Most people that are characters on this blog become the stories of married couples. It is relatively rare that I tell the story of a person who remains unmarried for their entire life. I wrote such a story yesterday about Ernst Kaempfe. Therefore, it is not likely that you get to read stories of unmarried people on two consecutive days. Yet that is what you will read today. Not only that, you will read about a pair of siblings who remained single all their lives today. I have also written a few stories in the past about single siblings, but they are pretty rare also. I discovered today’s tale because a girl was born on this day, but I am going to begin with her older sister.

Ruth Justine Wilhelmine Grebing was born on April 19, 1897, the daughter of Gottlob and Lucia (Preusser) Grebing. I am able to show you this picture of Ruth’s parents. The story of Gottlob and Lucia was told in a previous post, Saddle Shop Still Standing.

Ruth was baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg. We can take a look at her baptism record from that congregation’s books here.

Since I am discussing a pair of siblings today, I will discuss Ruth’s sister next, who is today’s birthday girl. Rosa Amanda Grebing was born on May 14, 1899, thus making today her 125th birthday. She, too, was baptized at Trinity, Altenburg, and her baptism record is shown below.

Ruth and Rosa are each found in their first census entry in 1900. Ruth was 3 years old, and Rosa was 1. Their father was a saddler in Altenburg.

Even though this photo was also shown in the previous post about Gottlob Grebing, I cannot resist showing it here again. It shows him standing inside his harness/saddle shop in Altenburg. The building that housed his shop still stands today.

Next, we find Ruth and Rosa in the 1910 census. Gottlob and Lucia’s last child, a son named Herbert, was born in 1908. This time, Gottlob’s occupation is described as “manufacturer and retail dealer – harnesses”.

A map produced for the town of Altenburg shows the property owned by Gottlob Grebing in 1915. Their land was located right in what might be called “downtown Altenburg”.

Ruth was confirmed in 1911, and Rosa was confirmed in 1913. Those confirmations took place at Trinity, Altenburg. Then, in 1920, we once again find the trio of Grebing children living with their parents. Ruth and Rosa were in their 20’s.

Although I think Ruth and Rosa may have been living separately later in their lives for a short time, the only year’s census in which we do not see them in the same entry was the one taken in 1930. Rosa was still living with her parents when that census was enumerated. However, you do not see Ruth in this entry. You also do not see Herbert, who had gone off to study to become a Lutheran teacher.

In 1930, we find Ruth living in St. Louis and working as a servant in the Edward Bannister household. Quite a few young ladies from Perry County moved to St. Louis in those days to find work.

The Grebing girls were back together in 1940 when they were each in their 40’s. They were living with their parents. Ruth is given no occupation, but Rosa was working as a clerk in a general store. We know that she was working at the Fischer Store in Altenburg, which was located practically across the street from the Grebing home.

Here is a photo of the Fischer Store.

The photo below shows a more recent photo of the Grebing house and the saddle shop which is located not far from where the old Fischer Store stood across Main Street.

The 1950 census is the last one the public is able to view. In it, we once again find the Grebing sisters living with their parents. Their entry spills over two census pages, so I have to display 2 images. Once again, Ruth is given no occupation, but Rosa was a store clerk.

I have to tell you that I saw Gerard Fiehler at breakfast this morning, and he has memories of Ruth and Rosa. In fact, he remembers Rosa working at the Fischer Store as the clerk who frowned on him and his friends who were attempting to purchase firecrackers as young boys.

Later in their lives, both Ruth and Rosa moved to Muscatine, Iowa. I think it is possible that they moved there at different times. They moved to that location because that is where their brother, Herbert, was living and was a Lutheran teacher. Herbert was the only Grebing child who was married. He married Meta Wichers in 1937. That couple had no children. I found evidence that points out that Herbert Grebing served at the Lutheran Home in Muscatine. Perhaps that is where Ruth and Rosa lived when they moved to Iowa.

Muscatine is the location at which all 3 of the Grebing children died. They are all buried in the Greenwood Cemetery in Muscatine. I will display the gravestones of Ruth and Rosa. Ruth died in 1994 at the age of 97; Rosa died in 1995 at the age of 96. So, you can see that these two single siblings lived very long lives.

The Gottlob Grebing family got together to have photos taken over the years. This gives us the opportunity to see what all of today’s characters looked like. The one below is the first one to be taken. It must have been taken after Herbert’s marriage because Meta is the woman standing in the back on the right. Ruth is standing on the left, and Rosa is in the middle.

Later, another photo was taken outdoors. I think you can figure out who is who by comparing the two family photos.

There are plenty of branches of the Grebing family tree that are still found today. However, this branch of the Grebing tree died out because the two girls remained unmarried and Herbert had no children.