I will be dealing with two surnames today that have been researched rather thoroughly by other genealogists who take their respective families back to the 1600’s. One of those researchers is our friend, Diane Anderson, who is who I would consider our local authority on the surname, Stueve. Below is a photo of the massive family binders that Diane produced for the Stueve family that we have in our research library.

The other genealogist is an unknown person that has an Ancestry.com family history called inthelight73 who also takes a Carrow family back to the 1600’s. I won’t go into detail in this story that far back, but will just comment on generalities in those families as I go along. It all starts with the birthday of a Stueve.

William Peter Stueve was born on November 18, 1895, making today his 125th birthday. William was the son of John and Mary Jane (Bess) Stueve, whose story was told in the post, John Stueve Got Himself the Bess. William, later called Willie, was baptized at Salem Lutheran Church in Farrar, Missouri. At this point, let me say that Willie’s great grandfather, Peter Stueve, came to America just prior to 1860 from Lamstedt, Germany. Diane Anderson shows this family living in Lamstedt for generations going back to the 1600’s. Below is William’s baptism record.

We find William in that horrid 1900 census from Salem Township where he is shown to be 4 years old.

William continued to be found in the same location in the 1910 census.

The last record I could find showing William’s presence in Perry County was his confirmation record. He was confirmed at Trinity Lutheran Church in Point Rest in 1911. Here is his confirmation record.

Several events took place in William’s life in the 1910’s. First, he got married in 1916. His bride would be Dehlia Elizabeth Carrow. I can only show you a marriage license for this couple because they were married by a Justice of the Peace. The marriage took place on June 6, 1916 in Festus, Missouri.

Dehlia Carrow was born on February 22, 1898, the daughter of Narcise and Julia (Liverau) Carrow. Here is a photo of Dehlia’s parents.

There are differences found in the spelling of the Carrow surname as you go back into the past. Others were Carow and Caron. This family was present in Missouri back in the 1700’s around Ste. Genevieve. A note found in a publication called The Spanish Regime in Missouri says one of her ancestors, Luis Caron, married Marguerite Valle, who reportedly had a mother who was an Indian slave.

If you go back into the 1600’s, you find ancestors in this family living in French Canada. Dehlia can be found in the 1900 census living in Plattin Township in Jefferson County, Missouri. Dehlia is the baby of the family.

Next, we find Dehlia in the 1910 census. She is called Elizabeth in this entry.

A year after their marriage, William was required to complete the World War I draft registration shown below. It shows William’s address as being in Menfro, but he is working on a farm in Story City, Iowa.

William did enter military service and was sent overseas to fight in that war and ended up in the 316th infantry. Here is a military record of his service from a Missouri database.

I found a transport record showing William leaving for Europe in 1918 aboard the Belgic.

The ship, Belgic, would later be renamed the Belgenland and became a passenger ship carrying tourists. I find it interesting that this ship sounds so similar to a place called Belgique which is found not far from where William lived in Perry County.

I also found a document showing William’s return trip to America when his time of service was complete in 1919. He returned upon a ship named Kroonland.

Here is a photo of the Kroonland.

I discovered that the Kroonland had been one of the first ships to travel through the Panama Canal. Below is a photo taken when that event occurred.

I looked in several possible locations to find the Stueve family in the 1920 census, but was unsuccessful. The next census in which I could find them was the one taken in 1930. This couple’s only child was 7 years old. William’s occupation was described as “laborer” and “building”.

The last census we can view is the one enumerated in 1940. William is called a WPA laborer doing building construction.

William must have later gone to work at the huge Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company not far away because his death certificate would later say that he was a glass worker.

William Stueve died in 1957 at the age of 62. His death certificate says he died at the Lutheran Hospital in St. Louis.

Dehlia Stueve is pictured with other relatives in the photograph below, but I do not know which one she is.

Dehlia Stueve died in 1966 at the age of 67. Below is her death certificate.

After her husband died, Dehlia applied for a military plaque to be placed on William’s grave. That application is shown here. Their daughter had married Jack Tiley, and his name is on this document saying that he was a judge.

William and Dehlia Stueve are buried in the Assumption Catholic Cemetery in Herculaneum, Missouri. Here is their gravestone and William’s military plaque.

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It is not often that I find evidence of a German Lutheran marrying a French Catholic. This tale gave me a rare opportunity to look into some French American history which originated not far from here around Ste. Genevieve, Missouri.