Eugene Emanuel Oberndorfer is today’s birthday boy. He was born on July 2, 1897, the last of 7 children born to Ernst and Gertrude (Hacker) Oberndorfer. Eugene was baptized at the brand new congregation in Longtown, Zion Lutheran Church. I am out of town for a while, so I cannot display church records. However, because I did a story last year about that congregation’s 125th anniversary, I have an image of the first baptism record in their books.

You can see that the 2nd baptism record was that of Eugene, but now I am wondering if Eugene might have actually been the first official baptism for that congregation. Thekla Popp was baptized on September 19, 1897, but our German Family Tree says Eugene was baptized by Rev. Hueschen on September 5th. Perhaps because Pastor Heuschen, who was then the pastor in Uniontown, baptized Eugene, that record was placed in the books at a later time than the one for Thekla, even though it happened first.

Eugene is found in his first census entry in 1900. It says that he was 1 year old, but he must have been at least 2 years old. His father is called a merchant. I wrote the story of Eugene’s parents in the post, Longtown Oberndorfers.

In that previous post, I displayed this photo of the Oberndorfer Store in Longtown.

Eugene is one of those men who did not get married until later in his life, so we get to see several more census entries in which he was still single. The 1910 census shows Eugene at the age of 12.

Eugene was confirmed at Zion, Longtown in 1912. Then, we find his World War I draft registration that was completed in 1918. His father is called his employer on this form.

Eugene did get called into service during that war, but likely did not go overseas to fight. His military record below says he was inducted on November 6, 1918. Another military document says he was discharged on December 12, 1918, so he did not serve for very long.

Eugene is back in Longtown in 1920. The census entry for that year describes him as a 22 year-old automobile salesman.

Eugene’s older brother, Leo, was a dentist whose story was told in the post, Doc Leo from Longtown. Next, we find Eugene in the 1930 census. He was still living with his parents, but this time he is called a radio agent. Those were the days sometimes called the Golden Age of Radio.

Yet again, we find Eugene as a single man in 1940. He was living in a household of single Oberndorfer siblings, Benjamin, Leo, Esther, and Eugene. Eugene, for some reason, is not given an occupation in this entry.

Eugene had his World War II draft card completed in 1942. He was still working at the Oberndorfer Store, but his father had died in 1939. His brother, the dentist, is listed on this form.

Of the 4 single siblings listed in the 1940 census, Eugene was the only one to get married. So, we will now finally turn our attention to a woman who would become a wife to Eugene. Her name was Madge Columbia Abernathy, who was born on May 18, 1902. Madge was the daughter of Radcliffe and Nora (Abernathy) Abernathy. Yes, her parents were an Abernathy/Abernathy couple. I strongly suspect that you would find Madge’s baptism record in the books of York Chapel, a Methodist congregation just outside Longtown. We find Madge in the 1910 census at the age of 7. Her father was a farmer in the Cinque Hommes Township.

Madge was a teenager when the 1920 census was taken. She is mistakenly called a son in this entry.

The 1930 census has the Abernathy’s in the Union Township. Madge was a public school teacher.

Madge attended Southeast Missouri State University at about this time. We see her picture in the 1932 yearbook from that institution

Back when the plat maps were produced in 1915, the Abernathy farm can be see very near the village of Longtown. You can see that there was a school that looks as if it was located on their property. I think there’s a high probability that Madge was a teacher at that school at one time. The church at the top of the image is York Chapel.

Madge’s mother died in 1939. In the 1940 census, Madge was living with her widowed father, and she has no occupation listed. Perhaps it was a full-time job to be her father’s caretaker. Right above Madge’s entry, you see that of her brother, Milton Abernathy. Milton was called a public school teacher.

Here is a photo of Madge with her parents.

Eugene Oberndorfer married Madge Abernathy on June 16, 1942. The surprising fact about their wedding is that they were married in Arkansas. The Arkansas marriage license form shown here gives Paragould as the location. Other places mention Jonesboro.

The only census entry we can view that includes both Eugene and Madge is the one taken in 1950. They were living in Cape Girardeau where Eugene was an insurance salesman, and Madge was teaching at a rural school.

A 1956 Cape Girardeau city directory says Eugene was working for State Farm.

Madge Oberndorfer died in 1974 at the age of 72. Her obituary is displayed below.

Eugene Oberndorfer died in 1977 at the age of 80. We can also read his obituary.

Eugene and Madge Oberndorfer are each buried in the Cape County Memorial Park in Cape Girardeau.

Eugene and Madge had certain similarities between my wife, Sandi, and me. I was a 39 year-old man when I married Sandi, a teacher. In fact, yesterday was our 34th anniversary. I waited a long time to find just the right wife for me. I suppose you might say the same for Eugene.