We have a new name to look at today. I admit that it is this new name that attracted me to this story. The surname that has not shown up on this blog previously is Pepmueller. There’s not much information included in our Germany Family Tree about this individual, but that does not mean there isn’t an interesting story here.
Louis William Pepmueller is today’s birthday boy. He was born on September 30, 1885, the son of William and Katharine (Haase) Pepmueller. Louis was born in Lyon Township in Franklin County, Missouri, not far from New Haven. I located a photo of Louis’s parents.
We find Louis in the 1900 census living in the Lyon Township when he was 14 years old.
Here’s where things get interesting. I think there’s a story here, but I don’t know exactly what it is. It does indicate how this Pepmueller boy gets connected to a Perry County girl. In the 1910 census, we find Louis living in the Texas Township in Marathon County, Wisconsin and working as a carpenter. That location is in the northern part of that state. However, it is the household in which he was living that is so interesting. He was living with the Charles Boehme family.
You likely recognize the surname, Boehme, as being a rather familiar Perry County name. This particular Boehme family was the one I refer to as the “Farrar Boehme’s”. This Charles Boehme was the son of another Charles Boehme who settled in the Dubuque County of Iowa. However, his brother, Frederick August Boehme, after traveling to several different locations around the country, settled in Perry County. It is likely that because of that connection that the Charles in the above census married Emilie Hecht at Grace Lutheran Church in Uniontown in 1902. For some reason, Louis Pepmueller, and the Boehme family ended up in Wisconsin in 1910, and that explains how Louis got to know his future wife.
Sarah Mathilda Hecht, the sister of Emilie (Hecht) Boehme, would become Louis’s wife. Sarah was born on July 13, 1882, the daughter of Henry and Wilhelmine (Lorenz) Hecht. Sarah was baptized at Grace Lutheran Church in Uniontown. Her baptism record is pictured below.
Sarah is found in the 1900 census for the Union Township at the age of 17. Her father was a farmer.
Next, we find Sarah in the 1910 census at the age of 27. She was still living with her parents.
On September 17, 1915, Louis Pepmueller married Sarah Hecht at Grace Lutheran Church in Uniontown. We can take a look at the church record for this wedding. It states that Louis was from Fairbanks, Iowa.
This couple’s marriage license is pictured here.
When 1918 rolled around, and the World War I draft registrations were completed, we find Louis living in the Fairbank Township in Bremer County, Iowa. That is an area of Iowa where we have found several Perry County natives settling at about that time.
We also find that Charles Boehme was living in the same place when he filled out his World War I draft registration, thus putting the two Hecht sisters in the same location.
The only child born to Louis and Sarah Pepmueller was a son by the name of Wernold, who was born in 1918. That child was born in Iowa. We find the Pepmueller family living in the Maxfield Township of Bremer County, Iowa in the 1920 census. Louis was still called a carpenter.
Before the next census was taken in 1930, this family moved back to Perry County. We find them living in the Brazeau Township.
Finally, we see the Pepmueller household in the 1940 census living in Perryville where it says Louis was a truck driver.
Louis Pepmueller had his World War II draft card completed in 1942.
Louis Pepmueller died in 1968 at the age of 83. His death certificate says he died at Perry County Memorial Hospital in Perryville.
Sarah Pepmueller died in 1972 at the age of 89. Louis and Sarah are buried together in the Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery in Perryville.
Before I finish this story, let me just say a few things about their only son, Wernold. Apparently, he took on the nickname, Pep, during his lifetime. His gravestone even includes that nickname. His gravestone also gives plenty of evidence that Pep had a great interest and possibly some great talent in the field of music. Below is a photo of Pep Pepmueller and an image of his gravestone in the Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery in Perryville.
Mine name is Tanya Pepmueller. I married David Pepmueller in 1992 his Father’s name is Roland Pepmueller. Roland’s dad is Martin Pepmueller which is William Pepmueller son. I am trying to tie Fredericka Walkenhorst to William Pepmueller family as a sibling. She would of been born in the same time frame as them coming over from Germany. I also love the family information you have here wonderful job.
Mr. Pepmueller (Pep) was the school custodian for many years at Immanuel Perryville. He played the guitar. I remember him playing Mary’s Boy Child with Donna Tucker annually at Christmas. It was beautiful.