Yesterday’s main character, Dr. E.R. Schoen, had a 150th birthday. Today’s main character would also be celebrating his 150th birthday. So, today’s baby boy was born just one day after yesterday’s. That is, if today’s character was actually born in 1873, not 1874. Yesterday, the birthday boy was born in Pocahontas. Today, the baby was born near Perryville. These two even had surnames that rhyme…Schoen (pronounced “shain”) and Hoehn (pronounced “hain”).
Alfred Henry Hoehn was born on September 8, 1873 (or 1874), the son of Ferdinand and Dorothea (Rauh) Hoehn. Alfred was baptized at Peace Lutheran Church in Friedenberg. Since those church records were burned in a fire, I cannot display a baptism record. Alfred is found in the 1880 census at the age of 5, although I think he may have been 6. Some of the documentation in this post will say he was born in 1874, which would help explain an age of 5 in this entry.
Since the 1890 census also went up in flames, we cannot see Alfred in another census until the one taken in 1900. He was still living with his parents at the age of 26. This is another document that gives his year of birth as 1874.
Now, we will take a look at the early life of the woman who would become Alfred’s wife. Her name was Wilhelmina “Minnie” Klobe, who was born on January 27, 1880. She was the daughter of Adam and Margaret (Bienlein) Klobe. Like Alfred, she was baptized at Peace Lutheran Church in Friedenberg. Minnie was just a baby when she is found in the census taken during the year of her birth. Her father was a farmer in the Central Township. This entry contains the confusing fact that there are two Wilhelmine’s in the Klobe family, one that was 3 years old and one that was a baby.
Minnie was 20 years old when the 1900 census was taken.
Alfred Hoehn married Minnie Klobe on April 18, 1907 at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Perryville. We can take a look at a transcription of this couple’s church marriage record.
The Missouri marriage license for this pair is displayed below.
An article about this wedding was published in the Perry County Republican.
We find this young Hoehn couple in the 1910 census. Despite being just the two of them, their entry spills over 2 census pages. Alfred is described as a carpenter in a saddle shop.
In 1918, Alfred had his World War I draft registration completed. This document says Alfred was born in 1874. He is described as a self-employed harness maker.
Alfred and Minnie had no children of their own. However, events happened in 1918 that impacted this pair. There was a young couple, Dietrich and Irene (Adams) Canter, who had 2 children in their family in 1918. In December of that year, within a matter of days, both Dietrich and Irene died of influenza (no doubt the Spanish flu). By the way, I found no evidence that Dietrich was called into service during World War I, where many men contracted that disease. There was also a brother of Dietrich named Samuel, who died of that disease in November of that year. When Samuel died, his wife was pregnant with a set of twins who were born in early 1919 when she was a widow. I think what happened after Dietrich and Irene died, is that their two children were placed under the care of their grandfather, Mitchell Canter, who at that time was well into his 70’s. Mitchell, by the way, was a Civil War veteran, and I was able to find an image of him in which he is decked out in his soldier uniform.
The older of the two Canter children was Lannie Marie Canter. In a 1919 edition of the Perry County Republican we find the notice shown below.
Also, the note shown here can be found on the Findagrave.com entry for Alfred Hoehn.
I located this photo of Lannie Marie Canter taken at a later time.
The 1920 census displays the small Hoehn family. Marie is already called Hoehn, not Canter and is described as an adopted daughter. Alfred was the proprietor of a harness shop.
After Marie’s grandfather, Mitchell, died in 1925, she must have been the one to receive Civil War pension benefits. The form below indicates that Alfred Hoehn was the guardian.
Next, we find the Hoehn’s in the 1930 census. Another name often used for a harness maker is a saddler, and that is what Alfred is called in this entry. In addition to Alfred, Minnie, and Marie, we find Alfred’s mother, Dorothy, living with them.
Alfred is included in several articles published in the Perry County Republican which indicated that he was the secretary of the Perry County School Board. Also, Alfred often placed small advertisements in that newspaper over the years. Here is one that was printed in 1937.
The 1940 census shows both Alfred and Minnie as being in their 60’s. Marie was in her 20’s by this time.
Minnie Hoehn died in 1943 at the age of 64. Her death certificate says that she died in St. Louis.
Minnie had an obituary published in the Perry County Republican that explains why she was in St. Louis.
In 1945, Alfred decided to retire from his harness business, and a tribute to him and his 42 years of work was printed in the Perry County Republican.
Alfred is found in the 1950 census. His daughter, Marie, had married Edgar Lueders, and Alfred was living in their household. Edgar Lueders managed a restaurant in Perryville.
Alfred Hoehn died later during that year at the age of 76. His death certificate can also be viewed.
Alfred and Minnie Hoehn are buried together in the Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery in Perryville.
In our museum’s upcoming Immigration Conference, I will be doing a presentation about how German Lutherans in Perry County were so often willing to take in children who for some reason or another no longer had parents who could take care of them. Many such stories have been published on this blog. Sometimes these children were officially adopted, and at other times, these children were raised by a family, yet retained their own biological surnames. I think it was part of their faith life that influenced them. So many of them stepped up to the plate and took needy children into their homes and raised them. They took the Biblical exhortations seriously when they were instructed to care for widows and orphans.