I have previously written posts about members of the Anton Meister family. After all, he and his wife, Gabriele Hopfer, had 13 children according to our German Family Tree. One post, Meister Bauer, referred to Anton as “master farmer”, which is what Meister Bauer means in German. After Anton and Gabriele got married in 1866, most of their first 7 children have baptism records in the books of Grace Lutheran Church in Uniontown. The remaining children have their baptism records in the books of Immanuel Lutheran Church in New Wells, beginning in 1881. So, in the late 1870’s, the Meister family relocated to the Shawnee Township. The remaining children who were baptized in New Wells included a set of twins born in 1881 and a set of triplets born in 1886. Today, I will tell the tale of the Meister son that was born between the twins and triplets. He is our birthday boy. Before I begin his story, I feel the need to include the 1880 census entry for this Meister family. Back when I wrote the story about Anton and Gabriele Meister, I included an 1880 census for Valentine Meister, not Anton Meister. Anton’s entry for that year’s census shows him living in the Shawnee Township, where he is called a manufacturer.

That brings us up to today’s birthday boy, Walter Rudolph Meister, who was born on January 17, 1884. That makes today his 140th birthday. His baptism record from the books of Immanuel Lutheran Church in New Wells is pictured here.

Walter never shows up in a census entry for this area because the Meister family made another move before 1900. The last entry in our GFT for a person in this Meister family was a confirmation record from 1888. After that, we find the Meister’s living in Capps Creek Township, which is located in Barry County, Missouri. In a previous post, I displayed this map which shows the location of Capps Creek Township.

In the 1900 census, we find Walter at the age of 16. He was said to be “at school”, and his father was a farmer in the Capps Creek Township.

As it turns out, Walter would be a life-long bachelor. We find him in the 1910 census living with his older brother, Theodore, and his family, and another brother, Arthur, and his family. Walter and his two brothers were all called farmers.

Walter had his World War I draft registration completed in 1918. He is given a Monett, Missouri address. Monett is a city located in Barry County. His father, A.F. Meister, who was still alive, was called his nearest relative. Walter was said to be working for himself as a farmer. There is no indication that Walter was called into the military during that conflict.

The 1920 census shows Walter, at the age of 36, was back again living with his parents and farming with his father and brother, Theodore. There is a bit of a mystery here. Theodore is listed as being married, and the children listed in this entry are his, but his wife, Minnie, is missing. Minnie would be found with Theodore in the next census in 1930, but not this one.

Walter’s father died in 1923, so he is not found in the next census in 1930. In the entry below, you will see 2 Meister households right next to each other. Walter was living in the household of his brother, Theodore, along with his mother, Gabriele. The other household was that of Walter’s brother, Arthur, and his family. These 2 brothers are the same ones that Walter was living with in the 1910 census shown earlier.

Walter’s mother died in 1934. Then, in the 1920 census, we find Walter still living with and farming with his brother, Theodore.

The last census we can view is the one taken in 1950. Walter was still living with his brother, Theodore, and his wife, Minnie, but the head of the household was Theodore’s son-in-law, Richard Bottorf. At the age of 66, Walter was still helping with the farming.

Walter Meister died in 1957 at the age of 73. He is buried in the St. John’s Lutheran Cemetery in Stones Prairie, Missouri. St. John’s Lutheran Church is also said to be found in Purdy, Missouri. That congregation was founded in 1884, the same year that Walter was born. Below is a photo of that church as it appears in a recent aerial photo.

Below is an image of Walter’s gravestone in the St. John’s Cemetery.

I am guessing that this may not be the last time I tell the story of a Meister who ended up in Barry County, Missouri. And I think such future Meister stories will end with a person being buried in the St. John’s Lutheran Cemetery in Stones Prairie. On Findagrave.com, you will find 17 grave sites in that cemetery that contain the name Meister. The Meister’s managed to find a group of German Lutherans who established that church not long before the Meister’s arrived on the scene there.