I do not often drift away from telling a German Lutheran story, but today, I will enter the world of our German Roman Catholic friends in Perry County. I think today’s bride and groom only managed to get into our German Family Tree because the last name of the groom is Meister. That surname has shown up on this blog on several occasions, but as far as I can tell, the Meister in this tale was a Roman Catholic all his life. Quite a few of the Lutheran Meister’s moved away from here. Today’s Catholic Meister story is one that takes place from beginning to end in Perry County.

Gerhard Henry George Meister was born on December 14, 1857, the son of Joseph and Teresa (Eggert) Meister. From what I was able to glean from Ancestry.com family trees, Henry’s Meister family came to America sometime in the mid-1850’s. Since so many clues can be found that indicate Henry was a Roman Catholic, I figure his baptism record is found in one of the local Catholic parishes. Henry is found in the 1860 census at the age of 2. His father was a farmer in St. Marys Township. Although the city of Highland is not located in St. Marys Township, that little village is not far from this township.

Before I move on to the next census, please note that I included the John Zahner household in the above image. Henry’s future wife would be born to that Zahner family shortly after the 1860 census was taken, indicating that the Meister’s and Zahner’s were likely close neighbors.

Next, we find Henry in the 1870 census at the age of 12. The Meister household had grown to include 6 children. I will not display evidence, but I can tell you that the Zahner family is found on the next page in that year’s census.

The 1880 census says the Meister’s were living in the Cinque Hommes Township. I do not think this necessarily means that they moved to a different farm. Some township boundary lines were changed during the 1870’s in Perry County. Henry’s father had died in 1875, so he is not found in this entry. Henry was doing the farming at the age of 22.

Now, we will take a look at the woman who would become Henry’s bride. Her name was Emma Mary Zahner, who was born on February 22, 1862. She was the daughter of John and Magdalena (Reigelsperger) Zahner. Like was the case with Henry, plenty of evidence points to Emma also being a German Catholic. Emma is found in the 1870 census at the age of 9, although I think she was just 8. She is called Emily in this entry. Her father was a farmer in the St. Marys Township. Like I stated earlier, this entry is on the page right after the one on which the Meister’s are found.

The 1880 census indicates the Zahner family was living in the Cinque Hommes Township. I think this gives more evidence that the township boundaries had been changed near Highland. Emma was a teenager at the time.

Henry Meister married Emma Zahner on June 3, 1884, making today this couple’s 140th anniversary. We are able to view the Missouri marriage license for this wedding. This form shows that the wedding was performed by a Catholic priest.

I have to rely on family trees on Ancestry and future census entries to determine how many children were in this family. I figure that there were 7. It would be 16 years before we can view the next census. By 1900, there were 6 children in the Meister family. Henry was farming in the Cinque Hommes Township.

One more child was born to Henry and Emma in 1901. The 1910 census shows the Meister’s with 5 children and a young grandchild. There is a story there. Their oldest daughter, Anna, had married William McLain in 1907. That couple had a child in 1908, but about a month after that birth, William McLain died, so in the entry below, we see that Anna is called a widow, and the grandchild has the surname, McLain.

The last census in which we find Henry Meister was the one taken in 1920. Two children remained in their household, along with Florence McLain, their granddaughter. Florence’s mother is not found in this entry. She was found working as a maid in St. Louis in 1920.

Henry Meister died in 1927 at the age of 69. His death certificate says he died of cancer of the face and neck.

An obituary for Henry was published in the Perry County Republican.

Before I move on, let me explain something found in the above obituary. Anna Meister was the daughter who had married a McLain, who died so early. Anna would later marry a man by the name of Erickson. So, she is the Anna Erickson in the obituary. Another daughter, Agnes, also married a McLain, and she is the Agnes McLain in this article. Emma Meister is found living by herself in the Central Township when the 1930 census was taken.

Emma was still alive when the 1940 census was taken. She is found living in Perryville with her daughter, Agnes McLain, who was a housekeeper for an elderly widower named Oscar Roessel.

Later in 1940, Emma Meister died at the age of 78. We are also able to view her death certificate.

An obituary for Emma was also placed in the Perry County Republican. It said she died of a stroke.

Both Henry and Emma Meister are buried in the St. Joseph’s Catholic Cemetery in Highland.

In a previous post about Henry Schumer, I displayed this image of a sign that gives a short description of the St. John’s Catholic Parish in Highland. It mentions that a parcel of land to be used as the cemetery was donated to this congregation by William Meister. That would have been Henry’s brother.

There are 9 entries on Findagrave.com for this church’s cemetery that contain the surname, Meister. The sign shown above also says this church was not established until 1910, so Henry’s early years were not spent attending church there, or being baptized there. However, we do know that both Henry and Emma grew up in the same rural neighborhood and spent all of their lives in Perry County.

I do not usually wait until the end of the story to show a plat map, but the one below for the vicinity of the Highland village is shown here. I have highlighted the farm of Henry Meister. On this image, you will also find the farms of Willliam and Leonard Zahner, who were Emma’s brothers. There are several Zahner farms near Highland, as well as other Meister’s. I do not think it is suprising that a Meister and a Zahner would get married.