The couple that is highlighted today would be celebrating a wedding anniversary. It would unite 2 rather prominent surnames found in East Perry County, an Oberndorfer and a Ruehling. I will begin with the Oberndorfer groom.

August Herman Oberndorfer was born on February 4, 1858, the son of Matthias and Anna Maria (Meyr) Oberndorfer. The Oberndorfer parents were of Austrian descent and had arrived in America in 1852 with other Austrian immigrants. Most of those immigrants settled in the New Wells area, but the Oberndorfer’s bought a parcel of land in Perry County not far from Frohna. Two Oberndorfer children were born and baptized at Concordia Lutheran Church in Frohna, but when the new congregation, Immanuel Lutheran Church, was established in Altenburg in 1857, this family became one of the charter members. So, when August was born in 1858, he was baptized at Immanuel. An image of his baptism record is displayed below.

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

Next, we find August in the 1870 census at the age of 12. He was the youngest child in his family.

In the 1880 census, we find August living in Frohna. He was a single 22 year-old laborer in a household made up of a variety of surnames, occupations, and marital statuses. I included some other households in this image because toward the bottom of this image, you will find the name of Mina Ruehling, who would become August’s bride..

Now, we will take a look at that bride. Her name was Friedericke Wilhelmine Ruehling, who was born on July 19, 1860. Wilhelmine was the daughter of Herman and Eva (Roediger) Ruehling and baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg. An image of her baptism record is pictured here.

In the 1870 census, Wilhelmine is called Mina and is listed as being 8 years old, although I think she was at least 9. Her father was a farmer in the Brazeau Township.

In the 1880 census, as was previously shown, Wilhelmine was living in Frohna. I find her entry to be rather unique. It included 3 single people, all rather young. There was Wilhelmine, who was a 20 year-old housekeeper, along with 2 men, August Fritsche and Edward Mattingly, who were called laborers. Edward has a “B” behind his name, which would indicate that he was black.

August Oberndorfer married Wilhelmine Ruehling on July 16, 1881, so today would be this couple’s 143rd wedding anniversary. They were married at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Altenburg. The church marriage record shown below says August was a cooper from Longtown.

I am also able to display 2 other civil marriage documents. First, here is this couple’s Missouri marriage license.

Below is a more elegant-looking marriage certificate.

Our German Family Tree lists 9 children born to August and Wilhelmine. The first child was baptized at Grace Lutheran Church in Uniontown, but the rest of them were baptized at Concordia, Frohna. The fact that the first child was baptized in Uniontown could be explained by the fact that August may have still been employed in Longtown, or by the fact that it looks as if Wilhelmine must have been pregnant when she was married in July of 1881 because the child was born in October.

We are not able to view the 1890 census, so the next census in which we find this couple was the one taken in 1900. They were living in Frohna where August was a cooper, likely at the Frohna Flour Mill. There were 6 children in their household.

The 1910 census indicates that August was a cooper at the flour mill.

August and Wilhelmine were in their 60’s when the 1920 census was taken. August is simply called a laborer. Only one son was living with them.

August Oberndorfer died in 1924 at the age of 66. His death certificate describes him as a stationary engineer.

Wilhelmine is shown as a widow in the 1930 census. She was living with her single brother, Herman Ruehling. He was a lifelong bachelor.

In the 1940 census, we find the same pair, both in the 70’s, and both still living in Frohna.

Herman Ruehling died in 1944, so when we find Wilhelmine in the 1950 census, she was living with her daughter, Clara Mueller, who was also a widow. These two were living in Altenburg. Clara had been married to Rudolph Mueller, the proprietor of the hardware store in Altenburg.

Wilhelmine Oberndorfer died later in 1950 at the age of 90. We can also view her death certificate below.

Both August and Wilhelmine Oberndorfer are buried in the Concordia Lutheran Cemetery in Frohna. August died at a time when folks were still using German, but by the time Wilhelmine died, German had been almost completely taken over by English.

There are still Oberndorfer’s to be found living in Frohna. There are still Ruehling’s living all over the place. In closing, I will admit that it takes me more time to write an Oberndorfer story. My fingers do not like typing their surname.