In the last month or so, I have already written two stories involving romances that took place on The Ridge. Today, you will get another one. In fact, in a way, you will be getting two of them. The tale today will involve the surnames, Holschen and Leimbach. There was a time when there were two river landings on The Ridge named after these two, the Leimbach Landing and the Holschen Landing. The Holschen Landing was later named the Star Landing (and on present-day maps you will see Starland). The landings of Seventy-Six, Starland, Leimbach (misspelled), and Wittenberg are shown on this current map.
The story today begins with a special birthday. Louisa Augusta Leimbach was born on October 4, 1870, so today would have been her 150th birthday. She was the daughter of Paul and Louise (Schrier) Leimbach and her baptism record is included in the books of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Altenburg, Missouri. Her baptism took place on October 31st, Reformation Day, which happened to be on a Monday that year. There may have been a special service held on that day in Altenburg, but there is also the possibility that a special service may have been held on The Ridge, where the Immanuel pastor often traveled to conduct services there in those days. Here is the baptism record for Augusta.
Augusta did not make it into the census taken during the year of her birth. Her first census would be the one taken in 1880. It is the only census in which we find her as a single person.
Augusta’s husband was going to be Herman Holschen. Herman was born on February 27, 1866, the son of Friedrich and Francziska (Stadelmann) Holschen. Like so many other people who were born on The Ridge, Herman was baptized at Immanuel, Altenburg. Here is an image of his baptism record.
Herman can be found in both the 1870 and the 1880 censuses before he was married. Here is the census entry for 1870 where we find Herman at the age of 3. His grandparents, John and Margaret Holschen were also in this household. A younger sister by the name of Ann is shown in this entry that will show up in this story later.
Next, we find Herman in the 1880 census as a teenager.
Herman Holschen married Augusta Leimbach on October 23, 1890. We can view the marriage license for this couple.
When I went to the marriage records in the Immanuel, Altenburg books, I found a surprise. Right below the record for the wedding of Herman and Augusta, I found another marriage between a Holschen and a Leimbach. The bride in that wedding was Herman’s sister Anna, and the groom was Augusta’s half-brother, Ernst Leimbach. When I looked closer, I discovered that these two weddings took place on the same day. It was a double Holschen/Leimbach wedding. Below are the church records for this double wedding in two images. This is an example of an Immanuel record that uses the term, Friedland, to describe The Ridge.
In 1898, Herman was named the postmaster for The Ridge as seen in the form below.
Herman’s father had been named the postmaster for Holschen’s Landing in 1891. I think there is a possibility that the name for the location of the post office was changed from Holschen’s Landing to The Ridge.
By the way, there is a note on Herman’s form that in 1903, the mail would be delivered out of Wittenberg. The coming of the railroad in 1904 would change how the mail would get to this area. Once the railroad started running, it would bring the mail instead of it getting to this area by being ferried across the river from Grand Tower. I included the story of the changes in postal delivery in my book, Wittenberg ’03.
According to our German Family Tree, there were 8 children born to this couple, one of them a stillborn. The first census in which we find these two as a married couple was the one taken in 1900. Herman was called a day laborer.
Next, we find the Holschen household in the 1910 census. This time Herman is called a house carpenter.
The 1920 census shows a smaller Holschen household and Herman was now called a clerk in a store. Based on the fact that he had different neighbors in this census, I believe he had moved his family to a new location, possibly near the town of Brazeau.
We find the Holschen’s in an entirely new location when the 1930 census was taken. Herman was back to being a house carpenter, but he and his remaining family were living in St. Louis.
The 1930’s was a tragic decade for this family. In 1932, their son, Norbert, was killed in an truck crash near High Hill, Missouri at the age of 25. Then, in August of 1936, another son, August Holschen, died of what was called oxheart disease on his death certificate at the age of 35. I was not able to find out anything about a disease by that name. Then, about a month after that death, Herman died at the age of 70. Below is his death certificate which states that he was a retired carpenter.
Augusta made it into the next decade, but not by much. She died in 1940 at the age of 69. Here is her death certificate.
Herman and Augusta are each buried in the New Bethlehem Memorial Park in St. Louis.
Someday, I may have to give more details about the other couple who got married on the same day as Herman and Augusta. In today’s romance story, what happened on The Ridge did not stay on The Ridge. They made their way to The Loo (an affectionate name sometimes given to St. Louis).
Hello Carol,
When the Lutheran Heritage Center features a story on the Leimbachs, I like to forward it to you. Perhaps you receive their stories. I was impressed with the fact that there was a Leimbach landing on the Mississippi.
Thank you for the birthday greeting. Will respond to more about it later.
Love,
Fred
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August Holschen is my grandfather. According to his oldest son who is my father Roy, August had rheumatic fever as a child that left him with a weak heart. He and my grandmother were warned by the family doctor to not have children as August would not live to see them grow up. He died while working under his car in the back yard of their St. Louis home.