The story I found today has a birthday boy with a surname that has shown up on this blog on several occasions. However, this man’s birthday leads us to a surname that has shown up here only once, Schattauer, and another surname that is brand new, Haberfellner. Those two surnames are ones that come out of Austria, so we might expect their story to be found in Shawnee Township in northern Cape Girardeau County where many Austrians settled, and indeed that is the location for today’s post.
Moritz Kutscher was born on December 6, 1869, so today is not only his birthday, it would be a very special birthday. He would have been 150 years old today. Moritz was the son of Johann and Henrietta (Krause) Kutscher. That makes Moritz the brother of Martin Kutscher whose story was told not long ago in a post titled, Diamanda’s Dozen. Moritz was baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in New Wells, Missouri. His baptism record is displayed below.
Moritz can be found in the 1880 census at the age of 10. The census taker wrote his name as Morris.
The future wife of Moritz Kutscher was Louise Schattauer. Louise was born three days before Christmas, December 22, 1877. She was the daughter of Matthias and Maria (Haberfellner) Schattauer.
Let me take just a moment to discuss the arrival of the Kutscher, Schattauer, and Haberfellner surnames to Shawnee Township. The original Kutscher must have arrived in America around 1860. He was married in Missouri in 1861. Matthias Schattauer arrived in 1865 according to an immigration index. The Haberfellner family arrived in 1853, and they are the only ones I was able to find on a passenger list. The arrived aboard the ship Ernst Morita Arndt.
There is some question about where Louise Schattauer was baptized. Information that is found in the books of St. John’s Lutheran Church in Pocahontas contain what is shown in the image below, and it indicates Louise was baptized at St. John’s, Pocahontas.
Let me backtrack a little. In about 1868, St. John’s Lutheran Church in Pocahontas was founded. One of the founders of that congregation was Louise’s father, Matthias Schattauer. I’ll also point out that Louise’s grandfather, Joseph Haberfellner, Sr., and uncle, Joseph Haberfellner, Jr., were also founders of that church.
Here is a photo of the first church building for St. John’s Lutheran Church in Pocahontas.
Almost 10 years after that church was founded, Louise was born. A baptism record for her can be found in the books of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Altenburg.
The Pocahontas record says Louise was baptized on December 26, 1877; the Altenburg record says she was baptized on January 26, 1878. My best guess is that St. John’s was between pastors at that time, and the pastor of Immanuel, Altenburg performed the baptism in Pocahontas. I suspect he later recorded the baptism in his own church’s books, but got the month wrong. Pocahontas is even mentioned twice in the Altenburg record.
Louise is found in the 1880 census as a 2 year old. She was called Lucy. I also included the Haberfellner family to show that Louise’s grandparents lived nearby.
We find both Moritz and Louise in the 1900 census. Moritz was shown as a lodger in his brother, Martin’s, household. It’s a difficult census to read.
Louise was still living with her parents in 1900. This time she is called Lou.
On September 1, 1907, Moritz Kutscher married Louise Schattauer at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Pocahontas. There is a transcription of that marriage record in a binder we have in our museum for that congregation.
We also have this couple’s marriage license.
The first census in which we find this married couple was the one taken in 1910. I did not show it, but it said that Moritz was a laborer at odd jobs.
This Kutscher family had 2 children, Edna and Otto. Both of their children were baptized at Immanuel, New Wells. We see both of those children in the 1920 census. This entry says Moritz was an RFD carrier, which means he was a mail carrier.
The 1930 census states that Moritz was a farmer.
The last census we can view is the 1940 census. In this entry, we see that their son, Otto, and his family were living in the same household. Otto had married Edna Perr, and he, too, was a farmer.
Moritz died in 1956 at the age of 86 at the Southeast Missouri Hospital. We have his death certificate.
Louise died in 1961 at the age of 82. She died at the Haven Rest Home in Cape Girardeau. Below is her death certificate. This document says she was born in 1878, which I believe is incorrect. Even her gravestone says she was born in 1877.
Both Moritz and Louise are buried in the Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery in New Wells.
This story is another one that exhibits some documents that are in disagreement with one another. I am the first one to admit that if I make a guess at which one may be correct, I could very well be wrong.
