Ella Amalie Schuessler is today’s birthday girl. If she was alive today, she would have had to blow out 124 candles on her birthday cake. She was born on January 21, 1897, the daughter of Theodore and Hulda (Roth) Schuessler. She was the firstborn child in her family. Ella was baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg. Below is an image of her baptism record from that congregation’s records.

Although born in Altenburg, Ella’s Schuessler family did not remain in Perry County very long. By the time of the 1900 census, we find the Schuessler household living in the Fountain Bluff Township of Jackson County, Illinois. Ella was 3 years old in that census record. Her father was a farmer.

You may notice that the Schuessler’s had a set of twins born in 1899. Those twin boys were baptized at Christ Lutheran Church in Jacob, Illinois. Each of these twins died in July of 1900. Below are the baptism records of these twins from the Christ Lutheran books.

Next, we find Ella Schuessler in the 1910 census at the age of 13.

Next, we will turn our attention to Ella’s future husband. His name was Martin Miesner. Martin was born on January 25, 1890, the son of John and Anna (Luedemann) Miesner. So, Martin and his wife, Ella, would have birthdays not far apart from one another in January. Martin Miesner was baptized at Christ Lutheran Church in Jacob, Illinois. His baptism record is displayed below.

The first census in which we find Martin was the one taken in 1900 when Martin was 10 years old. His father was a farmer.

Next, we find Martin in the 1910 census. At the age of 20, Martin was helping his father on his farm.

That leads us up to the marriage of Martin Miesner and Ella Schuessler which took place on April 18, 1915. This couple was married at Christ Lutheran Church in Jacob, Illinois. We can take a look at the church record for this marriage.

Martin had his World War I draft registration completed in 1917. The forms says he was living in Jacob, Illinois and working as a farmer.

Our German Family Tree says that Martin and Ella Miesner had 4 children. When the 1920 census was taken, their first child, Norman, had been born. Martin was a farmer.

Next, we find the Miesner household in the 1930 census. This couple had 3 children.

One more child, a girl named Elda, was born in 1930, but by 1933, she had died. The last census we can view for this Miesner family was the one taken in 1940.

Martin Miesner had his World War II draft card completed in 1942.

It was during World War II that a family tragedy took place for Martin and Ella. Their son, Norman died while serving overseas during that war. I have written a previous post that told Norman’s story titled, The Last Full Measure.

Martin Miesner died in 1980 at the age of 90. An obituary for him can be found on his Findagrave site.

Ella Miesner died in 1983 at the age of 86. We can also view an obituary for her.

Martin and Ella Miesner are buried together in the Christ Lutheran Cemetery in Jacob, Illinois.

Although Ella Schuessler had her beginning in Perry County, Missouri, almost her whole life and the entire life of her husband, Martin, was lived in the Jacob, Illinois area. They led a life together on a farm. However, there was some sadness involved in their family, losing one child who only lived a matter of 3 years and a son who was tragically killed during World War II.