Wilhelm “William” Muench was born 138 years ago on November 18, 1885. Today’s tale will look at his life which was spent in the Friedenberg and Crosstown area. William was the son of Conrad and Anna (Lintner) Muench and baptized at Peace Lutheran Church in Friedenberg. That means I cannot display an image of his baptism record. Also, because we cannot view the 1890 census because it was destroyed in a fire, we do not find William until he was a teenager in the 1900 census. This entry is from those Salem Township pages that are often almost unreadable, but this one is not that bad. William, at the age of 14, was working on his father’s farm.
William’s father died in 1903, so when the 1910 census was taken, we find him as the only child still living with his widowed mother. Both he and his mother are called farmers in this entry.
The above census page was signed and submitted on April 16, 1910. William would get married the very next day. So, we will now look at the woman who would become his bride. Her name was Hedwig Catherine Buettner, who was born on May 8, 1890. She was the daughter of Charles and Johanna (Reuter) Buettner. Hedwig was also baptized at Peace Lutheran Church in Friedenberg. She is found in the 1900 census at the age of 10. Her father was a farmer in the Salem Township.
Hedwig was 19 years old when the 1910 census was taken. This census page is dated April 18, 1910, the day after William and Hedwig’s wedding, but it still lists her as being single.
William Muench married Hedwig Buettner on April 17, 1910, but this was not the first Muench/Buettner marriage. Emanuel Muench, William’s older brother, had married Barbara Buettner, Hedwig’s older sister, in 1907. William and Hedwig were married at Peace Lutheran Church in Friedenberg. Since we cannot view that congregation’s records, I can only display this couple’s Missouri marriage license.
This couple has 9 children listed in our German Family Tree, but not all of them lived to adulthood. A few were stillborn. The first 3 children have their records in the books of Salem Lutheran Church in Farrar, and after that, the records are found in the books of Zion Lutheran Church in Crosstown.
When the 1915 plat maps were produced for Perry County, we find the William Muench farm located south of Crosstown.
In 1918, William had his World War I draft registration completed. He is given a Menfro address, probably because that is likely where his post office was located. It also says that William was farming.
The 1920 census shows the Muench’s with 4 children. Also, William’s mother was listed in their household.
Next, we find the Muench family in the 1930 census, This entry includes 5 children.
I think it was about this time that the photo shown below was taken. The youngest child in this picture was born in 1929. I am a fan of photos such as this one in which we see people wearing ordinary work clothes and taken outside. Such photos also have a bigger chance of the people in them who are smiling, such as this one.
The 1940 census lists 4 children with ages ranging from 11-23 years of age.
William had his World War II draft card completed in 1942. He is once again given a Menfro address, but it also gives him a Crosstown telephone.
The last census we can view was taken in 1950. William, at the age of 64, was still farming along with 3 of his single sons.
At some point later in their lives, the members of this Muench family gathered for a photograph.
Hedwig Muench died in 1952 at the age of 61. Her death certificate says that she died at the Osteopathic Hospital in Cape Girardeau of congestive heart failure.
William Muench died in 1961 at the age of 75. According to his death certificate below, he died while at the Pine Lawn Nursing Home in Perryville.
William and Hedwig Muench are buried together in the Zion Lutheran Cemetery in Crosstown.
Another Muench is included in our German Family Tree who has been mentioned in this blog before. His name was Peter Muench. It is somewhat likely that Peter Muench and William’s father, Conrad Muench, were brothers. Perhaps this mystery will be solved someday.
Mr Schmidt, I am so enjoying your posts. My brother and 2 of my 3 sisters and I were just at Friedenberg Hall on Saturday for a Thanksgiving gathering of the Oliver and Hubert Bachmann families. At their sister, Verna’s, funeral in September, they invited us to their reunion. We toured the Friedenberg-Hill of Peace -Lutheran Church, where my great grandparents, Willis Oster and Louisa Muench Oster, were married in 1887, then had our festivities at the Friedenberg Hall, which barely contained the blessedly large family. We- my siblings and I- drove almost 300 miles to that dinner from central Arkansas, where most of Verna (Bachmann) and Robert Boggan’s family have now lived since November 4, 1963, just 18 days before President Kennedy was assassinated. Also in attendance was the youngest of the Hedwig and Heinrich Bachmann “six-pack,” Betty, and her husband, Don Bischoff, and their son and daughter in law, Dan and Renee Bischoff, of St Louis. So many cousins! So much wonderful food! Great stories and remembrances! Driving those roads around hills with the smell of mown fields, a clear sky, bright moon, and cold crisp air reminded me that, for all of the traveling my military family did, this place was always home. Only Oliver and Hubert stayed and worked large farms after their military commitment in World War II. The 4 daughters lived “all around.” But this was always home. Thanks again for your hard work in researching the families you tell us about. This is living history, I’m glad I found your posts! Joyce (Bachmann- Boggan) Moore