When I began looking at a character in today’s story, I wondered if I have previously written about a woman by the name of Philomine or Philomina. I did a search and only came up with one result, and that was for Philimine Petot, and that story was one told about people of French descent. You will read another Philomine story today, one that had German Lutheran roots. However, I will begin with her husband because he is today’s birthday boy.

Charles Christian Hoehn was born on December 10, 1871, so today is not only his birthday, but it’s a special one. He would be 150 years old if he was still alive today. Charles was the son of Adam and Louisa (Hoehn) Hoehn, which makes him one of the children of the Hoehn/Hoehn marriage that was the main topic of a recent post, A Hoehn-Hoehn Duo. Charles was likely baptized at Peace Lutheran Church in Friedenberg. A short biography is found for him in the Friedenberg Rememberances book.

The only census we can view in which Charles was a single person was the one taken in 1880. His family was living in the Cinque Hommes Township of Perry County. Charles’s father had died in 1879, so his mother, Louisa, was the head of the household. Charles was an 8 year-old student at the time.

Now, let’s turn our attention to Philomine. Her maiden name was Philomine M. Fassold, who was born on May 28, 1875. She was the daughter of Peter and Barbara (Bergmann) Fassold. Like her future husband, she was likely baptized at Peace Lutheran Church in Friedenberg, and she also has a short biography in the Friedenberg Remembrances book.

Charles and Philomine shared something in common. Each lost their father at a very young age. In the case of Philomine, her father died just a matter of months after her birth, so she had no memory of him. However, unlike Charles’s mother, who never remarried, Philomine’s mother did marry again. The title of this post says that Philomine joined the Hoehn herd, and you might infer that this means she would do that when she married a Hoehn. However, Philomine first joined a Hoehn herd when her mother married John Hoehn in 1878. So, Philomine went from having a Fassold father to having a Hoehn stepfather. She would also end up having several half-siblings who were Hoehn’s. We see Philomine in the 1880 census at the age of 5. Her stepfather was a farmer.

That leads us up to the marriage of Charles Hoehn and Philomine Fassold which took place on November 8, 1894. That wedding, as expected, took place at Peace Lutheran Church in Friedenberg. We can take a look at the marriage license for this event.

We have a Hoehn family book in our research library, and it contains a wedding photograph of Charles and Philomine.

Charles and Philomine had two children, both boys, named Edgar and Leon (Lonnie). Both of these boys are found in the 1900 census. Charles was a farmer.

Fairly early in their lives, another photo was taken of Charles, Philomine, and their two sons.

Next, we find the Hoehn household in the 1910 census.

When the 1920 census was taken, Edgar and Lonnie were in their 20’s.

The last census that includes Philomine is the one taken in 1930. In this census entry, Charles and Philomine had an empty nest.

Philomine Hoehn died in 1939 at the age of 63, although she was only 4 days short of her 64th birthday. Her death certificate is pictured here.

We can also view an obituary that was printed in the Perry County Republican when she died. I have noticed that back in those days, one would only rarely see a woman’s first name in obituaries like this one. They are almost always just referred to like you see in this article, Mrs. Charles Hoehn.

Charles Hoehn was living with his son, Edgar’s, family when the 1940 census was taken. That family was living in Perryville.

Charles Hoehn did not die until 1964 when he was 92 years old. His death certificate is displayed below.

Charles and Philomine Hoehn are buried together in the Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery in Perryville.

As you just found, Philomine Fassold entered the Hoehn herd twice. And she did not do this by marrying two men with the Hoehn surname. This blog has contained other stories in which a woman did just that. Philomine, on the other hand, entered the Hoehn herd first by becoming a Hoehn stepchild, and then entered again by becoming a Hoehn wife.