The starting point for today’s post is the birthday of Louis Henry Edward Brand, who was born on August 15, 1889. The surname, Brand, has not previously shown up on this blog. Edward was the son of Friedrich and Lucie (Fritz) Brand. When I discovered that Edward’s family was living in the Randol Township of Cape Girardeau County, it led me to look in a book that we have in our research library that includes records from Trinity Lutheran Church in Egypt Mills. Those records are not yet included in our German Family Tree. I was successful at locating the baptism record for Edward, which is displayed below.

As you can see, this transcription spells his surname as Brandt. Later documents for Edward do not include the final “t”. When Edward is found in his first census in 1900, he was 10 years old and the oldest child listed. His father was a farmer.

When the 1910 census was taken, we find Edward’s family living in Cape Girardeau, where his father was a house carpenter. At the age of 20, Edward was a laborer for the railroad. Edward would spend his whole life working in the railroad business.

In 1917, Edward had a World War I draft registration completed.

The above form describes Edward’s position with the railroad as a civil engineer. It is the title he would have for the rest of his career. On a website for the Union Pacific Railroad, it describes the work of a railroad civil engineer.

The last census in which we find Edward as a single man was the one taken in 1920. Edward was a civil engineer for the railroad, and his father was a lumber buyer.

Now, let’s take a look at the woman who would become Edward’s wife. Her name was Helen Margareta Litzelfelner, who was born on December 5, 1903. That means she was about 14 years younger than Edward. Helen was the daughter of Joseph and Camelia (Torrence) Litzelfelner. Helen’s father, Joseph, had been baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg, but it appears that after he married Camelia, who was a Presbyterian, he became a member of Apple Creek Presbyterian near Pocahontas. Several baptism records from that church can be found on Ancestry.com for older siblings of Helen. Prior to Helen’s birth, Joseph became the postmaster for Neely’s Landing. According to a Litzelfelner family binder that we have, Helen was the last of 11 Litzelfelner children.

Helen is found in her first census in 1910 at the age of 6. Her father had died in 1906 when Helen was just 2 years old, so Camelia was the head of this household and called a farm operator.

Helen was 16 years old when the 1920 census was taken. This family’s entry spills over two census pages.

Edward Brand married Helen Litzelfelner on July 2, 1924. This couple was married at Trinity Lutheran Church in Cape Girardeau. The marriage license for this couple is pictured here.

Edward and Helen had just one child, a son named Charles Brand, who was born in 1928. When the 1930 census was taken, Edward was a railroad civil engineer in Chaffee, Missouri.

The Brand family was not even living in Missouri when the 1940 census was taken. They were living in Memphis, Tennessee where Edward is called a road master.

Sometime during the next decade, Edward moved his family back to Missouri. In the 1950 census, we find the Brand household living in Springfield, Missouri.

Edward Brand died in 1957 at the age of 67. His death certificate described him as a retired civil engineer for the railroad.

Helen Brand died in 1986 at the age of 82. She died much too recently to view her death certificate. Both Edward and Helen were buried in the Maple Park Cemetery in Springfield.

Edward Brand, because of his occupation with the railroad, ended up moving his family around to different locations. I guess I could compare his situation to my career as a Lutheran educator. My occupation took me to several different cities over the years, including Memphis, Tennessee, before my retirement move to Altenburg.