You will be reading the story of a pair of sisters who were born and raised in Altenburg and would go on to live pretty much the rest of their lives together. Unlike other stories that I have written about siblings that lived together all during their lives, this story does include a marriage.

I will begin with the birthday girl, but then, I will have to backtrack to talk about her older sister. Christina Sabina Winter was born on September 12, 1874, so today would be her special 150th birthday. Even early in her life, we see this girl being called Sarah, and she carries that name throughout her life, even though it does not appear on her baptism record shown below. This record comes from the books of Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg.

Now, we go back a few years to the birth of Sarah’s older sister. Dorothea Clara Winter was born on August 11, 1872. This girl was called Dora in several later records, so that is what I will call her. Her baptism record is displayed here.

I find it interesting that one of the baptism sponsors for Dorothea was “Lehrer Beyer”…Teacher Beyer, and one of the sponsors for Sarah was “Lehrer Abraham”…Teacher Abraham. Teacher Abraham had arrived to teach at the school in Altenburg in 1873, so he was not there when Dorothea was baptized, but he was when Sarah was baptized. Both of those teachers taught together in Altenburg until 1883, so I think it is definitely possible that both of these Winter sisters would have been taught by one of their baptism sponsors later in their lives. I will show evidence later that indicates the Winter family lived close to the church and school.

Dora and Sarah are found in the 1880 census living in Altenburg. Dora was 7 years old, and Sarah was 5. Their father was a carpenter and farmer. I will add that right above the Winter household on this census page was the family of Teacher Beyer.

I normally track a person’s life until they get married, but in this case, I am going to switch over to discuss the early life of the man who would later marry Sarah Winter. His name was John Hass (or Haas), who was born on June 2, 1860. John was born in the vicinity of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. I am not quite sure of the names of John’s parents, but a census entry lists them as Michael and Anna Haas. The 1860 census entry says John was just 2 months old.

Perhaps this is not the right John Hass, but I think John is found in this 1870 census entry for Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

If you look at the page on which we find the name, John Haas, you will see 2 notes. One says it was a list of “soldiers’ orphans” and the other says it was the Home for Friendless Children. There were plenty of orphans after the Civil War.

I found this photo of the Home for Friendless Children in Lancaster.

I found a 19 year-old John Haas in the 1880 census for the Lancaster area, but I once again am not 100% sure that this is the correct person. He was a farm laborer.

Now, I enter a time period when I am more certain that I have the correct John Hass. In 1887, John Hass married a woman by the name of Anna Schuppner. Anna was born on November 23, 1866, the daughter of Fredrick and Johanna (Guenling) Schuppner. She was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. That is where we find Anna living when the 1870 census was taken. She was 3 years old, and her father was a shoemaker.

The 1880 census shows Anna as a teenager still living in Milwaukee. This time her father was called a fireman.

John Hass married Anna Schuppner on June 18, 1887 in Milwaukee. I am able to display this Wisconsin marriage record for this pair.

I think this couple had 3 children. The first 2 were born in Wisconsin. I found this birth record for their first child born in 1890, a girl named Adalia.

By the time of the 1900 census, the Hass’s were living in Chicago, Illinois. John is called a paper hanger. There were 2 children in the household.

One more child was born to this couple in 1907. Then, in the 1910 census, we find the Hass family still living in Chicago, this time with 3 children. John was called a painter and home decorator.

Now, let’s return to the Winter’s. I was unable to find Dora Winter in the 1900 census, but I did find Sarah living in St. Louis. She was 25 years old and working as a servant.

I do not think Sarah was in St. Louis very long. When the 1910 census was taken, the Winter sisters, both in their 30’s, were living together in Altenburg. Both were described as having their “own income”.

When the 1915 plat maps were produced for Perry County, we find a few parcels of land that were said to be owned by the Winter sisters in Altenburg. You can see that they lived not far from the church and school. Nowadays, the property along Main Street would be located between the Airbnb that locals call “The Inn” and the Altenburg Water Tower.

This is certainly evidence that Dora and Sarah were living in Altenburg during those years between 1900 and 1920 for a while. However, when the 1920 census was taken, I was unable to find either one of the Winter sisters. However, I found 2 pieces of evidence that indicate that perhaps each of them were living in Chicago. First, I located an article in the Perry County Republican that said Dora was in town from Chicago for a visit to relatives and friends in 1922.

I also found a passport application made by Sarah Winter in 1922. This form was completed in Chicago and says that Sarah was planning a trip to Germany, France, and Holland.

It is on this passport application that I found the only photo that I can show for Sarah Winter.

Now, we will return to John and Anna Hass. In the 1920 census, John and Anna, both in their 50’s, were still living in Chicago with 2 sons. John was a house painter.

Anna Hass died in 1922 in Chicago at the age of 55. She was buried in the Montrose Cemetery in Chicago.

Although I have no documentation for it, I think John Hass married Sarah Winter in about 1925 in Chicago. If they were married in 1925, then John was 65 years old and Sarah was 51.

The 1930 census shows a pretty major relocation for John and Sarah. They are found living in San Bruno, California, which is found in the San Francisco area. In this census entry, we see the youngest son of John and his first wife, and we also see that Sarah’s sister, Dora Winter was living with them. So, the Winter sisters are once again together. John is called an interior decorator.

Another move was made before the 1940 census was taken. The trio of John, Sarah, and Dora were living in Compton, California, which is in the Los Angeles area. None of them had an occupation.

John Hass died later in 1940 at the age of 79. His body was taken to Chicago to be buried in the same cemetery as his wife.

Sarah and Dora are found in the 1950 census still living in the Los Angeles area. Sarah was said to be a widow, and Dora was said to be never married. Both were in their 70’s.

Dora died in 1951 at the age of 79. Her California death certificate is shown here. It mentions a fall to the floor and a fractured femur. The informant was Sarah Hass.

Sarah Hass died in 1955 at the age of 81. We can also view her California death certificate. Like it was with her sister, she died at the Los Angeles General Hospital.

Both of the above death certificates indicate that these two were buried in the Angeles Abbey Mauseleum in Los Angeles, but Findagrave.com does not have an entry for these two in the cemetery.

The Winter sisters spent most of their lives together, even after one of them got married. They are found in almost all the census entries that I found for them living together. If I would have found a 1920 census entry for them, I may have found them living together in Chicago. It looks like they only spent a short amount of time living with a child of John who was in his 20’s. Toward the end of their lives in California, these two were helping to care for an older man who was Sarah’s husband.