I will describe a marriage between a Kluegel and a Grebing in this post. This Kluegel/Grebing couple had no children, so there are no descendants that resulted from the marriage. However, I find it interesting that there is still a connection between the Kluegel’s and the Grebing’s nowadays. We will begin with the birthday girl.

Amalia Auguste Grebing was born on June 29, 1855, making today her 167th birthday. Amalia was the daughter of Hartmann and Justina (Goethe) Grebing. Amalia’s parents are pictured below.

I have written several blog posts about children and grandchildren in this Grebing family. Amalia was child #6 in a family of 9. She was baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg. We can take a look at her baptism record. Rev. Georg Schieferdecker was still the pastor at Trinity when she was born and baptized.

Amalia is found in her first census in 1860. She was 5 years old, and her father was a farmer.

Next, we find Amalia in the 1870 census as a teenager. It was quite the crowded household at that time.

Amalia would get married in 1880, but not before she was recorded in that year’s census as being single and still living with her parents.

Let’s now take a look at the man who would become Amalia’s husband. His name was Johann Gottlieb Kluegel, who was born on August 29, 1850. Gottlieb was the son of George and Justina (Goehring) Kluegel. A story about Gottlieb’s parents, Piano Man, was published back in 2018. Like Amalia, Gottlieb was baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg when Pastor Schieferdecker was serving that congregation. We can also take a look at his baptism record from that church’s books.

Even though he was born rather late in that census year, the entry that contains the Kluegel family was not submitted until October, so Gottlieb sneaks into that census as a baby. He is called John G. in this image. Rosina Goehring was Gottlieb’s maternal grandmother.

His father died in 1853 when Gottlieb was just 3 years old. So, when the 1860 census was taken, his mother, Justina, was the head of the household and called a farmer. These must have been difficult times when Justina had a farm with children so young that they could not be very helpful yet. At least, Rosina, the grandmother, was still there to help.

Next, Gottlieb can be found in the 1870 census at the age of 19. This time, Gottlob, Gottlieb’s older brother, is called the farmer, and Gottlieb was working with him on that farm.

I find it fascinating that, even though Gottlieb was 30 years old when he got married, he is found in 4 census entries as a single man. The 1880 census entry for him is displayed below. Gottlieb was now listed as the farmer in the family.

As was explained in a previous post, the Kluegel land was likely about where the Altenburg City Hall is now located, within sight of Trinity’s church.

Gottlieb Kluegel married Amalia Grebing on September 16, 1880. As you might expect, these two were married at Trinity Lutheran Church. We can take a look at the church record for this marriage.

A civil record from Perry County also documents this wedding.

Because this wedding took place after the 1880 census was taken, and the 1890 census was destroyed in a fire, we cannot view this couple in a census until one came out in 1900. By then, Gottlieb and Amalia had already been married 20 years. As you can see, they had no children, but they had a female servant and a male farm laborer in their household.

That 1900 census would be the only one in which we find this couple together. Gottlieb Kluegel died in 1908 at the age of 58. Missouri death certificates did not begin to be recorded until 1910, so we cannot view one for Gottlieb. His Trinity church death record says he died from pneumonia.

Amalia is found as a widow in the 1910 census. She was living by herself at the age of 62.

In 1910, another Kluegel also arrived on the scene in Altenburg. His name was Dr. William Kluegel, who was Gottlieb’s nephew. He was still single and became another medical doctor in town, along with Dr. Theodore Estel. Dr. Kluegel is responsible for building a house that is now referred to as “The Inn”. That house is found in the shadow of the Altenburg Water Tower, and is also visible from Trinity’s church. The photo below was taken before the water tower was built. It was indeed an impressive building for a single man to have built, but it also housed his doctor’s office.

Dr. Kluegel lived in Altenburg for just a couple of years. It was while he was here that his Aunt Amalia died in 1912. Her death certificate says she was 56 years old when she died.

This is an interesting document. On the right side, you can find that William Kluegel signed this form as the one who certified her death. Also, on the left at the bottom, Dr. Theodore Estel signed this form as the registrar.

Both Gottlieb and Amalia Kluegel are buried in the Trinity Lutheran Cemetery in Altenburg.

When Amalia died, she left a rather detailed will. I was especially interested to know if there was any mention of the piano that was listed in George Kluegel’s will discussed in the story, Piano Man. It is not, but I found other parts of this will very interesting. Because there were no children, other relatives received items belonging to Amalia.

I find the fact that some land was given to Trinity Lutheran fascinating. I wonder where exactly that land was located. It should be noted that the executor of this will was Carl (Charles) Grebing, Amalia’s brother.

Now, I’d like to share some more modern day tidbits that can be connected to this story. Since the piano story was written, we have discovered where that Kluegel piano ended up. It actually was on display for a while inside the Log Cabin College. You can see it in the photo below.

There is also this photo of Charles Nennert playing the Kluegel piano inside the College.

When it was on display in the Cabin, it was captioned as is shown in the images below.

When a video titled, Faith to Faith, was produced in the 1990’s, the Kluegel piano was removed, taken across Main Street, and stored in The Inn (once Dr. Kluegel’s house and office) for a while. Later, the piano was stored by the Perry County Lutheran Historical Society and is now located in our museum’s basement.

What is even more compelling is the fact that The Inn is now owned by a man by the name, Charles Grebing. What are the chances?