I am a day late with today’s story. Yesterday, I ran into difficulties. For one thing, I was experiencing issues with my laptop. I also was responsible for an activity at the museum. By the time I resolved the computer problems and finished with the event at the museum, I gave up on getting this post written yesterday. However, it is a story that I really wanted to write, so I am writing it a day late.

Theodore Alfred Preusser was born on August 9, 1886, so yesterday was his 137th birthday. Theodore was the son of Gustav and Anna (Jahn) Preusser. He was born during the time when Perry County kept birth records, and we can take a look at Theodore’s. This document says he was born on August 6th, but it is the only record on which I found this date of birth. If it’s true, I am 4 days late with this post.

Theodore was baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg. An image of his baptism record from that congregation’s books is displayed below. To be honest, I think the date of birth is very difficult to read on this document.

Since the 1890 census is not available to view, the next document I found for him is his confirmation record. I am going to picture his whole 1899 confirmation class in the image here. I think you can definitely see that his date of birth is given as August 9th. As I have seen in many such confirmation records, the pastor first lists the boys in the class in the order of their birth dates, then does the same for the girls.

The only census entry in which we find Theodore living in Perry County is the one taken in 1900. He was 13 years old, and his father was a farmer in the Brazeau Township.

It must not have been long after this census that Theodore was sent off to attend school to prepare to become a Lutheran school teacher. Almost certainly, he attended the Lutheran Teacher’s Seminary in Addison, Illinois. In 1908, he became a teacher at St. Michael’s Lutheran School in Winchester, Texas. This listing of his service at that school indicates that while he was there, other teachers were later added to assist him. The school must have been going through a period of growth.

Next, we will take a look at the woman who would become Teacher Preusser’s wife. Her name was Clara Mathilde Peter, who was born on March 29, 1891. Clara was the daughter of Albert and Theresa (Killian) Peter.

I need to spend a bit of time telling the tale of another settlement of German (Wendish) Lutherans in Texas that took place back in the 1850’s. Under the leadership of Rev. Johann Killian, a group of immigrants arrived in Texas in 1854 and ended up acquiring land in Serbin, Texas. The map below shows several cities that will be part of today’s story.

Rev. Killian was actually a friend of Rev. C.F.W. Walther. That friendship was established back in Germany when those two were students at the University of Leipzig studying to become Lutheran pastors. Not long after arriving in Texas, Rev. Killian and his wife welcomed a baby girl named Theresa, Clara’s mother. That makes Clara Peter the granddaughter of Rev. Killian. A photo of Rev. Johann Killian is shown here.

In a previous post, He Shines Like a Star, the story was told of Teacher Wukasch who taught at Concordia Lutheran Church in Frohna for 50 years. Teacher Wukasch came from a family living in Serbin, Texas that was part of this Wendish immigration. He married Johanna Schieferdecker, the daughter of Rev. Georg Schieferdecker, who was part of the Gesellschaft that settled in Perry County. Rev. Schieferdecker then became the 2nd pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg. Today’s story about Teacher Preusser can be considered one that is the opposite of the Teacher Wukasch story. Teacher Preusser would move from Perry County to the area where the Wendish Lutherans settled in Texas and married a descendant of one of their original pastors.

Clara Peter was born in Winchester, and when the 1900 census was taken, we find her living in Fayette County where her father was a cotton gin owner. Clara was 9 years old at the time.

Theodore Preusser married Clara Peter on November 21, 1909. I suspect that the marriage took place at St. Michael’s Lutheran Church in Winchester. The only documentation I found for this wedding is the Texas marriage record shown here.

This pair of newlyweds is found in the 1910 census, probably living in a teacherage that had been built at St. Michael’s in 1902. Theodore was called a teacher of a private school.

Theodore had his World War I draft registration completed in 1917. First of all, let me point out that it says that his birthday was August 9, 1886. It also states that he was a school teacher at St. Michael’s Lutheran School in Winchester.

According to census entries and Ancestry.com family trees, Theodore and Clara had 3 children. They had a set of twin girls born in 1912, and a son named Theodore Alfred Preusser, Jr. who was born about 14 years after the twins in 1926. The 1920 census just shows the twins.

The years of service shown above says that Teacher Preusser left St. Michael’s Lutheran School in 1925. An anniversary book for that congregation contains this photo of Theodore.

Before I continue, I want to display a few photos I located for the church and school in Winchester, Texas. In the gallery below, you will see a photo of the church that was built not long before Theodore arrived in Winchester. Another is a photo of the church and school. The 3rd is an old aerial photo that shows the church, school, parsonage, and teacherage. The thumbnails are clickable.

An obituary that I will show later says Theodore would later become an editor of two newspapers published in Giddings, Texas, the Deutsches-Volksblatt, a German newspaper, and the Giddings Star, an English newspaper. I am not sure what Theodore did during the intervening time. It is additionally puzzling when we look at the 1930 census. I found a census entry for Clara Preusser, along with her 3 children, but Theodore was not included in the household. It does indicate that Clara was still married, but for some unknown reason, Theodore is not there, and I was not able to find him elsewhere.

Then, when the 1940 census was compiled, we once again find Theodore in the household with Clara. Only their son, Theodore, Jr. was living with them, and Theodore was a bookkeeper for a private business in Giddings, Texas.

Theodore had a World War II draft card completed in 1942. Once again his birthday of August 9th is confirmed. He is called self-employed.

The last census we can view is the one taken in 1950. Theodore was called a newspaper editor. He and Clara had an empty nest in Giddings.

Theodore Preusser died in 1961 at the age of 75. His Texas death certificate below says he was a retired school teacher.

On Findagrave.com, we find an obituary for Theodore.

Clara Preusser died in 1975 at the age of 83. Her Texas death certificate says she died at the Lee Memorial Hospital in Giddings.

Theodore and Clara Preusser are buried together in the Giddings City Cemetery.

The history of the Wendish Lutherans in Texas has quite a few similarities to the history of the Saxon Lutherans in Perry County. In a few instances involving Lutheran school teachers we see the intersection of these two histories.