A Friedenberg groom married a Longtown bride on this day back in 1898, so today would be the 125th anniversary for this couple. I will attempt to tell this pair’s life story in this post. I begin with the groom.

Peter August Fassold was born on August 20, 1877, the son of Michael and Kunigunda (Wirth) Fassold. Peter was baptized at Peace Lutheran Church in Friedenberg, so I am unable to display an image of his baptism record. Peter was 3 years old when he shows up in his first census in 1880. His father was a farmer in the Cinque Hommes Township.

That census would be the only one in which we can see Peter as a single man, so we will now turn our attention to the bride in this story. Her name was Louise Marie Mecker, who was born on June 24, 1874. Louise was the daughter of Jacob and Nettie (Arnold) Mecker. Louise may have been baptized at Peace Lutheran Church in Friedenberg, but the Friedenberg Remembrances book says that her parents were married in New Orleans, but does not give a year when they moved to Perry County. Louise is found in the 1880 census at the age of 5. She, along with 3 older siblings, were said to be born in Missouri on this entry, so I think it is likely that Louise was baptized at Peace Lutheran Church. Her father was also a farmer in the Cinque Hommes Township.

Peter Fassold and Louise Mecker are not included in a list of charter members of Zion Lutheran Church in Longtown, but they each are listed in that church’s records as being communicant members of that congregation in 1897. That was the year that Zion was established.

Peter Fassold married Louise Mecker, as was noted earlier, on October 25, 1898. These two were married at Zion Lutheran Church in Longtown. We can view their church marriage record below. As you can see in this image, their wedding was the 3rd one to be recorded in that congregation’s books.

The Missouri marriage license for this couple is pictured here.

Peter and Louise had just one child, a son named Edwin, who was born in 1900. That son was born before the census was enumerated that year, so we see him in the entry below as being just months old. Right above the Peter Fassold household is that of his parents. It appears to me that Peter took over the farming on the land on which he was born and raised.

There is only one census in which we find the Fassold’s not living in Perry County. In 1910, we find this family living in Monrovia, California where Peter is called a laborer on a ranch. Monrovia is right where the Stueve family from Perry County would operate the Alta-Dena Dairy, but that would not happen until the 1930’s.

Prior to 1918, the Fassold’s moved back to Perry County. Peter is given a Perryville address on his World War I draft registration. He was farming.

The Fassold household is found in the 1920 census living in the Cinque Hommes Township. Their son, Edwin had gotten married in 1918 and had a daughter by the time of this census. His family is shown right below that of Peter and Louise. Peter’s widowed father is listed in Edwin’s family. Peter and Edwin were farming together.

The 1915 plat maps for Perry County show the Michael Fassold farm being located west of Longtown.

Later in 1920, the article from the Perry County Republican shown below was published. It indicates that Peter was about to enter into a new line of business, that of selling farm implements.

I located a photo of a Samsom tractor.

Edwin and his family are also still included in the Fassold household when the 1930 census was taken. Peter was a called a merchant for a feed store, which indicates that his business did not just involve selling farm implements, but was also a feed store. Edwin was called an agent for an insurance company, and Elsie was called an agent for a newspaper.

The advertisement shown below appeared in the Perry County Republican in 1933.

The 1940 census mentions that Peter was involved in both a feed store and farm implements. Edwin was a subscription agent for the Post Dispatch. I assume that was the St. Louis newspaper by that name.

Peter had his World War II draft card completed in 1942. The address for the Fassold residence is just a matter of a block or two from the Perry County Courthouse.

The last census the public can view is the one taken in 1950. Just Peter, Louise, Edwin, and Elsie were in the household.

Louise Fassold died in 1954 at the age of 80. Her death certificate says stomach cancer was the cause of her death.

Peter Fassold died in 1963 at the age of 85. We can also view his death certificate.

Peter and Louise Fassold are buried together in the Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery in Perryville.

In the box on Peter’s death certificate for “Length of Stay in 1b”, it says “life”. It looks to me like that is not exactly true. His entry in the 1910 census when we find his family living in California is my proof. That entry even gives Missouri as the birthplace of Peter, Louise, and Edwin which confirms that the entry was describing the main characters in this post.