The original Holschen’s who settled in Perry County, Missouri in 1839 were part of a group that has been tagged with the term, The St. Louis Additions. That small group was made up of a few families who had arrived in St. Louis at about the same time as the Stephanites did. These families decided to join that larger group when they were biding their time in St. Louis before moving to the land that was acquired in Perry County. During my time writing stories for this blog, I have discovered that several Holschen’s moved back to St. Louis several generations later. You will read the story of another one of those Holschen’s today.

It all begins with a baby boy that was born on this day 125 years ago. Edward Herman Holschen was born on March 24, 1898, the son of Herman and Augusta (Leimbach) Holschen. If you read yesterday’s post, the husband of Amanda Stueve, Albert Leimbach, would have called Edward’s parents, Uncle Herman and Aunt Augusta, and Albert would have called Edward his cousin. Edward was baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Altenburg. We can take a look at his baptism record below. One of his sponsors was Albert Leimbach’s father, Henry.

When Edward was just a baby, his father was named the postmaster of The Ridge. He held that position until a new mail route was begun in 1903 that came out of the Wittenberg post office. The story of the beginning of that mail route is told in my book, Wittenberg ’03.

Edward was just 2 years old when he appeared in his first census in 1900. His father was called a day laborer in this entry.

In 1910, we find Edward at the age of 12 This time, his father was called a house carpenter.

I think several members of the Herman Holschen family moved to St. Louis sometime in the next decade. When Edward had a World War I draft registration completed in 1918, he was living in St. Louis. Edward was an express checker for the Butler Brothers Company. Butler Brothers was a mail order company that later developed the Ben Franklin stores.

Edward did become a soldier during that war, but the record shown below says that he was only involved in the military for about a month.

When the 1920 census was taken, we find Edward living in a household of Holschen siblings, but the parents were still living in Perry County. Edward was called a concrete contractor.

Now, we need to take a look at the woman who would become Edward’s bride. I must admit that it took some digging to discover her life story, but I think I have it nailed down now, even though there is not much to be found about her on Ancestry.com. Her name was Katharine Neff, who was born on July 23, 1903. Katharine was the daughter of Henry and Mary (Hink) Neff. She was born in Joplin, Missouri, so we will see that she is like Edward. Her life began in another location in Missouri that would later end up in St. Louis, just like Edward’s life. Katharine is found in the 1910 census at the age of 6. Her father was an engineer in an ice plant. Back in those days, most engineers were people who operated engines (machinery).

Katharine was still living in Joplin when the 1920 census was taken. This time, her father was called a stationary engineer at a lead mine.

In the 1920’s, the Neff family moved to St. Louis, and that is likely how she became acquainted with Edward Holschen. Edward and Katharine were married in 1929, but I cannot pinpoint exactly when. All I can point to as evidence is an article found in a St. Louis newspaper that told about marriages happening in that city.

This young couple is found living with Edward’s new in-laws when the 1930 census was taken. Edward was a building contractor, and Katharine was a telephone switch board operator. Katharine’s father was an elevator operator for a drug factory.

Katharine’s mother died in 1933 of breast cancer. Her death certificate points out that she was born in Kansas, which is not far from Joplin, Missouri.

The 1940 census lists Edward as the head of the household this time. His father-in-law was still working for a drug company, but this time it says he was working as a janitor and doing odd jobs. Edward’s occupation was described as carpenter maintenance for a drug manufacturer. I would guess that Edward and his father-in-law were working for the same drug manufacturer.

In 1942, Edward had a World War II draft card completed. This form says Edward’s employer was the United Drug Company. The United Drug Company was the business that established the Rexall Drug Stores.

Katharine’s father died in 1942. His death certificate says he was a retired elevator operator.

The last census we can view is the one taken in 1950. Edward had the same occupation. I did not find any evidence that Edward and Katharine had any children.

Edward Holschen died in 1974 at the age of 76; Katharine Holschen died in 1980 at the age of 76 or 77. These two are buried together in the New Bethlehem Cemetery in St. Louis.

Since today’s couple had no children, this branch of the Holschen family tree came to an end. However, I know there were several others with the surname Holschen who had their roots in Perry County that were later found living in St. Louis. I find this interesting because of the fact that this Holschen surname has its beginning in the group called the St. Louis Additions.