Today’s birthday girl was born and baptized in Perry County, but she spent most of her life living in St. Louis. She married a man from St. Louis, but he, too, had some roots in Perry County.

Louise Theresia Gaebler was born on February 28, 1885, making today her 138th birthday. Louise was the daughter of Samuel and Magdalena (Schilling) Gaebler. The story of Louise’s parents was told in the post, Gaebler the Grocer. Louise’s baptism record is found in the books of Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg, but it is also likely that she was baptized in the church located in Wittenberg. There is evidence that her father was a cooper working in Wittenberg. Louise’s baptism record, which also says Samuel was from Wittenberg, is displayed below.

As was pointed out in the story about Louise’s parents, the Gaebler family spent some time in Pocahontas while Louise was growing up, but then sometime after 1896, her family moved to St. Louis. She is found in her first census in 1900 when she was 15 years old. Her father was called a day laborer.

Now, we will take a look at the man who would become Louise’s husband. His name was George David Kluegel, who was born on August 15, 1881. The word, kluegel, means “clever” in German according to Google Translate, thus the title for today’s post. George was the son of Johann Traugott and Maria (Steinmeyer) Kluegel. George’s father had been baptized in Altenburg, and his grandfather (also named George Kluegel) had been part of the Gesellschaft in 1839. George was born in St. Louis and baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in that city. We can view his record from that congregation’s books in two images. This record says George’s father was from Altenburg.

George is found in his first census in 1900 at the age of 18. George was called a stove factory clerk, and his father was a wagon maker. The Kluegel’s were living in the Steinmeyer household.

In a 1901 St. Louis city directory, we find a variety of people with the Kluegel name, including George and his father. Here George is called a woodworker, and his father was making carriages. There was also a Gottlob Kluegel who operated a furniture store. He was George’s uncle. William Kluegel was the son of Gottlob, and he was studying to become a medical doctor. Once he became a doctor, he had his practice in Altenburg for a short time, and while he lived here, had a home built for himself and his practice which is now called The Inn. It is located very near Trinity, Altenburg and our museum.

George Kluegel married Louise Gaebler on November 14, 1906. There is a church record in the books of Trinity Lutheran Church in St. Louis, but that record says this wedding took place at Holy Cross Lutheran, also in St. Louis. Here are two images showing that church record.

When the 1910 census was taken, we find this young couple with no children and George working for a carriage manufacturing company, probably his father’s business.

George Kluegel had a World War I draft registration completed in 1918. On this document, George is called a mechanic.

The 1920 census shows George and Louise living with George’s parents. His father was still a carriage maker, and George was an auto mechanic. George and Louise had one daughter.

This was a time when a transition was being made between the horse and buggy era to the age of the automobile. I find it interesting that Traugot was still in the carriage business, but his son was transitioning to the new automobile technology.

It turns out that the 1930 census was the last one in which we find George Kluegel. This time, George was the proprietor of a hardware store.

George Kluegel died in 1936 at the age of 52. His death certificate indicates he died from a heart ailment. George was noted as being the proprietor of the Kluegel Hardware Store.

Louise is found in the 1940 census as a widow living with her daughter, Marie, who was a salesman for a department store.

The last census we can view is the one taken in 1950. We once again see just Louise and her daughter, Marie, who had the same job, only this time she was called a sales lady, not a salesman.

Louise Kluegel died in 1960 at the age of 75. The same description as we saw for her husband’s cause of death was used for Louise.

George and Louise are buried together in the Concordia Lutheran Cemetery in St. Louis. That is a cemetery that serves both the Trinity and Holy Cross congregations.

The Kluegel and Gaebler names were both ones that show up in the list of Gesellschaft passengers They are also names that disappeared from this area over time. However, in this post, we find a couple made up of descendants from those two families in St. Louis.