A little over a year ago, I wrote a post titled, Art and Dora – The Hoehn’s. I found another “Art and Dora” story today. The characters in today’s story lived about a decade prior to the ones in the previous post. It all begins with the birth of Dora.

Amalia Dora Thieret was born on December 22, 1876, so today would be her 146th birthday. Early in her life, we see evidence of her being called Dora, but later in life, she went by the name Amalia. She was the daughter of Carl and Barbara (Hoehn) Thieret. That means this “Art and Dora” story, like the one before, includes a Hoehn. Another previous post was written about Dora’s parents called A Thieret Throng. Dora was baptized at Peace Lutheran Church in Friedenberg, so we cannot view an actual image of her baptism record. She shows up in her first census in 1880 at the age of 3. It looks like her name is spelled as Ardala in this entry. Her father was a grocer in the Union Township.

Since we cannot view the 1890 census, this would be the only census in which Dora appears as a single person. So, we will now take a look at the man who would become her husband. His name was Arthur Simon Popp, who also had a December birthday. He was born on December 8, 1871, the son of Christopher and Eva (Dietrich) Popp. Arthur was baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Perryville. He was baptized on Christmas Eve, which happened to be a Sunday that year. Below is a transcription of his baptism record from that congregation’s books.

Like Dora, Arthur is found in only one census entry that we can view in which he is single. The 1880 census shows Art at the age of 8. He was the oldest child in this Popp family, and his father was a farmer in the Central Township.

Arthur Popp married Dora Thieret on September 5, 1897 at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Perryville. We can take a look at a transcription of their church marriage record shown below.

We are also able to view the marriage license for this couple.

The German Family Tree indicates that 3 children were born to this pair, and all of them were baptized at Immanuel, Perryville. We find the Popp household with their first 2 children in the 1900 census. For some reason, Arthur had no occupation listed.

Next, we find the Popp’s in the 1910 census with all 3 of their children. Arthur was the proprietor of a real estate office in Perryville. Dora is called Amelia.

The 1920 census lists the same people, and Arthur is called a real estate dealer. They were once again shown to be living in Perryville.

The Popp’s changed locations before the next census. In the 1930 census, we find them living in St. Louis. Also, Arthur changed occupations. He was still a salesman, but he was no longer selling real estate, he was selling insurance. By this time, Art and Dora (Amalia) were in their 50’s and had an empty nest.

The last census in which we find Arthur was the one taken in 1940. Both Arthur and Amalia were in their 60’s and having no occupations.

Arthur Popp died in 1941 at the age of 69. His death certificate says he died of pancreatic cancer at the Lutheran Hospital in St. Louis.

Amalia Popp was living by herself as a 73 year-old widow in the 1950 census.

Amalia (Dora) Popp died in 1964 at the age of 87. Her death certificate says she died while being a patient at the Deaconess Hospital in St. Louis.

Arthur and Amalia Popp are buried together in the Sunset Memorial Park in St. Louis.

Add the story of Art and Dora to the ones that have been told on this blog about people who had their roots in Perry County but ended up in the big city of St. Louis. I am a product of one of those stories in which my father was a Perry County native who spent most of his life in St. Louis. I just turned out to be one of those people who was born and raised in St. Louis, only to find myself planted back in Perry County later in life.