The family relationships in today’s tale certainly presented a challenge. I think you will understand what I mean as you read it. It begins with a birthday girl in the Vogel family. In fact, it’s one of those special 150th birthdays today.

Emma Magdalena Vogel was born on August 20, 1873, the daughter of William and Anna Marie (Meyr) Vogel. Emma was baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in New Wells. We can take a look at her baptism record from that congregation’s books.

Emma is found in the 1880 census at the age of 6. Her father was a blacksmith in the Shawnee Township. Here is the first of many cases you will see in this story of a child who was in need of a family. In this case, we see a 13 year-old adopted son named Martin included in this household. After just a short search, I was not able to discover Martin in the Vogel or Meyr families anywhere, so I’m guessing he was not born with one of those surnames.

The above census would be the only one in which we see Emma as a single person, so we will turn our attention to the man who would become her husband. His name was Karl (Carl or Charles) Starzinger, who was born on October 5, 1865. He was the son of Gottlieb and Theresia (Brandt) Starzinger. Although Charles was born in the Shawnee Township, our German Family Tree does not contain a reference to his baptism. I did find a note in the St. John’s, Pocahontas binder in our research library that says Gottlieb Starzinger was a member of that congregation from 1868-1871. Prior to 1868, one of Charles’s older siblings was baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in New Wells in 1861. Another sibling had been baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Altenburg, but I was unable to find a baptism record for Charles.

Charles is found in the 1870 census at the age of 4. His father was a farmer.

The 1880 census taker really butchered the name Starzinger, making this family very difficult to find. A few years back, I went through all the pages of the Shawnee Township census from that year and managed to find them. The surname looks like Slatchener. Charles was a teenager

Charles Starzinger married Emma Vogel on March 4, 1893 at Immanuel Lutheran Church in New Wells. The church record for this wedding is pictured here.

I also located this application that this couple made for a marriage license.

Our German Family Tree presently has 2 children listed for Charles and Emma, one of which was adopted, but I am going to show evidence that makes me think that this couple never had children of their own. I will tell you now that the households headed up by Charles and Emma over the years will show some interesting gatherings of individuals. That is what sent me down a bunch of rabbit holes. When the 1900 census was taken, we see this assorted household.

First of all, Charles’s father died in 1898, so his mother Theresia, was living with Charles and Emma. Next, we find Ernst Starzinger, a younger brother of Charles. We will see evidence later that he was a cripple. Then we find Ida Starzinger, who is called an 11 year-old niece. According to this information from a Starzinger family binder that we have in our research library indicates that Ida was the daughter of Frank Starzinger. Frank had died in 1896, and for some reason, Ida’s mother decided to place Ida into this Starzinger household in 1900.

Below Ida, we see a 2 year-old girl named Susie, who is called a sister-in law. That was Susanne Ida Vogel, who was actually Emma’s younger half-sister. When Emma’s stepmother, Emma (Hoehne) Vogel, gave birth to a set of twins, one of them Susanne, in 1898, she died as a result of childbirth. Susanne Ida was then adopted by Charles and Emma Starzinger, but this census entry does not indicate that she had been adopted yet. The last person in the household was a 17 year-old lodger named William Vogel, who would also qualify to be called Emma’s cousin. William was helping Charles with the farming.

In 1905, a child named Eugene was born, and that child was baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in New Wells. The baptism record below says that Charles and Emma were the parents. However, I do not think that they were the biological parents of Eugene. There is a German narrative highlighted on this record that may explain who Eugene was.

The 1910 census for the Starzinger’s includes Eugene, who is called an adopted son. We also once again find Susanne, who this time was called a niece, and she is given the surname, Vogel, which is her birth name. Ernst, Charles’s younger brother is still found in their household also. Finally, there is a 15 year-old hired man called Roland Starzinger who is helping Charles with the farming. Roland could also be called Charles’s nephew.

Eugene Starzinger was confirmed in 1919. His confirmation record shown below says that he was adopted.

Now, we will take a look at the 1920 census. It gets a little easier to describe because all of the characters have been seen before. Other than Charles and Emma, we find Ernst, Charles’s brother, Susanne Vogel, and Eugene Starzinger.

The Starzinger household once again got larger when we look at the 1930 census. We find Charles, Emma, and Ernst, but by this time Eugene had married Clara Gerler, who had 2 daughters. Also, Erhard Wunderlich was a 21 year-old lodger. Eugene and Erhard were helping on Charles’s farm.

In 1930, plat maps were produced for Cape Girardeau County. We find the Charles Starzinger farm very close to New Wells.

The 1940 census below shows the same Starzinger family members as those in the 1930 except they were each 10 years older. No hired hand was included. This is the census entry that says Ernst was a cripple, which explains why he is included in all of these censuses, but is never given an occupation.

The last census we can view is the one taken in 1950. Just Charles and Emma, along with Eugene and Clara, are found in this entry. Ernst had died in 1944.

Charles Starzinger died in 1953 at the age of 87. Pneumonia is given as the chief cause of death on his death certificate below.

Emma Starzinger died in 1955 at the age of 82. She died of a cerebral hemorrhage.

Charles and Emma Starzinger are each buried in the Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery in New Wells.

I think I have given enough evidence that Charles and Emma had no children of their own. Although that is likely true, this Starzinger couple never had an empty house.