Concordia Pauline Neubeck was born on this day 150 years ago. She was the first child born into her family. Her father was George Neubeck, whose story was told in the post, Dealer and Healer in Downtown Altenburg. Her mother’s name is a little bit of a puzzle. In her St. Louis marriage record, her maiden name is spelled Johanna Kroos.
In a baptism record of another child born into this family, the maiden name appears to be Krause. Here is that baptism record with what has been translated as Krause with a red box surrounding it. It doesn’t look like Krause to me.
The first 3 children in the Neubeck family were baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Altenburg, but the last ones were baptized at Trinity. When we look at the records of baptisms at Trinity, the maiden name is written as either Gross or Grosse. I know that I can imagine a German pronouncing both Kroos and Gross in a similar fashion. Pauline Concordia’s baptism record is shown below.
Concordia Pauline shows up already in the 1870 census as a one month old baby. In this entry, she is called Pauline.
George Neubeck had attempted to start a general store in 1868 at a place named Birmingham, located where the Apple Creek emptied into the Mississippi River. That store and town never got off the ground, and he decided to move his store to Altenburg in 1869, the year before Concordia’s birth. Ten years after the above census, we find the Neubeck family in the 1880 census where Concordia is 10 years old. It looks as if her name is spelled Cord or Cora.
Concordia’s future husband would be Martin Fischer. He was the son of Albert and Mary (Palisch) Fischer. Martin was born on December 30, 1864. Below is his baptism record from Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg.
Martin shows up in his first census in 1870 as a 7 year-old. In this entry, Martin’s father, Albert, was a retail dry goods merchant.
Martin can be found in one more census before he was married…the one taken in 1880. In this census, Albert was called a farmer.
On October 21, 1888, Martin Fischer married Concordia Neubeck at Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg. Below is the church record for that wedding.
I do not have a wedding photograph for this couple, but a photo of Martin’s family with his mother and several siblings and their spouses can be displayed. Martin and Concordia are indicated by the red arrows.
What is interesting is that at about this time that Martin’s younger brother, Edward Fischer became the proprietor of a general store in Altenburg. That Fischer Store was located right across Main Street in Altenburg from the Neubeck Store. In the photo below, the Neubeck Store is the front building on the right behind the pole. Across the road was the Edward Fischer residence and behind it, where you see a spire, was the Fischer Store. This photo was probably taken in the 1890’s.
Here is another photo of the Fischer Store.
Therefore, the Fischer/Neubeck marriage was one that involved two different stores which may have been in competition with one another. I remember writing a story a few years back about a Palisch marrying a Lueders in Frohna. A Palisch Store was located in that town right across the road from the Lueders Store, and there was a marriage between a son and a daughter from those two competing stores.
When the 1900 census was taken, we find Martin and Concordia with their only child, Lydia. Martin was listed as a salesman. His brother, Edward, was shown right above Martin’s household, and he was called a merchant. I have to think that Martin was a salesman in his brother’s store.
Concordia’s parents both died in 1898, not long before the above census was taken. All of the Neubeck children were girls except for one boy who lived less than two years. We have a printed invitation on display in our museum of a promotion for the Neubeck Store, only it seems to indicate that the store may have specialized in merchandise for female patrons and was being run by some Neubeck sisters.
Perhaps Concordia was involved in the operation of the Neubeck Store while her husband was a salesman across the street at the Fischer Store. Next, we find the Martin Fischer household in the 1910 census. This time, it shows Martin as a dairyman.
In the 1915 plat maps, we find two pieces of property owned by Martin Fischer, one in town and the other just outside of town.
We find the Fischer’s with an empty nest in the 1920 census.
In October of that year, 1920, Concordia died at the age of 50. If I am reading this correctly, her death certificate says she died of skin cancer.
If you look at the doctor’s name who signed off on this certificate, his name was Dr. Theo. Estel. Dr. Estel’s wife was Louise Neubeck, Concordia’s sister. Louise had died in 1918. Concordia Fischer was buried in the Trinity Lutheran Cemetery in Altenburg.
The gravestone to the right of Concordia’s is that of Louise Estel, her sister.
Martin Fischer can be found in the 1930 census as a widower. An Ernestine Militzer was living with him as a servant.
In a previous post about Lydia Fischer, Martin’s only child, it was told that Lydia and her husband lived in Louisiana. That post was titled, Louisiana Lillie. Martin Fischer must have gone down to Louisiana to live near or with his daughter later in his life. Martin died in 1945 at the age of 80 and is buried in the Roselawn Memorial Park in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
There is an interesting medical fact involved in this story. Dr. Theo Estel was married to Louise Neubeck, so he would have been Martin Fischer’s brother-in-law. Dr. Estel’s successor would be Dr. Theodore Fischer, who would have been Martin Fischer’s nephew.
Finally, there is also a Fiehler connection to this story. Gerard Fiehler now lives in a house located on the property once owned by Martin Fischer in the town of Altenburg. Right next door to Gerard’s home is the house that was once the residence and office of Dr. Fischer. Not only that, Gerard’s sister and her husband recently became owners of the building that was once the Neubeck Store. If you look at the previous photo of the Neubeck Store, the far side of it has a brick facade. That portion of the original store is still found as part of the present-day building. Here are some photos of that structure located between Grayson’s Bar & Grill and the Old Bank Coffee Shop. The older looking bricks on the left side of the building is the portion that was once part of the Neubeck Store.
