I will share one of those stories today in which both the bride and the groom not only were baptized at the same congregation, but these two also went all the way to that congregation’s cemetery together. That type of tale was certainly more common back in the horse and buggy days. I will begin with the birthday girl.

Emilie Lydia Kassel was born on July 18, 1899, so if she was still alive, she would be celebrating her 125th birthday today. Lydia was the daughter of Christian and Sulamith (Hopfer) Kassel. That puts her into quite a large group because she was child #9 in a family of 15 children according to our German Family Tree. Let me get this Kassel family photo out of the way right now. It’s a picture that has appeared on this blog several times before because stories have already been written about the parents and several of the children. Lydia is standing in the middle of the back row. A Kassel family binder says this photo was taken around 1917.

All of the Kassel children were baptized at Grace Lutheran Church in Uniontown. Lydia’s baptism record from that church’s books is displayed below.

Lydia is found in the 1900 census at the age of 10 months. She is called Amelia in this entry. Her father was a farmer in the Union Township.

The Kassel household gets even bigger before the 1910 census was taken. There were 11 children listed in this entry. Lydia was 10 years old at the time.

The 1920 census is the last one in which Lydia was single. She was 20 years old at the time. It says she was a servant for a private family.

Another photo of the Kassel was said to have been taken around 1920. Lydia is sitting in the front on the right.

Now, we will take a look at the man who would become Lydia’s husband. His name was Reinhold Theodore Hecht, who was born on August 31, 1887. Theodore was the son of Heinrich and Wilhelmine (Lorenz) Hecht, and like Lydia, he was baptized at Grace Lutheran Church in Uniontown. His baptism record is pictured here.

Theodore was 12 years old before we can view him in a census in 1900. He was also part of a rather large family. Our German Family Tree lists 11 Hecht children. There were 9 children in the household in 1900. Theodore’s father was also a farmer in the Union Township.

Next, we find Theodore in the 1910 census. He was still living with his parents and was helping his father on the farm.

The photo below shows the home of Heinrich and Wilhelmine Hecht with some people standing in front, but they are unidentified.

In the 1915 plat maps for Perry County, we see that the Kassel and Hecht farms were rather close to one another.

Theodore had his World War I draft registration completed in 1917.

Theodore did get called into service during this war. I am not sure when he was inducted, but I did find a document saying that he arrived back in the United States in May of 1919 after being overseas.

I located this photo that included Theodore at a rather young age. He is part of a string quartet. Theodore is sitting in front in the middle.

In the 1920 census, Theodore was still single and living with his parents. He is called the manager of the home farm.

Theodore Hecht married Lydia Kassel on November 22, 1922 at Grace Lutheran Church. The church marriage record for this wedding is shown below.

The Missouri marriage license for this pair is pictured here.

Another marriage certificate for this couple can also be viewed.

Our German Family Tree only lists one child born to this couple, a boy named Raymond. We find this trio in the 1930 census. Theodore continued to be a farmer in the Union Township.

The 1940 census lists the same 3 members of this household.

In 1942, Theodore had his World War II draft card completed.

The last census the public can view is the one taken in 1950. Theodore’s son was old enough to be helping Theodore on his farm.

I located a few other photos that were taken later in the lives of Theodore and Lydia. Here is one that includes a variety of Kassel’s and Hecht’s. Names are found on the picture to identify them.

Here is a photo of Lydia sitting around with 2 other ladies at someone’s kitchen table. Lydia is on the right. Like some of the other photos in this post, it is a copy of the original photo, making it not the best quality.

Theodore Hecht died in 1972 at the age of 84. His death certificate below says that he died while he was a patient at the Perry County Memorial Hospital in Perryville.

I found this obituary for Theodore.

Lydia Hecht died in 1988 at the age of 88. Both Theodore and Lydia Hecht are buried in the Grace Lutheran Cemetery in Uniontown. Theodore’s gravestone recognizes his military service.

Today’s couple was made up of the union of a bride and groom from two large and prominent families in Uniontown. The bride and groom had about 12 years of age between them, but they must have seen each other often as they sat in the pews of Grace Lutheran Church when they were growing up. Then they spent the rest of their lives sitting in a pew together in that church with their son. Of course, like so many men I still see today in my church, Theodore may not have always been sitting with his family because he may have been seving as an usher. Knowing Theodore’s interest in music, I like to also think that he and Lydia may have sung in a church choir.