Yesterday, I told the tale of a brother and sister who never married and lived in the same household all their lives. It’s not the type of story that I run across very often, but, lo and behold, one plopped in my lap again today. You will notice a lot of similarities between the story of the Yamnitz siblings and today’s Schroeder siblings.

I will begin by looking at the birth of Arthur Adam Conrad Schroeder, who was born on June 4, 1884. Arthur was the son of John and Philomine (Petot) Schroeder. The interesting story was told about this Schroeder couple in the post, The Bugler’s Daughter. That couple was made up of a German Lutheran who married a French Catholic. That fact will play a part in today’s post. Here is a photo of John and Philomine Schroeder.

Arthur was the 2nd of 7 children born into this Schroeder family. All 7 of these children were baptized at the Cross Congregation, a Lutheran church that existed for a short time that was located between Longtown and Friedenberg. Arthur’s record of his baptism is shown below. It is found in a binder that we have that lists some of the official church acts that took place at that church during its existence.

Arthur was also born at the time when Perry County was compiling birth records. Below is the record for Arthur in 2 images.

It is those Cross Congregation baptisms that get all of these children listed in our German Family Tree. What we do not find in our GFT are any records of confirmation of these children. In fact, if you go further down the road, none of these children have marriage records in any of the Lutheran churches in this area. The children were baptized in a Lutheran church, but indications are that they all lived out their lives as Catholics. In the post about Arthur’s parents, it is noted that John Schroeder is buried in the Cross Congregation Cemetery, while Philomine was buried in the St. James Catholic Cemetery in Crosstown. In a book we have that tells the story of St. James Catholic Church, we find several church records for people in the Schroeder family.

Before I move on to display any census records for Arthur, let me tell you about his sister, Emma Catharina Schroeder, who was born on June 23, 1888, so she is today’s birthday girl. It is her birthday that led me to tell today’s story. Today is her 135th birthday. Her baptism record from Cross Congregation is pictured here.

We can also view Emma’s Perry County birth record.

Arthur and Emma show up in their first census entry in 1900, but it is almost impossible to read. That is because they were living in the Salem Township, and that year’s census from that township is notoriously hard to decipher. Their father was a farmer. When I was searching for census entries, I was looking for Emma, so her name is highlighted in the entries that I will display. Arthur is listed right above Emma in this image. Arthur was listed as14 years old (although I think he was older), and Emma was 12.

Another event took place in 1900. The Catholic Church does not recognize baptisms taking place in other church denominations. So, in the St. James Catholic Church book, we discover that Arthur and Emma Schroeder were baptized again in 1900.

An article was published in the Perry County Republican in September of 1909 that mentioned Arthur Schroeder.

When the 1910 census was taken, we find the Schroeder household with 6 children. Arthur and Emma were in their 20’s, and Arthur was helping on his father’s farm. An uncle of Arthur and Emma, Adam Schroeder, who was a 54 year-old single man, was also living in this household and working on the farm.

Another article appeared in the Perry County Republican in 1911 mentioning Arthur. Were there really lemon trees growing in Perry County?

The John Schroeder farm can be seen on this plat map produced in 1915. The blue circle indicates approximately where the Cross Congregation church was located.

In 1917, Arthur had his World War I draft registration completed. His address is given as Crosstown.

The 1920 census is the only one in which Arthur and Emma are technically not listed in the same household. However, we can see both of them in the image below. It shows Arthur still living with his parents, but Emma is living with her uncle, Adam Schroeder. The Adam Schroeder household is listed right underneath the one including Arthur. Arthur was a farm laborer, and Emma was a housekeeper.

Arthur and Emma’s father died in 1928, so he is no longer found in the 1930 census. Arthur is called the head of the household that includes his mother and his sister, Emma.

Arthur and Emma’s mother died in 1936. When the 1940 census was taken, we see just Arthur and Emma living in this Schroeder household. Arthur was a farmer and Emma a housekeeper.

The last census in which we find these two siblings was the one taken in 1950. Even though it was just the 2 of them in their household, Arthur was the last one on the census page, and Emma was the first one on the next page, so I have to display 2 images. Emma’s name is really botched on this form, but I am sure it is her.

At some point in time, the photo shown below was taken. It reportedly includes siblings in the Schroeder family. I am quite sure that Arthur and Emma are in the photo, but I do not know which ones they are.

Arthur Schroeder died in 1967 at the age of 83. His death certificate indicates that he was living in the Pine Lawn Nursing Home and was called an invalid. His address was in Perryville.

The book for St. James Catholic Church contains several obituaries for its members, and it includes the ones for Arthur and Emma. Here is Arthur’s.

Emma Schroeder died a year later in 1968 at the age of 79. She was living in Perryville with her sister, Chlora Cashion, when she died and is also listed as being an invalid at that time.

Here is Emma’s obituary.

Both Arthur and Emma Schroeder are buried in the St. James Catholic Cemetery in Crosstown.

While looking for Emma on Ancestry.com, I ran across several family trees for her that said she was married to a man name Bade who lived in Nebraska. There were so many of the trees that included him that I thought it might be true. However, it just didn’t pass the smell test, and I soon discovered that those trees were incorrect. I think what happens a lot on Ancestry.com is that one person puts information on their tree incorrectly, and others simply copy that falsity on their trees. There is no doubt in my mind that Emma Schroeder from Crosstown was never married.