I have run across several stories in which spelling changes are made to surnames. The story you will read today has a rather dramatic spelling change to a surname. It involves not only a difference at the end of the name. It does not only involve the addition of a vowel. More amazingly, it includes a different first letter. The name changes from Jungk to Young.

Louis George Jungk was born on July 30, 1884, making him today’s birthday boy. He was the son of Peter and Brigette (Maisel) Jungk. We have only one lonely record for him in our German Family Tree, and that is his baptism record found in the books of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Perryville. Louis is found among other baptisms involving children with the surname, Jungk. There are also names in these books that are spelled Jung, including siblings of Louis.

We cannot view Louis in a census until the one taken in 1900. At that time he was already a teenager. As you can see, the surname is spelled Young in this entry. Louis’s father was a bartender in Perryville.

The last census in which we find Louis living in Perry County was the one taken in 1910. At the age of 25, Louis was a salesman at a general store.

I believe that Louis moved to St. Louis not long after the above census. We find him getting married in that city in 1916. Before we discuss his marriage, let’s take a look at the woman who would become his bride. Her name was Ellen Francis McNulty, who was born on October 1, 1892. Ellen was the daughter of James and Rosanna (Baker) McNulty. The first census in which I found Ellen was the one taken in 1910. Her family was living in St. Louis, where Ellen was a clerical operator. Her father had died in 1907, so her mother was the head of this household.

A few family histories on Ancestry.com include several photographs showing Ellen McNulty. The gallery below shows some of them that I think show her at a young enough age to have been taken before she got married. The thumbnails can be clicked to enlarge them. The two on the left were apparently taken in the same photoshoot.

The photo on the far right is described as “Nellie at 12 years” on Ancestry.com. If so, it would have been taken in 1904. Could it have been taken at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition (commonly called the World’s Fair) that was held in St. Louis during that year?

A few histories on Ancestry.com say that Louis Young married Ellen McNulty on April 12, 1916. However, I found this record that says this couple was married on June 16, 1916 in St. Louis. I do not have a subscription to Newspapers.com in order to view the actual article in the newspaper. It is also the first place I found that indicates that Louis was a railway mail clerk.

An article about the Young/McNulty marriage was published in the Perry County Republican on June 15, 1916. This article states that this couple was married the previous Monday, so I do not think Louis and Ellen got married on June 19th. June 12th was the previous Monday. I am thinking that was the correct date for the wedding.

In 1918, Louis had a World War I draft registration completed. It says Louis was a railway postal clerk working for the U.S. government.

One son was born before the 1920 census, but I was unable to find the Young’s in that enumeration. This couple had just 2 sons, and the second one was born in the 1920’s. Louis’s father, Peter Young, died in 1928, so the photo shown below must have been taken not long before that. Louis is the man standing in the back on the far left.

I think the photo of Ellen shown below was taken after she was married, but when she was still fairly young.

We find the Young’s with their two sons in the 1930 census. They were living in the municipality in the St. Louis area called Shrewsbury. Louis was still working as a postal clerk for the railway.

Next, we find Louis and Ellen in the 1940 census. Louis still had the same occupation, and their son, Peter, was a tinner for a furnace factory.

Louis was required to complete a World War II draft card in 1942. His employer was the United States Post Office.

I searched a map program for the address shown on the above form. I found a street side photo of the house that must have been where the Louis Young family lived.

The last census we can view for the Young’s was the one taken in 1950. Just their youngest son, William, was living with them.

The photos shown below of Ellen and Louis Young were taken later in their lives.

Louis Young died in 1973 at the age of 88; Ellen Young died in 1985 at the age of 92. They both died too recently to view their death certificates. They are buried together in the Resurrection Cemetery in St. Louis.

A previous story was written about Louis’s brother, Edward Young, titled, Jung & Sons Funeral Home. Edward established what became Young & Sons Funeral Home in Perryville. That business was recently bought and is now called Ford & Young Funeral Home. Today’s story and the one about Edward give evidence that one cannot remain Young forever.