Our birthday girl for today spent just a short time in Perry County before hopping across the river to live the rest of her life in Jacob, Illinois. Johanna Natalia Theodora Darnstaedt was born on March 10, 1899, so today would be her 125th birthday. She went by the name Dora during her life. Dora was the daughter of Martin and Bertha (Haacke) Darnstaedt. This Darnstaedt couple had 3 children, all girls, Dora being the youngest. All 3 of the girls have their baptism records in the the books of Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg. Dora’s baptism record is pictured below.

Dora is found in the 1900 census at the age of 1. Her father was a day laborer, and based on the names of people included on the same census page, I think he lived and worked in Wittenberg.

I did not include any of the Darnstaedt family in the 2 books of my Wittenberg Series, which are set in the 1903 and 1904 years in Wittenberg, but I could have easily done so. They would certainly have been a family shopping at the Lueders or Mueller Stores, and Martin could have worked at the Weinhold Flour Mill. The books of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Wittenberg lists the Darnstaedt’s as members in 1903 when that congregation was officially established. Since that church building had already existed before St. Paul’s began, it is quite likely that the Darnstaedt girls were baptized there by the pastor from Altenburg.

The oldest Darnstaedt girl was confirmed at St. Paul’s in Wittenberg in 1909. Then, the middle Darnstaedt girl was confirmed in 1911 at Christ Lutheran Church in Jacob, Illinois. That is also where Dora was confirmed in 1912. The Christ, Jacob books say the Darnstaedt’s became members in 1910. When the census was taken in 1910, we already find them living in the Fountain Bluff Township of Jackson County, Illinois. Dora’s father was a farmer.

That would be the last census in which we find Dora unmarried, so we will now take a look at the man who would become her husband. His name was Ernest Heinrich Luedemann, who was born on January 5, 1895. Ernest was the 2nd of 11 children in the family of Heinrich and Maria (Guetersloh) Luedemann and baptized at Christ Lutheran Church in Jacob. His baptism record from that congregation’s books is shown here in 2 images.

Ernest is found in the 1900 census at the age of 5. His father was a farmer in the Fountain Bluff Township.

Ernest was confirmed in 1909, and then appears in the 1910 census at the age of 15. He and another older brother were helping their father on his farm.

Ernest was still single in 1917 when he had his World War I draft registration completed. On both of Ernest’s military documents and on his gravestone, his surname is spelled with just one “n” at the end.

Ernest had that form filled out in June of that year. Then, on September 9, 1917, Ernest Luedeman married Dora Darnstaedt at Christ Lutheran Church in Jacob. We can view this couple’s church marriage record below.

Our German Family Tree lists 4 children born to this couple, 2 boys and 2 girls. All 4 were baptized at Christ, Jacob. In the 1920 census, we find Ernest and Dora living with Ernest’s parents along with their first child.. Ernest and his father were farming together.

Two more children were born to the Luedeman’s during the 1920’s. Below, we see this family in their 1930 census entry. Ernest was farming by himself.

We never find a census that includes all 4 of the Luedeman children. Their daughter, Mabel, got married in 1936, so she is not found in the 1940 census below. Their last child had been born in 1930 after the census was taken that year.

The last census the public can view is the one taken in 1950. Ernest and Dora were in their 50’s, and the only son still living with them was doing construction work.

Dora Luedeman died in 1973 at the age of 73. On Findagrave.com, you can find the transcription of her obituary shown below. Her church record says she died of a heart attack.

Ernest Luedeman died in 1984 at the age of 89. We can also read his obituary. He died at a nursing home in Murphysboro.

Ernest and Dora Luedeman are buried together in the Christ Lutheran Cemetery in Jacob.

If you look at the grave sites to be found in the Christ Lutheran Cemetery, you will discover that about half of the sites for today’s surname are spelled as Luedemann (with the double “n” at the end) and the other half are spelled as Luedeman, like you see on the gravestone above. Ernest’s parents are both buried in that cemetery and they use the name with the single “n”. I am thinking that Ernest’s Luedeman family made the decision to remove an “n” from their name at some point after Ernest was born.