Two surnames found in the area known as The Ridge north of Altenburg were Jungclaus and Weber.  Today, you will read about a married couple that was made up of a Jungclaus and a Weber.  I choose to begin the tale back in Lamstedt, Germany (mainly because I found some original baptism records there).

First, we will take a look at the baptism record for Herman Detlef Jungclaus, who was born in Lamstedt on April 15, 1831.  Lamstedt is located in the Hanover region in Germany.  Below is an image of his baptism record.

Herman’s father was another Herman Detlef Jungclaus whose wife was Sophia Reyels (sp?).  The woman Herman would later marry was Gesche Stüve.  She was born on January 14, 1836, also in Lamstedt.  Here is her baptism record.

Herman and Gesche would each later travel to America where they would get married and establish their family on The Ridge.  That couple would have 7 children, and Emma Jungclaus would be number 6.  She is today’s birthday girl, being born on February 22, 1870.  So this is even a more special birthday.  She would have been 150 years old today.  Emma was baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Altenburg.  We have her baptism record.  Just a little lesson on German script.  At times, a writer would put a horizontal line above a letter which would indicate that the letter would be doubled, such as we see above the “m” in Emma.

Emma was born early enough in 1870 to be included in the census taken during that year.  She was just a baby.

Ten years later, Emma can be found in the 1880 census.  The entry says she was 9 years old, but I figure she must have already been 10.

Emma’s future husband would be Albert Heinrich Weber.  He was part of the Weber clan that we call the Ridge Weber’s.  Albert was born on September 16, 1859, so he was a little over 10 years older than Emma.  He was the son of Friedrich and Emilie (Krause) Weber.  Albert was baptized at Concordia Lutheran Church in Frohna, Missouri.  Below is his baptism record from that church.

Albert is found in the 1860 census.  Although he was mostly called Albert on documents, this one says he was Henry A. Weber.

The 1870 census shows Albert as an 11 year-old.  This time, he is called Albert.

Albert can already be found in his 3rd census in 1880 before he was married.  In fact, if we could look at an 1890 census, we would see that he was still single at that time.  By the time of the 1880 census, Albert’s father had died, his mother had remarried, and her second husband had also died.  So, we see his mother on this entry as the 52 year-old Emilie Heiner.

It is not hard to understand how Albert and Emma became a couple.  In the land map which was made in 1915, we see the Weber and Jungclaus farms were very close to each other.

On May 28, 1891, Albert Weber married Emma Jungclaus at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Altenburg.  We have the marriage record for this couple from that church.  The record stretches across two pages, so I have to display it in two images.

Three children were born to this couple by the time the 1900 census was recorded. Albert’s brother, Frederick, was living in this household at that time also.  Albert was a farmer his entire life.

Albert and Emma would have 6 boys before they would have their only daughter, Louise.  Most of these children can be seen in the 1910 census.  Their oldest son, Otto, was a hired hand in the Gotthilf Kaufmann household when that census was taken.

I may be wrong, but I figure the only daughter in that family may have been tormented by all those older brothers.  On the other hand, I also figure Emma must have been really tickled to finally have a little girl in the house.

When the 1920 census rolled around, we find the following entry for the Weber family.

In 1925, the deadly Tri-State Tornado ripped through The Ridge.  Two photos we have showing tornado damage show Weber and Jungclaus homes.

We find Albert Weber in his final census in 1930.  He and Emma were living with their son, Theobald Weber.

Albert Weber died in 1938 at the age of 78.  We have his death certificate.

Emma was still alive for the 1940 census.  She was still living in the Theobald Weber household.

Emma Weber died in 1956 at the age of 86.  Here is her death certificate.

Both Albert and Emma Weber are buried in the Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery in Altenburg.

I would like to take a further look at one branch from this family tree because it intersects with my life.  The only daughter, Louise Weber, married Gustav Reschke, who was a Lutheran pastor.  For a while, he was a pastor in Sebring, Florida.  Here are photos of those two.

The Reschke’s had a daughter named Helen, who would later marry Al Balkie.  Helen Balkie and I were on the same staff at Lutheran Central School in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida during the 1970’s.  Here are photos of Helen and me from back in those days.

I do not recall being aware back in those times that both Helen had roots in Perry County.  Helen has in more recent days told me she had some roots here.  Now I know how she is connected to this place.  She’s a Ridge Weber.