John Rauh is today’s birthday boy, but he will certainly not be the only John Rauh found in this story. First of all, today’s birthday boy is a junior, so his father was also John Rauh. John E. Rauh, Jr. was born on October 5, 1842, making today his 180th birthday. He was the son of John E. Rauh, Sr. and Elizabeth (Baer) Rauh. There is a baptism record for John, Jr. in the books of Grace Lutheran Church in Uniontown, which is shown below, but there is a good chance that this baptism took place at what was called the Frankenberg church near Perryville that was later renamed the Friedenberg church. This baptism record even mentions Perryville a few times.

Our German Family Tree lists 10 children in this Rauh family. We find an amazing entry for this family in the 1850 census. Not only do we see the father, John Rauh, but we also see the two oldest sons listed as John Rauh’s. John E., Jr. had an older brother named John F. Rauh. John E. was 8 years old when this census was taken, and his father was a farmer in the Brazeau Township.

I was unable to find the Rauh family in the 1860 census. I can document the fact that John E. was a soldier in the Union Army during the Civil War. There is a Civil War pension document that confirms this.

John E. Rauh would get married right after the Civil War, so let’s take a look at the woman who would become his bride. Her name was Anna Maria Lang, who was born on January 2, 1845. Maria was the daughter of John and Anna Maria (Fassold) Lang. She is another one whose baptism record can be found in the books of Grace, Uniontown, but she may have been baptized in the church that Rev. Gruber, the pastor of that church, was helping get established in Friedenberg.

Maria is found in her first census in 1850 at the age of 6. Her father was a farmer in the Brazeau Township. The Lang and Rauh families were just 2 pages apart in this census.

Next, we find Maria in the 1860 census as a teenager. This time the township is called the Cinque Hommes Township.

John E. Rauh married Maria Lang on January 3, 1865 at Peace Lutheran Church in Friedenberg. That means Maria got married the day after her 20th birthday. We can view a civil marriage record for that wedding from Perry County.

I can add even more confusion to this story. In 1867, John F. Rauh married Maria’s sister, Margaretha Lang. Then, after John F. died, Margaretha married Adam Rauh, yet another brother in this Rauh family. A previous post was written about those Rauh/Lang marriages titled, Lang-Rauh Connections.

The German Family Tree lists 12 children born to this couple, but several of them died early. All of them were baptized at Peace Lutheran Church in Friedenberg. The 1870 census lists the Rauh family with 3 children.

In 1873, 3 of their children died of diphtheria within days of each other. The 1880 census shows this household with 4 children from infant to age 15. John, Jr. was a farmer in the Central Township of Perry County.

The last census entry in which we find John E. and Maria living in Missouri was enumerated in 1900. They were each in their 50’s at that time. You might notice that their youngest child is yet another John Rauh.

As near as I can figure, sometime around 1901 or 1902, the Rauh family, including 2 sons who had gotten married, moved to Alva, Oklahoma. The records from the Lutheran church in Alva state that the Rauh’s became members in 1902. A photo of the John E. and Maria Rauh family was taken. It looks like a wedding anniversary photo. If it was their 40th anniversary, then it was taken in 1905. A caption identifies the people in the picture.

When the 1910 census was taken, we find John E. and Maria living in Alva where John E. is called a retired farmer. Other Rauh households can also be found in that year’s census in or near Alva.

The above census entry would be the last one in which we find John E. Rauh. He died in 1915 at the age of 72. An obituary for him was published in a local newspaper. It is a difficult image to read, but you can at least see that John E. is called a citizen-soldier in the headline.

Maria Rauh is still found in the 1920 census living in Alva. One of her granddaughters, Anna Groh, was living with her.

Maria Rauh died in 1923 at the age of 78. John E. and Maria are buried together in the Lutheran Cemetery in Alva.

The Rauh’s in Alva are another example of the many Perry County natives who migrated to that city in the early part of the 1900’s. That is why I refer to Alva as one of the Perry County suburbs.

There were plenty of John Rauh’s in this story. There are more. I know our museum’s friend and fellow author, Charles Rauh, who probably descends from the Charlie Rauh in the family photo shown in this post, had a brother named John. Also, another John Rauh is very much involved in operating the Perry County Military Museum located in Perryville.