Children that were part of the Adoph Aurich family have been featured in this blog before. The photo below of that large family has been displayed here previously.

Our German Family Tree lists 10 children born to Adolph and Josephine (Antonier) Aurich, and we see 10 children in the above photo. Today’s story will feature that last child born to this Aurich couple because that boy would be celebrating one of those special birthdays today. I figure the youngest child in this family is the boy standing in front with his arm on his mother’s lap, but several family trees on Ancestry say he is the boy standing right behind him.

Alwin Waldemar Aurich was born on February 13, 1898, making today his 125th birthday. This boy went by the name Waldemar or Walter during his life. He was baptized at Salem Lutheran Church in Farrar. An image of his baptism record from that congregation’s books is pictured here.

Waldemar is found in his first census in 1900 at the age of 2. This almost looks like an entry from the 1900 Salem Township pages, but it comes from the Union Township. All 10 of the Aurich children are included in this entry that is quite difficult to read. Waldemar’s father was a farmer.

Next, we find Waldemar in the 1910 census at the age of 12. He is called Walter in this entry.

Waldemar was confirmed at Salem, Farrar in 1912. Then, in 1918, he had his World War I draft registration completed. This document shows that Waldemar’s employer was his father. He had a Farrar address.

The 1920 census was the last one in which we find Waldemar living in Perry County. Only Waldemar and his older brother, William, were still living with their parents.

The 1915 plat maps show where the Adolph Aurich farm was located.

It must have been shortly after the 1920 census was taken that Waldemar moved away from home. He likely followed his older brother, Edwin Aurich, who had moved to Nebraska, gotten married in 1914, and according to his World War I draft registration, was then living in Cheyenne County, Nebraska. This was the area around Potter, Nebraska, which has been mentioned on this blog on several occasions as a place where several Perry County natives migrated in the early 1900’s. Waldemar got married in Nebraska in 1923, so let’s take a look at the woman who became his bride.

Helene Charlotte Louise Horst was born on October 29, 1902, the daughter of Henry and Caroline (Tebbe) Horst. Helene was born in Nebraska, probably in Cheyenne County. When we find her in her first census in 1910, she was living in the Davison Township in that county. You can see that Helene, at the age of 7, was also part of a large family. Her father was a farmer.

Here is a map of Cheyenne County in Nebraska that displays the township names.

The Henry Horst family had a photo taken that must include Helene. I think Helene was the youngest girl in the family, so I think she is the young girl on the right side of the photo behind a younger brother.

In 1920, we find the Horst family in the same location. Helene was a teenager. Their entry spills over two census pages.

I have to rely on family trees on Ancestry for a wedding date for Waldemar Aurich and Helene Horst. They were married on November 22, 1923. Later this year, this couple would be celebrating their 100th anniversary if they were still alive. Two children were born to this couple. We see one of their children along with one of Waldemar’s nephews in the 1930 census. You have to be a little careful with describing their location. There was a township called Bronson, and in that township, there was a town called Brownson. Both Waldemar and his nephew, Erwin, were laborers for the Union Pacific Railroad. Erwin was the son of Arthur Aurich, another one of Waldemar’s brothers who had made his way to Cheyenne County, Nebraska prior to 1920.

Next, we find the Aurich’s in the 1940 census. This time, they were living in Sidney, which is not far from Brownson. Another son named Vernold was born in 1931, but he is not found in this census entry.

The map below shows the proximity of Brownson to Sidney. The black line going from east to west is the railroad.

The last census we can view is the one in 1950. Waldemar and Helene were still living in Sidney, and Waldemore was a section hand for the railroad. A lodger by the name of Adela Horst, a daughter of Helene’s brother, Otto, was also in the household.

In that same year, we find their son, Vernold, as a student in Winfield, Kansas. He was attending St. John’s Lutheran College. Vernold would later become a Lutheran pastor.

Waldemar Aurich died in 1970 at the age of 72; Helene Aurich died in 1999 at the age of 96. Waldemar and Helene are buried together in the Greenwood Cemetery in Sidney.

Several members of Waldemar’s Aurich family moved to Nebraska, and I know that the next generations of this Aurich family produced quite a few fulltime church workers. Right now, my granddaughter, a student at a Lutheran school in Minnesota, has a teacher named Ms. Aurich. I have not yet had the opportunity to find out if that is her name or she is married to an Aurich, but I am looking forward to finding out if she or her husband has some roots in Perry County, Missouri.