The story for today does not include an unusual surname. Instead, it includes a rather rare first name to show up in our German Family Tree. That name appears in today’s title, Hieronymus. I did a search through the German Family Tree and found just 5 men whose name included Hieronymus, and the majority of them had Hieronymus as a middle name. Two of the men who used this as their first name carried the nickname, Roanie, including the one discussed in today’s tale. However, we will begin today with Roanie’s wife, who is today’s birthday girl.

I have a confession to make. I thought I was going to compose this story for yesterday. That is because our German Family Tree states that the birthday of Hilda Emma Jungclaus was March 22, 1895. I had just about all the items I needed for that story when I discovered that almost all the documents for Hilda said her birthday was March 23rd, not March 22nd. So, I put this story off for a day, and you are getting it on March 23rd.

Hilda Emma Jungclaus was the firstborn child of John and Emma (Kutscher) Jungclaus. Hilda was baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Altenburg. It is on the baptism record where the incorrect date of birth originated. I have to display this in two images. In the second image, I have placed a red box around the date of birth. I think you would agree that the number shown there could be interpreted as either a 22 or a 23. Our German Family Tree says it was March 22, and I think it should say March 23.

Hilda is found in the 1900 census at the age of 5. Her father was a farmer.

Next, we find the Jungclaus family in the 1910 census in which HIlda was a teenager.

Hilda would get married in 1920, but that wedding did not take place until the end of the year, so she shows up in the 1920 census as a single woman. In her case, she was living in St. Louis where she was a servant for an elderly couple.

Now, we get to the story of Hieronymus. Hieronymus Friedrich Schade was born on March 28, 1896, the son of Adolph and Ida (Petzoldt) Schade. Like his future wife, he was baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Altenburg. I once again have to display this baptism record in two images.

Hieronymus is found in the 1900 census at the age of 4. Roanie was not even one year old when his father died. He also had one older brother who died in 1897 at the age of 3. So, in this census entry, we find just his mother living with Hieronymus.

In the 1910 census, Hieronymus and his mother were living with her Petzoldt parents. Roanie was 14 years old.

Hieronymus Schade had his World War I draft registration completed in 1917. This document says he was a farmer by himself and taking care of an “aged mother”. His mother would have been about 46 years old. I wouldn’t dare call a woman who was 46 “aged”.

In the case of Hieronymus, he was called into service for this war. However, the military record shown below does not indicate he was sent overseas.

Our museum has a photograph of Hieronymus wearing his World War I uniform.

The 1920 census once again shows just Hieronymus and his mother in the household. Even though there are only 2 people in the household, their entry goes over two census pages.

On the day after Christmas, December 26th, in 1920, Hieronymus Schade married Hilda Jungclaus at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Altenburg. We can take a look at this couple’s church marriage record.

The marriage license for this wedding is shown below.

According to our German Family Tree, Hieronymus and Hilda had 3 children, all girls. They were all born before the 1930 census. Along with the 3 daughters, Roanie’s mother, Ida, was living with them.

Next, we find the Schade’s in the 1940 census where we see the same individuals as we saw in the 1930 entry.

Hieronymus had his World War II draft card completed in 1942.

Hilda Schade died in 1951 at the age of 56. An aneurism is given as her cause of death.

Hieronymus Schade died in 1959 at the age of 62. His death certificate says he died of pneumonia.

Hieronymus and Hilda are buried together in the Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery in Altenburg. Hilda’s death certificate and gravestone are two more pieces of evidence that confirm her birthday of March 23rd.

One of the daughters of Hieronymus and Hilda, Emma Schade, married Delmar Feiste, who are shown in the photograph below. I just so happened to talk with Delmar and Emma’s daughter, Ruth, this morning at the Old Bank Coffee Shop where both of us often enjoy having breakfast.

I debated whether to describe Hilda and Hieronymus as a Ridge Romance. I know that Hilda was born and raised on The Ridge. However, I could not determine whether Hieronymus could be classified as a Ridge resident at any point in his life. I suspect he lived close to the The Ridge, but not close enough to qualify. Despite that fact, we could at least call them an Immanuel Romance.