Julius Arno Koenig was born on September 27, 1897, thus making today his 125th birthday. You will be reading his story today. This tale will take us to several local congregations before ending up in St. Louis. Several Ancestry.com family histories call him Arnold, and even his gravestone uses this name, but his baptism record and several other documents call him Arno, so that is what I will mostly use in this post. Arno was the 7th of 8 children of Julius and Elizabeth (Loos) Koenig and was baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in New Wells. We can view an image of his baptism record from that congregation’s books below.

Arno shows up in his first census in 1900. This Koenig family was living in the Shawnee Township of northern Cape Girardeau County. Arno is called 4 years old in this entry, but he was only 3. His father was a farmer.

Next, we find Arno in the 1910 census at the age of 12. This would be the year before he was confirmed at Immanuel, New Wells.

Arno had a World War I draft registration completed in 1918. It says Arno was farming with his father.

Arno would get married before the next census, so we will turn our attention to the woman who would become his bride. Her name was Agnes Louise Rabold, who was born on November 22, 1895. That made her about 2 years older than Arno. Agnes was the 6th of 7 children of Gottlieb and Amalia (Petzoldt) Rabold. That qualifies to make Agnes one of the many grandchildren of Friedrich Florian “The Face” Petzoldt. Agnes was baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Altenburg. The baptism record from that congregation is displayed below in two images.

Agnes shows up in her first census in 1900 living in the Brazeau Township of Perry County. She was 4 years old, and her father was a farmer.

Before the next census, the Rabold’s must have become members of Concordia Lutheran Church in Frohna because that is where Agnes was confirmed in 1909. The 1910 census shows the following Rabold household. Agnes was a teenager by this time.

Arno Koenig married Agnes Rabold on March 2, 1919. The location of this wedding is a bit of a surprise. It was not held at Agnes’s congregation in Frohna or Arno’s congregation in New Wells. It took place at Christ Lutheran Church in Jacob, Illinois. I think I know why that was the case. Rev. G.H. Haertling was the pastor at Christ, Jacob at that time. Rev. Haertling’s wife, Louise, was Arno’s sister, so this couple may have desired to have their wedding conducted by him. Below is the church record for this marriage. I have highlighted the initials, G.H.H., indicating that it was Rev. G.H. Haertling who performed the ceremony. The document also states that Arno was from New Wells, and Agnes was from Frohna.

The next year after their marriage, we find Arno and Agnes living with Arno’s parents in New Wells. Arno was still working on his father’s farm.

Before the 1930 census was taken, Arno moved his family to Perryville where he is called a laborer at a furniture store. Two of Agnes’s nieces, Fern and Elva Rabold, were living in their household. There were two sons in the Koenig family at this time.

The Koenig’s were still living in Perryville when the 1940 census was taken, but this time he was called a plumber at a hardware and plumbing business. There were 3 children listed in their family.

Arno had a World War II draft card completed in 1942. His address is given as Perryville.

The last census we can view for Arno and Agnes is the one taken in 1950. They had moved to St. Louis, where Arno was working with plumbing and sheet metal for a plumbing and heating company. Two children remained in their household.

Arno Koenig died in 1953 at the age of 55. His death certificate is displayed below.

Agnes Koenig died in 1970 at the age of 75. Her death certificate says she died at the Brookview Nursing Home.

Arno and Agnes Koenig are buried in the Mt. Lebonon Cemetery in St. Louis. Their gravestones have their photos on them. That is the only place where I discovered what they looked like.

I have enlarged the photos as best I could for you to view.

I guess you could say that Agnes followed her grandfather’s example by having her image placed on her gravestone.