We celebrate a 175th birthday today. Johanna Reuter was born on August 2, 1847 in Germany. The 1900 census says that Johanna immigrated to this country in 1854. We find the following information for Johanna in the Friedenberg Remembrances book.

The first document I was able to find for Johanna is the marriage record for her first marriage. She married Simon Popp in 1867. The marriage record below indicates that these two were married on September 15, 1867 by Rev. E. Riedel. Pastor Riedel had previously been the pastor of both Trinity Lutheran Church in Friedheim and Grace Lutheran Church in Uniontown, but I do not know what he was doing in 1867, but the document is from Cape Girardeau County. This document says Johanna was from Cape Girardeau, Missouri and Simon was from Perry County.

Simon Popp was likely born around 1839, but I do not have a date of birth for him. Simon was the son of Phillip and Katherine (Kodisch) Popp. Below is the information found about Simon Popp in the Friedenberg Remembrances book.

I am unaware of the time this Popp family arrived in America. It must have been before 1860 because we find Simon and his family in the census for that year living in the Cinque Hommes Township. Simon was working on his father’s farm.

After Simon married Johanna in 1867, they settled in Perry County. Simon is once again found in the Cinque Hommes Township, this time as a married man. The first of the Popp children was born by this time. Two young Farrar (the surname, not the town) boys were working on the Popp farm.

Simon and Johanna had 3 children. Two more were born after the above census. The 3rd one was born in 1872. Simon died shortly after that. There is no documentation giving the date of his death, but it must have been before 1874. That is because Johanna married a second time in 1874. Let’s take a look at the man who would become her second husband.

Karl C.L. Buettner was born in Germany on February 21, 1841 (or 1842). He would adopt the Americanized name of Charles. According to the information in the Friedenberg Remembrances book shown below, Charles came to America in 1869 and worked in St. Louis before coming to Perry County.

Charles must not have been in St. Louis very long because he is already found in the 1870 census living in the Brazeau Township. He was a farm laborer in the John Grother household.

On November 12, 1874, Charles Buettner married Johanna Popp. In the Perry County document displayed below, the Buettner/Popp wedding is one among many recorded by Rev. A.F. Voigt, the pastor of Peace Lutheran Church in Friedenberg.

Our German Family Tree states that 8 children were born to Charles and Johanna. The 1880 census shows this Buettner family with 3 Buettner children and the 3 Popp children from Johanna’s first marriage. Charles was a farmer.

We cannot view another census until 20 years later in 1900. We find this Buettner household in the infamous pages of the Salem Township census. Like so many in those pages, this Buettner entry is very difficult to read. It is a place that says Charles came to America in 1869 and Johanna in 1854. Only Buettner children are found in this entry.

The last census in which we find Charles Buettner was the one taken in 1910. Charles and Johanna were each in their 60’s.

Charles Buettner died in 1913 at the age of 71 or 72, depending on if he was born in 1841 or 1842. His death certificate says he was 71 years old, but it also says he was born in 1842. This form is the only place where we find a piece of information about his parents. It says his father’s name was Christian Buettner.

An obituary for Charles was published in the Perry County Republican. This article also states that Charles was born in 1842. To read it, you likely need to click on the thumbnails.

Johanna is found in the 1920 census living with her son, Otto. Johanna is called the farmer and Otto the farm manager.

Johanna Buettner died in 1923 at the age of 75. We can also view her death certificate.

A shorter obituary also showed up in the Perry County Republican for Johanna.

Charles and Johanna Buettner are each buried in the Peace Lutheran Cemetery in Friedenberg. Not only don’t we know when Johanna’s first husband, Simon Popp, died, but we are not sure where he was buried. I think he was likely also buried in the same cemetery as the Buettner’s.

Several previous posts have been published on this blog about both Buettner and Popp children who have been mentioned in this post. Now, I’ve finally gotten around to writing the story of the parents.