Around these here parts, the surname, Perr, is pronouced “pair”. So the title of this post would be pronounced “A Pair of Pairs”. Or, perhaps the title could be illustrated by the photo below.

However, today’s tale does not begin with a Perr. It begins with a Tiedemann who became a Perr. Margaretha Marie Tiedemann was born on August 15, 1899, so today would be her 124th birthday. Margaretha was the daughter of Henry and Lina (Mirly) Tiedemann. If you would like to read a story about Margaretha’s parents, you can find it by clicking on this link: Keeping the Tiedemann Name Going. Margaretha was baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in New Wells. We can view her baptism record from that church’s books here.

Margaretha was very young when she shows up in the 1900 census. She is called just a matter of months old. Her father was a farmer in the Shawnee Township.

Next, we find Margaretha in the 1910 census at the age of 10. Now, she had 3 more younger siblings. Also, her grandfather, Herman Tiedemann, was living in this household.

The last census in which we find Margaretha as a single woman was the one taken in 1920. She is called a 20 year-old servant in a house. I could not tell you if the house was her own or someone else’s.

Now, we will take a look at a Perr. Edward George Perr was born on September 16, 1889, making him about 10 years older than Margaretha. Edward was the son of Joseph and Maria (Kraml) Perr. A story about this Perr family was told in the post, Joseph’s Son-in-Law Joseph. Like his future bride, Edward was baptized at Immanuel, New Wells, and his baptism record is shown below.

Edward was child # 9 in a family that had 13 children according to our German Family Tree. I think Edward is the child called Ada in the 1900 census entry below. He is listed as being 10 years old and born in 1889. His father was a farmer in the Shawnee Township.

In the post mentioned earlier, this family’s photograph was published, and I speculated that the photo was taken in 1895. That would have been when Edward was about 6 years old. I’ll let you figure out which one of the boys in this picture is a 6 year-old.

The 1910 census shows Edward at the age of 20. He was working on his father’s farm.

Edward had his World War I draft registration completed in 1917. His father had died in 1914, so his mother is called Edward’s employer.

The 1920 census lists Edward as the head of a Perr household that included his mother and several younger siblings.

Edward Perr married Margaretha Tiedemann on November 13, 1921 at Immanuel Lutheran Church in New Wells. Their church marriage record is displayed here.

The marriage license for this Perr pair can also be viewed.

Our German Family Tree lists 5 children born to Edward and Margaretha. All of them were baptized at Immanuel, New Wells. In the 1930 census, the Perr’s had 3 children.

In the same year as the above census, plat maps were produced for Cape Girardeau County. The Edward Perr farm is shown on the map below.

Next, we find the Perr family in the 1940 census. All 5 children were found in this entry. Edward was still farming.

Edward had a World War II draft card completed in 1942. His year of birth is incorrectly given as 1890.

Edward Perr died in 1944 at the age of 54. His death certificate says he was a patient at the Southeast Missouri Hospital at the time of his death. He had a brain tumor.

Edward is buried in the Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery in New Wells.

Margaretha is found in the 1950 census as a widow. Three remaining children were living with her. Her son, Wilbert, was doing the farming.

Margaretha Perr died in 1977 at the age of 78. She must have been residing in Jackson, Missouri at the time of her death because she is buried in the Russell Heights Cemetery in that city.

So, this pair of Perr’s are not buried in the same cemetery. However, I would like to think that this pair of Perr’s is back together in heaven and will be together forever.