I have never heard of the name, Willibald until I looked into the main character for today’s post. Willibald Robert Schweizer was born on August 23, 1898, so today would be his special 125th birthday. Willibald was the son of Lorenz and Ida (Boehme) Schweizer. The post, Lorenz and Ida – The Schweizer’s, told the story of Willibald’s parents. Willibald was baptized at Christ Lutheran Church in Jacob, Illinois. We can take a look at his baptism record from that congregation’s books. I have to display it in 2 images.

We find Willibald in the 1900 census at the age of 1. His father was a “dealer in general m”. The m likely meant merchandise, so Lorenz probably worked in a store in Jacob. Included in this household was a 21 year-old servant named Susan Boehme. She was Ida’s younger sister. Willibald is often called William in census entries.

Next, we find Williibald in the 1910 census at the age of 11. This time, Willibald’s father’s occupation is described as a salesman in a general store. There were two other individuals who were included in this census entry. First, Ernst Seibel, was a 21 year-old, who is called both a hired hand and a clerk in the general store. Ernst grew up in Altenburg. The other individual is Mary Gruebmeyer. Back in 1899, when Willibald was just one year old, Mary’s parents both died of pneumonia within the course of a couple of days when Mary was just 5 years old. By 1910, Mary had been adopted by the Schweizer’s.

In 1913, Willibald Schweizer was confirmed, but he was no longer living in Jacob. His confirmation record below is from the books of St. John’s Lutheran Church in Chester, Illinois.

Willibald had his World War I draft registration completed in 1918. His employer was the International Shoe Company in Chester. I did not find any evidence that Willibald was called into service during that war.

The 1920 census shows that the entire Schweizer family had moved to Chester. Willibald was “working out” as a farm laborer. It does not look like he was working for his father, who was doing retail work at a lumber business.

Willibald would get married before the next census, so we will now take a look at the woman who would become his bride. Her name was Edna Ebers, who was the daughter of Herman and Wilhelmina (Habermann) Ebers. She was born on August 10, 1902. I was only able to find that birth date from some information found in her later obituary. Edna is found in her first census in 1910 at the age of 8. Her father was a farm laborer in Wine Hill, Illinois. Edna’s Habermann grandmother was included in this household.

When the 1920 census was compiled, Edna was a teenager, still living in Wine Hill.

I was not able to determine the exact date of the wedding of Willibald Schweizer and Edna Ebers but Edna’s obituary says they were married in 1924. I suspect the church record for this marriage would be found in the books of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Wine Hill. I also figure that after this couple was married, they resided in Chester. When the 1930 census was taken, we find the Schweizer’s living in Chester with 2 children, a boy named Ebers and a girl named Dorothy. These would be their only children. Willibald was a yard foreman for a lumber yard.

In the 1940 census, we see the same family members in the Schweizer household. Willabald continued in the lumber business.

In 1942, Willibald had his World War II draft card completed. It says his employer was the Clemens Lumber Company in Chester.

In a book on the history of the city of Chester that we have in our museum, there is an ad that was placed there by the Clemens Lumber Company. It gives a short history of that company that includes both Willibald and his father, Lorenz. This book was published in 1979.

The final census entry we can view is from the 1950 census. In this entry, it says Willibald was the proprietor of the lumber company, and his son, Ebers, was the manager. Their daughter was a bank teller.

Willibald Schweizer died in 1973 at the age of 75; Edna Schweizer died in 1988 at the age of 1986. Edna had her obituary published in a Carbondale newspaper. I cannot view the actual obituary, but I did find a listing of some of the facts that were included in it. This is where I found her date of birth and the year of her wedding.

Willibald and Edna, along with their son, Ebers, are all buried together in the St. John’s Lutheran Cemetery in Chester. I do not think Ebers ever married.

You might find it unusual that the Schweizer couple named their son using Edna’s maiden name. However, I have to say that it is not the first time I have seen such a thing. Our grandson has his first name which is the maiden name of his mother.