I seem to be spending quite a bit of time telling stories about people from the Shawnee Township in northern Cape Girardeau County these days. There are 4 present-day Lutheran congregations in that township…Immanuel, New Wells, Trinity, Shawneetown, St. John’s Pocahontas, and Zion, Pocahontas. St. John’s and Immanuel were the earliest congregations, with Trinity and Zion being established at later times. You will be reading another story today about a couple that not only began their lives in the Shawnee Township, but spent the rest of their lives there.

We begin with a birthday girl. Auguste Alwine Koenig was born on August 28, 1883, so if she was still alive, she would have to blow out 140 candles on her birthday cake. Before I move on, let me say that the name, Alwine, would be pronounced by Germans and Austrians as Al-veena. This girl would eventually use the spelling, Alvina, for her name. That will be the spelling I will use in this post. Alvina was the daughter of Julius and Elisabeth (Loos) Koenig and baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in New Wells. An image of her baptism record from that congregation’s books is pictured below. Perhaps she got her name, Auguste, from one of her sponsors, Auguste Loos.

Alvina, as it turns out, is only found in one census entry that we can view before she gets married. That entry is the one from the 1900 census. She was 17 years old and one of the oldest children in her family. Her father was a farmer in the Shawnee Township.

Now, we will take a look at the man who would become Alvina’s husband. His name was Kasper Julius Alwin Pfeiffer, who was born on April 9, 1879. Similarly, as with his future wife, he eventually used the spelling Alvin, not Alwin, and that is the spelling I will use. Alvin was the son of Herman and Louise (Klaus) Pfeiffer and also baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in New Wells. We can take a look at his baptism record here. It looks as if he got his names Kasper and Julius from two male sponsors, which was often the case back in those days.

Since he was born before 1880, we get to view 2 census entries for Alvin before his marriage. In the 1880 census below, we see Alvin at the age of 1. His father, as well as Theodore Vogel, who was living in their household, were blacksmiths in the Shawnee Township.

Since we cannot view the 1890 census, Alvin was 20 years old before we see him in the 1900 census. This time his father is called a farmer, and Alvin was helping him with the farm work. Several other younger siblings were in the Pfeiffer household.

I have written tales on this blog about a Wilhelm marrying a Wilhelmina, a Johann marrying a Johanna, a Frederick and a Fredericke, plus others like it, so now I guess we can add an Alvin marrying an Alvina. Alvin Pfeiffer married Alvina Koenig on October 19, 1902, and, as you might expect, they were married at Immanuel Lutheran Church in New Wells. The church record for that wedding is shown here.

We can also take a look at the marriage license for this couple.

According to our German Family Tree, Alvin and Alvina had 7 children. The first child was baptized at Immanuel, New Wells, and all the rest were baptized at Zion Lutheran Church in Pocahontas. When the 1910 census was compiled, we see 3 of those children. Alvin was a farmer.

In 1918, Alvin had his World War I draft registration completed.

Next, we find the Pfeiffer’s in the 1920 census. Their household had gotten considerably larger.

The 1930 census indicates that a few of the Pfeiffer children had moved away.

The Pfeiffer household can then be seen in the census taken in 1940. Just their son, Victor, was still living with his parents. In addition, Alvina’s father, Julius Koenig, was included in their household.

Alvin had his World War II draft card filled out in 1942, even though he was already 63 years old.

The 1950 census is last one the public is allowed to view. Julius Koenig, at the age of 92, is called the head of the household. Both Julius and Alvin were described as being retired. Right below that entry is that of Victor Pfeiffer, who was doing the farming.

Alvin Pfeiffer died in 1958 at the age of 79. His death certificate below says he died at the Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau.

Alvina Pfeiffer died in 1976 at the age of 92, too recently to view her death certificate. Alvin and Alvina are buried together in the Zion Lutheran Cemetery in Pocahontas.

Although this Pfeiffer couple did not remain in the same congregation their whole lives, they did remain in the same township from birth to death. I think that there had to be some friends of Alvin and Alvina who must have told them that they were a couple that was meant for each other because of the similarity of their names. Or perhaps some kids at school when they were youngsters may have chanted, “Alvin and Alvina, sittin’ in a tree…”