The birthday boy for today, Valentine’s Day, is Johann Gottlieb Albert Rabold. This boy would go by the name of Gottlieb. Google Translate says gottlieb means “dear”. I’d say that is an appropriate name to discuss on Valentine’s Day. Gottlieb was born on February 14, 1858, the firstborn child of Julius and Wilhelmine (Palisch) Rabold. That makes Gottlieb the grandson of J.G. Palisch, whose name has shown up on this blog on so many occasions. You could call J.G. the “Pioneer Palisch”. Gottlieb was baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Altenburg, a church that was established one year earlier in 1857. An image of that baptism record is displayed below.

Gottlieb is found in the 1860 census at the age of 2. His father was a farmer.

In 1870, Gottlieb was 12 years old. This would be the last census in which we find him as a single person.

Now, we will take a look at the girl who would become Gottlieb’s sweetheart. Her name was Wilhelmine Amalie Petzoldt, who was born on December 8, 1858. Amalia was the 7th of 8 children of Friedrich Florian and Christiane (Maennel) Petzold. That makes Amalia the daughter of “The Face” Petzoldt, who we could call the “Pioneer Petzoldt”. Like her future husband, Amalie was baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Altenburg. Pictured here is an image of her baptism record from that church’s books. You might notice that there was a Rabold that was one of her sponsors.

In the 1860 census, Amalie was listed as being 1 year old. Her father was also a farmer.

Next, we find Amalie in the 1870 census at the age of 11.

Gottlieb and Amalie were each part of the 1873 confirmation class at Immanuel, Altenburg.

That leads us up to the marriage between Gottlieb Rabold and Amalie Petzoldt. The wedding for these two took place on April 15, 1879 at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Altenburg. The church record for this event is pictured below.

A civil record for this marriage can also be viewed.

The German Family Tree lists 7 children born to this couple. Almost all of them were baptized at Immanuel. For some reason, their 4th child, born in 1888, was baptized at Concordia, Frohna. We find this couple living in the Shawnee Township in the 1880 census where Gottlieb was a farmer.

I don’t know how long the Rabold’s lived south of the Apple Creek, but they were back in Perry County by the time of the 1900 census. All 7 children were included in this entry.

On the last day of 1901, Amalie Rabold died at the age of 42, leaving Gottlieb with the task of raising his children alone. Amalie’s church death record says she died of pneumonia. Amelia was buried in the Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery in Altenburg. At the present time, Findagrave.com has an entry for Amalie, but no gravestone photo. However, after a successful trip to that cemetery this morning, I can display two photos I took of her marker. Perhaps Diane Anderson can perform her magic and add it to the Findagrave.com site.

The 1910 census shows a Rabold household that also included his son, Arthur’s, family. That meant some of the members of the household were Gottlieb’s grandchildren.

The 1915 plat maps for Perry County show the Gottlieb Rabold farm located not far from Frohna.

Next, we find the Rabold’s in the 1920 census. Gottlieb is called retired, and once again, we see Arthur’s family included. In addition, Fred, another son, is found with his family right below that of Arthur’s.

We find Gottlieb one more time in the 1930 census at the age of 72. Once again we see the families of both Arthur and Fred Rabold on this page.

In October of that same year, 1930, Gottlieb Rabold died. His death certificate says the informant was Fred Rabold.

Gottlieb Rabold was buried in the Concordia Lutheran Cemetery in Frohna.

Today’s pair of Rabold’s had families who likely were friends while each of them were growing up. Gottlieb and Amalie probably didn’t pass notes to each other during confirmation class at Immanuel, Altenburg, but we know that sometime later, these two would become sweethearts and united in marriage in 1879. Sadly, Gottlieb would end up living much of his life without his Valentine.