Today’s story begins in New Wells and later moves to Cape Girardeau. It also will include a woman whose maiden name was quite long, but took on a married name that was much shorter. We will begin with today’s birthday boy.

Julius Emil Koch was born on February 4, 1863, the son of Gottfried and Maria (Haertling) Koch. Julius was baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in New Wells, Missouri. Below is an image of the baptism record from that congregation’s books.

Julius is found in the 1870 census at the age of 7. His father was a farmer.

Julius’s father died that same year, 1870, leaving his mother as a widow. In 1879, his mother married Friedrich Jahn who lived in Brazeau Township in Perry County. Julius did not make that move to Perry County to live with his mother. In the 1880 census, we find Julius living in the Emil Danz family. Emil was married to Julius’s sister, Paulina. Julius was 17 years old at the time.

We will now take a look at the early life of Julius’s wife. Her name was Josephine Reisenbichler, the daughter of George and Anna Marie (Schilger) Reisenbichler. She was born on June 26, 1869 and baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in New Wells. Her baptism record is displayed below.

Sadly, Josephine’s mother died about a week after her birth, and her death record says the death was a result of childbirth. George Reisenbichler would get married again in early 1870. His second wife was another Anna Marie. Her name was Anna Marie Schumpfer. We find Josephine in the 1880 census for Shawnee Township at the age of 10.

On April 4, 1893, Julius Koch married Josephine Reisenbichler at Immanuel Lutheran Church in New Wells. The church record for that marriage is displayed below.

We can also view the marriage license for Julius and Josephine.

Our German Family Tree shows that Julius and Josephine had 3 children. Only one of them, however, lived to adulthood. We find this family in the 1900 census with two children. The youngest child shown in this entry would die before reaching the age of 5. At this time in his life, Julius was a farmer.

The Koch family would move to Cape Girardeau before the next census was taken, and we find that Julius had entered the occupation of carpenter. Here is the 1910 census entry for their household.

Julius would continue to be a carpenter the rest of his life. We find the Koch household in the 1920 census, once again living in Cape Girardeau. Their daughter, Ottilie Koch, was shown on this entry as being a music teacher.

The last census in which we find Julius Koch was the one taken in 1930. At the age of 67, Julius was still a carpenter.

Julius Koch died in 1931 at the age of 68. His death certificate is shown here.

Josephine can still be found in the 1940 census. She was living in St. Louis with her daughter, Ottilie, who had married William Meyer. In this entry, Ottilie was described as a dress maker.

Josephine Koch died in 1967 at the age of 98. Her death certificate says she died at the Deal Nursing Home in Jackson, Missouri. She died on Christmas Day.

Julius and Josephine Koch are buried together in the New Lorimer Cemetery in Cape Girardeau.

Julius and Josephine join many characters from the Shawnee Township area of Cape Girardeau County who migrated just a bit south and became residents of the city of Cape Girardeau for much of their lives. Nowadays with more modern means of travel, many people live in Shawnee Township and even in Perry County who daily make the commute to Cape Girardeau to go to work.