If you travel through Germany, you can find quite a few old castles which can help you understand times gone by. But did you know that there were Kassel’s in Perry County, Missouri that can still be studied to learn about the past? We will look at a Kassel that was born on this day. We will discover that this must have been a Kassel on Wheels because during his life, we find him in Frohna, Uniontown, Farrar, and Perryville. We also find this Kassel finding one of his wives in Friedheim.

Ernst Christian Kassel was born on August 26, 1887, the son of George Frank and Louise (Bangert) Kassel. Ernst was baptized at Concordia Lutheran Church in Frohna, Missouri. Here is the baptism record from that church’s books.

The next child born into this Kassel family in 1889 was baptized at Salem Lutheran Church in Farrar, as were all the rest of their children. In a later plat map made in 1915, we see that George Frank (G.F.) and his brother, Paul (P.H.) had obtained land not far north of Farrar.

The first census in which we find Ernst was the one taken in 1900 at the age of 12. He is found in that Salem Township census that is so difficult to decipher.

In 1901, we find Ernst being confirmed at Salem Lutheran Church in Farrar.

Next, we find Ernst in the 1910 census at the age of 22.

Now we will turn our attention to Ernst’s first wife, Agnes Weinhold. Agnes was born on October 20, 1887, the daughter of Paul and Louise (Hermann) Weinhold. That would make Agnes what we call a “Dirt Weinhold” as opposed to a “Miller Weinhold”. Like her future husband, Ernst, she was baptized at Concordia, Frohna. These two were born just a matter of a few months from each other, and there were only 4 other baptism records between them in the Concordia books. Below is the baptism record for Agnes.

It is very likely that Ernst and Agnes would have been in the same confirmation class had the Kassel’s remained in Frohna. Sadly, just a matter of weeks after Agnes was born, her mother died as a result of childbirth complications. Here is the death record from the church books for Louise Weinhold.

It is at this point that I ran into the first mystery for this story. I could not locate Agnes in the 1900 census. I have this suspicion that Paul Weinhold was unable to care for the baby, Agnes, after his wife died. I am guessing that she was raised in someone else’s family, but I was not able to determine which family that might have been. In the census for 1910, we find Agnes living in a household in St. Louis and working as a servant. She was 22 years old.

Ernst Kassel and Agnes Weinhold were married probably around 1912, but this is a second mystery. There is no record of this marriage in local church books. Also, the marriage is not to be found in Perry County civil marriage records. I suspect this marriage would have taken place in St. Louis. I know it is not often that I fail to find a marriage record for a couple made up of two people with Perry County roots.

According to our German Family Tree, the first child born into this family arrived in 1915. However, that child does not have a baptism record in the German Family Tree. Perhaps he was born in St. Louis. The first child to be baptized in Perry County was born in 1918, and she was baptized at Salem, Farrar.

Ernst had his World War I draft registration completed in 1917.

We find the Kassel family in the 1920 census for Salem Township. This time, Ernst was described as a mechanic.

The last child for this couple was born in 1922 and baptized at Salem, Farrar, but when that child died in 1924, the death record is found in the books of Grace Lutheran Church in Uniontown. The other children were confirmed at that church. Then, in 1928, Agnes died at the age of 40. Her death certificate mentions influenza as a cause.

Agnes was buried in the Grace Lutheran Cemetery in Uniontown.

Here’s the next mystery. How could a woman who died in 1928 have a gravestone that says she died 4 years later in 1932?

Ernst married a second time in 1929. His second wife was Emma Tuschoff. Emma was born on July 8, 1887. That means that Ernst and both of his wives were all born in the same year. She was the daughter of Christian and Johanette (Breune) Tuschoff. Here is Emma’s baptism record from Trinity Lutheran Church in Friedheim, Missouri.

Here is what I find fascinating. Below is an image of two marriage records from the Trinity, Friedheim books. These two marriages took place in 1886.

The top record displays the marriage of Emma Tuschoff’s parents. Right below that one you find the marriage of Ernst Kassel’s parents. Forty-three years later, the firstborn child of each of these couples would get married. However, I did not find the marriage of Emma and Ernst in that church’s books. Below is the marriage license for this couple.

The license says these two were married at Trinity Lutheran Church in Cape Girardeau. I found this transcription at the end of some records for that church for 1929. The 1928 date must be a mistake.

We find the Kassel household in the 1930 census for Union Township.

Ernst and Emma had one child, a girl named Martha Kassel, who was born in 1931. The last census which we can view is the one taken in 1940.

Emma died in 1963 at the age of 75. She died of breast cancer.

Ernst Kassel died in 1970 at the age of 83. We cannot view death certificates from that year. Both Ernst and Emma are buried in the Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery in Perryville.

So, there you have it. The tale of Ernst Kassel took us on quite the trip. Yet it, like so many posts on this blog, contains several unsolved mysteries.