Flora Rosine Pauline Engert was born on June 1, 1898, so today would be her special 125th birthday. Flora was the daughter of August and Liberta (Palisch) Engert. A previous post was written about Flora’s parents titled, A Troubling Topic. As that title implies, Flora’s family life was one full of troubles. I will readdress some of those troubles in this post. Flora was baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Altenburg. An image of her baptism record is displayed below.

Even before Flora shows up in her first census 2 years later, her father was institutionalized at the Fulton State Hospital. On the 1900 census entry for him, it gives this hospital the name, State Lunatic Asylum #1. August Engert would remain in state hospitals for the rest of his life. Flora is found in the 1900 census living in the Brazeau Township at the age of 1. Flora’s mother, Liberta, is listed as being married, but as already explained, her husband was not living with her.

It must have been shortly after the above census was compiled that this photograph was taken of the 3 children listed in the above entry. Flora is pictured with her 2 older brothers.

The troubles continued for Flora. When she was just 7 years old, her mother died in 1906. So, when the 1910 census was taken, we see that she and her brother, Edward, were living with her Palisch grandparents, Moritz and Pauline. Her other brother, Alfred, was living with her uncle, Arthur Palisch, who must have lived very nearby.

Prior to the next census, Flora got married, so let’s take a look at the man who would become her husband. His name was Gustav Gottlieb Arbeiter, who was born on September 1, 1892. Gustav was the son of William and Engel (Bellmann) Arbeiter. He was born in Jacob, Illinois and baptized at Christ Lutheran Church. His baptism record is shown here.

Gustav is found in his first census in 1900 at the age of 7. His father was a farmer in the Fountain Bluff Township.

When he was very young, Gustav’s family moved to the Murphysboro area. In the 1910 census, we find the Arbeiter family living in the Somerset Township. They were still living in Jackson County. Gustav was 17 years old at the time.

Gustav had his World War I draft registration completed in 1917. This form says that Gustav was a machinist at the Egyptian Iron Works in Murphysboro.

Although I found no documentation for it, an Arbeiter family binder that we have in our research library says that Gustav Arbeiter married Flora Engert on August 10, 1919 in Murphysboro. Flora had moved to Murphysboro to work as a hired girl. According to that same family binder, this couple would have 2 children, both girls.

In the 1920 census, we find Gustav and Flora living in Murphysboro in the Albert Morgan household as roomers. They would have their first child later that year. Gustav was called a machinist at “Ry Shops”, which I think may have referred to railway shops.

The 1930 census shows the Arbeiter’s with their 2 daughters, Hortense and Margaret. Gustav was working as a repairer in a garage.

During the 1930’s, the 2 Arbeiter daughters were in high school. I found photos of each of them from the 1938 Murphysboro High School yearbook. First, here is the entry from Hortense. By the way, Hortense is a name that means “of the garden”, which is an interesting name, especially since she was Flora’s daughter, and Flora means “flower”.

Next, here is the entry for Margaret, the younger sister.

When the 1940 census was taken, Gustav was called a machinist for auto cars. The 2 daughters were working for the shoe company. It doesn’t look like it, but Hortense had married Reinhold Strothman who is called a son-in-law in this entry.

The last census we can view is the one taken in 1950. Gustav was a railroad machinist, and this couple had an empty nest.

I did not find any photos showing Gustav and Flora together, but the Arbeiter binder includes a few pics of each of them with other individuals. Those photos are shown below. The captions will help you identify the people.

The short bio of Gustav below gives a few more details about his life.

A similar bio was written for Flora.

Gustav Arbeiter died in 1972 at the age of 79; Flora Arbeiter died in 1987 at the age of 89. These two have entries in the Pleasant Grove Cemetery in Murphysboro on Findagrave.com, but there are no photos of their gravestones. However, I located an obituary for each of them. First, here is the one for Gustav.

Next, here is Flora’s obitary.

The story of Gustav and Flora Arbeiter is yet another one that describes a couple made up of a bride and groom from opposite sides of the Mississippi River. This couple ended up living in Illinois.