Today’s romance begs this question. How did a young farmer from the middle of Louisiana find his bride in Altenburg, Missouri. As near as I can tell, this young man made a trip to Perry County to get married and then proceeded to take his bride elsewhere to live. I also find no evidence of the young woman that he married ever travelling to Louisiana before her marriage. The only possible explanation I can come up with is that this young man was a Richter, a fairly common Perry County name. Perhaps he had relatives in Perry County and this wedding was planned by correspondence.

We begin with the fella from Louisiana. Carl Emil Richter was born in Germany on March 11, 1891. Emil was the son of Herman and Emilie (Schiffel) Richter. One has to be careful here. There is a Carl Richter in our German Family Tree that was born on March 3rd in 1891 and baptized on March 11th, but that is not the Emil Richter that I will highlight today. Later, when the 1930 census was taken, it says that Emil immigrated to America in 1907. I found a family named Herman and Emilie Richter from Ulberndorf, Germany on the passenger list shown below for the ship, Main, that arrived in 1907.

Our museum’s friend, Diane Anderson, has attached this photo to Emil Richter’s entry on Ancestry.com. It is Emil’s confirmation photo. I figure this must have been taken in Germany.

I was unable to find the Richter family in the 1910 census. Then, in 1917, Emil had a World War I draft registration completed. This form says Emil was born in Ulberndorf, so that lends credence to the fact that the above passenger list displays the correct Richter family. Emil’s address is given as Simms, Louisiana, and he is called a farmer.

There is a Louisiana death record for Emilie Richter from Grant County, Louisiana. That is the county in which Simms is found. That must have been Emil’s mother. She died on April 24, 1919.

It was later in 1919 that we find Emil in Perry County getting married, so we will turn our attention to the woman who would become his bride. Her name was Frieda Mathilde Weber, who was born on October 16, 1896. Frieda was the daughter of Emanuel and Mathilde (Leimbach) Weber. A previous post was written about Frieda’s parents titled, Emanuel Weber – Friedland Farmer. Friedland was another name for the place often referred to as The Ridge on this blog. Could the name Friedland have been the inspiration for her parents to call this girl Frieda? She was baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Altenburg. Her baptism record is displayed below in two images.

Frieda is found in her first census in 1900 at the age of 3. Her father was called a farm laborer.

Next, we find Frieda as a teenager in the 1910 census. She was the only girl of the 6 Weber children in this entry.

Emil Richter married Frieda Weber on August 3, 1919 at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Altenburg. The church record for this occasion is shown here in 2 images. This document states that Emil was a farmer from Simms, Louisiana.

The marriage license for this couple can also be viewed.

I want to interject here the fact that the recorder of deeds on the above license, J.E. Lottes, was also born on March 11th. I ran across his name and birthday while looking for a person to write about today.

We are able to view the wedding photograph for Emil and Frieda.

According to later census records, it looks as if Emil and Frieda had 5 children. In the census taken not long after their wedding, we find the Richter household in this 1920 entry. They were living in Louisiana where Emil continued his farming. Emil’s brother, Erno, was living with them. This entry mistakenly says Emil was born in Pennsylvania.

Sometime in the 1920’s, the Richter’s moved. When the 1930 census was taken, they are found living in Willow Springs, Missouri where Emil was a farmer. All 5 of the Richter children are listed, and it says even the youngest at the age of less than a year was born in Louisiana. That means the Richter’s must have just arrived in Missouri to live. Emil’s father and another brother were in their household, and both of them were named Herman. This is the census entry that says Emil (along with his father and brother) arrived in this country in 1907.

A photograph was taken of the Emanuel Weber family in Altenburg that included both Emil and Frieda. They are standing in the back row on the right.

Next, we find the Richter’s in the 1940 census. Four children were still living with their parents, and Herman, Emil’s brother, is in their household once again.

In 1942, Emil had a World War II draft card completed.

The last census in which we can view is the one taken in 1950.

It looks like Herman Richter lived with Emil’s family until he died in 1953. Herman never married. It is on his death certificate that we find the maiden name of his mother.

Diane Anderson also published this photo of Emil on her Ancestry.com page. It shows him at a much more advanced age.

Emil Richter died in 1969 at the age of 77. His death certificate does not give his mother’s maiden name.

Frieda Richter died in 1976 at the age of 79. Death certificates are made public only up to 1972, so I cannot display hers. Emil and Frieda are buried together in the Willow Springs Cemetery.

Maybe one of our readers can answer the big question posed in this post. How in the world did a Louisiana farmer find his bride on The Ridge in Perry County.