Gertrude Anna Kunigunde Schenck was born on November 30, 1892, so if she was still alive, Gertrude would have to blow out 131 candles on her birthday cake today. Before I go any further, let me say that the surname, Schenck has shown up in a few posts in the past. Also, the surname, Schenk, has appeared a few times. A question remains about whether this surname is spelled with one “c” or two “c’s”. I am going with the Schenck spelling today. Gertrude was the daughter of John and Anna Barbara (Fassold) Schenck. I located these photos of her parents.

Gertrude was child #3 in a family of 9. She was baptized on Christmas Day at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Perryville. A transcribed record of her baptism is pictured here. This record uses the Schenck spelling.

Gertrude is found in her first census in 1900 at the age of 7. Her father was an engineer in Perryville.

Next, we find Gertrude in the 1910 census. She was no longer living with her parents. She and her older sister were living and working in a hotel in Cape Girardeau operated by Alfred Salzgeber. Emma, at the age of 20, was a chamber maid, and Gertrude, at the age of 17, was a waitress.

Ten years later, we find Gertrude still working at the same hotel in Cape Girardeau. This time, Gertrude’s younger sister, Sarah, was living and working together with her at this hotel. Both of them were waitresses.

The history of Schenck girls working in a Cape Girardeau Hotel turned out to be a preview of what would later take place in the Schenck family in Perryville. But now, let’s take a look at the man who would become Gertrude’s husband. His name was Harry August Fritz, who was born on April 9, 1891. Harry was born in Staunton, Illinois, the son of William and Anna (Schnaare) Fritz. When Harry was just 8 years old, his father died in 1899. So, when the 1900 census was taken, his widowed mother was the head of the Fritz household. His mother, Anna, was a milliner in Staunton.

When the 1910 census was taken, Harry was 19 years old and still living with his mother in Staunton.

Harry had his World War I draft registration completed in 1917. It states that Harry was employed by E.M. Barrett as a retail hardware clerk in Staunton.

Harry is one of those unusual people who managed to show up in 2 different census entries when the 1920 census was taken. First, he is found still living with his mother in Staunton in the entry shown below. It’s a little hard to read, but I think it says he was a commercial trader in a cream separator business.

Harry is also found in a census entry from Cape Girardeau in 1920. In this entry, he is called an auto salesman. This census entry could explain how Harry became acquainted with Gertrude Schenck, who was also working in that city.

Harry Fritz married Gertrude Schenck on August 13, 1923. Their marriage took place in Indiana according to the marriage record from that state shown below. I found no evidence to indicate why this couple got married there.

When this couple’s only child, Sarah, was born in 1925, her birthplace was called Missouri on later censuses. By the time of the 1930 census, we find the small Fritz family living in Perryville. We find them amidst several other folks who are involved with the operation of a hotel. Gertrude’s father, John Schenck, was called the proprietor of the hotel, and Harry Spitz is called a co-proprietor. At this point, Gertrude is not given an occupation, perhaps because she was raising Sarah, her young daughter.

Next, we find the Fritz’s in the 1940 census. Gertrude’s father died in 1937, so he was no longer operating the hotel. In John’s obituary, it says he operated the Juanita Hotel in Perryville. In a recent publication of the Perry County Historical Society which gives a list of historic businesses in Perryville, we find this listing for the Juanita Hotel.

The Fritz’s are found on a census page all by themselves in 1940. At the top of the census page, it says, “Hotel Perry”. I do not know if there were two hotels the Schenck’s and Fritz’s managed, or whether they are the same hotel with 2 different names. Perhaps one of our readers or the staff at the Perry County Historical Society in Perryville might be able to answer this question. Below are two photos taken over the years of the Hotel Perry, which was located on Perryville’s town square. In the photo on the left, it can be seen in the background. This photo was taken back in the horse and buggy days. The photo on the right was taken from the top of the county courthouse and is a more recent photo.

In 1940, Harry Fritz is called the proprietor of the hotel, and Gertrude is called a landlady. Maybe she had been named the owner of the hotel as part of her father’s will.

One more census can be viewed for the Fritz family, the one taken in 1950. Harry was still involved in operating a hotel. Sarah Fritz had married Ronald Lurk, who in this entry is called a ball player in the Southern League.

I found the lifetime statistics for Ronald Lurk, who managed to make it as high as AA in the minor leagues.

Apparently, Ronald was given the nickname “Turk” Lurk, which I like to think he got while playing baseball. I located these photos of Ronald and Sarah Lurk.

Gertrude Fritz died in 1973 at the age of 80; Harry Fritz died in 1975 at the age of 84. These two are buried together in the Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery in Perryville.

I mentioned the name of the Hotel Perry and Harry Fritz to Gerard Fiehler yesterday. He recalled that we have some artifacts in our museum which were given by Harry Fritz that were from the Hotel Perry. One of them is an item that has appeared on this blog before. It is the item shown below that was described as a Weasel in the story, The Weasel’s Pop.

I never know exactly where a story will lead me. Sometimes to baseball. Sometimes to a weasel.