A Mueller couple would be celebrating their 143rd anniversary today if they were still alive. The couple was made up of a German descendant of an original immigrant from the Gesellschaft and a later Austrian immigrant. I will begin with the German groom.

Heinrich Furchtegott Mueller was born on May 7, 1855, the son of Carl and Amalie (Kuehn) Mueller. I often refer to Henry’s parents as being part of what we call the “Frohna Mueller’s”. I do not have a photo of Henry’s father, but I can show you one of his mother.

That couple had 12 children according to our German Family Tree, and Henry was the 8th one born to them. Henry was baptized at Concordia Lutheran Church in Frohna. We can take a look at an image of his baptism record from that congregation’s books.

Henry shows up in his first census in 1860 when he was 5 years old. His father was a farmer in the Brazeau Township of Perry County. Eva, Carl Mueller’s mother, since her husband had died in 1856, was living with this family.

Next, we find Henry as a teenager in the 1870 census. Henry’s Mueller grandmother was still included in their household.

Since Henry would get married before the next census, let’s take a look at the woman who would become his first wife. Her name was Johanne Magdalena Popp, who was born on August 22, 1856. Magdalena was the daughter of Andrew and Catherine (Eggers) Popp. Magdalena was baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg. Below is her baptism record.

Magdalena is found at the age of 4. Her father was a farmer in the Brazeau Township.

Magdalena’s father died in 1864, and her mother then married Heinrich Henn. In the 1870 census, it looks like Magdalena’s surname was Henn, but it was not.

Henry Mueller married Magdalena Popp on May 8, 1878 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg. The church record for this wedding is displayed here.

We can also view a civil record for this event.

This marriage did not last long. Sadly, in early 1879, Magdalena died as a result of childbirth. The child also died. This left Henry as a widower with no children. One important fact about this death is that the death record for Magdalena is found in the books of Immanuel Lutheran Church in New Wells. It appears that Henry had moved to the Shawnee Township at some point in time.

That leads us up to the marriage that took place on this date, so we will now take a look at the woman who would become Henry’s second bride. Her name was Katharine Kieninger, who was born on October 18, 1856 in Austria. Her parents were Joseph and Eva (Putz) Kieninger. We find the Kieninger family on a Baltimore passenger list compiled from “various vessels”. This document says the ships arrived in 1858. Katharine is called 11 months old, but if we have the correct birthday and this is the correct year of arrival, she would have been more than one year old.

The above list is packed with people that settled in the Shawnee Township of northern Cape Girardeau County…Reisenbichler, Kieninger, Putz, and Pilz. We find Katharine and her family in the 1860 census living in the Shawnee Township. Katharine was 3 years old, and her father was a farmer. John Kieninger, a 52 year-old mason, was Katharine’s uncle.

The 1870 census shows Katharine as a teenager. She had been confirmed at Immanuel Lutheran Church in New Wells in 1869.

Henry Mueller married Katharine Kieninger on November 13, 1879 at Immanuel Lutheran Church in New Wells. We can take a look at the church record for this wedding.

A civil record for this occasion from Cape Girardeau County is pictured here.

The German Family Tree lists 7 children born to Henry and Katharine. All of them except for the second child who was born in 1883 were baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in New Wells. I do not know why their 2nd child was baptized at Concordia Lutheran Church in Frohna. Their fist child was not born until December of 1880, so when the census was taken that year, the Mueller’s still had no children of their own, but they did have a 13 year-old boy in their household that was called adopted. Henry was a farmer.

We have to wait 20 years before we can take a look at another census entry, and by that time, all of their children had been born, and all 7 were in their household.

In 1910, we see that the Mueller family had gotten smaller due to some of their children getting married and moving out.

Next, we find Henry and Katharine in the 1920 census. They were both in their 60’s, and only one son remained in their family.

The last census in which we find Henry was the one taken in 1930. He and Katharine had an empty nest, and no occupation is listed for either of them.

At a later time in their lives, Henry and Katharine were in a photo, probably with other members of their family. On Ancestry.com, I was only able to find these images that look as if they were cropped out of a larger photo. I wish I had access to the whole family photo.

Henry Mueller died in 1938 at the age of 84. We are able to view his death certificate.

Katharine is still found in the 1940 census. She was living in the household of her daughter, Magdalena, who had married Rudolph Landgraf.

Katharine Mueller died in 1948 at the age of 91. Her death certificate states that she died of senility.

Both Henry and Katharine Mueller are buried in the Zion Lutheran Cemetery in Pocahontas.

I know that a few posts have already been written about children of Henry and Katharine. Now you have been told the story about their parents.