First of all, let me say that May 7th is probably best-known in Lutheran circles as being the date of Rev. C.F.W. Walther’s death in 1887. The story of his funerals (there were 3 of them) along with his burial service was told in a post that was published on this blog titled, Follow Him in His Victorious Faith. However, today you will read the story of a Meier man who was born on this day.

Johann Heinrich Meier was born on May 7, 1854 in Germany. That makes today his 170th birthday. John was the son of Peter and Anna (Gerken) Meier. John’s family came to America in 1869 aboard the ship, Frankfort. John was 15 years old at the time. We see the Meier family on the passenger list for that ship shown below (although their name was spelled Meyer).

Not long after their arrival, the Meier family is found in the 1870 census. John was 16 years old, and his father was a farmer in the Brazeau Township. The church records for members of this Meier family in those days are found in the books of Salem Lutheran Church in Farrar.

Now, we will take a look at John’s future wife. Her name was Maria Bertha Eggers, and she was born on September 25, 1857. Mary was the daughter of Herman and Johanna (Hopfer) Eggers. She was baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg. Her baptism record from that congregation’s books is pictured here.

Mary is found in the 1860 census at the age of 2. Her father was a farmer in the Brazeau Township.

Next, we find Mary in the 1870 census. A few more children had been added to this Eggers family during the previous decade.

John Meier married Mary Eggers on April 27, 1876 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg. Starting in about 1874, marriage records began appearing the Trinity church books after the “Koestering Hole”, so we are able to view the church marriage record for John and Mary.

I am also able to display two different civil documents for this wedding.

Here is the second one. All three of these marriage documents use the Meyer spelling for John’s surname. Perhaps there was a time that his family used that spelling before settling on the Meier spelling.

Our German Family Tree lists 7 children born to this Meier couple. All of their children were baptized at Salem Lutheran Church in Farrar. When the 1880 census was taken, we see just their firstborn child, a boy named Martin, in their household. In the 1870’s, the Union Township was established, and that is where we find the Meier’s living. John was a farmer. For some unknown reason, there is a line that seems to cross out John’s name in this entry.

We are not able to view another census until 1900. When the census was compiled for that year, we see the Meier’s with 6 children. Their daughter, Anna, had married Herman Mangels in 1899, so she is never seen in a census with her parents. She had been born in 1880 just after that year’s census was taken.

The 1910 census shows only 3 children still living with John and Mary. John was getting some help on his farm from his son, Joseph.

When the 1915 plat maps were produced for Perry County, we see the John H. Meier farm located near Brazeau and Farrar.

The last census in which we find John Meier was the one taken in 1920. He and Mary had an empty nest in this entry.

John Meier died in 1926 at the age of 72. His death certificate is another place where we see his name spelled as Meyer.

An obituary for John was published in the Perry County Republican. It points out that several of his children had moved to other states.

Mary Meier is found in the 1930 census living in the household of her son, Joseph, and his family. Mary got to live for a time with several of her grandchildren.

Mary was still alive in 1940, but I was unable to locate her in that year’s census. Mary Meier died in 1943 at the age of 85. We can also view her death certificate.

An obituary was printed in the Perryville paper on the occasion of her death.

Both John and Mary Eggers are buried in the Salem Lutheran Cemetery in Farrar.

The family beginning with the marriage of today’s Meier couple is the beginning of 5 pages in our German Family Tree that list their descendants. Now that we are a few generations later in history, there must be plenty of people now alive who can include John and Mary in their family trees.