Johann Ludwig Schlichting was born on May 5, 1880, so he is today’s birthday boy. He would be 143 years old if he was still alive. Most of his life, he was called Louis on documents, and I am thinking he was also likely called Lou. He was the son of John and Mary (Stueve) Schlichting. Louis was the 3rd of 10 children born to the Schlichting’s, all of which were baptized at Salem Lutheran Church in Farrar. An image of his baptism record is shown here.

When the 1880 census was taken in June of that year, the census taker recorded Louis as being just one month old. His father was a farmer in the Salem Township.

Since we cannot view the 1890 census, 20 years would pass before we see Louis in another census. It would be the last one in which Louis was a single man. The 1900 census for the Salem Township is also that one which is notorious for being very difficult to read, and the one shown below certainly fits that description. Even without being able to decipher it, you can easily see that the Schlichting family had grown quite large.

Now, we will turn our attention to the woman who would become Louis’s bride. Her name was Martha Brueckner. She was born on October 1, 1881. Martha was the daughter of John and Catharine (Hesse) Brueckner. She was the 3rd of 5 Brueckner children. Like the surname, Schlichting, I would put the Brueckner surname in the category of “Farrar names”. So, it is not surprising that Martha was also baptized at Salem Lutheran Church in Farrar. Her baptism record is pictured below.

It would not be until Martha was a teenager before we find her in a census. That census entry is another awful one from the pages of the 1900 Salem Township census. It would turn out to be the only census entry in which we find Martha as a single person.

Louis Schlichting married Martha Brueckner on October 26, 1902. This couple’s church marriage record, as you would expect, is found in the books of Salem, Farrar.

A marriage license for this pair can also be viewed.

Our German Family Tree lists 2 children born to Louis and Martha. They were both baptized at Salem, Farrar. The firstborn son died right away, so this family only raised one son over the years. Louis had an occupation described as “Ldg keeper & farmer, tending to warehouse”. I’m not exactly sure what that means.

Louis had a World War I draft registration completed in 1918. This document says Louis was farming.

Next, we find the Schlichting’s in the 1920 census. Louis was still farming near Farrar.

The Schlichting’s moved their family to St. Louis sometime during the next decade. They would remain there the rest of their lives. The 1930 census shows Louis working as a checker for a shoe company in St. Louis.

Martha Schlichting died in 1934 at the age of 52. Her death certificate shown below says she died from a form of cancer.

In 1940, we find Louis and his son, Elmer, living together. Louis was a clerk for a shoe company.

Louis had a World War II draft card completed in 1942. This document lets us know that the corporation for which Louis worked was the International Shoe Company.

The last census we can view for Louis is the one taken in 1950. His son had gotten married and started a family, and Louis was living in Elmer’s household. Louis was 67 years old and still had the same job.

Louis Schlichting died in 1966 at the age of 86. We can also take a look at his death certificate.

Louis and Martha Schlichting are buried together in the Concordia Lutheran Cemetery in St. Louis. I found a death record for Martha in a book we have in our research library from Holy Cross Lutheran Church in St. Louis, so Louis and Martha must have been members of that congregation. Concordia Cemetery is that congregation’s cemetery. I think it is likely that Louis became a member of another Lutheran congregation in St. Louis before his death because his death record is not in that book. Yet, he is buried with his wife.

We can add this Schlichting story to a growing list of stories to be written on this blog about Perry County natives who spend much of their later lives in St. Louis.