Although there is some disagreement about her date of birth, I will be writing a story that begins with a bride who will marry a Perry County boy. Wilhelmine Marie Wenninger was either born on November 13th or November 14th in 1884. Marie was born in Germany, the daughter of Gottlieb and Wilhlemine (Mauser) Wenninger. I am able to display Marie’s birth record, which gives the date of her birth as November 14th. If this is the case, then perhaps I should publish this story tomorrow.

Although I cannot display an actual image of it, an immigration record saying that Marie arrived in America in 1889 can be found on Ancestry.com. I found Marie and her family in the 1900 census living in the Cedar Township in Blackhawk County, Iowa. Marie was 15 years old, and her father was a farmer

The Wenninger’s relocated to the Alva Township in Woods County, Oklahoma after the above census. When her father died in 1904, he was buried in Alva. Marie would get married before the next census, so we will take a look at the man who would become her husband.

This is where we have to go back to Perry County to find this groom. Alwin Adam Rauh was born on December 15, 1881, the son of John and Mary (Lang) Rauh. Alwin’s name was often spelled Alvin, which is how a German would pronounce Alwin. Alvin was baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Perryville. We can view this transcription of his baptism record from the Immanuel, Perryville binder we have.

Alvin is found in the 1900 census living in the Central Township at the age of 18. His father is not given an occupation, but Alvin and his brother, Martin, were said to be farm laborers.

The Rauh family made a similar decision to the Wenninger’s. Shortly after the 1900 census, they relocated to Oklahoma near Alva. Alvin became a member of Zion Lutheran Church in Alva in 1902. It was in Alva that Alvin met his future bride.

Before I move on, let me tell you that our research library has copies of the church records from Zion Lutheran Church in Alva. This is thanks to our friend, Dale Kirmse, who got permission from that congregation to house those copies in our museum. We have them because so many Perry County natives ended up migrating to the area in and around Alva, including the Rauh’s.

Alvin Rauh can be found as the owner of some land in the Spring Township of Woods County when some plat maps were produced in 1906.

Alvin Rauh married Marie Wenninger on February 17, 1907. These two were married at Zion, Alva, so we can view the church record for this wedding from Zion’s church books.

I also managed to find an Oklahoma marriage license for this occasion.

Since we have the Zion, Alva records, and they are included in our German Family Tree, we know that there were 9 Rauh children from this marriage who were baptized at Zion. The 1910 census shows 2 children in the Rauh household. Alvin was a farmer in the Spring Township near Alva.

At some point in time before 1915, Alvin is included in this photo of his parents’ family. This photo has been colorized. The caption tells you which one is Alvin.

Alvin had his World War I draft registration completed in 1918.

Next, we find the Rauh household in the 1920 census. A lot of family trees on Ancestry.com do not include this entry because Ancestry transcribes his name as Rank, and it is difficult to find. There were 6 children listed in the family at that time.

The 1930 census would turn out to be the last one in which we find Marie. The Rauh parents were both in their 40’s with a houseful of 9 children.

Marie Rauh died in 1933 at the age of 48. Alvin would marry again, so I will now describe his 2nd wife’s life up until this second marriage.

Lena Fehrer was born on November 19, 1892 in Marion County, Kansas. Lena was the daughter of Philip and Alice (Brickman) Fehrer. We find Lena in the 1900 census living in Marion County at the age of 5. Her father was a farmer.

The Fehrer family is yet another one that made a move to the Alva, Oklahoma area in the early years of the 20th century. When the 1910 census was taken, the Fehrer’s are found living in the Alva Township where her father continued farming.

On July 25, 1915, Lena Fehrer married Henry Shimp. I am not going to go into much detail about Henry, but I can tell you that one interesting fact about him is that he was born in Argentina. We can take a look at an Oklahoma marriage license for Lena and Henry. They were married by a Seventh Day Adventist minister.

I think there were 4 children born to this couple. When the 1920 census was taken, we see just one child in the entry for the Shimp’s. Henry was a farmer.

Next, we see the Shimp’s in the 1930 census with 3 children.

Henry Shimp died in 1933 at the age of about 45, leaving Lena as a widow. Then, in 1934, Alvin Rauh married Lena (Fehrer) Shimp on June 30th. I was not able to find a civil marriage record, nor is this marriage found in the books of Zion, Alva. The 1940 census shows Alvin and Lena with 4 Rauh children and 2 Shimp children.

Alvin Rauh did not make it to the 1950 census. He died in 1949 at the age of 67. We can view this obituary for him. It says he and Lena moved into the town of Ava in 1948 after retiring from farming.

Lena is still found in the 1950 census living in Alva. Just one son from Lena’s first marriage was living with her.

Lena Rauh died in 1962 at the age of 69. Alvin and both of his wives are buried in the Lutheran Cemetery in Alva, Oklahoma. If you look at the gravestone for Marie, you will see that it gives November 13th as her day of birth.

I find it interesting that all 3 of the above individuals were born elsewhere and found in census entries in 3 different states when the 1900 census was taken. However, they all managed to make their way to Alva, Oklahoma, a place that we at the museum call a suburb of Perry County. We even have a display case at our museum that includes quite a few artifacts that depicts the story of the people who migrated from Perry County to Alva.