The Point Rest Lutheran Cemetery is not very large, and the church it was associated with is no longer active. Yet, it has a place on Findagrave.com with 68 grave sites which are documented. I went to that site and did a search on the surname, Hadler, which is quite a common name around here. That search came up with 4 results. Then, I did a search for the surname, Hatler, and came up with 5 results. The Hadler/Hatler family that is found in our German Family Tree mostly has people who used the Hadler spelling, but there are some who used the Hatler spelling. You will be reading the story of a Hatler today.

Laura Neda Hatler is today’s birthday girl. She was born on February 23, 1899, making today her 125th birthday. Laura was the 4th of 9 children born to Herman and Lena (Mueller) Hatler. By the way, Laura’s parents are buried in the Point Rest Lutheran Cemetery using the name Hatler. Laura was not born in Perry County. She was born in the Shawnee Township of Cape Girardeau County and baptized at Zion Lutheran Church in Pocahontas. We can take a look at Laura’s baptism record below. Her surname is spelled with two “t’s”.

Laura was just an infant when we find her in the 1900 census. Her father was a farmer in the Shawnee Township. This entry spells the family’s surname as Hatler.

The Hatler’s are once again found living in the Shawnee Township when the 1910 census was taken. Laura, at the age of 10, was one of 6 children in the Hatler household.

At some point during the next decade, the Hatler’s moved to Perry County and settled in the vicinity of Menfro. I did not find any land associated with the Hatler or Hadler name in the 1915 atlas for Perry County. However, Laura was confirmed at Zion, Pocahontas in 1913 as seen in her confirmation record below.

Laura’s younger brother was confirmed in 1915 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Point Rest, which was located in the river bottoms near Menfro. In the alphabetical list shown here from the Trinity, Point Rest records, we see quite a few Hadler names, but only one that is spelled Hatler. William Theodore Hatler was Laura’s brother. There is evidence here that before Laura’s family moved to Perry County, her uncle, Henry Hadler had moved his family to the Menfro area as early as 1911.

Also, one of Laura’s older brothers had his World War I draft registration completed in 1917, and he was given a Menfro address. Laura is found in the 1920 census living in the Bois Brule Township. Laura was listed as being 19 years old, but since she was born in 1899, she would have been at least 20. It’s a bit difficult to read, but Laura’s father is called a blacksmith in this entry.

Laura Hatler never married. We find her still living with her parents in the 1930 census. Her father and two younger brothers were called laborers for levee construction that was going on at that time. Laura was said to be a servant for a private family (possibly her own).

A major flood had occurred in the Mississippi River Valley in 1927. I have heard folks around here talk about the levee breaking in the Menfro area to cause the flooding in the Menfro bottoms. That flood is what precipitated the demise of the Lutheran church in Point Rest. It also necessitated a reconstruction of the levee.

Next, we find the Hatler’s in the 1940 census. Just two single children were living with the Hatler parents. Laura is not given an occupation, but she was likely doing most of the housekeeping for her parents who were getting up there in age.

A photograph was taken of Laura Hatler that I will display here.

Laura’s father, Herman Hatler, died in 1945, so he is not found in the 1950 census. Laura was living in the town of Menfro with her mother, who is called Mrs. Herman Hatler in this entry.

Laura’s mother died in 1957, and then in 1960, Laura Hatler died at the age of 61. Her death certificate below says that she died at the Perry County Memorial Hospital of thyroid cancer.

Since the Point Rest church had closed, Laura’s death record is found in the books of Zion Lutheran Church in Crosstown, just up the road from Menfro. Laura is buried in the Point Rest Lutheran Cemetery.

I think we could qualify Laura as one of those persons who has been referred to as a “tante”. In many families, a female who never marries is found caring for either other family members’ children or her elderly parents. We see that Laura meets those qualifications.