f today’s tale was told in a previous post titled, Learning Latin from a Blacksmith’s Son. However that post highlighted a son of today’s couple. I am returning to this story to focus more on the parents. I even found another bride for the father. It seems like it is a daily occurrence that I find information to add to our German Family Tree, and today is no exception. I also have to admit that there are some unanswered questions about today’s characters that still remain.

We begin with a Groundhog Day birthday. Carl Andreas Dede was born on February 2, 1862, the son of Carl and Catharina (Blanken) Dede. His mother’s maiden name of Blanken ties this story to the one told yesterday about Marie Blanken. Carl, Jr. and Marie were cousins. Tragedy already entered this Dede family when Carl, Jr. was born. He would never know his mother because she died in 1862 as a result of his own childbirth. That left Carl, Sr. as a widower with a newborn son. I will add that a previous son had been born in 1861, but that child lived less than a month. Carl, Jr. did survive his childhood, but I do not know the details about how that was accomplished. Carl was baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg. His baptism record is pictured here. I am a little puzzled by this image because it does not look like a date of February 2nd to me.

When Carl, Jr. was 3 years old, his father married again. His second wife was Christiana Simon. These two were married on February 8, 1865 at Concordia Lutheran Church in Frohna. Below is a civil marriage record for this event.

A church record in Concordia’s books does not even give a date for this wedding other than 1865.

This couple must have moved to Cape Girardeau County after they were married because that is where we find them when a Missouri state census was taken in 1868. A daughter named Sophia had been born to Carl and Christiana. That child had been baptized at Immanuel, New Wells.

Tragedy once again hit this family in 1870. Carl Dede, Sr. died. I was not able to find the widow, Christiana Dede, and the children in the census taken that year. Since he didn’t die until late in 1870, I probably should have been able to find Carl, Sr. also, but I failed. Carl, Jr’s stepmother married Diedrich Hintmann in 1871, but I also lost track of them. When the 1880 census was compiled, we find Carl Dede living in the Salem Township in the John Miesner household. He was working on the Miesner farm, and he was called an orphan. He was 18 years old at the time.

We will now turn our attention to the woman who would become Carl’s first wife. Her name was Rosina Litti “Elisabeth” Winter who was born on April 21, 1864. Elisabeth was the daughter of Christian and Caroline (Pelzig) Winter. She was baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg. We can take a look at her baptism record below.

Here is where a real mystery enters this story. I call it the “Disappearing Winter”. We find Elisabeth’s family in the 1870 census pictured below, but Elisabeth is not there. Two of her brothers were included, but Elisabeth should have been a daughter at about the age of 6 at this time. Her father was a shoemaker in Altenburg.

As if that wasn’t confusing enough, we find the Winter family in the 1880 census, but once again, Elisabeth is missing. Her brothers appear again, but not Elisabeth. This time, the Winter family was living in the Union Township where Elisabeth’s father was a shoemaker and farmer.

This leads us up to the marriage of Carl Dede and Elisabeth Winter which took place on today’s date, January 20th, in 1884. Today would be this couple’s 139th wedding anniversary. This ceremony took place in New Wells. The marriage license below does not show the actual wedding date, but Ancestry.com includes the date of January 20, 1884 as the date in its listing.

A very brief marriage record for this wedding is included in the books of Immanuel Lutheran Church in New Wells.

Carl and Elisabeth have 10 children listed in our German Family Tree. All but the last one have baptism records in the books of Salem Lutheran Church in Farrar. However, when we find the Dede’s in the 1900 census, they were no longer living in Perry County. Carl was a blacksmith in the Randol Township of Cape Girardeau County.

A year later, in 1901, Elisabeth Dede died at the age of 37. A death record for her is found in the books of Trinity Lutheran Church in Egypt Mills, Missouri. That church is located in the Randol Township. This document and her gravestone give a birth date of February 25, 1864 which disagrees with the baptism record shown earlier.

Elisabeth is buried in the Trinity Lutheran Cemetery in Egypt Mills.

The unusual thing about this situation is that the child that was born and died at that time has its death record in the books of Concordia Lutheran Church in Frohna. That child has a grave marker in that congregation’s cemetery. This is another unanswered question connected to this story.

Carl Dede married again in 1905. The record for this marriage is not included in our GFT. That’s because the wedding took place at Trinity Lutheran Church in Egypt Mills, and their records are not yet included in the GFT. Let’s take a look at Carl’s second wife. Her name was Maria Theresa Reisenbichler who was born on November 3, 1867. Theresa was the daughter of George and Anna Marie (Schilger) Reisenbichler. She was baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in New Wells. That baptism record is displayed below.

Theresa is found in the 1870 census at the age of 3. Her father was a farmer in the Shawnee Township.

Next, we find Theresa as a 12 year-old when the 1880 census was taken. Her Reisenbichler family had gotten considerably larger.

Theresa is still living with her father at the age of 32 when the 1900 census was taken.

Carl Dede married Theresa Reisenbichler on July 2, 1905 at Trinity, Egypt Mills. A transcription of that church’s marriage record is shown here.

We can also view this couple’s marriage license.

No more children were born to this pair. The next census record I can show is the one for 1920 because I could not locate the Dede’s in the 1910 census. Carl was still a blacksmith in the Randol Township.

The 1930 census places the Dede’s in Cape Girardeau where Carl was a farmer. Theresa’s brother, Herman Reisenbichler, was living in their household. He was 56 years old and still single.

A similar census entry is found in 1940. This time, Carl and Theresa were in their 70’s and Herman Reisenbichler was in his 60’s.

Carl and Theresa are still found in the 1950 census with both of them in their 80’s. It is not surprising that Carl had no occupation.

Theresa Dede died later in 1950 at the age of 82. We can take a look at her death certificate.

Carl Dede died in 1952 at the age of 90. His death certificate is pictured here. This death certificate and Carl’s gravestone give the birthday of February 2, 1862.

Carl and Theresa Dede are each buried at the Cape County Memorial Park in Cape Girardeau.

I think this post gets me closer to understanding the life of Carl Dede and his 2 wives. However, there are still plenty of reasons for me to scratch my head and admit that I do not know the answers to several questions. I know that I am amazed that Carl, after losing his mother at the time of his birth, managed to live until he was 90 years old.