with her parents down near where the Apple Creek empties into the Mississippi River.
On July 23, 1922, Bud Fischer married Edna Gerler at Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg. Below is the church record for that occasion.
We also have a marriage license for this couple.
Before the next census was taken, Bud and Edna would have their only two children. Both of them were girls, Helen and Myrtle. We see them in the 1930 census. In this entry we see that Bud was now a proprietor of a retail store.
The store where Ben worked was once owned by a pair of Palisch Brothers. In fact, for a while, Ben and Ernst Palisch were partners in running this store. Below is a photo of the store building when it was the Palisch Bros. Store.
The home on the right behind the store was the Martin Fischer house, where Bud grew up. In the distance, Concordia Lutheran Church can be seen.
The last census we can view for the Fischer family was the one taken in 1940. By then, their daughters were teenagers.
Bud Fischer died in 1966 at the age of 68. We have his death certificate.
Bud was buried in the Concordia Lutheran Cemetery in Frohna.
One of the Fischer daughters, Helen, married Ray Littge. Ray was probably the most decorated hero of World War II from Perry County. His story was told in the post, Ace High. After Ray died in a plane crash in 1949, Helen married James Roy Starnes. That couple moved to Hillsboro County in Florida. It was there that Edna Fischer moved sometime after her husband died, and it would be there that Edna later died. She died in 1990 at the age of 88. Edna was buried in the Hillsboro Memorial Gardens in Brandon, Florida.
Because both children in this Fischer family were girls, there would be no descendants in this branch of the Fischer family to carry on that surname.
