Lutheran Heritage Center & Museum

I am not in Altenburg right now and will not be there until later this coming week.  That makes a little difference in the way I write these posts.  I do not have access to the church records that we have at the Lutheran Heritage Center & Museum.  I will not be able to display images such as baptism and marriage records from churches.  In the case of today’s story, the main characters were members of St. John’s Lutheran Church in Pocahontas, and we do not have that congregation’s actual church records (at least, not yet), so I would not have been able to display church records anyway.

The two surnames we will look at today have their origins in Austria.  Those names are Leimer and Koeberl.  We will start with today’s birthday boy.  Herman Koeberl would have been 139 years old today.  Most folks around here pronounce this surname pretty much the same as the word “cable”.  Herman was born on March 15, 1881 in Austria.  He was the son of another Herman Koeberl and Theresia (Moosburger) Koeberl.  According to a future census record, the Koeberl family came to America in 1885 when Herman, Jr. was just 4 years old.  Our German Family Tree says that Herman was confirmed at St. John’s Lutheran Church in 1895. Our German Family Tree says that Herman was confirmed at St. John’s Lutheran Church in 1895. Even though the evidence indicates the Koeberl’s were in the United States in 1900, I was unable to find them in the 1900 census.

Herman’s spouse would be Anna Leimer, who was born on November 25, 1889.  She was the daughter of Johann and Emilie (Petzoldt) Leimer.  Her family had arrived in America in 1863 during the midst of the Civil War, so Anna was born in the United States.  She was baptized at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Pocahontas.  We find her as a 10 year-old in the 1900 census for Shawnee Township.

Herman Koeberl married Anna Leimer on April 3, 1910 at St. John’s Lutheran, Pocahontas.  We can look at their marriage license.

These two were married early enough in the calendar year to be found as a couple in the 1910 census.  These newlyweds were living with Anna’s parents.  This census entry and all other later census records listed Herman as a carpenter.

Our German Family Tree says this Koeberl couple had 6 children.  However, two of these children died as infants.  In 1918, Herman had his World War I draft registration completed.  It, too, said he was a carpenter, but it also said his employer was A.G. Kaufmann.

There is no evidence of Herman serving in the military during that war.  We then find the Koeberl’s in the 1920 census.  They had two living children at that time.

Two additional children were born in the 1920’s.  We find this entry for the Koeberl family in 1930.  Anna’s widowed father was living in their household at the age of 71.

Both Herman and Anna did not die until after the 1940 census, but I was unable to find them in the census taken in that year.  However, we do find that Herman had his World War II draft card completed in 1942, and he was still living in Pocahontas, but at that time he was working as a farmer.

Herman Koeberl died in 1949 at the age of 67.  We have his death certificate.

Anna Koeberl would not die until 1978 at the age of 88.  We cannot view death certificates from that year yet.  Herman and Anna Koeberl are buried together in the St. John’s Lutheran Cemetery in Pocahontas, Missouri.

The Leimer and Koeberl names had their origins around here on land surrounding the town of Pocahontas.  In the 1930 map shown below, we find several parcels of land attributed to those two names.  I do not think any of these farms were operated by Herman.  Being a carpenter, he may have lived in the town of Pocahontas.

A little grandchild occasionally hopping on my lap makes it a little challenging to get a blog post written these days, but I will do my best to get the job done.  I won’t complain.