I am going to attempt to settle this. Our German Family Tree says the following about a pair of girls in the Luedemann family.

As you can see, there is a question mark behind the word, twin, for these two girls. There is documentation for the date of birth of Engel Luedemann in her marriage record found in the books of Christ Lutheran Church in Jacob, Illinois. Engel was married on November 19, 1885. I have to display this record in 2 images. I have highlighted the date of birth noted in this record, August 25, 1864.

Engel’s first husband, Johann Versemann died, and she then married Johann Weseloh. When she was just 26 years old, Engel died. Her death record in the Christ, Jacob books is another place where we find her birthday given as August 25, 1864.

Engel Luedemann was one of the highlighted characters in the post, Herr Weseloh and His Luedemann Frau’s. In that story, it says Johann Weseloh’s second wife was Anna Luedemann, but that woman was not Engel’s sister, also named Anna.

I am going to focus on telling the story of Anna Luedemann today, and while doing so, I plan to settle the argument about whether she was the twin sister of Engel Luedemann. Both Anna and Engel Luedemann were born in Scheeßel, Germany. A later 1900 census entry for Anna says she immigrated to America in 1882. That means we cannot find both Anna and Engel in an American census together. When Anna Luedemann married Herman Kahnert on November 28, 1884, her marriage record is also found in the books of Christ Lutheran Church in Jacob. It does not include her date of birth, but it does give us an important fact. Her parents are given as Henry and Engel (Bosselmann) Luedemann. If you look at Engel’s marriage record, it also says those two were her parents as well. That, at least, gives evidence that Anna and Engel were sisters. But were they twins?

I am also able to display this Illinois marriage record for Herman and Anna. It does not give a birthday for Anna either, but it also confirms the names of Anna’s parents.

Let’s take a look at the man who married Anna. Friederich Hermann Kahnert was born on February 10, 1857 in Germany. Herman was the son of Leopold and Charlotte Heinrietta (Weinreich) Kahnert. Like his future wife, the 1900 census says Herman came to America in 1882. The Illinois marriage record shown above says Herman was a teamster in Frohna, Missouri when he got married.

According to our German Family Tree, the Kahnert’s had 9 children, all of which were baptized at Concordia Lutheran Church in Frohna. Interestingly, 2 of their children were a set of twins born in 1888. One of those twins died rather early. In the 1900 census, we find the Kahnert’s living in the Brazeau Township with 5 children. Herman was a farmer and laborer.

Two more children were born in the next decade, but both of them died in infancy. In the 1910 census, we find the Kahnert’s with 2 remaining children in their household.

Apparently, some marital distress hit this couple during the next decade. In 1919, Herman filed for a divorce. The official notice shown below indicates that Herman was the plaintiff, and the filing says his spouse had left him.

In the 1920 census, we find Herman and Anna living in two different places. Herman is still found living in the Brazeau Township, but this time, he was living in the Fred Schilling household and called a laborer. Herman has a “D” in the marital status column indicating divorced.

Anna is found living with her daughter, Emma, who had married Walter Kieninger. That household is found living in the Shawnee Township. Anna stll lists her marriage status as an “M” for married.

I know that Herman Kahnert was still living when the 1930 census was taken, but I failed to find him in that years’ census. I did manage to find Anna, however. She and her daughter, who was also named Anna, were living together in Alva, Oklahoma. Neither had an occupation. I did discover that there was another son who lived in Oklahoma for a while, but not in Alva. I am not sure what exactly led Anna to that state, but I do know that a lot of folks from this area moved to Alva back in those days. I find it interesting that Anna is listed as a widow in this entry, even though Herman Kahnert was still alive.

Herman Kahnert died in 1932 at the age of 75. His Missouri death certificate says he died in the Shawnee Township as a result of hip cancer. This form says he was still married to Anna Kahnert. It lists his usual occupation as a woodworker and wagon maker. This certificate says his mother’s maiden name was Luedemann, the maiden name of his wife, but not his mother. Another note on this form says that Herman was to be buried in the Christ Lutheran Cemetery in Nennert (Jacob), Illinois. He does have an entry on Findagrave.com for that cemetery, but there is no gravestone photo.

Anna was 75 when the 1940 census was taken. This time, Anna was actually a widow. She was still living with her single daughter, Anna, who was in her 40’s and working as a laundress.

The final census in which we find Anna was the one taken in 1950. She was the head of the household, but her daughter, Anna, had married William Parsons, and they are included in this entry. Also, a grandson named Arthur Kahnert, was living with his grandmother. It looks as if Anna was still living on a farm in Alva.

Anna Kahnert died in 1955 at the age of 90. Her death record is found in the books of Zion Lutheran Church in Alva. This record says she was 90 years, 7 months, and 25 days old when she died on April 21, 1955. If I figured correctly, that would put her birthday on August 27, 1864, which I think is close enough to an August 25, 1864 date. This document also says Anna was buried in Jackson, Missouri.

Anna is actually buried in the Cape County Memorial Park which is given an address of Cape Girardeau, but one could also argue that it is located in Jackson. Her gravestone is pictured below, and we finally have a more solid argument to say that she was born on August 25, 1864, thus making her the twin sister of Engel Luedemann. I know that Zion Lutheran Church in Alva has a cemetery of their own. I do not know why she was buried in Cape Girardeau County.

I think the evidence I presented in this article make a pretty powerful argument that Anna and Engel Luedemann were indeed twin girls born in Scheeßel, Germany on today’s date in 1864, so I think both of them would be celebrating their 160th birthday today.