Today’s tale is inspired by a marriage record that says a couple was married on June 5, 1859. I am missing several documents that I normally find for such a pair. Add to that the fact that this couple did not have any children. However, I have a somewhat selfish reason for telling this story. In the few records that I did find, I came to the conclusion that this couple lived in my neighborhood on the east end of Altenburg.

Gottlob August Zech was born on July 31, 1821, so if he was still alive, August would be over 200 years old. August was born in Lengenfeld, Germany. The marriage record for him says that his father was Christian Zech, but I was not able to determine the name of his mother. I also do not know when August came to this country. The first document in which we find him is his marriage record. I will add that this is the first time that the surname, Zech, has appeared on this blog. It also may be the last. August is the only Zech in our German Family Tree, and as I said, he was childless.

Christiane Emilie Schroeder was born on August 5, 1840 in Loitzsch, Germany. She was the daughter of Johann Christian and Johanna Christiane (Krahmer or Karaster?) Schroeder. There is some debate about Emilie’s mother’s maiden name. Our German Family Tree gives a birthday of August 2nd of that year, but that is based on the age given in years, months, and days on her death record. However, a baptism record can be found for Emilie in the records of the Loitzsch parish in Germany. It very clearly gives a birth date of August 5th. Here is that baptism record in 2 images. I think the last column in the first image has a maiden name after the “geb.”, but I cannot decipher it.

A later census entry says that Emilie came to America in 1854, but I found no immigration documentation.

August Zech married Emilie Schroeder on June 5, 1859 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg. This was the time not long after the split between Trinity and Immanuel, Altenburg in 1857. Rev. J.P. Beyer had taken over from the ousted, Rev. Georg Schieferdecker. The church record for this wedding is shown here.

A translation of some of the details in the above record is shown below.

I almost gave up on finding August and Emilie in the 1860 and 1870 censuses. I did fail to find them in the 1860 census. However, both August and Emilie were sponsors for baptisms at both Trinity and Immanuel in Altenburg during the 1860’s, so I have every reason to believe that they continued to live in the Altenburg vicinity. I almost did not find this couple in the 1870 census. Their surname is given as “Cart” by the folks at Ancestry.com, which is not even close to Zech. This couple had no children, and August worked in a flour mill. What I find interesting is the neighbors who are listed in this entry. Toward the bottom of this image, you will see the names of John Neumueller and Charles Groh.

John Neumueller was married to Clementine Buenger, whose mother, Christiane Buenger, was the first owner of the land on which I now live. It is also the land on which the Log Cabin College was built. John is called a brick layer. In yesterday’s post about Ziegel Mueller, the brick maker, I displayed a map saying the brick works were located near my property. I also can point to several documents that are part of a title search that I have for my property. I will show one of those documents below. It notes that John Neumueller’s land was transferred to his son, Jacob Neumueller in 1891.

I also highlighted the fact on the above document that it was my great grandfather, Gottwerth F. Schmidt who was the notary public for this record. I bet my great grandfather would never have guessed that his great grandson would someday own this property.

Charles Groh is also listed on the above census entry. I know that he built the house shown below on a piece of property that he owned. Some of you may know that this house still stands, and it is one that I can see from my property.

Next, we find the Zech’s in the 1880 census. August was called an engineer. I am guessing that he operated machinery at the mill. Right above the Zech’s, you see the family of Christian Mueller, who was a miller. Interestingly, Christian Mueller’s wife, Magdalena, was another Buenger. She was the daughter of Dr. Ernst Eduard Buenger and would have called John Neumueller, Uncle John. Please note that Christian Mueller was not related to Ziegel Mueller. Christian is actually part of the Mueller’s that we call the “Schmidt Mueller’s” because my grandmother, Bertha Mueller, came from that clan.

The Mueller mill, also know as the Altenburg Roller Mills, is shown in the photograph below.

Christian Mueller had a house built near that mill, and it still stands. Christian is seen standing in front of his home in the photo below.

That home could be described as a next door neighbor to the Groh house and is located just across the road from where my driveway is located on Main Street. I find it fascinating that the Mueller house is one of the few older homes in Altenburg that is constructed with brick.

August Zech died in 1897 at the age of 75. His death record is in the books of Trinity, Altenburg, and it says his wife was his only survivor. When the 1900 census was taken, we find Emilie as a widow. This entry says she was living with Emma Weber, a 23 year-old who is called her daughter. That is a mistake. Emma was the daughter of Emilie’s sister who had married a Weber, so she was Emilie’s niece. I will add that another one of my neighbors who recently died, Elvera Weber, had a husband who was related to Emma Weber. Once again, you see the households of the Mueller’s who ran the mill and that of Dr. John Neumueller, who was another son of John and Clementine Neumueller, who once owned my land.

The 1910 census shows Emilie living by herself. I have once again included the neighborhood.

Starting at the top, you will see Christian Mueller’s son, Theodore, who was likely living in his father’s brick home. Gottlieb Buck, according to the 1915 plat maps, also had land which adjoins mine. My land is highlighted in yellow in the map below. It should have been listed as being owned by someone different the the Buck’s.

The next name in the above census entry is William Wachter. In 1906, my land was sold to William Wachter according to the document below.

The last household I included above was the Gottlieb Meyr family. I can still claim that I have a nearby neighbor named Meyr.

The last census in which we find Emilie Zech was the one taken in 1920. For some reason, she is called Johanna, but I am almost certain this is the right person. I once again included her neighbors. The surnames, Goehring, Fassel, Bergt, Lueders, and Seibel indicate Emilie was no longer living in my neighborhood. She was living in Frohna.

A postcard addressed to Mrs. Em. Zech is included on a family tree on Ancestry.com. Apparently, at the time it was sent, Emily was living at the Lutheran Altenheim in St. Louis.

Emilie Zech died in 1929 at the age of 88. We can see that her death certificate says she died in Perryville.

Both August and Emilie Zech have entries on Findagrave.com that say they are buried in the Trinity Lutheran Cemetery in Altenburg (which is also included in my neighborhood). However, neither one of them have gravestone photos. I went to the cemetery this morning, but I was unsuccessful at finding their stones.

I originally thought that this story of a childless couple with missing records would turn out to be really short. Once I discovered where this couple lived, I couldn’t resist giving a little history of my neighborhood.