We begin with a birthday girl who would be celebrating her 125th birthday on this Easter Sunday. Amanda Elsie Feiste was born on March 31, 1899, the daughter of Otto and Hulda (Junge) Feiste. According to our German Family Tree, Amanda was child #6 in a large family of 13. She was baptized at Salem Lutheran Church in Farrar. An image of her baptism record is displayed below.

Amanda is found in the 1900 census living in the Union Township. This entry says she was 2 years old, but I think she was just 1. Her father was a farmer.

The plat map shown here indicates the location of the Feiste farm.

Amanda was 11 years old in the 1910 census entry for the Feiste family.

Amanda would get married during the next decade, so let’s take a look at her first husband. His name was Otto Arthur Joseph Grebing, who was born on July 22, 1896. Otto was the son of Charles and Emma (Rust) Grebing. He was baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg. His baptism record is pictured here.

Otto is found in his first census in 1900 at the age of 3. His father was a farmer in the Brazeau Township. There was a servant named Mina Poppitz and a farm laborer named Otto Goehring living in their household.

In the 1910 census, Otto was a teenager.

Plat maps were produced for Perry County in 1915, and the map below not only shows the location of the Charles Grebing farm, but also a few other parcels of land that will enter the story later.

Otto had his World War I draft registration completed in 1918. It gives him an Altenburg address.

Otto Grebing married Amanda Feiste on December 14, 1919 at Salem Lutheran Church in Farrar. I’m a little surprised that the pastor in Farrar would perform a wedding during the Advent season. We can take a look at this couples’ church marriage record below.

We can also view this pair’s Missouri marriage license.

Our German Family Tree lists 4 children born to Otto and Amanda. The first was a set of twin girls. One lived and one died on the same day she was born. Those twins were born late in 1920 after the census was taken that year. Otto and Amanda were living with Otto’s widowed father in their 1920 census entry.

As it turns out, that would be the only census in which we find both Otto and Amanda. Otto died in 1928 at the age of 31. Pneumonia is given as the cause of his death on his death certificate.

Otto died just 8 days after his last son, Clarence, was born. So, Clarence never got to know his father. Amanda would get married again, so we will now look at the man who would become her second husband. His name was Joseph Rudolph Mueller, who was born on November 19, 1889. Joseph was the son of Joseph and Ernestine (Dellert or Taellerdt) Mueller. He was baptized at Concordia Lutheran Church in Frohna. We can look at his baptism record here.

Joseph’s father died in 1891 when he was just 2 years old. Another Mueller son was born in 1891 and was just a few months old when his father died, so he also never got to know his father. Joseph was 10 years old when he shows up in the 1900 census. His older brother, Martin, was called the farmer in the family. If you look once again at the plat map shown earlier, you will find the Ernestine Mueller farm located right next to the Grebing farm.

Joseph was 21 years old when the 1910 census was taken. His mother, Ernestine, was called a farmer, while Joseph and his younger brother Albert, were farm laborers. I have included the Hellwege household just below the Mueller family. The Hellwege farm is another one highlighted in the plat map shown before. In that Hellwege household was a girl named Edna, who would become Joseph’s first wife.

Let’s now take a look at Joseph’s first bride. Her name was Edna Ida Hellwege, who was born on February 9, 1891. Edna was the daughter of Ferdinand and Amalia (Ross) Hellwege. She was baptized at Concordia Lutheran Church in Frohna. An image of her baptism record is pictured here. Her first name is spelled, Etna.

Edna is found in the 1900 census at the age of 9. Her grandparents were the heads of the household. Her father and grandfather were farmers in the Brazeau Township.

The last census entry in which Edna was unmarried was the one taken in 1910. She was 19 years old at that time.

Joseph Mueller married his neighbor, Edna Hellwege, on April 19, 1914 at Concordia, Frohna. The church record for this event is shown here.

The Missouri marriage license for this couple can also be viewed.

This pair has two daughters listed in our German Family Tree. In 1917, Joseph had his World War I draft registration completed. It indicates that he had a wife and 2 children.

We find the Mueller household in the 1920 census. In addition to Joseph, Edna, and their 2 children, 2 of Joseph’s brothers, and his mother (even though she is called a stepmother). Joseph was a farmer.

Edna Mueller died in 1927 at the age of 36. Some sort of paralysis along with influenza caused her death.

So, when 1928 rolled around and Amanda Grebing lost her husband, she was a widow with 3 children, and her neighbor, the widower Joseph Mueller, had 2 young children of his own. Amanda’s husband had likely been a childhood friend of Joseph since they were raised so near one another. So, November 17, 1929, Joseph Mueller married Amanda Grebing at Concordia, Frohna. I am not able to display their church marriage record because Concordia’s marriage records that we have in our museum only go up to 1920. However, I can show you this couple’s Missouri marriage license.

No additional children were born to this couple. In the 1930 census, we find this blended Mueller/Grebing family. In addition, Joseph’s brother, Martin was living with them. Martin was helping with the farming.

Next, we find the Mueller’s in the 1940 census. Just the 3 Grebing children remained in their household.

In 1946, Joseph’s life came to a tragic end. His death certificate below states that he died of burns over his entire body. He was 56 years old when he died.

A short article published in a local paper described how he died.

Amanda is found in one more census entry in 1950. She was living with her son, Clarence Grebing. Right below her entry, you will see that of Otto Grebing’s brother, Charles.

Amanda Mueller died in 1954 at the age of 54. Her death certificate can be viewed here.

All of the main characters from this story are buried in the Concordia Lutheran Cemetery in Frohna.

Today’s birthday girl started her life in a rural neighborhood near Farrar. After she got married, she spent the rest of her life in a rural neighborhood near Frohna. Amanda was the only outsider involved in this story who moved into that neighborhood. After moving there, Amanda likely attended the funeral of Edna Mueller, and certainly attended the funeral of her husband, Otto Grebing. Then, she would have to also experience the funeral of her second husband after his tragic death. She witnessed the early deaths of quite a few neighbors.