I have previously written stories about some children in the Jacob Schlimpert family. The youngest child in this Schlimpert family was my Uncle Oscar Schlimpert, so I have a special interest in getting to know more about this family. Today, I will be discussing one of Uncle Oscar’s older sisters, Gertrude Schlimpert. Gertrude is today’s birthday girl.

Gertrude Emma Anna Schlimpert was born on April 29, 1894, thus making today her 130th birthday. As said previously, her father was Jacob Schlimpert, and her mother was Caroline (Boeger) Schlimpert. Gertrude was baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg. An image of her baptism record from that congregation’s books is shown below.

Gertrude is found in her first census entry in 1900. She was 6 years old, and her father was a farmer in the Brazeau Township. More specifically, he was a farmer in the Seelitz community.

It must have been just prior to this time that the photo shown below was taken. The 3 oldest Schlimpert’s, Bertha, Gertrude, and Hugo are found in this photograph. I assume that Gertrude is the girl standing in the middle. And I wish I knew the dog’s name.

Two more Schlimpert children were born in the early 1900’s, Selida and Oscar. The 1910 census displays 5 of the 6 Schlimpert children. The oldest, Bertha, was “working out” with a Mueller family at this time.

Another photo was taken of the Jacob Schlimpert family probably about this time. Gertrude is second from the right in the back row.

During the 1910’s, Gertrude made a move to Oklahoma, and she would never again live in Perry County. The 1920 census shows her living in Oklahoma City in the Val Gardner household. Val had married Anna Boeger, who was the sister of Gertrude’s mother, making her Anna’s niece. If you look back at Gertrude’s baptism record, you will see that Anna was also one of Gertrude’s baptismal sponsors. Val Gardner was working for an oil company selling oil leases.

Now, it is time to switch over to discussing the man who would become Gertrude’s husband. His name was Otto Watson Likins, who was born on December 9th in either 1891 or 1892. His name is found on documents as either Otto or Watson. I will use Otto. Otto was the son of James and Sarah (Hayes) Likins. He is found in the 1900 census at the age of 9, which supports an 1891 year of birth. His father was a farmer in Oakley, Illinois, which is located not far from Decatur.

The Likins family made a move during the next decade. When the 1910 census was taken, we find them living in Oklahoma City where Otto’s father was a contractor doing carpentry. Otto was also said to be a carpenter, probably working with his father at the age of 18.

Otto had his World War I draft registration completed in 1917. This document says he was working as a carpenter for a Mr. Redmon in Oklahoma City. This document says Otto was born in 1892.

Otto did get called into military service during that war. The transcription pictured here describes the dates of his service.

In the 1920 census, Otto was still living with his parents at the age of 28, and still working as a carpenter.

Otto Likins married Gertrude Schlimpert on April 16, 1922. I am able to display a civil marriage license application from Oklahoma for this wedding.

There were no children born to this couple according to later census entries. In the 1930 census, we find this pair still living in the same city with Otto still having the same occupation.

What is interesting is the fact that in 1930, Gertrude’s younger sister, Salida, was then living in Oklahoma City and was residing in the Val Gardner household. Salida would then meet a Lutheran pastor in Oklahoma City, Rev. Henry Castor, and would marry him. So, 2 Schlimpert girls found their husbands in Oklahoma City.

Next, we find the Likins couple in the 1940 census. Not much has changed except this couple’s ages.

Otto had his World War II draft card completed in 1942. This form says he was in the business of repairing cabinets.

The last census that the public is permitted to view is the one taken in 1950. This time, it says Otto was a woodworker with his own shop.

Otto Likins died in 1979 at the age of 86. I was unable to locate any information about where he is buried. Apparently, after her husband’s death, Gertrude made her way to the St. Louis area. That is where she died in 1984 at the age of 90. Her Social Security death index says her last residence was in Florissant, Missouri. I also was unable to locate burial information for her.

On several occasions in the past, I have displayed family photos that have included a dog. Dogs sometimes find ways to sneak into a picture when there is a camera around. The Schlimpert family shown earlier is one of them. Because of that photo, I included a dog in my book, Wittenberg ’03. It told of that dog coming out to greet the young couple, Otto Lueders and Lydia Weinhold, who were out on a leisurely buggy ride when they were courting and arrived at the Schlimpert home. This past weekend when our family was gathered in Memphis for a special occasion, Macie, our daughter’s dog, felt the need to get in our family photo.

You can see that I was also privileged to be surrounded by a lot of pretty ladies in Memphis.