I was just going to title this post The Klaus Store until I discovered there was another Klaus Store in Friedheim at one time. I figured I might have to tell that story someday, so I decided to the put Farrar into the title. Let me also say that I started looking at this story because I found a woman by the name of Anna Arning who was born on this day. I did not think I had written any previous stories about the surname, Arning, but I was wrong about that. I guess my memory is declining. I have written a few posts about children in Anna’s family, but not hers, so her story is the one you will read today.

Anna Catherine Marie Sophia Arning was born on January 6, 1858, the daughter of Casper and Anna (Diekmeier) Arning. Anna was born in Germany (actually it was called Prussia). Her family came to America in 1865, arriving aboard the ship, Athena. We can take a look at the Arning family on the passenger list for that ship.

There was an Arnink (sp?) family living in Washington County, Illinois that looks like it may be this Arning family. The names of the parents and children correspond pretty well, but there are some conflicts in it.

Now, we will turn our attention to the man that Anna would marry. His name was Heinrich Herman Klaus, who was born on December 4, 1850. His parents were Casper and Catherine (Wehmueller) Klaus. All indications are that the Klaus family was living in the Friedheim and Arnsburg area at the time of Henry’s birth. I figured there was a pretty good chance that I might find his baptism record in the books of Trinity Lutheran Church in Friedheim, but it was not there. We find the Klaus family in the 1860 census living in the Apple Creek Township of Cape Girardeau County. Henry was 10 years old, and his father was a farmer.

I was not able to find the Klaus household in the 1870 census. I did find Henry Claus in the 1876 Missouri state census for Cape Girardeau County. The Anna Klaus listed here must be Anna Arning since that was the year that she and Henry were married.

I will say at this point that I was not able to find any documents recorded during the year of their marriage (1876). The only places I found the wedding date is in the obituaries and a wedding anniversary article about the two that were married. Henry Klaus married Anna Arning on April 5, 1876.

Our German Family Tree lists just 4 children in this Klaus family. However, that is because there are church records for only 4 children, and none of those were baptisms. They were confirmation records found in the books of Salem Lutheran Church in Farrar in the early 1900’s. A newspaper article that will be displayed later states that there were 11 children born in this family. We find the Klaus household living in the Apple Creek Township when the 1880 census was taken. There were 2 children in the family, along with Henry’s parents. At this point in time, Henry was a farmer.

The Klaus household is still found living in the Apple Creek Township in 1900. There were 7 children listed.

During the next decade, Henry and Anna moved their family to Farrar where Henry became the proprietor of the general store in that village. There is a note in a Klaus family book that we have in our research library that says Henry became blind at an early age. I am going to speculate that perhaps that was a contributing factor to him getting out of the farming business. Here is their entry in the 1910 census. It says Henry was a retail merchant.

The above entry was at the bottom of a census page. At the top of the next page, you find the family of Herman Klaus, one of Henry’s sons. It says he was also a retail merchant. That explains the sign seen on their store in this photo.

Back in those days, post offices were most likely found in general stores. The postmaster’s assignments document shown below indicates that Henry Klaus was named postmaster in Farrar in 1904. It looks like that post office continued in the Klaus name until 1922.

When the 1920 census was taken, we find the following Klaus household. Henry and Anna were in their 60’s.

The 1930 census shows Henry and Anna living in Herman Klaus’s household. Herman was no longer a merchant. He was a farmer. Henry, at age 79, had no occupation.

At a time later in their lives, Henry and Anna showed up in the photo shown below.

The last census in which we find Henry and Anna was the one taken in 1940. They were in their 80’s. Herman was called the Perry County Treasurer, and he had a son named Harold Klaus, who was a high school teacher.

An article was published in the Perry County Republican on the occasion of this couple’s 65th wedding anniversary in 1941. This is another document that gives the wedding date of April 5, 1876.

Later that year (1941), Anna Klaus died at the age of 83. I was unable to find her death certificate. Her obituary printed in the Perry County Republican is displayed here in two images. This article states that Henry and Anna were married in St. Louis, but I was unable to find a marriage record from that place either.

Henry Klaus died a year later in 1942 at the age of 91. I was able to find his death certificate. He was called a retired merchant.

I found Henry’s obituary in the Perry County Sun.

Anna and Henry were each buried in the Salem Lutheran Cemetery in Farrar.

Two names emerge in the history of the general store that was operated in Farrar over the years…Klaus and Eggers. I’m thinking that either Cal or Fred Eggers would have been able to write this story with more authority. Maybe one of them, or my other friend, Jason Klaus, will tackle writing a post about the Klaus Store in Friedheim someday.