I chose today’s story for a different reason than most posts that I write. I rarely find a story based on a baptism date. However, the girl I will highlight in this post got my attention anyway. First of all, she had the same name as another woman in a post I wrote recently titled, Joseph and Emma – A Few More Bock’s in Uniontown. After not much searching, I also discovered that this girl would go on to marry the brother of another character highlighted in another recent post, Pocahontas Mueller’s. The bottom line is that I could not resist writing this tale today.

Emma Thomas was born on November 5, 1860, the daughter of George and Sophia (Paesler) Thomas. Emma is not the first Thomas from this family to appear in this blog. Her older sister, Bertha, married one of the Weinhold millers in Frohna. Her story can be found in the article titled, Flour Maker and His Baker’s Dozen. According to our German Family Tree, Emma was the last of 9 children born into her family. Emma was baptized at Grace Lutheran Church in Uniontown on November 20, 1860, making today her baptism birthday. Below is an image of that baptism record from that congregation’s books. Please note that the document definitely says she was born in 1860. That will be important later.

Emma was born too late in 1860 to be listed in the census taken during that year, so the first census in which we find her was the one taken in 1870. She was 10 years old and her father was a farmer in the Brazeau Township.

I found this Thomas family in the long-lost 1880 Union Township census pages. Emma’s father had died in 1874, so it makes sense that Sophia would be a widow at that time. Emma is listed as 19 years old, which is about right. However, there are two younger siblings, both girls, living in this household. Church records say Emma was the last child born in the family. There is a girl named Ernestine in both the 1870 census and this one, but the ages do not make sense. She could not have gotten younger. The 11 year-old is another mystery. So, I am not totally convinced that this is the correct Thomas family. Regardless, the individuals in this household must have had some rough times. Sophia is said to be farming and Emma is keeping house in a family made up of only females.

I will add even more confusion to this mix. A few days ago, in the story about the other Emma Thomas, I displayed a census entry for a Gottlieb Thomas that included an Emma Thomas, age 20, living in the Apple Creek Township. Yes, there is an Emma Thomas, and yes, there is a Sophia Thomas as the mother of the family, but as I said earlier, today’s Emma Thomas’s father died before 1880. Also, Emma is the oldest child in this family. So, this cannot be the correct census entry for Emma. Nor was it the right entry for the Emma in the previous post. So, this is a 3rd Emma Thomas.

Emma was married in 1881, so let’s take a look at the man who would become her husband. His name was Theodore Carl Mueller, who was born on April 14, 1860. Theodore was the son of Carl and Amalie (Kuehn), so that makes him the younger brother of Henry Mueller, who became what I called a Pocahontas Mueller in a recent post. Theodore was also part of a family that I have often referred to as the “Frohna Mueller’s”. Theodore was child #11 out of 12 in his family. He was baptized at Concordia Lutheran Church in Frohna. We can take a look at his baptism record here.

Theodore was born early enough in 1860 to be included in that year’s census as a baby.

Next, we find Theodore in the 1870 census at the age of 9. His father was a farmer.

Both Emma Thomas and Theodore Mueller were confirmed in 1874, but Emma was confirmed at Grace, Uniontown, while Theodore was confirmed at Concordia, Frohna. Theodore is found in one more census as a single man when the 1880 census was taken. He was working on his father’s farm.

Theodore Mueller married Emma Thomas on May 10, 1881 at Concordia Lutheran Church in Frohna. The church marriage record for this wedding is pictured here.

We can also view a civil record for this occasion. It spills over two pages, so I have to show it to you in 2 images.

The German Family Tree lists 4 children born to this couple. The first child, a girl, died before her 6th birthday. The other 3 children were boys, and 2 of them married Wittschieben girls. I have already written stories about those two sons in the posts, Six Pack of Mueller and Mueller’s in Willow Springs. All of the Mueller children were born before the next census we can view in 1900 in which we find all 3 sons. Theodore was a farmer in the Union Township.

Theodore’s farm was located not far from Frohna, but also located right on the edge of the Union Township.

The 1910 census shows 2 Theodore Mueller households. Theodore P. Mueller was the son of Theodore C. and Emma. He was also one of the sons who married a Wittschieben. Theodore C. Mueller, at the age of 50, was a laborer at odd jobs.

Theodore and Emma were living in the household of their son, Alfred Mueller when the 1920 census was taken. Alfred had married Christiana Rabold. Theodore was a farm laborer, probably working with his son, Alfred.

The last census in which we find Theodore and Emma was the one taken in 1930. These two had an empty nest and had no occupations.

Theodore Mueller died in 1933 at the age of 73. His death certificate is displayed below.

Emma Mueller died in 1937 at the age of 76. Her death certificate says she was born in 1861, but if she was born then, and she died in April of 1937, she would have been only 75 years old when she died.

Theodore and Emma Mueller are each buried in the Concordia Lutheran Cemetery in Frohna. Emma’s gravestone is another place where we see her birth year as 1861, but if her baptism record is accurate, then this is a mistake.

Now, you know the story of yet another set of Mueller’s that can be described as “Frohna Mueller’s”. Theodore had a brother that become a “Pocahontas Mueller”. Also, Emma had a sister who married a Frohna miller. Are you confused yet?