Yes, today is yet another story about a bride and a groom with roots on The Ridge. The Ridge is a hilly, rural neighborhood located north of Altenburg near the Mississippi River. Residents of The Ridge were predominantly members of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Altenburg. The couple that will be discussed today is another story from that vicinity. However, it has a few characteristics that differ from previous posts on this blog that have described as Ridge romances. One of these differences is one to which I can relate. Today’s groom shares the distinction with me that we were both 39 years old when we finally were married. I guess you could call us both reluctant grooms. Let’s begin today with this groom who also happens to be today’s birthday boy.

Albert Friedrich Weber was born on December 23, 1894, the son of Albert and Emma (Jungclaus) Weber. A previous post, Albert and Emma on The Ridge, told the story of Albert’s parents. This son and his father were called Albert during their lifetimes, but the son was not technically an Albert, Jr. because his father was Albert Heinrich Weber. Albert was the second of 6 straight boys born into this family, which had only one daughter, who was the youngest child. Albert’s parents could also qualify to be called a Ridge romance. Like all his siblings, Albert was baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Altenburg. He is one of those babies who was born at the end of one year and was baptized early in the next year. His baptism record is displayed below in two images.

Albert can be found in his first 3 census records living on The Ridge in Brazeau Township. The first one was the one taken in 1900 when Albert was said to be 4 years old. That must have been recorded incorrectly because Albert should have been at least 5 years old at that time.

The Weber family can be seen once again in the 1910 census, in which Albert was 15 years old and called a farm laborer.

When the 1915 plat maps were produced, we find several parcels of land on The Ridge which include the Weber surname. I published this map in that previous post about Albert’s parents showing the properties that I think were owned by that Weber family. It also highlights some property that was owned by the Jungclaus family, which is likely where Albert’s mother grew up. You will find out shortly that the family of Albert’s future wife is also seen nearby on this map.

Albert had his World War I draft registration completed in 1917. This document states that Albert was working on a farm in Bremer County, Iowa. I have written a few other posts that gave examples of young men, primarily from Immanuel Lutheran in Altenburg, who spent some time and even settled in Bremer County.

Albert apparently did not remain there long because we find him once again living on The Ridge in the 1920 census at the age of 25.

It is then interesting to note that Albert once again returned to Bremer County, Iowa because we find him living in Franklin Township, Iowa in the 1930 census. He was a farm laborer in the household of Arthur Herman. At the age of 35, Albert was still single.

Now, we must take a look at Albert’s future bride. Her name was Ella Schattauer. Ella was born on February 18, 1910, the daughter of Theodore and Pauline (Gerler) Schattauer. Several other posts have been written about children that were Gerler siblings of Ella’s mother. This Gerler family photo has shown up on this blog before, and I am fairly sure that Pauline, Ella’s mother, is the youngest child in the picture on her mother’s lap. This photo must have been taken on The Ridge because this Gerler couple could also be classified as a Ridge Romance.

Ella’s family must have been living in the Pocahontas neighborhood when she was born because she was baptized at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Pocahontas. Here is a record of her baptism from a binder we have for that congregation in our research library.

Between 1910 and 1915, the Shattauer family moved to The Ridge because the previous 1915 plat map showed a parcel of land owned by Theodore Schattauer adjacent to the Weber land. We find this Schattauer family in the 1920 census in Brazeau Township. When Albert returned to Perry County in 1920, his future wife was just 10 years old.

Ella can once again be found in the 1930 census at 19 years of age. Ella’s father had died in 1927. It was when this census was taken that Albert was back up in Iowa working as a farmhand.

That leads us up to the marriage of Albert F. Weber and Ella Schattauer which took place on the day after Christmas, December 26th, in 1933. This marriage was too recent to show up in the Immanuel church books we have in our museum, but we can take a look at the marriage license for this couple.

We can also take a look at the wedding photo for this couple. That is quite the headdress and bouquet of flowers that Ella has.

According to Ella’s later obituary, this couple had 4 children, two girls and two boys. We find Albert and Ella in the 1940 census with 2 children. I have included a neighborhood full of Weber’s and Schattauer’s that show up on this census page.

Albert Weber died in 1979 at the age of 84; his wife, Ella, died in 1991 at the age of 81. These two are buried together in the Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery in Altenburg.

I was able to find the obituary for Ella.

Albert and I waited till we were 39 years old before we were married. I have to confess that I did not marry a woman who was 23 years old at the time of my wedding like Albert did. My wife just looks like she could have been that young.