My wife is a fan of the TV show, The Good Doctor. After I did a quick internet search, it looks like that show will be continuing again this fall for season #7. Today, you will read the story of a different good doctor. Actually, today’s main character was a minor character in a previous post titled, The Good Doctors from Pocahontas. In that post, I mentioned that the word schoen, although it usually means “beautiful”, can also mean “good”. That partially explains today’s title because it will be about a man with the surname, Schoen.

Ernst Rudolph Schoen was born on September 7, 1873, so today would be his very special birthday…his 150th. Ernst was the son of Gustav and Anna (Lehner) Schoen, and he was baptized at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Pocahontas. I am unable to display an actual image of his baptism record. I was hoping to find that record because we have a book of that congregation’s baptism records right now that is being scanned to add to our collection of church records, but that book does not go back to the records from the 1870’s. Ernst is found in the 1880 census at the age of 6. His father was a farmer in the Apple Creek Township. This Schoen family had 5 children, all boys, and we find the first 4 of them in this census entry. This turned out to be the only census entry that we can view in which Ernst was a single man. This is the only document on which Ernst was called Rudolph.

A photo of the Gustav Schoen family was taken, probably around 1890. The youngster in the front was born in 1882 and died in 1897, so we are sure it was taken between those two years. Ernst is standing in the back row, second from the right.

We will now look at the woman who would become Ernst’s bride. Her name was Maria Louise Gratz, who was born on December 6, 1874. She would go by the name, Louise, during her life. She was the daughter of Michael and Theresia (Pilz) Gratz. Like her future husband, Louise was baptized at St. John’s, Pocahontas. Louise is found in the 1880 census at the age of 5. Her father was a farmer in the Shawnee Township.

Louise Gratz was in the 1888 confirmation class at St. John’s. Ernst Schoen was in the 1887 class. We see these two on the same page of a St. John’s, Pocahontas binder that we have. Usually a confirmand goes through 2 years of catechism instruction. If so, these two must have been in confirmation class together for one year. They also likely attended the school together at St. John’s, so I’m sure they were acquainted with each other beginning at a very young age.

Ernst Schoen married Louise Gratz on August 18, 1895 at St. John’s, Pocahontas. We can take a look at this couple’s Missouri marriage license.

This Schoen pair had 2 children according to our German Family Tree, both baptized at St. John’s. In the 1900 census below, we see them with their first child. The second one was born later that year. Ernst was called a physician-surgeon in this entry from Gordonville, Missouri.

Next, we find the Shoen’s in the 1910 census. Ernst, the physician, his wife, Louise, and two children were in the household. A servant, Friedricke Macke, was also included.

Ernst had his World War I draft registration completed in 1918. It says he was a physician in Gordonville.

In the 1920 census, we find just one daughter in their household. Their son had gotten married in 1919. The Schoen’s were still residing in Gordonville.

The Schoen’s relocated before the next census in 1930. When we look at their entry for that year, we find them living in Jackson, Missouri, which is quite near Gordonville. Ernst was still a doctor. He and Louise had an empty nest and had a servant.

The last census in which we find each of the Schoen’s was the one taken in 1940. We find just Ernst and Louise making up their household.

Louise Schoen died in 1946 at the age of 71. If I am reading her death certificate correctly, she died of poisoning from eating some bad sausage. It really puzzles me that Louise’s mother’s maiden name is given as Reisenbichler, not Pilz.

Ernst Schoen died a year later in 1947 at the age of 74. We can also view his death certificate.

Dr. Ernst and Louise Schoen are each buried in the Cape County Memorial Cemetery in Cape Girardeau.

As you can see on Ernst’s gravestone, he was called E.R. Schoen, M.D. So, he was not only a good doctor, he was more specifically a good E.R. doctor. I also decided to see what the surname, Gratz, means according to Google Translate. The result was that gratz means “thank you”. I suppose after being married to Ernst for over 50 years, Louise could have reason to say, “Thank you, Good E.R. Doctor.”