Yesterday’s post began with a baby girl, Ella Schroeder, being born in Altenburg on July 27, 1898. Ella married a man from St. John’s Lutheran Church in Pocahontas, which resulted in Ella living in Pocahontas the rest of her life. Today’s post begins with a baby girl being born on the next day, July 28, 1898 in Pocahontas who was baptized at St. John’s Lutheran Church. Today’s birthday girl would get married to a man who would take her to live out the rest of her life in another local city.

Anna Selma Koenig would be celebrating her 125th birthday today. She was the daughter of Gustav and Maria (Tiedemann) Koenig. Anna has some information included in a binder we have for St. John’s Lutheran Church in Pocahontas. That info is shown below.

Jim Lichtenegger, one of our museum’s volunteers, is in the process of helping digitize the church records of St. John’s. He is a current member of that congregation. I am anxious to be able to include actual images of records from that congregation’s books in the future.

Anna is found in the 1900 census at the age of 1. Her grandfather, Zacharias Koenig, was the head of this household. Her father was working on Zacharias’s farm.

In the 1910 census, Anna was 11 years old. The Koenig family had gotten considerably larger during the previous decade. Now, Anna had several younger sisters.

Anna had a photograph taken when she was young.

Anna would get married before the next census, so we will now take a look at the man who she would marry. His name was Arthur Henry Guth, who was born on February 1, 1894. Arthur was the son of Emil and Emma (End) Guth. Arthur was born in Perryville and baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in that city. We can look at a transcription of his baptism record from that congregation’s books.

I have seen evidence that there was an End Photography Studio in Perryville at one time. That probably explains why we have so many photos of people in this family. It is not often that I get to share a baby photograph, but we can take a look at such a picture of Arthur below.

Arthur is found in the 1900 census at the age of 6. His father was a bartender in Perryville.

A photograph was taken of Arthur and his parents standing in front of their home in Perryville. The photo was reportedly taken in 1900.

The photo below is another one that was taken when Arthur was a youngster.

We can also view this amazing photo taken in front of the Guth home on the occasion of Arthur’s 9th birthday. That means this photo was taken in 1903. Arthur is standing in the middle in a dark suit with his hands held together. If Arthur attended Immanuel Lutheran School in Perryville, then many of the children in the photo must have been his classmates.

Next, we find Arthur in the 1910 census when he was a teenager. This time, his father was a salesman at a general store. The Guth’s had a set of identical twin girls born in 1905. A post was written about Arthur’s parents and his twin sisters titled, No Longer an End.

Arthur had his World War I draft registration completed in 1917. It says he was a tinner at the Perryville Hardware Company.

Arthur did get called to serve in the military during that war. A record of his military service is pictured here. It does not indicate that he spent time overseas.

We are also able to view a photograph of Arthur in uniform.

Arthur Guth married Anna Koenig on December 28, 1919. This couple’s Missouri marriage license shown here says the wedding took place at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Jackson. There must be a story about why this pair was married there, but I do not know it.

This pair of newlyweds is found in the 1920 census living with Arthur’s parents and sisters. Arthur is called a photographer.

Our German Family Tree states that Arthur and Anna had 3 children. The 1930 census shows all 3 of their children. Arthur is still called a photographer, and his family was still living with his parents. His father was a janitor at the courthouse in Perryville.

A photo of Arthur and Anna can be viewed below.

Arthur’s father died in 1933, so we no longer see him in the 1940 census. This time, Arthur is called a painter and paper hanger. His teenage sons were also part of the work force by this time.

In 1942, Arthur had a World War II draft card completed.

The 1950 census is the last one that we can view. Arthur’s mother was still living in the same household with the Guth couple. Arthur was a shoe worker at the shoe factory in Perryville. That would have been the International Shoe Company.

Arthur Guth died in 1959 at the age of 65. We can take a look at his death certificate.

Anna Guth did not die until 1996 at the age of 97, much too recently to view her death certificate. Arthur and Anna are each buried in the Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery in Perryville. Arthur’s gravestone recognizes his military service.

It is not often that I am able to display so many photos in a blog post. I did not even place all of the photos that I found during my research into this article. Nowadays, with people’s phones taking digital photos, the number of photos documenting a person’s life is monumental. A blog writer in the future telling stories like the ones I write should have a wealth of photos to choose from to place in their posts.