A little over 2 years ago, a post was published on this blog titled, P Is for Pancratius. That article told the story of man who had the unusual name of Pancratius. In that post, I referred to the main character as P. John Muench…the “P” standing for Pancratius. P. John and his wife, Caroline Ochs, had 4 children, and only one of them was a boy. I will be telling the story of that son in this post. That son is also today’s birthday boy.

Johann George Muench was born on August 21, 1899, making today his 125th birthday. This boy was called a few names on documents, one of them being John G., but I will call him George in this post. He was baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Perryville. A transcription of that baptism record is pictured here.

George was only 9 months old when he is found in the 1900 census. He is called George J. in this entry. His father was a farmer in the Central Township. George was the youngest of 3 children in this household. There was also a young servant girl and a young farm laborer living with them.

Next, we find George in the 1910 census. Another daughter had been born to his parents during the previous decade. Once again, there was a young hired hand in the household doing farm work.

The 1915 plat maps for Perry County show the John P. Muench farm located just north of the city of Perryville.

George had his World War I draft registration completed in 1918. It says he was a farmer, and his employer was his father.

George is found in the 1920 census at the age of 20. He and another young hired hand were helping his father on his farm.

George was still single and living with his parents in 1930. His father was 72 years old. George and his father were each called farmers.

Now, we will take a look at the woman who would become George’s wife. Her name was Fern Viola Rabold, who was born on July 8, 1908. Fern was the daughter of Arthur and Dixie (Wills) Rabold. Another post was written about Fern’s parents, Art and Dixie. Fern was baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Altenburg. We can take a look at her baptism record below in 2 images.

Fern is found in her first census entry in 1910 at the age of 22/12…about 2 years old. Fern’s grandfather, Gottlieb Rabold, was the head of this household. Fern’s father and her uncle John, were partners in the farm of their father, Gottlieb.

The 1915 plat maps show the Gottfried Rabold farm located south of Frohna.

In the 1920 census, Fern was 11 years old. The first Rabold child was a son who died as an infant. The rest of the Rabold children were girls. All 4 of those girls are found in this entry. It looks as if Gottlieb Rabold is no longer in their household, but he is listed on the bottom of the previous census page as if he is living by himself. I suspect that he was still living on the same farm with Arthur’s family.

In the last census entry in which we find Fern as a single woman in 1930, she was no longer living with her parents. She and her sister, Elva, were boarders in the Arnold Koenig household in Perryville, and both were working at the shoe factory. She likely became acquainted with George Muench when she began living in Perryville.

George Muench married Fern Rabold on April 5, 1931 at Concordia Lutheran Church in Frohna. However, I am not able to display a church record for this event because the marriage records we have in our museum for Concordia only go up to 1920. We are able to view a Missouri marriage license for this couple.

I believe this pair had 2 children, but neither one is included in our German Family Tree. They were likely born too recently to be found in that document. We find this Muench couple in the 1940 census with a 2 year-old daughter named Janet. George continued to be a farmer in the Central Township.

A son named John G. (perhaps John George) was born in the next decade. We find the Muench’s with both of their children in the 1950 census.

George Muench died in 1967 at the age of 67. We can view his death certificate below.

The photo below of Fern Muench was taken later in her life.

Fern Muench did not die until 1995 at the age of 86. We are not able to view her death certificate. George and Fern Muench are buried together in the Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery in Perryville. The gravestone uses the name J. George.

I have told quite a few stories about how young women went off to St. Louis to find work and ended up finding their spouses there. In the case of Fern Rabold, she only had to move to Perryville to find work and also find a husband. She ended up spending much of her life on a farm north of Perryville.