I will tell the tale of Louis Oswald today. Eventually, I will get around to a life event that happened on this day, but not right away. Louis was born on March 18, 1875, the son of Christian and Margaretha (Droege) Oswald. Louis was child #4 in a family of 7. He was baptized at Salem Lutheran Church in Farrar, Missouri. Here is his baptism record.

Louis is found in the 1880 census at the age of 5. His father was a farmer.

That 1880 census was the only one in which we see Louis as a single man. Next, we will look at the early life of Louis’s first wife. Her name was Elizabeth Roth. I really did not get much help from family histories on Ancestry.com. I found an Elizabeth Roth in her family, but it does not give a spouse for her. I found Elizabeth Roth as Louis’s wife, but then it did not give her parents’ names. I think I can tie the two together today.

Elizabeth Roth was born on June 1, 1873, the daughter of George and Maria Elizabeth (Roth) Roth. The story of Elizabeth’s parents was told in the post, The First Roth/Roth Couple. This Roth family can be found in the 1880 census living in Cape Girardeau where George was a farmer, and Elizabeth was 7 years old. I have to display this entry in two images.

There came a time when Elizabeth’s family moved to Perry County and became members of Salem Lutheran Church in Farrar. Louis Oswald married Elizabeth Roth on June 12, 1898 at Salem. We can take a look at the church record for this wedding.

The marriage license for this couple is displayed below.

I was able to locate a wedding photograph of Louis and Elizabeth.

Sadly, Elizabeth didn’t even live long enough to make it into the 1900 census. She died in 1899 at the age of 26. She is buried in the Salem Lutheran Cemetery in Farrar, but Findagrave has no gravestone photo.

Louis would have been a widower when the 1900 census was taken, but I was not able to find him. I know that he was not living with his parents. However, I did find this record that shows a Louis Oswald trying to sell a farm in Cape Girardeau in 1900. Perhaps this is the farm property that once belonged to George Roth, Louis’s father-in-law, who had died in 1896.

Then in 1901, Louis married again. Let’s take a look at his second wife’s early life.

Emelie Buettner was born on February 13, 1883, the daughter of Charles and Johanne (Reuter) Buettner. She was baptized at Peace Lutheran Church in Friedenberg, so we cannot view her baptism record. Emelie shows up in her first census in 1900, and it is that miserable census from Salem Township for that year. Emelie was 17 years old.

The above census would be the only one in which Emelie is shown as a single woman. Here is where we get to the special event that took place on this day. On November 17, 1901, Louis Oswald married Emelie Buettner. That marriage took place at Peace Lutheran Church in Friedenberg, so the only original document we can view is this couple’s marriage license.

I was also able to find a wedding photograph for Louis’s second marriage.

I am thinking that it was about this time that Louis’s parents had this photograph taken of the Oswald family. It included the parents along with all the siblings. Louis is standing in the back, the third person from the left.

Another photo was taken of the Christian Oswald family. This one is said to have been taken in 1903. After looking at this photograph, I realized that the above photo and this one were taken at the same time. It includes their children, spouses, and some grandchildren. Louis and Emelie are standing in the back row on the far left. Louis is holding his first child, Elsie. This photo was taken in front of the Lueders house in Frohna and was likely taken by Paul Lueders, a photographer.

We find Louis and Emelie living in the Central Township in the 1910 census where Louis is called a carpenter. He would be a carpenter the rest of his life. There were two children in the family by then.

Next, we find the Oswald household in the 1920 census. According to our German Family Tree, this couple had 4 children. Their last child born in 1919 died after a few weeks.

Louis and Emelie can be found in two more census records. They were always found in the Central Township. A later obituary states that they lived near Friedenberg. Here is the 1930 census entry.

The last census we can view is the one taken in 1940. Two of his son’s families were living in their household and both of those sons were also carpenters.

A photo including Louis and Emelie Oswald was taken later in his life. There were a few other of Louis’s relatives in the photo. Louis and Emelie are the couple on the right. This photo was taken about 1940.

Louis Oswald died in 1954 at the age of 79. Below is his death certificate.

I was also able to locate Louis’s obituary.

Emelie Oswald died in 1973 at the age of 90. She died too recently to view her death certificate. Louis and Emelie are buried together in the Peace Lutheran Cemetery in Friedenberg.

I have enjoyed writing stories from this Oswald family. Several others can be found on this blog. Whenever I research this family, I find all sorts of interesting photographs.