The surname highlighted in today’s post is another one that brings up the topic of pronunciation. How do you pronounce Krause. I have known folks with that surname over the years and have heard it pronounced two different ways. One is to make it rhyme with “house”. The other is to pronounce it as Krau-zee. Around here, I think most prefer to pronounce it the second way. Germans have a tendency to pronounce that “e” at the end of names as an additional syllable. Today’s birthday boy was a Krause.

Johannes Julius Krause was born on July 13, 1883 in Altenburg, Missouri. He was the son of Gottlieb and Hannah (Oehlert) Krause. John was baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg. An image of his baptism record from that congregation’s books is displayed below. Someone has made a notation on this record to make it easier to identify the names in the document. I know I find that the records in this part of Trinity’s books are a challenge to read, so notations like this are very helpful.

Even though he was born and raised in Perry County, the only census in which we find John Krause living there was the one taken in 1900. Just judging by looking at his neighbors, it appears that this Krause family was living near Wittenberg. His father had died in 1899, so his mother was the head of this household. Being the oldest son, I am sure John was greatly responsible for running his family’s farm, even though he was only 16 years old.

Somehow, John Krause found his bride across the river in Jackson County, Illinois. I think it is safe to say that back at the turn of the 20th century, there was more travel between the two sides of the Mississippi River than there is now. Several ferries took people across the river in those days. Nowadays, travelers have to drive cars to either Chester or Cape Girardeau to get across the river. A map program on my phone says that it takes an hour and seventeen minutes to make the drive from Wittenberg, Missouri to Jacob, Illinois. Back in 1900, local folks must have made trips across the river to visit relatives and friends much more often than they would now.

John Krause’s future bride was Martha Friederike Bogenpohl, who was born on February 15, 1882. Martha was not the only baby born on that day. She was a twin. Her brother, Paul Bogenpohl, shared her birthday. The parents of these twins were Heinrich and Amalia (Kaufmann) Bogenpohl. These twins were born in Jacob, Illinois, and their baptism record is found in the books of Christ Lutheran Church in that town. Their baptism record stretches over two pages, so I will display it here in two images.

Like her future husband, the only census in which Martha Bogenpohl appears as a single woman was the one taken in 1900. Her mother had died in 1893, and her father was a farmer in the Fountain Bluff Township, which is where Jacob, Illinois is found.

A plat map for the Fountain Bluff Township shows how close the Bogenpohl farm was located to Christ Lutheran Church.

It was at Christ Lutheran Church in Jacob where John Julius Krause and Martha Bogenpohl were married on December 30, 1906. We can take a look at the church record for this marriage. As you could have predicted, Martha’s twin brother, Paul, was part of her wedding party.

Our German Family Tree lists 4 children born to John and Martha Krause. All of those children were baptized at Christ Lutheran Church in Jacob. When the 1910 census was taken, two of those children were listed. John was a farmer in the Fountain Bluff Township.

John Krause had his World War I draft registration completed in 1918. This document gives Gorham, Illinois as his address.

The 1920 census in which we find the Krause family was submitted already in January of that year, and we find them living in the Murphysboro Township. John was still a farmer.

I mentioned the early submission of that census form because Martha Krause died in May of that year. She was only 38 years old when she died. Martha was buried in the Christ Lutheran Cemetery in Jacob, Illinois.

In 1930, we will find John Krause living in St. Louis and having a wife named Emily. Lori Adams, who hosts a very useful family history on Ancestry.com, says that his second wife was named Emily Nelson. That name probably comes from this social security document for Emily.

I was unable to find a marriage record for a Nelson marrying a Krause in either Missouri or Illinois. However, by searching elsewhere for an Emily Nelson who was the daughter of Arnold and Carrie (Fanson) Nelson and lived in Danvers, Illinois, I discovered that Emily had been previously married to George Hartmann, who had died in 1919. Once I searched for a marriage between a Krause and a Hartmann, I discovered that there was a marriage published in a St. Louis paper in 1928. Here is a transcription for that newspaper article.

That explains this 1930 census entry from St. Louis for the household of John Krause where it says he was a bridge builder for the Missouri Pacific Railroad. The 3 children listed here were from his first marriage. There were no children born to his second wife.

The last census we can view for the John Krause household is the one taken in 1940. John was called a laborer for the railroad.

John Julius Krause had to have a World War II draft card completed in 1942. This is another document that states that John’s employer was the Missouri Pacific Railroad. It also says that he was born in Wittenberg, MIssouri.

I was able to find two photographs that were taken that include John and Emily Krause. First, here is one of just those two.

The next one includes several other folks who were likely members of Emily’s family. John and Emily are indicated by blue arrows. The photograph has been dated as 1953.

John Krause died in 1962 at the age of 79. His death certificate says he was a carpenter for the railroad.

We can take a look at John’s obituary, which states that John was a member of Zion Lutheran Church.

Emily Krause died in 1978 at the age of 92. John and Emily Krause are buried together in the New St. Marcus Cemetery in St. Louis.

I don’t know how I’d do it, but someday I should locate stories that I’ve written on this blog that involve people who began their life in East Perry County, later moved to Jackson County, Illinois, only to end their life in St. Louis. I know this isn’t the first such post, and it likely won’t be the last.