Wilhelm John Wirth is today’s birthday boy. He was born on May 29, 1896, so if he was still alive, today would be his 127th birthday. William was the son of George and Pauline (Schade) Wirth. That set of parents may sound familiar to you if you are a regular reader of this blog because I wrote a post just two days ago about William’s sister, Elsa. That post was titled, Brief Wife – Lengthy Widow. It has been mentioned previously that George Wirth was one of the charter members of Zion Lutheran Church in Longtown, but that congregation would not be established until 1897, the year after William was born. So, when that congregation began worshiping in Longtown in 1897, William was very young. However, William was baptized at Peace Lutheran Church in Friedenberg, so we cannot view an image of his baptism record. William is found in the 1900 census at the age of 4. His father was a house carpenter in Longtown. Right above William’s name, you will see his older sister, Elsa.

The 1910 census was taken when William was 13 years old. He was working on his father’s farm.

This map was displayed just 2 days ago in the post about Elsa. It shows how close the Wirth’s lived to the village of Longtown.

William had his World War I draft registration completed in 1917. This document also states that he was working on his father’s farm in Longtown.

William was still single and living with his parents when the 1920 census was taken. His sister, Elsa had married Herman Mehner in 1917, had a child in 1918, and then her husband had died in 1919. We find Elsa and her daughter, Olinda, living in the Wirth household in the image displayed below. I find it somewhat surprising that William is given no occupation in this entry.

Now, we will turn our attention to the woman who would become William’s bride. Her name was Flora Clara Ochs, who was born on December 13, 1900. One must be careful when looking at the name, Flora Ochs. I wrote a previous post about Flora Ochs who was born on February 14, 1899. That Flora was the daughter of Henry and Josephine (Rauh) Ochs. These two Flora’s were some sort of cousins and were both about the same age. Today’s Flora was the daughter of Louis and Emma (Leible) Ochs. She was baptized at Zion Lutheran Church in Longtown. We are able to view her baptism record from that congregation’s books.

Since she was born so late in 1900, Flora is not found in that year’s census. We find her in her first census in 1910 when she was 9 years old. Her father was a farmer in the Cinque Hommes Township.

Despite living in the Cinque Hommes Township, Flora’s family also lived quite near Longtown. The border between that township and the Union Township is right outside Longtown. Here is a a map showing the Louis Ochs farm.

I was unable to find Flora in the 1920 census. She was not living with her parents at that time.

William Wirth married Flora Ochs on September 21, 1922 at Zion Lutheran Church in Longtown. The church record should be found in the books of that congregation, but I discovered that there is a “hole” in their marriage records from 1921 to 1927. Pastor Dippold was the pastor at that church during those years. The marriage license for this couple can be viewed. It lists Rev. Dippold as the minister.

William and Flora had just one child, a son named Elmer, who was born in 1923. When the 1930 census was taken, we find the Wirth’s living in the Union Township, but William was working at the shoe factory in Perryville.

Next, we find the Wirth household in the 1940 census. They were living in Longtown, and William was still working at the shoe factory.

The photo below shows the International Shoe Factory that once operated in Perryville. This building now houses the Gilster-Mary Lee business.

William Wirth died in 1942 at the age of 45. He was a patient at the Lutheran Hospital in St. Louis when he died. His death certificate attributes his death to pneumonia.

An obituary for William was published in the Perry County Republican. It states that William was in the hospital for a kidney ailment and then got pneumonia.

Another tragic death took place in Flora’s life after she became a widow. Her son, Elmer, had served in the military during World War II, but while in Burma, he contracted tuberculosis. Elmer died in 1946 at the age of 23. An obituary for Elmer also appeared in the Perry County Republican.

The 1950 census shows the widow, Flora Wirth, living in Longtown. This time, she is given the occupation of working at the shoe factory.

I cannot back it up with census entries, but there is evidence that Flora later got married again. In fact, she married twice more. First, in 1952, she married James Lyle. This marriage took place at a Catholic parish, St. Boniface, in Perryville.

Then, in 1961, Flora married Rudolph Schade at Zion Lutheran Church in Longtown. The marriage license shown below says Rudolph was from Murphysboro, Illinois.

Flora (Ochs)(Wirth)(Lyle) Schade died in 1982 at the age of 81. Flora is buried with her first husband, William Wirth, in the Zion Lutheran Cemetery in Longtown.

Flora’s other two husbands are buried elsewhere. James Lyle is buried with his first wife, Clara, in the Mount Hope Cemetery in Perryville. Rudolph Schade is buried in the Tower Grove Cemetery in Murphysboro. His first wife, Edna, is also buried in that cemetery.

It is not why I selected this story for today, but finding out that Elmer Wirth died as a result of his service during World War II certainly makes this post an appropriate one to share on this Memorial Day.