We have a 150th wedding anniversary to celebrate today. Henry Schuessler married Katharine Baum on this day back in 1871. Before we look at that marriage, let’s take a look at the lives of the bride and groom before they were married. Also, if you want to read about the arrival of Michael and Rosine Schuessler, the original immigrants, in Perry County, you can read the story written by Wayne Schuessler titled, The Bowl Makers of Perry County. It probably ought to be Wayne who is writing today’s post.

The groom in today’s wedding was the youngest child born into the family of Michael and Rosine (Hoppe) Schuessler. That child’s name was Michael Heinrich Schuessler, who was born on August 31, 1849. According to our German Family Tree, Henry was the 11th and final child born into the Schuessler family. Henry’s father, Michael, died in July of 1849, so his mother had lost her husband about a month before Henry was born. Henry was baptized at Concordia Lutheran Church in Frohna, Missouri. However, yesterday’s snowstorm has left me stranded at my house, and I will not be attempting to get to the museum again today. I will not be displaying church records.

We find a young Henry in the 1850 census where we see the widow, Rosine, as the head of the household. Henry was 1 year old. The Schuessler family spills over two pages of that census, so I have to show two images of this entry.

Next, we find Henry in the 1860 census where he is shown to be 10 years old.

Henry is found in one more census while still single. Henry’s mother, Rosine, had died in 1869, so we find Henry in the 1870 census living by himself and operating a farm.

Now, I will discuss what we know about the early life of Henry’s bride. This will not take long because I was not able to find out much about her. Katherine Baum was born on June 10, 1853. I was not able to find the names of her parents, but Katherine’s death certificate, which will be displayed later, states that she was born in Belleville, Illinois. The first document in which I found Katherine was the 1870 census for Wittenberg, Missouri, where she was called a domestic servant in the Theodore Estel household at the age of 17.

That takes us up to this date 150 years ago. Henry Schuessler married Katherine Baum on February 16, 1871. There is no church record for this wedding. Rev. J.F. Koestering was the pastor at both Trinity, Altenburg and Concordia, Frohna when this marriage took place. He is responsible for a void in those churches’ marriage and death records that we call the “Koestering Hole”. Since the children born to this couple were all baptized at Concordia, Frohna, it is likely that this wedding took place there. We can take a look at the civil marriage record for this couple from Perry County.

The descendants from this Schuessler couple take up 9 pages in our German Family Tree which lists 13 children for them. It took me some extra effort to find this couple in the 1880 census because Ancestry.com transcribed their name as Schnesler. Henry was a farmer, and there were 4 children in the family by that time.

It would be 20 years later before we can view another census for this family in 1900. By that time, all 13 children had been born. Not all of them lived long. A few of the children had gotten married before 1900. We have to view this entry in two images.

The last census in which we find either Henry or Katherine Schuessler was the one taken in 1910. The only child left in the household was their youngest, Arthur, child #13 in our GFT..

Henry Schuessler died in 1912 at the age of 63. We can view his death certificate.

Katherine Schuessler died in 1919 at the age of 66. This is the document that states she was born in Belleville, Illinois, although it was only in the 1900 census that indicated she was born in Illinois.

Henry and Katherine Schuessler are each buried in the Concordia Lutheran Cemetery in Frohna.

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By the way, a previous post told the story of another Henry Schuessler. That Henry Schuessler was a nephew of today’s Henry. He was the son of Gottfried, an older brother of Henry. That nephew became a Lutheran pastor. The post telling his story was titled, Rev. Schuessler from Michigan.

Henry and Katherine Schuessler were responsible for quite a congregation of Schuessler descendants. The Schuessler name is still alive and well in East Perry County. So, today we wish this couple a Happy 150th Wedding Anniversary.