The birthday girl in today’s post has her beginnings in East Perry County, but she is not found in Missouri for very long. Christiane Hulda Oehlert was born on November 16, 1883, making today her 140th birthday. Hulda was the daughter of Robert and Minna (Engert) Oehlert. She was baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Altenburg. We can take a look at 2 images of her baptism record from that congregation’s books.

That document is the only one that can be found for Hulda giving evidence that she lived in Perry County. There are several factors making that the case. First of all, the 1890 census was destroyed in a fire, so we are unable to find Hulda in a Perry County Census. Then, in the 1890’s, the Oehlert family moved to Kansas. That family moved before Hulda was confirmed, so we do not find a confirmation record either. In 1895, a Kansas state census was taken, and we find the Oehlert’s living in the Grand River Township in Sedgewick County. Hulda was 11 years old.

In the first federal census in which Hulda is included, she is found living in the Grand River Township. She was 16 years old, and her father was a farmer.

The map below displays the location of the Grand River Township, which is indicated by the highlighted square. It is near the towns of Cheney and Garden Plain, which will also be mentioned in this post. On the right side of the image, you will find the outskirts of the nearby city of Wichita.

Now, it is time to look into the early life of the man who would become Hulda’s husband. His name was William August George Wulf, who was born on April 15, 1878 in Germany. William was the son of Henry and Anna (Wilkehr) Wulf. The Wulf family came to America in 1885 aboard the ship, Main. We can see them on the passenger list for that ship shown below. William’s age is given as 4, but he was probably closer to 7. His father and his grandfather were both listed as shoemakers.

We find William in the 1900 census at the age of 22. He was helping on his father’s farm in the Grand River Township.

On November 13, 1902, three days before Hulda’s 19th birthday, she married William Wulf. I found a Kansas marriage license for this occasion.

The pastor listed on the above document, Rev. R. Krenke, was the first pastor of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Cheney, Kansas. The form also states that William was from Garden Plain, and Hulda was from Cheney. The map displayed earlier shows both of those little towns. I must point out that this was not the first Wulf/Oehlert wedding to take place. In 1896, Hulda’s older sister, Amalia, had married Henry Wulf, William’s older brother.

Family Trees on Ancestry.com and census entries over the years indicate that the Wulf’s had 6 children. The 1910 census indicates that by then the Wulf’s already had 4 children. William was a farmer in the Grand River Township. There were also 2 young men who were included in this household who were working on William’s farm.

William had his World War I draft registration completed when that war broke out. It gives him a Cheney address and says he was farming.

Next, we find the Wulf’s in the 1920 census. All 6 of their children are listed in this entry. Included in their household this time were two hired hands, Ed and Ernst Lungwitz, who were Perry County natives. What is unusual is the fact that no one in this household is given an occupation, even though the Lungwitz boys were called hired men. I think the census taker just did not complete the occupation column for this household. I have every reason to believe that William was still farming with the help of the hired men.

Hulda Wulf died in 1928 at the age of 44, leaving William as a widower. The 1930 census shows William living in his son, William, Jr.’s, household. At the age of 54, he was called a farm implement salesman.

I found William in the 1940 census living in Hidalgo County in Texas, which is located about as far south as you can go in that state. William is listed as having a wife named Maude.

I was not sure the above census was describing the correct William Wulf until I saw this World War II draft card. William’s correct date of birth is on this form, and the Walter Wulf, who is William’s employer, was his nephew, a son in the other Wulf/Oehlert marriage. His address is given as San Juan in Hidalgo County, Texas.

The 1950 census shows William back in Sedgewick County, Kansas. He was living in Wichita with a man who was said to be the proprietor of an Aged Care Home.

William Wulf died in 1952 at the age of 74. Both William and Hulda are buried in the St. Paul’s Lutheran Cemetery in Cheney, Kansas.

It looks to me like there is another Wulf/Oehlert story to be told on this blog. You discovered the Wulf/Oehlert couple made up of the younger members of those two families. I have yet to describe the lives of the older ones. Maybe some day….