Contrary to the past two posts on this blog, today’s main character was born and baptized elsewhere and later found his way into our German Family Tree. Then, after spending time at several locations, made his way back to his hometown to be buried. When I find someone who enters this area to stay for a relatively short time before moving on, it is often the story of a Lutheran pastor. And that is the case today.
Arthur George Kuecker was born on September 8, 1894, so today would be his 130th birthday. Arthur was the son of George and Martha (Frerking) Kuecker. He was born in a rural area near Concordia, Missouri. Arthur was baptized at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Concordia. There is a site on the internet that gives information about St. Paul’s records, but it does not give much information and certainly no actual images of any church records. I did find Arthur on that site, so I know that is the congregation at which he was baptized.
Let me go on a little side trip. One of the members of the first class that attended the Log Cabin College in Altenburg was Franz Julius Biltz. He was one of the 5 graduates of Concordia Seminary when it was in Altenburg. After serving a few other churches, Pastor Biltz became the pastor in Concordia, Missouri. Only, it wasn’t officially called Concordia yet. When Rev. Biltz was named the postmaster in that location, he was the one who named the town Concordia, and he did that in remembrances of attending Concordia Seminary in Altenburg. Pastor Biltz remained at that congregation, while also serving as the president of the Western District for quite a few years, until he resigned in 1901. That means that it must have been Rev. Biltz who baptized Arthur Kuecker in 1894. I will also add that Rev. Biltz also established St. Paul’s Lutheran College in Concordia which became part of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod’s system of institutions which trained pastors and teachers.
Arthur is found in the 1900 census at the age of 5. His father was a farmer in the Freedom Township of Lafayette County, which is where Concordia is found.
Next, we find Arthur as a teenager. He was the youngest child in his family. I have to think that Arthur may have been attending St. Paul’s Lutheran College at some point at about this time, although I have no proof. I do know this. In the 1900 census, Arthur’s older brother, Henry, at the age of 16, was working on his father’s farm. In this 1910 census, Arthur, at the age of 15, was not called a farm laborer. I think he was already starting his studies to become a church worker.
Arthur had his World War I draft registration completed in June of 1917. He is given an address of Concordia Seminary in St. Louis and is called a student for the ministry.
Not that much later in 1917, Arthur would get married, so let’s take some time to look at his bride. Her name was Eleanore Henrietta Maria Riesterer, who was born on March 31, 1894. Eleanore was the daughter of Richard and Eliese (Kappelmann) Riesterer. I also found Eleanore on that website including some St. Paul’s records, so she was born near Concordia and baptized at the same church as Arthur. She was even born during the same year, so it is likely that Eleanore and Arthur were classmates in school and in the same confirmation class.
Eleanora’s mother had another child in 1895, but she died on the same day as that child’s birth. That child died about a week later. In 1896, her father remarried. His second wife was Anna Kirchhoff. In the 1900 census, we find Eleanore at the age of 6 living in the Grover Towsnhip of Johnson County, Missouri. It does not sound like it, but the Grover Township is found very near Concordia to the south. Two more children were born to her father and stepmother.
The 1910 census has Eleanore still living with her parents in their very large household. She was called a servant for a private family at the age of 16.
Arthur Kuecker married Eleanore Riesterer on August 26, 1917. On the Missouri marriage license for this couple shown below, you will see that they were married at the Lutheran church in Concordia, as expected.
I am able to display this photo of the wedding party for this Kuecker/Riesterer couple.
Arthur was ordained as a Lutheran minister and his first call was to Trinity Lutheran Church in Pyrmont, Missouri. Pyrmont is located outside the town of Stover. In this list of early pastors at Trinity, we see that A.G. Kuecker served there from 1918-1927.
Our German Family Tree lists 5 children in the Kuecker family. Three of them are said to have been born in Stover. When the 1920 census was taken, we find the Kuecker’s in Haw Creek Township, which is just north of Stover. Arthur is called a clergyman, but interestingly, his church was referred to as an Iowa Lutheran church. I will add that nowadays, Trinity Lutheran Church in Pyrmont is part of the ELCA. Just one child had been born by this time.
I think this photo of the Arthur Kuecker family may have been taken in Stover.
Pastor Kuecker took a call to Zion Lutheran Church in Pocahontas in 1927 and served that congregation until 1945. The Kuecker’s had their last 2 children during his time in Pocahontas, and they were baptized at Zion. In the 1930 census, the Kuecker household had 4 children. There was also a 12 year-old girl named Vera Klinkermann in their household who was called a niece. She was the daughter of Emma (Riesterer) Klinkermann, Eleanore’s sister. Emma had died in 1925, and her daughter had then gone to live with the Kuecker’s.
Eleanore Kuecker died in 1937 at the age of 43. Her death certificate below says she died of a septic infection.
In the 1940 census, Arthur was a widower with only 3 children remaining in his household The last Kuecker child had been born in 1932. Vera Klinkermann was not living with them anymore, but in 1941, she died, and her death record is found in the books of Zion, Pocahontas. In the 1940 census, she was a lodger living in Wichita Falls, Texas and called a bookkeeper.
Later in 1940, Rev. Kuecker married again. His second wife was Elda Tagtmeyer, who, in the 1940 census was still living with her parents in Stover, Missouri where she was a 35 year-old public school teacher. Pastor Kuecker had no doubt known Elda from his days as pastor near Stover.
An Ancestry.com family tree says Arthur Kuecker married Elda Tagtmeyer on June 23, 1940, but I could not find any documentation for it. Arthur had his World War II draft card completed in 1942. You can see Elda Kuecker’s name on this form.
Rev. Kuecker took a call to St. John’s Lutheran Church in Farley, Missouri in 1948. Farley is located just north of Kansas City. That is where we find the Kuecker’s in the 1950 census.
I thought for a while that this Kuecker story would be like the story I wrote yesterday about the Schell family. In that story, the birthday girl moved to many different locations during her life, but always was found living in Missouri. Up to this point, the same could be said for Arthur Kuecker. However, I then ran across a 1958 Kansas census for the city of Powhattan, Kansas, which includes the Kuecker’s. I think Rev. Kuecker was serving Zion Lutheran Church in Powhattan.
Arthur Kuecker died in 1986 at the age of 92. A Social Security death index says his last known residence was in Stover, Missouri. I think he may have moved back closer to Elda’s family after he retired from being a pastor. After he died, his body was taken to Concordia, Missouri to be buried with his first wife in the St. Paul’s Lutheran Cemetery.
Elda Kuecker died in 1999 at the age of 95 and is buried in the Stover Cemetery. Her Tagtmeyer maiden name is also mentioned on her gravestone.
Arthur and Eleanore Kuecker likely grew up as classmates at St. Paul Lutheran School in Concordia, Missouri, and also likely were confirmed together at that congregation. After they moved around to different locations during their lifetime, they managed to make it back together near their old stomping grounds in the St. Paul Lutheran Cemetery in Concordia where they are buried together. Their stop in Pocahontas, Missouri along the way is the reason I get to write their story on this blog.