The birthday boy for today is a man named Johann August Cornehlsen, who was born on September 4, 1884. If you do the math, you come up with this being his 140th birthday. John was the son of Henry and Martha (Holschen) Cornehlsen. A few years back, Faron Bartens wrote two articles about this family titled, The Cornehlsen Chronicles: Part I and The Cornehlsen Chronicles: Part II. John was baptized at Concordia Lutheran Church in Frohna. An image of that baptism record is displayed below.

Since we cannot view the 1890 census, John was already a teenager when we find him in the 1900 census. His mother had died in 1893 when John was just 8 years old. In 1900, John was not living with his father. He is found in the Oscar Koenig household and working as a farm laborer. He was 15 years old at the time. The Koenig’s lived in the Salem Township. I think there is a good chance that John was already working in the Salem Township in 1898 because he was confirmed during that year at Salem Lutheran Church in Farrar. Meanwhile, his father was living in the Brazeau Township when the 1900 census was taken. I had a bit of trouble finding this census entry because the census taker wrote his name as Cornelius.

When the 1910 census was compiled, we find that John was back living with his father, but they were not living in Perry County. At about that time, several Perry County natives moved to Logan, New Mexico. Some of the surnames of these folks were Newberry, Bronenkant, Rodewald, and Versemann. That is where we find the Cornehlsen’s in that year’s census. John was living with his father and older brother, and all 3 of them were farming.

I can tell you that the Rodewald’s were also found on the same census page, and I think they were the only ones to remain in New Mexico for the rest of their lives. The others returned to Perry County not long after they moved there. I think they discovered that it was tough to make a good living there. When John had his World War I draft registrtion completed in 1918, he was given a Seventy-Six address and called a farmer.

Not long after that form was filled out, John got married, so we will now turn our attention to the woman who would become his bride. Her name was Martha Anna Mathilda Lohmann, who was born on January 23, 1893. Martha was the daughter of Henry and Christine (Steffens) Lohmann. She was baptized at Salem Lutheran Church in Farrar. We can view her baptism record here.

Martha is found in the 1900 census at the age of 7. Her father was a farmer in the Salem Township.

Martha was confirmed at Salem, Farrar in 1906. Then, when the 1910 census was taken, Martha was still living with her parents at the age of 17.

Martha got married on April 30, 1911. Her first husband was Rudolph Schuessler, who was the son of Henry and Catherine (Baum) Schuessler. These two were married at Salem, Farrar. This couple’s church marriage record is pictured below.

Their Missouri marriage license is shown here.

Our German Family Tree lists 3 children born to Martha and Rudolph, and all 3 were baptized at Salem, Farrar. Then, on September 9, 1917, Rudolph died of tuberculosis at the age of 28. His death certificate is shown here.

The image of Rudolph shown below is found on his gravestone in the Salem Lutheran Cemetery in Farrar.

Martha’s 3rd child was born on September 16, 1917, meaning that Martha was very pregnant when her husband died and attended his funeral. Then, on November 16, 1919, Martha Schuessler married John Cornehlsen. That wedding also took place at Salem, Farrar. Their church marriage record can be viewed below.

We can also take a look at this pair’s Missouri marriage license.

I ran across this wedding photo of John and Martha.

This Cornehlsen couple is found in the 1920 census living in the Salem Township. The 3 Schuessler children can be seen in this entry. I think it says that John was the farm manager on wife’s farm.

This couple had a child of their own in 1921. The 1930 census says the Cornehlsen’s were living in the Central Township. John was a farmer, and Martha and her oldest Schuessler daughter were working at the shoe factory in Perryville.

When the 1940 census was taken, the Cornehlsen’s were back living in the Salem Township. John was still farming.

The final census we can view is the 1950 census. John and Martha had an empty nest, but right below their entry was that of Edmund Schuessler, Martha’s son, who had married Wilma Kasten.

Martha Cornehlsen died in 1966 at the age of 73. Her death certificate below says she died at the Perry County Memorial Hospital in Perryville as a result of brain cancer.

John Cornehlsen died in 1976 at the age of 91, too recently to view his death certificate. His church death record just says he died of old age. John and Martha Cornehlsen are each buried in the Salem Lutheran Cemetery in Farrar.

Although today’s birthday boy was born in Frohna and then spent a short time in Logan, New Mexico, during most of his life he lived near Farrar and most of his church records are found in the books of Salem, Farrar. That is also his resting place in the Salem Cemetery.