Heinrich Ernst Kaemfe was born on May 13, 1878, so he qualifies to be today’s birthday boy. He would be celebrating his 146th birthday today. Ernst was the son of Traugott and Justine (Henneke) Kaempfe. Ernst was child #6 in this Kaempfe family. The Kaempfe’s had recently moved from Millstadt, Illinois to Perry County when Ernst was born. Ernst was the first child in his family to be born in this county and baptized at Concordia Lutheran Church in Frohna. His baptism record from that congregation’s records is displayed here.

I have written several other stories about children in this Kaempfe family, but I have never included the 1880 census entry for them. No Ancestry.com family trees include that year’s census either. So, I decided to take a look at the 1880 Union Township pages that were recently found, but have yet to be included in the Ancestry.com databases. I did find the Traugott Kaempfe family in those pages, so this is the first time that I will display that entry on this blog. Ernst was 2 years old, and his father was a farmer. The entry spills over 2 census pages, so I have to show 2 images.

That census entry would be the only one we can view in which Ernst was living with his parents. If we were able to view the 1890 census, he would almost certainly have been found in his parents’ entry. Ernst was confirmed in 1892 at Concordia, Frohna.

I think it may have prior to 1900 that the Kaempfe family had this photo taken. Ernst is standing in the back row on the far right.

Ernst never married. When we take a look at his entry in the 1900 census, we find him living in the Claus Stueve household where he was called a farm laborer. This entry does not indicate this, but Claus Stueve’s wife, Louise, was Ernst’s older sister. That made Ernst the brother-in-law of Claus.

Another photo of the Kaempfe family was taken in about 1900. The caption will help you identify which one is Ernst. I think both of the Kaempfe family photos were taken in front of the same house.

Ernst was still living with the Stueve’s in the 1910d census. He was 31 years old at the time. In both of the last 2 census entries, the Stueve’s had others living with them who were helping with jobs around their farm, one of them being Ernst.

Ernst had his World War I draft registration completed in 1918. It says he was still a farm laborer for Claus Stueve.

In 1920, Ernst was still living in the Stueve household. Along with the Stueve’s and Ernst Kaempfe, we find Martha Kaempfe and 3 of her children. Martha’s husband, Otto Kaempfe, had died in 1916. Otto was another son in the Traugott Kaempfe family.

A tragedy hit the Claus Stueve household in 1925. The Tri-State Tornado, the deadliest one in American history, went through Perry County, and it destroyed the Claus Stueve farm. Both Louise Stueve and Martha Kaempfe died as a result of injuries during that disaster. So, Ernst lost a sister and a sister-in-law due to that tornado. Evidence seems to indicate that Ernst could have been living on that farm when that tornado struck, but I cannot be sure. I looked at several newspaper articles that documented that tornado, but I did not see Ernst’s name in any of them stating that he was present at the Stueve farm.

There’s a bit of evidence that Ernst was at the Stueve farm during the tornado. Ernst was still living in the Claus Stueve household when the 1930 census was taken. Claus had remarried a woman named Clara Burfeind. The 18 year-old Rudolph Kaempfe, found in this entry is the same boy included in the 1920 census as Martha Kaempfe’s son.

Next, we find Ernst in the 1940 census. This time, he was living with Alvin and Paula (Kaempfe) Meyer. Paula was the daughter of Theodore Kaempfe, another one of Ernst’s brothers, thus making her Ernst’s niece. Alvin Meyer was a carpenter, and Ernst is not given an occupation.

Ernst had his World War II draft card completed in 1942. It contains some interesting information. First of all, Ernst was already 63 years old when he was registering for a military draft. Also, he is given a Frohna address, which is not surprising, but it also says his employer was A.R. Oswald, who lived in Madison, Nebraska. A.R. Oswald was the son of Otto and Anna (Kaempfe) Oswald, and Anna was another sister of Ernst. That makes Alfred Oswald one of Ernst’s nephews. Madison is found in a region of Nebraska where quite a few young men moved from Perry County in the early 1900’s to find work and stayed there.

When Ernst left Perry County to go to Madison, Nebraska, an article appeared in the Perry County Republican which confirmed this move. It mentions another of Ernst’s nephews, Paul Oswald.

Ernst is found in one more census entry, the one from 1950. He was back living in Perry County where he was also back in the household of Alvin Meyer. It says he was doing odd jobs at the age of 71. I also see several of Alvin’s children who are very familiar to me, Imogene, Courtney, and Pearline.

Ernst Kaempfe died in 1952 at the age of 74. His death certificate below says he died of prostate cancer.

Ernst Kaempfe is buried in the Concordia Lutheran Cemetery in Frohna.

Today’s birthday boy, Ernst Kaempfe, because he remained single, was able to become a helper on farms operated by other members of his Kaempfe family. We have evidence of him spending some time in Nebraska. Another of Ernst’s sisters ended up living in Sylvan Grove, Kansas. I did not find evidence of it, but I have to wonder if Ernst might have spent time living with his sister in Kansas. I have to admit that it may not have been as likely because his sister’s husband was a merchant, not a farmer. Ernst never owned a farm, but it looks like he was always living on a family farm.