The situation that I especially found interesting in today’s story is that two cousins with origins in East Perry County, Missouri managed to marry a pair of siblings with their origins near Ogallala, Nebraska.  One couple spent their married life in Missouri; the other spent their married life in Nebraska.  I began by wondering how folks from Nebraska would get connected to ones in Perry County.  I discovered the answer in a family binder we have in our research library.  So, off we go…

Gotthilf Heinrich August Schmidt was born on March 20, 1882, so he would have been 138 years old if he were alive today.  Gotthilf was the son of Henry and Sophia (Ross) Schmidt of Frohna.  He was baptized at Concordia Lutheran Church in Frohna.  Below is his baptism record.

Gotthilf’s first census was the one taken in 1900.  He was 18 years old.

One other census shows Gotthilf as an unmarried man.  That one was taken in 1910.

At this point, I choose to turn our attention to one of Gotthilf’s cousins, Linna Burroughs.  She was born on October 26, 1885, the daughter of Frank and Mary (Schmidt) Burroughs.  Linna’s mother, Mary, was the sister of Gotthilf’s father, making Gotthilf and Linna first cousins.  Linna’s baptism record shows that she, too, was baptized at Concordia, Frohna.

Linna can be found in the 1900 census for Brazeau Township.

In 1910, Linna was no longer in Perry County.  She can be found working as a servant for a family in St. Louis.

Here’s where it gets interesting.  Linna’s brother, Rev. Albert Burroughs, was the pastor of the Lutheran Church near Ogallala, Nebraska.  His wife also had this couple’s first baby in July of 1910.  Linna went to Ogallala to help her sister-in-law with the baby.  While she was there, she met George Elmshauser.

Let me take a little side trip to the Elmshauser family and their early history in America.  George’s father, Conrad Elmshauser, came to America in 1866 aboard the ship, Anna, that arrived in the city of Baltimore.  Aboard that same ship was Elizabeth Agel, whom Conrad would marry as soon as he arrived in the United States.  This looks like one of those cases in which a couple finds it easier and less costly to get married in America than in Germany.

The paragraphs below continue that story which gets the Elmshauser’s to Ogallala, Nebraska.

You can see that Conrad Elmshauser was instrumental in getting property for St. John’s Lutheran Church in Ogallala where Rev. Albert Burroughs was the pastor.  The map below shows the Elmshauser farm in 1913.  Conrad had died in 1901, so Elizabeth is listed as the owner.  The Lutheran church is shown with an icon in the upper right corner of this property.

Next, we can see what happened with Linna Burroughs and George Elmshauser.

As it says, on February 1, 1912, Linna Burroughs and George Elmshauser were married at Concordia, Frohna.  Here is the church record for that wedding.  Please note that Gotthilf Schmidt is one of the witnesses for this marriage.

Linna went back to Nebraska with her husband and lived there the rest of her life.  The love stories continue as we read what happened next.

Gotthilf brought his new bride back to Perry County, where the two of them would live on a farm.  Gotthilf had his World War I draft registration completed in 1918.

Gotthilf and Christina can be found in the 1920 census living with Gotthilf’s parents.  Gotthilf and Christina had 4 children by that time.

This couple’s last child was born in 1920 after the census was taken.  We then find this Schmidt family in the 1930 census.  This time, Gotthilf is listed as the head of the household, but his parents are still living with him.

The last census we can view for this couple was the 1940 census.  Gotthilf’s father and mother had both died in the early 1930’s.

Gotthilf Schmidt died in 1968 at the age of 86.  We have his death certificate.  He died at the Perry County Memorial Hospital in Perryville.

Christina Schmidt died in 1976.  Her death record in the Concordia, Frohna books says she died at 95 years old as a result of pneumonia.  Both Gotthilf and Christina are buried in the Concordia Lutheran Cemetery in Frohna.

Let’s return to the Elmshauser’s in Nebraska.  George and Linna apparently had 6 children.  I located a photo that was taken of that family.

Before I conclude, I would like to share with you the fact that one of my classmates when I attended Concordia Teachers College in Seward, Nebraska was John Elmshauser.  Our senior yearbook says he was from La Junta, Colorado.  I do not know if he is related to these Elmshauser’s from Ogallala.  Below is John Elmshauser’s senior photo.

John was quite a talented singer and was part of several musical groups at Seward.  He also played on the same football team on which I played in 1970.  Below is a photo of that football team.  I have placed arrows showing where John and I can be found.

There are other individuals included in the above photo who have roots in Perry County.  Their stories may show up on this blog someday.