The birthday girl for today’s post was not born in Perry County. Emma Ziegler was born on April 4, 1870, so today would be her 153rd birthday. Emma was the daughter of Friedrich and Elizabeth (Helmig) Ziegler. She was born in Effingham County, Illinois. I think she was born near Altamont, Illinois, and if so, there are plenty of Lutheran churches in that vicinity in which she could have been baptized. Emma was born early enough in 1870 to be included in the census for that year. Her father was a farmer in the Moccasin Township in Effingham County. Emma was just 2 months old at the time.

Emma was still living in the same location when the 1880 census was taken. It lists Emma as being 9 years old. She was part of a rather large Ziegler family.

Now, we will turn our attention to the man who would become Emma’s husband. It is he that leads us into our German Family Tree because he was born in Perry County. His name is one that we have read about in several posts on this blog. I think I have already written at least 3 posts which have had Charles Weber as one of the main characters. You are reading another one today. Friedrich Carl Weber (who went by the name Charles Weber) was born on August 10, 1870. Charles was the son of August and Gesche (Urban) Weber. He was baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg. We can take a look at his baptism record from the Trinity books.

Unlike Emma Ziegler, even though he was born in 1870, Charles was born too late in that year to be included in that year’s census. The first census entry in which we find Charles is the one taken in 1880. Prior to this census, his father had apparently died, but we have no record of that death, so his mother, Gesche, was the head of the household. Charles was listed as being 9 years old, and his family was living in the Brazeau Township.

Charles Weber married Emma Ziegler on May 24, 1894 in Effingham County, Illinois. The only record for this wedding that I can display is this Illinois marriage record.

Our German Family Tree lists 7 children born to this couple, although there is an additional child listed on some family trees on Ancestry.com. That last child died right away and never shows up in a census. The 7 children in our GFT are there because they were all baptized at Christ Lutheran Church in Jacob, Illinois. Three children were born before the 1900 census. When that census was taken, we find the Weber’s living in Cape Girardeau, Missouri where Charles was a teamster. I know this is the correct Weber family because it says Charles was born in Missouri, but his wife and children were born in Illinois. The names of the children also match the records in the books of Christ, Jacob.

This is where there is a bit of a puzzle. The youngest son, Rudolph, was born and baptized in 1899. His baptism record from Christ Lutheran ‘s books is shown here in two images.

Then, in 1900, we find the Weber’s in Cape Girardeau. In 1901, another son was born to the Weber’s, and that baptism record is once again found in the Christ, Jacob books.

A few more children were born to the Weber’s and they, too, were baptized in Jacob. Did the Weber’s just live in Cape Girardeau for a very short time around 1900, only to move back to Jacob? It seems so, because all of these children in future census entries were said to be born in Illinois.

The GFT says the Weber’s left the congregation in Jacob in 1907. They moved to Murphysboro. That is where we find them living when the 1910 census was taken. Charles was a farmer. That means we never find the Weber’s in a census entry for the Fountain Bluff Township in Illinois where their church was located, but they still managed to get 7 baptism records in that congregation’s books.

A tragedy took place in this Weber family during the next decade. Their oldest child, a son named Walter, went off to fight in World War I. He was killed in action on September 12, 1918. His name is found on the casualty list for that war shown below.

The 1920 census shows Charles Weber with a different occupation. It says he was a grocer at his own store in Murphysboro. There were 5 children in their household.

Next, we find the Weber’s in the 1930 census. This time, Charles was back to being called a farmer…a truck farmer.

The last census in which we find Charles and Emma was the one taken in 1940. This entry says Charles was a gardener.

Emma Weber died in June of 1946 at the age of 76; Charles Weber died in December of 1946, also at the age of 76. These two are buried in the Tower Grove Cemetery in Murphysboro.

It is not often that you see a married couple like Charles and Emma who were each born in the same year and died in the same year. I do not think I have run across such a situation previously on this blog.