Clara Emilie Weinhold was born on January 13, 1864, so if she was still alive today, she would have to blow out 158 candles on her birthday cake. Clara was the 4th child out of 6 children born to her parents, Wilhelm and Emilie (Lindner) Weinhold. That qualifies her to be among what has been called the “Dirt Weinhold’s”, the clan known for mostly being farmers. Clara was the first child to be born after her father had done military service during the Civil War. Clara was baptized at Concordia Lutheran Church in Frohna. An image of her baptism record is displayed below. When I found this record, I was a little upset. It says she was born on January 28th, not January 13th. However, we find the January 13th date elsewhere, so I stuck with writing this story today.

Clara shows up in her first census in 1870. She was listed as being 7 years old (although I think she was just 6), and her father was a farmer.

The 1880 census shows this Weinhold family living in the Union Township, which had been established in the 1870’s. Even though they were shown in a different township, that does not mean that this family moved. This time, Clara is correctly listed as being 16 years old. Part of the 1880 census for the Union Township was lost until recently, but Clara’s entry was found on pages that were not lost.

A lot would happen between the time of the 1880 census and then next one we can view taken in 1900. So, we will now consider the man that Clara would marry. His name was Emanuel Gustav Koenig, who was born on February 9, 1863. Emanuel was the son of Herman and Maria (Jacob) Koenig. In this case, it looks like Emanuel’s father went off to serve during the Civil War shortly after Emanuel’s birth. I was able to find a photo of Emanuel’s father, Herman, taken when he was quite old.

Emanuel was baptized at Salem Lutheran Church in Farrar. An image of his baptism record from that congregation’s books is pictured below. As has been the case with previous men carrying this first name, sometimes you find it spelled Emanuel, and sometimes as Immanuel. I chose to use Emanuel, but it could easily have been Immanuel, as it appears on this baptism record. Coincidentally, the baptism listed right above his was the one for Clara Koenig from a different Koenig couple. Emanuel would later marry a Clara, making her another Clara Koenig.

Emanuel is found in his first census entry in 1870. He was 6 years old, and his father was a farmer in the Brazeau Township. Emanuel was the oldest of a lot of Koenig children, some of which died early. Two sets of twins are listed in our German Family Tree in this family. One of the sets were stillborn, and only one of the twins in the other set lived to adulthood.

The 1880 census shows the Koenig household living in the Salem Township. Once again, just because they were living in a different township does not necessarily mean that this family had moved. By the time of this census, the family had grown quite large and spilled over two census pages. Emanuel was working on his father’s farm.

Emanuel Koenig married Clara Weinhold on May 9, 1889 at Concordia Lutheran Church in Frohna. The church record for that wedding is shown here.

We can also view this couple’s marriage license.

Our German Family Tree lists 6 children born to this couple, but the last one was stillborn. Four of those children were born before the 1900 census was taken. A farm hand named Henry Rauss was included in this household. This time, this family was living in the Union Township.

The 1910 census would be the last one in which we find Emanuel Koenig. Two sons and two daughters were still living in the household.

A public notice that Emanuel placed in the Perry County Republican in 1912 shows how important it was to him to clear up a rumor that was circulating about him.

When the 1915 plat maps were produced for Perry County, we find the Emanuel Koenig farm located west of Brazeau and north of Schalls. You can see that this Koenig land was also not far from the Weinhold farm owned by Clara’s brother, Phillip. Emanuel and Clara quite possibly grew up living as close neighbors.

Emanuel Koenig died in 1916 at the age of 53. There are two unusual things about records concerning his death. First, I was unable to find a Missouri death certificate for him. I used all of the strategies I know to locate it, but failed using all of them. Secondly, Emanuel is almost certainly buried in the Salem Lutheran Cemetery in Farrar, but there is no gravestone photo for him on Findagrave. The document I did locate was his obituary printed in the Perry County Republican. Although I only found evidence of 6 children in his family, this obituary says he was survived by two sons and five daughters.

Clara Koenig is found in the 1920 census living with two of her children, John and Lena.

Once again, we find Clara Koenig in the 1930 census. She was living with her daughter, Erna, and her family. She had married Henry Kassel.

Clara Koenig died in 1938 at the age of 74. This is a document that states that she was born on January 13th.

We do find a gravestone photo for Clara on Findagrave. She was buried in the Salem Lutheran Cemetery in Farrar. Once again, we see the birth date of January 13th on her gravestone.

This Koenig/Weinhold couple and their descendants take up about 8 pages of our German Family Tree. Their children had spouses with very familiar “Farrar names”…Hemmann, Oswald, Kassel, Lorenz, and Fritsche. So, Clara, although born and raised in Frohna, ended up being connected to a lot of surnames found in Farrar.