Every once in a while, I run across a story about a Lutheran teacher who comes from some other state to serve at one of our local Lutheran schools, and then while here, he finds himself a Perry County bride. I found another one of those stories today.

Henry August Krahn was born on October 13, 1898, thus making today his special 125th birthday. Henry was the son of Herman and Caroline (Garbo) Krahn. He was born in Big Rapids, Michigan. I did not find a family tree on Ancestry.com that gives a maiden name for Henry’s mother, but I did find this Michigan marriage record for Herman Krahn marrying Caroline Garbo in Big Rapids. They were married in 1888, so I think it’s pretty safe to say that this was the marriage of Henry’s parents.

Henry is found in the 1900 census at the age of 1. His father was a laborer in Big Rapids, Michigan.

During the next decade, the Krahn family relocated to Chicago, Illinois. We find them living there when the 1910 census was taken. Henry was 11 years old, and his father was a machinist for a wood company.

Henry had his World War I draft registration completed in 1918. He is given the same address in Chicago as his father on this form, but it also says he was a divinity student at Concordia College. He was studying to become a Lutheran teacher.

In 1920, Henry was still living with his parents in Chicago. Henry is not given an occupation in this census entry. His obituary states that Henry graduated from Concordia in 1920.

Henry’s later obituary states that he taught in Farrar, Missouri, Detroit, Michigan, Altenburg, Missouri, and Cape Girardeau, Missouri It is a real puzzle to me when Henry was a teacher at Salem Lutheran School in Farrar, although I think my friend, Fred Eggers could probably find out for me. I also do not know when Henry taught in Detroit.

Adelma Helena Sidonia Klaus was born on January 29, 1910, the daughter of Herman and Martha (Moeller) Klaus. She was baptized at Salem Lutheran Church in Farrar, but since I am out of town, I cannot get an image of her baptism record to display. Since she was born so early in 1910, she managed to make it in that year’s census as a baby. Her father operated the general store in Farrar.

In the 1920 census, Adelma was listed as being 9 years old. This would be the last census entry in which we find her as a single person.

On May 22, 1927, Henry Krahn married Adelma Klaus at Salem, Farrar. Although I am unable to display their church marriage record, I can show you this couple’s Missouri marriage license. Adelma was only 17 years old when she got married, so her father is listed on this document as giving his consent for this wedding.

Our German Family Tree says that Henry and Adelma had 4 children, one of which died early. All of their children, beginning with their first child born in 1928, were baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg, indicating that is where he was teaching during those years. The 1930 census shows this couple with just one child. Henry is called a parochial school teacher.

We have a photograph that was taken of Teacher Krahn’s class in 1932. I count 50 students in his class. It looks to me like he was the teacher in the Kleine Schule, the Little School, which is what the younger grades were called.

The Krahn’s were still in Altenburg when the 1940 census was taken. I have included a few other households in this image. At the top, you will see Rev. Adolph Vogel’s family. His story was told recently on this blog. The other teacher at Trinity, Henry Fiehler, can also be seen in this image.

The Krahn couple had only one son, who was born in 1931. That child died of leukemia in 1933 and is buried in the Trinity Lutheran Cemetery. That is the only Krahn grave site there. It was later in 1940 that Teacher Krahn took a call to become a teacher at Trinity Lutheran School in Cape Girardeau. We find the Krahn’s living in Cape Girardeau when the 1950 census was taken.

A 1958 Cape Girardeau city directory says Henry was a teacher at Trinity Lutheran School. Another such city directory says he was the principal. Adelma is said to work for a business called Milady’s Shop.

Ardith Krahn is called a student in the above directory. In 1937, she was a junior in the Cape Central High School when her yearbook photo shown below was taken. So, in 1958, she probably would have been a college student, most likely at Southeast Missouri State.

Henry Krahn died in 1973 at the age of 75. His obituary is pictured here.

Adelma Krahn lived for 30 more years before she died in 2003 at the age of 93. Both Henry and Adelma are buried in the Cape County Memorial Park in Cape Girardeau.

At the time of this writing, we have two teachers, one from the Pacific Northwest and one from Wisconsin, who became teachers at our Lutheran school when they were still single. They found their husbands here in Perry County and are still here. I’m sure those two at one time had no clue that they would be spending much of their lives in Perry County, but God had plans to place them here. They each have several children whose baptism records are found in local churches.