In the post, Jung & Sons Funeral Home, it was pointed out that at one time, the surname, Young, was spelled as Jung. Edward Young was the founder of what would later become Young & Sons Funeral Home in Perryville. Today, we will take a look at Edward’s parents. We begin with his mother who is today’s birthday girl.

Bregetta Maisel was born on February 27, 1860, so today would be her 162nd birthday. Her first name was sometimes called Bridget or Bernice. Some family trees on Ancestry.com spell her first name as Brigitta. I am going to use Bregetta in this post, mainly because that is the name that is etched on her gravestone. According to our German Family Tree she was the 3rd child of 8 born to Wilhelm and Eleonore (Weber) Maisel. Bregetta was almost certainly born in Perry County, but I do not know for sure where she was baptized. Several Maisel records are found in both the Friedenberg and Perryville Lutheran churches over the years. Already in 1860, we find Bregetta in the census as a baby. Her family was living in the Cinque Hommes Township, and her father was a farmer.

Next, we find Bregetta in the 1870 census at the age of 9. This Maisel family had gotten quite large by that time. There were 8 children in the family, and only 2 of them were boys.

Bregetta is found in one more census as a single woman, but in 1880, she was no longer living with her parents. She, along with her younger sister, Barbara, were listed as servants in the household of Joseph Huber. Joseph was a hotel keeper, so it is almost certain that Bregetta and Barbara were working and living at the hotel.

It was about this time that Bregetta would have met a young man that would become her husband. In her case, she actually met a Young man. His name was Peter Young, who was born as Peter Jung in Belleville, Illinois on April 19, 1850. Peter was the oldest child of Andrew and Magdalena (Fath) Jung. Like his future wife, he would be found in his first census as a baby. He shows up in the 1850 census for Belleville.

Next, we find Peter in the 1860 census at the age of 9. His family had moved to Perryville toward the end of the 1850’s. His father was a farmer.

Sometime in the 1860’s, Peter’s father died, and his mother then married Frank Stueber. In the 1870 census, we find Peter living in the Stueber household in Ste. Genevieve County. It looks like he is called Peter Stueber, but he remained Peter Jung.

This Stueber family then moved to Perryville. Peter is still living in his mother’s household in 1880. Peter is called a teamster.

Peter Jung married Bregetta Maisel on September 26, 1880. The church record for that event is included in the books of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Perryville.

We can take a look at a civil marriage record from Perry County for this wedding. I have noticed that Rev. Demetrio always spelled the surname as Jungk.

The German Family Tree lists 7 children born to this couple, but the 1900 census shows 8 children in the family. They were all baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Perryville. The 1900 census is pictured here. Peter is called a bartender.

At about the time of the turn of the century, Peter began running for public office. He would become the marshal for Perryville. This 1898 Republican ticket was published in the Perry County Republican.

There was even an article in this paper at one time in which Peter said that if he was elected the Marshall, he would no longer be a bartender because some citizens were concerned about that.

The 1910 census shows this Jung household. Several other members of Peter’s extended family were included in this entry. Peter was again a bartender.

A story on Ancestry.com says this family chose to officially change the spelling of their surname to Young (which is how Jung is pronounced) prior to World War I, in order to make it a more “Americanized”, and less German.

The last census in which we find Peter was the one taken in 1920. At the age of 69, Peter was retired. I find it amazing that after all the previous census entries spelled their name, Young, this one finally spelled it Jung.

Peter and Bregetta moved to St. Louis in the 1920’s, and it was there that Peter died in 1928 at the age of 78. His death certificate is displayed here.

Peter’s obituary appeared in the Perry County Republican. I am puzzled by the fact that his obituary says he had 7 children when the 1900 census definitely listed 8.

Bregetta is found living in St. Louis in the 1930 census at the age of 70. Three daughters were still living with her.

Once more, Bregatta is found in the 1940 census for St. Louis. Two nieces and a nephew (who would have been Bregatta’s grandchildren) were living in the household.

Bregetta Young died in 1947 at the age of 87. Edward Young, who by then was operating Young & Sons Funeral Home, was the informant on her death certificate.

Peter and Bregetta Young are buried together in the Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery in Perryville.

I will just add that there are a few residents around here that still carry the Jung name. In fact, some Jung cows often graze in my pasture here in Altenburg. Do you call all of the Jung cows…calves? Or do you just call the young Jung cows…calves?