The story I will tell you today is somewhat puzzling. The following questions still bother me. Was Charles Popp a baker, or did he work in the steel industry? Or did he do both?

Karl Benjamin Popp was born on March 17, 1892…St. Patrick’s Day. My experience has given evidence that German Lutherans do not invest much time in celebrating St. Patrick’s Day. I will explain the significance of his Irish-related birthday later. Karl, like so many others with the given name of Karl or Carl, would later be called Charles. He was the son of August and Caroline (Hoffstetter) Popp. Karl was born at the time when Perry County kept birth records. His record is shown below.

Karl was baptized at Concordia Lutheran Church in Frohna. An image of his baptism record from that congregation’s books is pictured here.

Karl, called Carl, shows up in his first census in 1900 at the age of 8. His father was a farmer in the Brazeau Township.

A later plat map shows that the August Popp farm was located not far from Frohna. You can also see that the Popp farm was not far from the Ferdinand Hellwege farm that was highlighted in yesterday’s post.

I was not able to find Charles in the 1910 census. I do know that he was not listed in his parents’ household in that year’s census. I suspect that he was living in St. Louis at that point in time, but I was unsuccessful at finding a census entry there. Since he would get married before the 1920 census, we will turn our attention to the woman that would become his bride. Her name was Mary Veneta McCarey, who was born on July 17, 1897. That makes today her 126th birthday. Mary’s surname could be an Irish name, although I found no evidence of that. So, Charles, the St. Patrick’s Day baby, possibly married a woman with Irish roots. Veneta was the daugther of John and Celestine (Valentine) McCarey.

I was unsuccessful at finding much information about Veneta’s early life. I did find just a bit of evidence that she may have been born in East St. Louis, Illinois. Census entries did always say that her place of birth was Illinois. I failed to find a 1900 or 1910 census entry for the McCarey family. Veneta’s parents were married in St. Louis in 1876 according to the record shown below.

That would mean that Veneta would have been born 21 years after her parents were married. It leads me to conclude that she may have been the youngest child in that McCarey family.

My best guess at how Charles and Veneta got acquainted is that Charles and Mary were living in St. Louis in the early 1910’s, and their paths somehow crossed. Charles Popp married Veneta McCarey on September 23, 1913. Their wedding took place at Concordia Lutheran Church in Frohna. The church record for that event is displayed below. This document states that Veneta was from Madison County, Illinois.

We can also view the marriage license for this pair.

When these two were married, Veneta was not a Lutheran. She was confirmed at Concordia, Frohna in 1914. The images of Concordia’s church records in our research library do not contain confirmation records during that year, so I cannot display it. However, our German Family Tree includes information about that confirmation.

The Popp’s must have stayed to live in Frohna for a short time. The first 2 children were baptized at Concordia Lutheran Church. Then, when Charles had his World War I draft registration completed in 1917, he and his family were living in St. Louis. Charles was a helper in a steel mill. He was employed by the St. Louis Screw Company…a company that still exists.

The Popp’s apparently did not remain in St. Louis for long, because we find this family living in Perryville when the 1920 census was taken. Not only did Charles change locations, but he had a much different occupation. This time, he is called a baker. Their daughter, Celestine, who was born in 1918, was baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Perryville, so the Popp’s must have left St. Louis shortly after the above draft registration was completed.

The Popp household is once again found living in Perryville when the 1930 census was taken. They had 4 children in their family. Two other children are listed in our German Family Tree, but they were both stillborn. Charles was still a baker.

At some point in time during the 1930’s, the Popp family moved to St. Louis. We find them living in that city when the 1940 census. Charles was the head of a household which included a bunch of lodgers. They were living not far from Holy Cross Lutheran Church and Concordia Publishing House. Once again, Charles was called a baker.

We find another change when Charles had his World War II draft card completed in 1942. His employer was the Shaffield Steel Company.

We can view the Popp’s in one more census, the one taken in 1950. Charles and Veneta still had several lodgers living with them. Charles is called a machinist helper at a diesel engines business.

Veneta Popp died in 1955 at the age of 58. Her death certificate says she died at the Park Lane Hospital. This is the document on which I first found the names of her parents.

Charles Popp died in 1974 at the age of 82, just a little too recently to view his death certificate. Charles and Veneta are buried in the St. Trinity Lutheran Cemetery in St. Louis.

In a few years, we should be able to take a look at Charles’s death certificate. Perhaps then, we can see what normal occupation he had. Will it be a baker, a steel worker, or some other occupation he had later in his life. Since I am writing this post in the morning, I’d like to have one of Popp’s pastries.