The biography you will read today eventually gets around to a wedding that took place on April 5th. Most stories end with an undertaker being involved. This one will involve a man who did the work of an undertaker while he was alive. I have written a previous post that mention today’s couple, but it did not go into detail about the lives of today’s bride and groom. That post was titled, Who Buried the Undertaker? I will provide more details and documents for the lives of this pair in this post. I will begin with the groom.

Nathanael Gustav Adolph Grosse was born on May 17, 1857, the son of Ferdinand and Amalia (Boehme) Grosse. Gustav’s parents were both part of the German Lutheran immigration led by Rev. Martin Stephan in 1839. Ferdinand was one of 3 Grosse brothers, all of whom were shoemakers, and Amalia was a teenager, when both of them made the voyage to America aboard the Johann Georg. Perhaps these two got acquainted with each other on that ship. This couple was married in St. Louis in 1845, but would then move to Perry County. The Grosse’s were first members of Concordia Lutheran Church in Frohna, but would later become members of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Altenburg when it was established in late 1857. Gustav was baptized at Concordia, Frohna just prior to Immanuel being formed. His baptism record from Concordia’s books is shown here.

Gustav is found in the 1860 census at the age of 3. His father was a shoemaker in the Brazeau Township.

Gustav was a teenager in the 1870 census. The image below of the portion of a census page for the Grosse family also includes the Charles Weber family right below the Grosse’s. I have highlighted both Gustav Grosse and Margaret Weber in this image because those two would be the bride and groom in today’s featured wedding. It is not hard to figure out how these two became acquainted.

Gustav was confirmed at Immanuel, Altenburg in 1871. Then, we find him in the 1880 census in which he was still single. His father had died in January of 1880, so he is not found in this entry. Gustav’s mother was a widow, and Gustav was farming.

Now, it is time to take a look at Gustav’s bride. Her name was Emma Magdalene Margaretha Weber, who was born on August 5, 1860. Margaretha was the daughter of Carl and Emilie (Gebner) Weber. She was baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Altenburg. We can take a look at her baptism record below.

Margaretha was born too late in 1860 to be included in that year’s census, so the first census in which we see her is the one shown earlier that included the Grosse household. Like was the case with Gustav’s father, Margaretha’s father also died in early 1880, so when that year’s census was taken, Margaretha’s mother was a widow. Margaretha was 19 years old at the time.

That leads us up to the wedding that took place on April 5, 1883 with Gustav Grosse being the groom and Margaretha Weber being the bride. So, today would be the 141st anniversary for this couple. They were married at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Altenburg. We can view their church marriage record here.

The Missouri marriage license for this pair can also be seen below.

Gustav and Margaretha had 5 children, but only 3 of them lived to adulthood. In the 1900 census, we find the Grosse household with 3 children. Gustav is called a farmer.

The 1910 census shows the Grosse’s with all 3 children who were then in their 20’s.

The 1915 plat maps show the Gustav Grosse farm being located near the village of Frohna.

I figure it must have been later in the 1910’s that Margaretha had this photograph taken of her and her daughter, Susanna.

Margaretha Grosse died in 1918 at the age of 57. Her death certificate is pictured here. Please note that Herman Kuntze is called the undertaker on this form.

When we get to the 1920 census, we find only 2 children still living with Gustav.

The last census in which we find Gustav was the one taken in 1930. Just one single son was living with Gustav, who was still farming.

Gustav Grosse died in 1938 at the age of 81. We can also view his death certificate.

Both of the death certificates for these two say that they were buried in Altenburg. Findagrave.com has entries for each of them in the Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery in Altenburg, but there are no gravestone photos. I went to that cemetery this morning to look for their gravestones. I was unsuccessful. What I did find were a few empty spots where these two were likely buried. Margaretha’s likely burial site is on the left and Gustav’s on the right.

Now, I need to discuss the undertaking and funeral home businesses. First of all, none of the census entries for Gustav described him as being an undertaker. He is always called a farmer. However, there are quite a few death certificates which began to be completed in 1910 that describe Gustav Grosse as the undertaker. One is shown below.

Back in his days, an undertaker was basically involved in constructing a casket and providing a hearse (wagon) with horses for the funeral procession. Gustav apparently performed these tasks on the side while being a farmer. I think he is not listed as the undertaker on his wife’s death certificate because he would not have been expected to make funeral arrangements for his own wife. Then, beginning in about 1920, the undertaking profession shifted to become a funeral home director. The first funeral home in this area was the Young & Sons Funeral Home in Perryville. If you look at Gustav’s death certificate, it no longer has a space for “undertaker”, but instead has a space for “funeral director”, and it mentions Young & Sons.

Does anyone else think it is ironic that an undertaker and his wife have no gravestone where they are buried?