We will be taking a look at another person that would be celebrating her 150th birthday if she was still alive today. She was a Palisch, and she would go on to marry a Fischer. This was not the first time that a Palisch woman would marry a Fischer man. When I do stories on either the Palisch or Fischer families, I know I will have to determine whether I will be discussing an Altenburg Palisch or a Frohna Palisch, or whether I will be discussing an Altenburg Fischer or a Frohna Fischer. So, if I do a story of a Palisch marrying a Fischer, I know I have a real challenge ahead of me.
We start with today’s birthday girl, Sarah Mathilde Palisch, who was born on December 28, 1870. She was the daughter of Ernst and Juliane (Hoffstetter) Palisch. I have this photo of Sarah’s parents.
Sarah was the 7th of 8 children in her Palisch family. Only the last child, Gotthilf A. Palisch, was baptized in Frohna. All the previous children, including Sarah, were baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Altenburg. She was born in 1870, but baptized in 1871. Here is Sarah’s baptism record.
That last son, Sarah’s younger brother, Gotthilf A. Palisch, was the locally famous Doc Palisch, who served Frohna’s medical needs for a lot of years. I will also insert here the fact that both Frohna and Altenburg had doctors that served for very long times. Those two were Doc Palisch and Doc Fischer. Previous posts have been written about these two.
Sarah was born too late in 1870 to be found in that year’s census, so the first census in which we find her was the one taken in 1880. Based on others listed near their household on the census, this couple was living in Frohna. Her father, Ernst, had died in 1876, so we do not find him in this entry. Her older 18 year-old brother, Henry, was doing the farming for the family. Sarah was said to be 8 years old, but I think she was at least 9.
Now, we will look at Sarah’s groom. His name was Martin Johannes Fischer, the son of Friedrich Ferdinand and Martha (Weinhold) Fischer. Martin was born on March 18, 1870. Let me point out here that there was another Martin Fischer who was born in 1864 who was the son of Friedrich Albert and Emma Marie (Palisch) Fischer. That was a Fischer/Palisch pair from the previous generation. It was that branch of the Fischer family from which Doc Fischer came. Martin J. Fischer was baptized at Concordia Lutheran Church in Frohna, Missouri. Below is his baptism record.
Contrary to Sarah, his future wife who was also born in 1870, Martin Fischer was born early enough in the year to show up in the 1870 census. He was shown to be just one month old, and his father was a retail dry goods merchant.
Martin Fischer would also lose his father when he was quite young. His father died in 1874. We find the Fischer household in the 1880 census in which Martin was 10 years old.
Martin J. Fischer married Sarah Palisch on September 11, 1892 at Concordia, Frohna. We can view this couple’s marriage license.
The church record for this wedding gives some additional information. First, we see that Martin’s older brother, Rev. Joseph Fischer, assisted with this marriage ceremony. I think he was serving a church in Illinois at the time. We also see Doc Palisch as one of the witnesses for this marriage.
Our German Family Tree lists 6 children born to Martin and Sarah. Two of them were born before the 1900 census was taken. I have included some Palisch entries to show this neighborhood made up of Fischer’s and Palisch’s. Doc Palisch was living in Martin’s household at the time while he was still single.
Henry Palisch operated a general store in Frohna. We see that store in this photo where it is called the Palisch Brothers Store. Behind the store is the Martin Fischer home and farm. In the distance, you can see Concordia Lutheran Church.
Next, we can view the Fischer household in the 1910 census. I have included the Doc Palisch household. He was married by then. All 6 of the Fischer children can be seen in this entry.
The maps produced in 1915 show a parcel of land identified as being owned by the Julia Palisch heirs which was likely farmed by Martin Fischer.
The 1920 census shows Martin’s family next to Henry Palisch’s family. At this time Sarah and Henry’s mother, Juliane, was still alive at age 82 and living in the Fischer household.
The last census in which we find Martin Fischer was the one taken in 1930.
Martin Fischer died in 1931 at the age of 60. We can take a look at his death certificate. I’m a little bit curious why Doc Palisch did not sign this death certificate.
We can still find Sarah Fischer in the 1940 census living with her son, Walter, and his family.
I was unable to find a photo of Martin, but I did locate one that is said to be Sarah Fischer.
Sarah Fischer died in 1951 at the age of 79. Her death certificate is signed by Doc Fischer from Altenburg. Her brother, Doc Palisch, had died about 4 months earlier in 1951. For some reason, Sarah’s birth year on this form is 1871.
Martin and Sarah Fisher are each buried in the Concordia Lutheran Cemetery in Frohna, Missouri. Sarah’s gravestone also says she was born in 1871, but I think that is incorrect. Perhaps folks looked up her baptism record and saw that she was baptized in 1871.
As you now can see, the Palisch and the Fischer in this story would be placed in the category of being Frohna Palisch’s and Frohna Fischer’s.
I really enjoyed this post! My great-grandfather was Martin Fischer’s brother (Gotthilf). Thank you so much for the work you do to keep these stories alive.