Ella Emma Schroeder is the one who would be celebrating a special birthday today. Ella was born on July 27, 1898, so if she was still alive, she would be blowing out 125 candles on her birthday cake. Ella was the daughter of Friedrich and Maria (Luedemann) Schroeder. She was the 7th and last child born into this Schroeder family. Her baptism record is found in the books of Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg, but I am not able to get a photo of it today. Ella is found in her first census in 1900 at the age of 1. Her father was a farmer in the Brazeau Township.
Ella was 11 years old when the 1910 census was taken.
Two years after the above census, Ella was confirmed in 1912 at Trinity, Altenburg. Then, in 1920, we find her in that year’s census still living with her parents and still single.
Next, we will take a look at the man who would become Ella’s husband. Somehow, this Perry County girl found her spouse in the Shawnee Township of Cape Girardeau County. His name was August Wilhelm Schattauer, who was born on September 9, 1889. August was also the youngest child in his family. He was the last of 8 children in the family of Matthias and Maria (Haberfelner) Schattauer. There is some debate about where August was baptized. There is a baptism record for him in the books of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Altenburg which states he was born in Pocahontas. Also, the St. John’s Lutheran Church binder that we have in our research library states that he was baptized at that congregation in Pocahontas. August is found in the 1900 census at the age of 10. Even at that young age, he is called a farm laborer.
Next, we find August in the 1910 census at the age of 20. Just he and his older brother, Henry, were helping on their father’s farm in the Shawnee Township.
August had his World War I draft registration completed in 1917. It says he was a single farmer working for his father.
August did get drafted and served in the Army during that war. His military record is displayed below. It does not indicate that he was sent overseas during that war.
Even after the war, we find August still single and living with his parents in Pocahontas. He and his brother, Henry, were continuing to work with their father on the farm.
August Schattauer married Ella Schroeder on November 25, 1922. They were married at Ella’s church, Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg. This couple is one of quite a few found in our German Family Tree that have a bride and a groom whose surnames both begin with Sch-.
The GFT says that August and Ella were blessed with 2 children, a boy and a girl, Lloyd and Lillie. When the 1930 census was taken, we see both of those children in their household. I have included the entry for August’s brother, Henry, whose family is listed right below that of August. It is most likely that these two brothers were both living and working on what was once their father’s farm. Their parents both died in the 1920’s.
That same year, a set of plat maps were produced for Cape Girardeau County. We find the farm with the name Hy (Henry) Schattauer located just outside of Pocahontas.
The 1940 census shows the same members of the Schattauer family, just 10 years older.
Despite his previous service in the Army and his advancing age, August was still required to complete a World War II draft card in 1942. For some unknown reason, both of August’s draft documents give his year of birth as 1890, but all other documentation says he was born in 1889.
We can look at the Schattauer’s in one more census, the one taken in 1950. In the occupation column, it has a note that says, “sold farm”. His brother’s entry just below this one has the same notation. Their son, Lloyd was operating a restaurant, and his sister, Lillie was helping him at that business.
August Schattauer died in 1967 at the age of 77. His death certificate says he died of cancer of the pancreas at the Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau.
Ella Schattauer died in 1969 at the age of 70. Her death certificate indicates that she was living at the Deal Nursing Home in Jackson at the time of her death.
August and Ella Schattauer are buried together in the St. John’s Lutheran Cemetery in Pocahontas. August has a plaque there recognizing his military service.
I have to wonder how August Schattauer carried on the courtship of his future bride who lived across the Apple Creek in Perry County in the early 1920’s. Did he have one of those early automobiles like a Model T Ford, or was he still traveling by way of horse and buggy? At least his father and his brother could handle the farm chores while August was off romancing his sweetheart up in Perry County.