Today’s story begins with an End. Our birthday girl is Anna Barbara End, who was born on July 23, 1877. This girl would later be called Annie. She was the daughter of Gabriel and Barbara (Hausmann) End. Annie was baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Perryville, Missouri. A transcription of her baptism record is shown below. One of her baptismal sponsors was one of the many Anna Popp’s that have been discussed recently on this blog, but I did not choose to use my time to figure out which one she was.

The only census in which we find Annie single was the one taken in 1880. She was 2 years old, and her father was a shoemaker in Perryville.

A man by the name of Vincent Leon Prevallet would become the husband of Annie before the next census we can view which was taken in 1900. Vincent was born on October 20, 1874, the son of Augustus Caesar and Mary (Manche) Prevallet. All indications point to the fact that the Prevallet’s were a Catholic family. That surname has French roots. As was the case with Annie, the only census in which we find Vincent single was the one taken in 1880. He was 6 years old, and his father was a retail grocer in Perryville. This census entry is just 2 pages away from Annie’s.

The addresses of the End and Prevallet families shown in the 1880 census are show on the map of Perryville below. You can see how close these two lived to one another.

A newspaper article which will displayed later says that Vincent began a jewelry store in 1895. On April 24, 1898, Vincent Prevallet married Annie End. This couple’s marriage record is found in the books of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Perryville. Below is a transcription of their church record. It says that Vincent was a watchmaker.

An image of this couple’s marriage license is shown here.

The German Family Tree lists 4 children born to this pair, and all of them were baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Perryville. There are only 5 Prevallet baptisms listed in our GFT at Lutheran churches. There were these 4 along with one more found in the books of Zion Lutheran Church in Longtown. Vincent and Annie had a very small family when the 1900 census was taken. Their first child was just one year old. Vincent was a jeweler.

By the time of the 1910 census, all 4 of their children had been born. The first child was a girl, followed by 3 boys. I find it interesting that their youngest son was named, Royal. It seems to me that is an appropriate name for a grandson of Augustus Caeser.

In 1901, the Perry County Sun published an article about the birth of Vincent’s first son. I find this article hilarious.

Vincent Prevallet had his World War I draft registration completed in 1918.

Next, we see the Prevallet household in the 1920 census. This entry shows two Hagan young men who are said to be sons, but they have a different house number, and this is likely a mistake. Vincent was called a proprietor of a jewelry store.

Many ads were placed in local newspapers for the V.L. Prevallet, Jeweler. I will display just two.

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The Prevallet’s are found in the 1930 census. Their entry spills over two pages. Their son, Earl, was now also participating in his father’s business.

The last census for us to view is the one taken in 1940. In this entry, it says that Vincent was looking after his real estate in the occupation column. Vincent and Annie had an empty nest.

An interesting newspaper article was published in 1946 that described a car accident involving Vincent, along with Rev. Lohmann, his pastor, and William End, his brother-in-law.

In 1948, Vincent and Annie celebrated their 50th anniversary, and that event also made the newspaper.

I may be wrong, but I think the photos shown below of Vincent and Annie may have been taken for this special anniversary.

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Annie Prevallet died in 1961 at the age of 83. Her death certificate mentions that she died at the Perry County Memorial Hospital in Perryville.

Vincent Prevallet died in 1968 at the age of 93. His death certificate says he died in St. Louis at the Jewish Hospital.

Annie and Vincent Prevallet are each buried in the Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery in Perryville.

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After discussing the pronunciation of the Prevallet surname, I found out that folks around here pronounce this name as Prah-Valley. I am guessing that this would not be the proper French pronunciation. Perhaps the local Germans had trouble with French names and devised their own German versions, and those became the pronunciations that prevailed.

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I took a phot of the interior of our museum addition this morning. It looks like plenty of painting has been completed. Plans are being made for this building’s dedication during our Immigration Conference this October.