When I found some records indicating that a Petzoldt married a Lohmann, two very prominent names in East Perry County, my first thought was, “I have written this story already.” I was wrong. I suppose it is possible that there may have been other Petzoldt/Lohmann marriages in this community’s past, but this is the first one I have found. I will begin by taking a look at the Lohmann bride, who is also today’s birthday girl.

Concordia Hulda Amanda Lohmann was born on August 9, 1899, thus making today her 125th birthday. This is the 3rd straight day telling stories of babies born in 1899. So, after I tell Concordia’s story, I will have discussed the lives of babies born in Jacob, Illinois, Friedenberg, and Altenburg on consecutive days during the last year of the 19th century. Concordia was the daughter of Gottlieb and Emma (Heins) Lohmann. She was child #4 in a family of 8. The first 3 were boys, followed by 5 girls. Concordia was baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg. We can view her baptism record from that congregation’s books below.

Concordia was not even one year old when the 1900 census was taken. Her father was a carpenter in Altenburg. Another young man who was a carpenter, Martin Miesner, was living in their household.

Next, we find Concordia in the 1910 census, which says she was 12 years old. I think that was a mistake. All 8 of the Lohmann children are found in this entry.

Concordia would get married in the next decade, so we will now take a look at the man who would become her husband. His name was Oscar Petzoldt, who was born on the last day of 1895, December 31st. Oscar was the 7th of 9 children in the family of Frederick and Linda (Bodenschatz) Petzoldt. A few of these children died in infancy. Oscar qualifies to be called a grandson of Friedrich Florian “The Face” Petzoldt. Oscar was baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Altenburg. His baptism record is pictured here in 2 images. Let me point out a mistake found in our German Family Tree. It says Oscar was born on December 21st, not December 31st. If you look closely at this record, you will see that his birthday was first written as December 21, but crossed out and replaced with 31. All other documents and his gravestone say he was born on December 31st.

Oscar is found in the 1900 census at the age of 3, although I think he was 4. His father was a farmer in the Brazeau Township with 5 children.

When Oscar was quite young, his family had this photo taken. Oscar must be one of the young boys standing in the front, probably the 3rd boy from the right.

In the 1910 census, Oscar was 14 years old. Even though he is not given an occupation in this entry, I have to think that he was old enough to be helping his father on his farm. After all, he was the oldest son in the family.

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

Oscar Petzoldt married Concordia Lohmann on October 14, 1917. The only place where I found this wedding date was in our German Family Tree, and that date comes from one of our Lohmann family binders. That binder says this marriage took place in Granite City, Illinois. I have no idea why these two were married there, and I could not locate an Illinois record for this event.

Oscar and Concordia had 5 children, all of which were baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg. I suspect it was Concordia’s influence that led to this Petzoldt family being members of Trinity. When the 1920 census was taken, we find the Petzoldt’s with just their first child, Arlene. Oscar was farming.

I think after Oscar and Concordia were married, they acquired a farm either on or near The Ridge north of Altenburg. When the Tri-State Tornado struck in March of 1925, it destroyed the Petzoldt buildings. An article published in the Perry County Republican listed the Oscar Petzoldt farm on a list of places that were total losses.

We have this photo in our museum showing the damage to the Oscar Petzoldt farm.

When the 1930 census was taken, there were 4 children in the Petzoldt family.

One more child was born to this couple in 1933. The 1940 census once again displays 4 children in their household. Their oldest daughter, Arlene, was still single, but she must have been living elsewhere.

Concordia Petzoldt died in 1947 at the age of 47. Heart issues are given as her cause of death on her death certificate below.

The 1950 census is the last one the public can view. In that compilation, we find Oscar as a widower. His 2 youngest sons were still living with him and helping him on his farm.

Oscar Petzoldt died in 1970 at the age of 74. His death certificate says he died at the Perry County Memorial Hospital in Perryville and says he was living on Main Street in Frohna.

Oscar and Concordia Petzoldt are each buried in the Trinity Lutheran Cemetery in Altenburg.

There are plenty of Petzoldt’s in our German Family Tree. The original Petzoldt’s can be found in the books of Immanuel, Altenburg. Many of them farmed in an area southeast of Altenburg, but eventually you find Petzoldt’s spilling over into the Shawnee Township south of the Apple Creek. Later in history, some Petzoldt’s established the East Perry Lumber Company which is located in Frohna. That led to quite a few Petzoldt’s being found in that village and members of Concordia, Frohna. However, today’s Petzoldt’s are some of the few Petzoldt’s that became members of Trinity, Altenburg.