Today’s post will highlight a couple that got married on this date 130 years ago. It is a story that begins in the Shawnee and Apple Creek Townships and ends up in the nearby Bollinger County. I will begin with the groom.

Herman Johann Rastl was born on January 12, 1870, the son of Johann and Theresia (Schenner) Rastl. The Rastl family must have been members of a few Lutheran churches in the Shawnee Township during Herman’s childhood. He was baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in New Wells and confirmed at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Pocahontas. He is found in the 1880 census at the age of 10. His father was a farmer in the Apple Creek Township.

The bride’s name was Lillie Matilda Melinda Masterson, who was born on October 15, 1870. Lillie was the daughter of Robert and Eliza (Morton) Masterson. The Masterson’s had an ancestor who was born in Missouri as early as 1800. As you can probably conclude, this was not a family with Lutheran roots. Lillie is found in the 1880 census at the age of 9. Her father had died in 1879, so Eliza was the head of a household full of Masterson’s. The oldest son was called the farmer, and other sons in their 20’s were also working as farmers.

Herman Rastl married Lillie Masterson on November 1, 1893 at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Pocahontas. Some family histories on Ancestry.com say that this marriage took place on October 3, 1893, and a few others say that the marriage took place on October 31st of that year. I think the problem comes from the marriage license application shown below. Ancestry.com says the marriage took place on October 3rd because that is how this form is transcribed. A few others looked closely to see a date of October 31st. However, I think that is the date on which this couple applied for a marriage license, not the actual day that they were married.

I managed to find the actual marriage license, and it gives a date for the wedding that corresponds with the date given in the binder we have for St. John’s Lutheran Church in our library. That date is November 1, 1893.

Our German Family Tree lists 2 children born to this couple, both boys. They were baptized at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Pocahontas. The child born in 1898 died in 1900, shortly after this census entry was recorded. Herman was a farm laborer.

During the next decade, the Rastl’s relocated to Lutesville, a town located in Bollinger County. The 1910 census for the Rastl household is displayed below. Another boy had been born who was 8 years old by the time of this census. Since that child was not baptized in Pocahontas, it points to the fact that the Rastl’s had moved not long after 1900. This time, it says Herman was a farmer on his own farm.

Next, we find Herman and Lillie’s family in the 1920 census.

The 1930 census is the first one in which we find the Rastl’s with an empty nest.

The last census in which we find Herman and Lillie was the one taken in 1940. At the age of 70, Herman no longer had an occupation.

Lillie Rastl died in 1946 at the age of 75. Her death certificate lists pneumonia as the cause of death.

Herman Rastl died 2 years later in 1948 at the age of 78. His death certificate indicates that he died while at the Mouser Nursing Home in Lutesville.

Herman and Lillie are buried in the Hahn Chapel Cemetery in Marble Hill, a neighboring town to Lutesville.

The surname Rastl is found in the Pocahontas vicinity for a while back in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. It managed to get connected with other Pocahontas names like Petzoldt and Kieninger. However, today’s Rastl character managed to find a Masterson bride whose family had been in Cape Girardeau County for a long time before Herman showed up on the scene.