The birthday of a girl born in St. Louis is the starting point for today’s post. That girl would go on to marry a Perry County man who became a Lutheran pastor who eventually made his way back to Perry County.

Magdalene Julia Emm Spilker was born on June 17, 1898, so today would be her special 125th birthday. Magdalene was the daughter of Peter and Frederica (Heidbrink) Spilker. She is found in her first census in 1900 at the age of 1. She is called Lena in this entry. Her father was a painter in St. Louis. Magdalene was part of a large Spilker family. If Ancestry.com family trees are correct, Peter Spilker had children with a few different wives, with Frederica being the last of those wives. Magdalene had an older brother that was about 20 years older that she was.

Magdalene could not have had much memory of her father because he died in 1902 when she was just 4 years old. In the 1910 census, Magdalene was 12 years old. Several of her older siblings, including some sisters, had jobs in factories and businesses. I am sure that her widowed mother needed their income to help support her large household.

The last census in which we find Magdalene as a single woman was the one taken in 1920. She was a 21 year-old stenographer at a church.

Now, we will take a look at the Perry County boy that would become Magdalene’s husband. His name was Theophil Adolph Weinhold, who was born on October 28, 1897. Theophil was the last of 14 children born to Martin and Magdalena (Noennig) Weinhold that are listed in our German Family Tree. His father and his uncle, Gotthilf, ran the Frohna Flour Mill. I have already written plenty of posts on this blog about children of Martin and Gotthilf because between the two of them, they had a whole lot of children. Of all the children of the miller Weinhold brothers, Theophil was the youngest. That whole multitude of Weinhold children from the 2 Frohna Weinhold brothers were baptized at Concordia Lutheran Church. Below is an image of Theophil’s baptism record.

The large Weinhold household is found in the 1900 census. Theophil’s age is given as 2 and then crossed out and given as 1, but his year of birth is given as 1898, which is incorrect. He was likely close to 3 years old at that time. His father was a miller.

At about the time of the above census, Theophil was photographed with his brother, Edwin.

Theophil is found in the 1910 census when he was 12 years old. He must have already begun his confirmation classes by that time because he was confirmed in 1911.

Theophil went off to begin his studies to become a Lutheran pastor during the next decade. He was in the 1918 graduating class at Concordia Lutheran College in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. We find this photo of Theophil in the 1918 yearbook.

In that same yearbook, this description was written about Theophil, which also refers to his nickname, Kit. I might add that our German Family Tree lists 2 other nicknames for Theophil…Diebs and T.A.

Theophil must then have continued his education at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis. When he completed his World War I draft registration, his address is given as Concordia Sem., St. Louis, MO. This form was filled out in September of 1918.

Perhaps between his graduation from Ft. Wayne and his first year at the Seminary, he spent some time at home. This photo of Theophil and a friend was supposedly taken in 1918.

Another photo of Theophil was reportedly taken in 1919 in which we see him with the Frohna Mill in the background.

I was unable to find Theophil in the 1920 census, but he must have still been a student at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis. The photo of Theophil and 3 of his brothers was taken at about 1920.

Theophil graduated from Concordia Seminary in 1922. That is also the year that he got married.

On December 28, 1922, Rev. Theophil Weinhold married Magdalene Spilker. The only place I found this date for their wedding is in the excellent Weinhold family book put together by Michael Bardon and Heather Euler that we have in our research library. That book is the source for several of the photos I have included in this post.

Theophil and Magdalene had 7 children. After his ordination in 1922, Theophil’s first call was to serve Zion Lutheran Church in Pevely, Missouri. We see his name in this list of the early pastors at that congregation. He was the pastor of that church from 1922-1928.

By the time of the 1930 census, the Weinhold’s were living in California, Missouri. He was called a Lutheran clergyman. There were 4 children in the household.

Rev. Weinhold was the pastor at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in California from 1928-1933.

Next, Theophil and Magdalene moved to Kansas City, Missouri where Theophil became the pastor of Immanuel Lutheran Church.

The Weinhold family is found living in Kansas City when the 1940 census was taken. All 7 of their children are found in this entry.

The Weinhold’s were still living in Kansas City when the 1950 census was taken. This time, Magdalene was back doing a job she did several years earlier. She was a church stenographer. I suspect that she worked at Immanuel Lutheran Church, where her husband was the pastor.

In 1951, Rev. T.A. Weinhold became the President of the Missouri District. The short bio of Theophil shown below is found in a book that tells the history of the Western District (which later became the Missouri District) titled, Heart of Missouri.

I am just guessing that this photo of Rev. T.A. Weinhold was taken during his time as the Missouri District President.

Rev. Theophil and Magdalene must have moved back to Perry County later in their lives. This photo was taken of these two when they were a bit older.

Magdalene Weinhold died in 1981 at the age of 83; Rev. Theophil Weinhold died in 1987 at the age of 89. These two are buried together in the Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery in Perryville.

There is an explanation for how Theophil became acquainted with Magdalene Spilker. Theophil’s cousin (and neighbor in Frohna), Joseph Weinhold, married Anna Spilker in 1916. Anna was Magdalene’s older sister. So, Theophil was not the first Weinhold to marry a Spilker. However, there is a different mystery that I did not take the time to solve. Another Perry County native who also become a Lutheran pastor, Rev. Adolph Vogel, who served Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg for a lot of years, was married to a Spilker. In fact, he married Magdalena Spilker. Maybe one of our readers knows if there is some connection between Mrs. Theophil Weinhold and Mrs. Adolph Vogel.