Herman Carl Heinrich Feig was born on July 29, 1857, qualifying him to be today’s birthday boy. He would be 166 years old today if he was still alive. Like so many others with the name, Carl, he would later mostly be called Charles. He was the 6th of 7 children born to Christoph and Christiane (Aloe) Feig. His parents likely arrived in America around 1850 and purchased land in Perry County in 1853. Charles was baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg. An image of his baptism record is pictured here. It says that he was baptized at home. I figure this must have been one of the last baptisms conducted by Rev. Georg Schieferdecker before he established Immanuel Lutheran Church when he was kicked out of the Synod at the end of 1857.

Charles is found in the 1860 census at the age of 2. His father was a farmer in the Brazeau Township.

Next, we find Charles in the 1870 census at the time he was becoming a teenager.

When the 1880 census was taken, we no longer find Charles living with his parents. He wasn’t even living in Perry County. He is found living in the Shawnee Township of northern Cape Girardeau County. He was included in the household of Levi Torrence. There were two young men called boarders in that household, and both of them were carpenters. One of them was Charles.

Charles would get married after this census was taken, so we will turn our attention to the woman who would become his bride. Her name was Emma Sophie Preusser, who was born on November 17, 1860. Emma was the daughter of Friedrich and Juliana (Kuehn) Preusser. Her mother was one of the original Stephanite immigrants who arrived in America in 1839. Her family first settled in the Seelitz community in Perry County where several of her family members died during the first years of settlement. Juliana made her way to St. Louis, where she would get married to Friedrich Preusser in 1850. The first of the Preusser children, including Emma, were baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in St. Louis. Emma’s baptism record from that congregation is displayed here.

When a Preusser child was born in 1868, she was baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg, so this Preusser family moved to Perry County when Emma was young. We find the Preusser household in the 1870 census when Emma was 10 years old. Her father was a saddler in Altenburg.

When the 1880 census was compiled, we find Emma once again living in St. Louis. She was living in the Edward Stamm household and working as a servant.

Charles Feig married Emma Preusser on Emma’s 26th birthday, November 17, 1886. That marriage took place at Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg. We can take a look at the church record for that wedding below.

The Missouri marriage license for this couple is pictured here.

Just one child is found in our German Family Tree for this couple. That girl was born in 1889 and baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in New Wells. It looks like 3 more children were born to this couple. They apparently moved to St. Louis sometime in the early 1890’s. In the 1900 census, we find the Feig’s living in St. Louis where Charles was a cabinet maker. There were 3 children in their household.

The Feig’s were still in St. Louis when the next census was taken in 1910. Charles was still making cabinets, and their daughter, Lydia, was a button hole operator.

Another move was made by the Feig family during the next decade. When the 1920 census was taken, they were living in Chicago. Charles was a carpenter at a cabinet shop. Their son, Edward, was an assembler at a factory.

Charles and Emma had an empty nest when the 1930 census was taken. Charles, at the age of 72, no longer had an occupation listed. They were still living in Chicago.

Charles Feig died in 1933 at the age of 75. An Illinois death index gives us a date for his death.

Emma is still found living in Chicago when the 1940 census was taken. She was living with her son, Edward, and his wife.

Emma Feig died in 1949 at the age of 88. We can also view an Illinois record for her death.

I found an entry for Charles Feig on Findagrave.com for Rosehill Cemetery in Chicago, but there is no gravestone photo for him. I was unable to find a burial location for Emma.

The Feig surname can be found in church records in East Perry County for a while back in the 1800’s. However, that name eventually was no longer found here. Today’s Feig couple gives us one reason that this surname disappeared. They spent most of their lives in St. Louis and Chicago, along with their children.