Ella Marie Koenig was born on May 6, 1899, qualifying her to be the birthday girl for today’s post. If she was still alive, she would have to blow out 124 candles on her birthday cake. Ella was the daughter of Oscar and Bertha (Buettner) Koenig. She was the firstborn of 5 children in this Koenig family. One of her brothers died as an infant. All of the Koenig children were baptized at Salem Lutheran Church in Farrar. Ella’s baptism record is pictured here.

On a later plat map, we find a parcel of land attributed to O. Koenig that I think may be this Koenig farm. It was located not far from Farrar.

Ella is found in her first census entry in 1900 when she was just one year old. Her father was a farmer in the Union Township. Part of the Union Township is located not far from Farrar. I am glad this Koenig household is found in the Union Township instead of the very unreadable Salem Township pages of the 1900 census.

The last census in which we find Ella as a single person is the one taken in 1910. She was said to be 10 years old in this entry.

Now, we will turn our attention to the man who would become Ella’s husband. His name was Otto Joseph Miesner, who was born on January 29, 1893. Otto was the son of Friedrich and Sophia (Korte) Miesner. A previous post was written about Otto’s parents at about this time back in 2019 titled May the Fourth Fred Miesner. His father was born on “Star Wars Day”, May the 4th. Otto, like Ella, was in a family of 5 children, but he was the 3rd and middle child. Otto was born during the time when Perry County kept birth records. We can view Otto’s birth record in the two images below.

Otto’s baptism record is found in the same set of church records as Ella. His baptism record from the Salem Lutheran Church books is shown below.

In a later plat map, we find the Fred Miesner farm on which Otto was born and raised. It was located just north of Brazeau.

Otto was 7 years old when he appears in his first census in 1900. His father was a farmer in the Union Township. Otto’s grandfather, Henry Miesner, was also included in this household.

Next, we find Otto in the 1910 census as a teenager. He was working on his father’s farm.

It must not have been long after this entry that Otto left Perry County to study to be a Lutheran teacher in Addison, Illinois. A story is told about this part of Otto’s life that is attached to a family tree on Ancestry.com.

Otto had his World War I draft registration completed in 1918. I find it difficult to read, but this form says after the question about exemptions something about the Lutheran denomination.

As it was reported in the above story, Otto did get called into military service during that war. His military record is shown on the form below. On another form, it says Otto served from September of 1917 until January of 1918.

Not long after his military participation, Otto Miesner married Ella Koenig on April 21, 1918. That wedding took place at Salem Lutheran Church in Farrar. The church marriage record for this event is pictured below.

The marriage license for this pair can also be viewed.

The wedding photo of Otto and Ella is displayed here.

According to our German Family Tree, this couple had 10 children. All of them were baptized at Salem, Farrar except their 2nd child who was baptized in Wisconsin. One of the Miesner boys became a Lutheran pastor and another a medical doctor. When the 1920 census was taken, Otto and Ella were living with Otto’s parents, and they had one child. Otto was called a laborer and was likely working on his father’s farm.

The Miesner family grew considerably during the 1920’s. When the 1930 census was taken, there were 5 children in their household. This time, Otto was called the head of the family, and his parents were still living in the same household.

The Miesner family continued to grow. There were 9 children listed in their household when the 1940 census was taken. One more child would be born soon after this census was compiled. Otto continued to be a farmer.

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

Otto Miesner died in 1978 at the age of 85; Ella Miesner died in 1983 at the age of 83. They each died too recently to view their death certificates. Otto and Ella are both buried in the Salem Lutheran Cemetery in Farrar. Otto’s gravestone acknowledges his military service.

This is the second post in a row involving a married couple in which both the bride and groom were members of Salem Lutheran Church in Farrar. In the case of Otto and Ella, they remained in Perry Country throughout their lives except for a brief stint in Wisconsin, and almost qualify to be in that list of couples who were born, baptized, confirmed, married, raised a family, died, and were buried while being members at the same congregation. If Otto would have finished his studies to become a Lutheran teacher, that would have all changed.