I mentioned yesterday that it was the 3rd straight day of highlighting a person who was born in 1899. Now, you are going to read about yet another person born during that year. That means that all of these people have been recognized for having their 125th birthdays.

Alfred Joseph Etzold was born on August 10, 1899, the son of Martin and Selma (Stueve) Etzold. He was the first child born into this family. Alfred was baptized at Salem Lutheran Church in Farrar. An image of his baptism record from that church’s books is displayed below.

Alfred is found as a baby in the 1900 census. Since it is found in the pages of the Salem Township for that year, the entry shown here is rather difficult to read. The head of this Etzold household was Alfred’s grandfather, Herman. And, for some unknown reason, we find his mother, Selma, in this entry, but not his father, Martin. There were also 2 young men living in this household who were doing farm work. One of them was a Stueve, but the other is rather hard to decipher.

Next, we find Alfred at the age of 10 in the 1910 census. This time we do find his father as the head of the family. A hired hand named Otto Rauss was included in their household.

Alfred had his World War I draft registration completed in 1918. It said his employer was his father.

The last census in which we find Alfred as a single man was the one taken in 1920. By this time, Alfred had a sister and a whole slew of brothers. Alfred’s grandmother, Ernestine Etzold, was living with this family.

Now, we will take a look at the woman who would become Alfred’s bride. Her name was Bertha Christine Adelheid Hadler, who was born on March 11, 1902. Bertha was the daughter of Henry and Mary (Stelling) Hadler. She was the 4th child of 11 born into this family. Like Alfred, she was baptized at Salem Lutheran Church in Farrar. We can take a look at her baptism record here.

Bertha is found in the 1910 census at the age of 8. She is just one of 7 Hadler children in this household. Also living with the Hadler’s was Theodore Cornehlson and his family. Theodore was called a brother-in-law. Bertha’s father was a farmer in the Bois Brule Township.

Beginning in 1911, the baptisms of Hadler children took place at Trinity Lutheran Church in Point Rest, a new congregation that had formed in the Mississippi River bottoms near Menfro. In the 1920 census, Bertha was a teenager.

Alfred Etzold married Bertha Hadler on October 25, 1923 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Point Rest. A transcription of their church marriage record is pictured below.

The Missouri marriage license for this couple can also be viewed.

An article about the Etzold/Hadler wedding appeared in the Perry County Republican. It notes in this article that Alfred’s parents had moved to Sylvan Grove, Kansas. I also found articles in this newspaper that told of Alfred going to Sylvan Grove to visit his parents after he was married.

This Etzold couple had 2 children, a girl and a boy. Both of them were baptized at Salem, Farrar. Each of them are found in the 1930 census. Alfred was a farmer.

The 1940 census shows the same quartet of family members, with Alfred still farming.

The last census we are allowed to view is the one taken in 1950. Alfred’s son, Milton was old enough to help his father on his farm.

Bertha Etzold died in 1955 at the age of 53. She died as a result of having a brain tumor. Her death certificate below says she died at the Perry County Memorial Hospital.

Bertha is buried in the Salem Lutheran Cemetery in Farrar.

Alfred married again. His second wife was Flora Anna Bertha (Wichern) Norrington. Since her husband was still alive when she married Alfred, I have to conclude that she was divorced. These two were married on August 15, 1957 at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Perryville. This pair’s Missouri marriage license is displayed below.

The only photo I located for any of the characters in this story is this one of Flora.

Alfred Etzold died in 1978 at the age of 78, too recently to view his death certificate. Flora Etzold did not die until 2001 when she was 91 years old. Both Alfred and Flora are buried in the Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery in Perryville.

This post, like so many on this blog, contains a bunch of common names from this area…Hadler, Etzold, Stueve, Stelling, and Wichern. These names were usually found in the area of Perry County north of Altenburg and Frohna where the hills of this county flatten out to the Mississippi River bottoms near Menfro. These names can still be found around this neighborhood.