Once again, today’s story will highlight a wedding anniversary. As with the story written yesterday, today’s pair does not remain in Perry County after their marriage, but today’s couple never moves out of Missouri. I will begin with the bride because she is the one who first shows up in our German Family Tree.

Magdalena Helena Fath was born on September 15, 1844, the daughter of Leonard and Margaretha (Bergmann) Fath. She mostly went by the name, Ellen, so that is what I will use. Ellen’s baptism record is found in the books of Grace Lutheran Church in Uniontown. I think she may have actually been baptized in her home nearer to Perryville because there was no Lutheran church established there yet. We can view her baptism record below.

Ellen is found in the 1850 census at the age of 6. Her father was a blacksmith in Perryville.

The only other census entry in which we find Ellen unmarried was the one taken in 1860. There were quite a few Fath children in this family.

Now, we will take a look at the man who would become Ellen’s husband. His name was Adolphus Keehn, who was born in Germany on October 26, 1827. That means he was about 17 years older than Ellen. According to a biography that I will display later, Adolph, the son of John and Henrietta Keehn, received a degree from the University of Berlin in 1853 and became a medical doctor. Then, in 1856, he survived a rather harrowing voyage to America, and by 1857, would end up in St. Louis. He would eventually make his way to Perry County, which is where he must have met Ellen Fath.

Prior to getting married, it appears that Adolph was living in St. Louis and he became involved in the Civil War. His military record is pictured here.

Adolph Keehn married Ellen Fath on April 16, 1863, thus making today their 161st anniversary. The wedding took place at Peace Lutheran Church in Friedenberg, so we cannot look at an image of their church marriage record. However, there is a civil marriage record from Perry County that we can view. On this form, we see the spelling of Keehn as being Kuehn, which is a name that was part of the Stephanite immigration in 1839. I think this was a misspelling on this marriage record.

I think it was not long after his wedding that Adolph had to be registered for the Civil War draft. This form says he was living in Perry County at the time.

I believe that Adolph and Ellen had 5 children. After their marriage, we find the Keehn’s living in the Fillmore Township in Bollinger County. They were living in the little village of Glenallen. The 1870 census shows this family with 3 children. Adolph was called a physician, but we also see 3 extra members in their household preforming jobs for the Keehn’s. Two of them are called farm laborers, indicating that Adolph was also the owner of a farm.

The 1880 census was even more interesting. Adolph is called a physician, farmer, and merchant. We are told in his biography that Adolph was also the proprietor of a store in Glenallen. Once again, there were 3 addition members of the household performing different tasks. Two were said to be farm laborers, and one was said to be working in the store. All 5 of the Fath children are listed in this entry.

At some point in time, Ellen had this photo taken.

Ellen Fath’s life came to a tragic end in 1894 at the age of 49. An article appeared in a local newspaper that described her unfortunate death. It indicates that their daughter, Ida, had apparently also married a doctor.

I had a little surprise when looking at the deaths of Ellen and Adolph. I found their death records in a place that I had never before seen records. Ancestry.com now includes some records for a Zion Lutheran Church, but it does not identify where that congregation was. I have determined that it was Zion Lutheran Church located in Gravelton, Missouri. We can see the proximity of Gravelton to Glenallen on the map below.

Below is a death record for Ellen from that congregation’s records.

I was unable to find Dr. Keehn in the 1900 census. Then, in 1908, Adolph died at the age of 80. We can look at his obituary below.

We can also take a look at Adolph’s death record from Zion Lutheran Church.

The image above confirmed that this collection of records was from the Gravelton church, because, according to the list of early pastors at that congregation shown below, Pastor Schooff was serving that congregation in 1908.

Zion Lutheran Church in Gravelton has a special place in the early history of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. Rev. C.F.W. Walther attended a conference at that church in 1872 to discuss with Lutherans from some other states about reaching English-speaking Lutherans in America. This meeting eventually led to the establishment of the English District. A drawing that is found on the website of Concordia Historical Institute illustrates this 1872 meeting in Gravelton.

CHI also supplies this description of the drawing.

Dr. Adolph Keehn got his biography published in Goodspeed’s History of Southeast Missouri prior to his death. It adds several more details to his life story.

Both Adolph and Ellen Keehn are buried in the Glenallen Cemetery in Glenallen.

I enjoyed learning about some locations that were new to me in the course of writing this story. I also appreciated finding a new set of Lutheran church records that I may be able to use again in the future. I never know where a story will lead me, but I often really enjoy the trip.