Today would be the 170th birthday of Gotthold Ferdinand Kuehnert, who was born on June 3, 1853. Gotthold was the son of Johanna and Anna (Leim) Kuehnert. He was the first of 6 children born to this Kuehnert couple. Gotthold’s baptism record is found in the books of Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg, but that record states that this baptism took place in the Kuehnert home. We can view that baptism record below. I find his list of baptismal sponsors interesting. They were Wilhelm Poppitz, Juliane Saalfeld, Jacob Kalbfleisch, and Gottlieb Kuehnert. Wilhelm Poppitz was a neighbor of the Kuehnert’s. He had come to America on the same ship as the Kuehnert’s in 1839. Juliane Saalfeld was Gotthold’s aunt who was the mother of Sarah Saalfeld, a main character in yesterday’s post. Jacob Kalbfleisch was an iron worker from St. Louis. How did a St. Louis resident get to a home baptism in Altenburg 4 days after the child was born? Gottlieb Kuehnert was Gotthold’s grandfather.

Gotthold is found in the 1860 census at the age of 7. His father was a farmer in the Brazeau Township.

Next, we find Gotthold in the 1870 census as a teenager. He was working on his father’s farm.

Now, we will turn our attention to look at the woman who would become Gotthold’s bride. Her name was Pauline Therese Schilling, who was born on December 15, 1861. Pauline was the daughter of Friedrich and Therese (Schuessler) Schilling. Here is another connection to yesterday’s post. Therese Schuessler was the sister of Gotthilf Schuessler, Sarah Saalfeld’s husband. Gotthilf and Sarah were the main characters in yesterday’s story. Here we run across a very unusual situation. Pauline has a baptism record in the books of both Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg and Concordia Lutheran Church in Frohna. First, here is the one from Trinity. This one says Pauline was born on December 16th. The record is found in the margin of the church books, looking like it may have been added at a later time.

We can also view this record from Concordia that gives December 15th as Pauline’s birthday. The baptism dates on these two documents are also different. Both documents include the same list of sponsors. It makes me wonder if Pauline was baptized twice.

Pauline is found in her first census in 1870. Her father was a farmer in the Brazeau Township.

Gotthold Kuehnert married Pauline Schilling on April 18, 1880. This wedding took place at Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg. The church record for this event is pictured below. Toward the end of his time at Trinity, we do find marriage records written by Rev. J.F. Koestering.

We can also view a civil record for this marriage.

Our German Family Tree lists 5 children born to this couple. One was stillborn, and another died as an infant. This pair of newlyweds appear in the 1880 census in which Gotthold is called a farmer.

We have to wait until the 1900 census was taken to find them in an entry with children. Their household included a son and 2 daughters.

The 1910 census turns out to be the last one in which we find Gotthold. Just their youngest daughter, Emma, remained in their household.

At some point in time, the photo below was taken of Gotthold Kuehnert standing in front of his home.

The oldest child in this Kuehnert family, a son named Martin. died in St. Louis in an industrial accident in 1911. He had gotten married and had a young child at the time of his death. Then in 1914, Gotthold Kuehnert died at the age of 63. We can view his death certificate below.

Even though Gotthold was no longer living in 1915 when the Perry County plat maps were produced, we find a few parcels of land that could belong to this Kuehnert family. Certainly the farm attributed to G.F. Kuehert was Pauline’s husband. I’m not so sure about the parcel labeled G. Kuehnert. Please note that a neighbor’s land was that belonging to Sarah Schuessler. That farm was noted in yesterday’s post.

Pauline is found in the 1920 census as a widow with just her daughter, Sarah, in her household. Sarah would get married later that year. I included the Reinhold Schuessler family which is listed right above the Kuehnert’s. Reinhold’s mother, Sarah Schuessler, was living with his family. Sarah was that main character in yesterday’s post, and she, like Pauline Kuehnert, was a widow at this time.

Pauline Kuehnert died in 1921 at the age of 59. Her death certificate is shown here.

Both Gotthold and Pauline Kuehnert are buried in the Trinity Lutheran Cemetery in Altenburg.

Today’s Kuehnert’s and yesterday’s Schuessler’s certainly had family connections in common. They also were close neighbors. I found newspaper articles indicating that these two families did things together. However, one thing was notably different. On Sundays, the Schuessler’s would gather their family together and head off to attend church in Wittenberg. The Kuehnert’s, on the other hand, would make the trip to Altenburg for worship. The map displayed earlier indicates that their farms were located about halfway between Wittenberg and Altenburg.