The couple highlighted in today’s post each began their lives in East Perry County and then moved to Nebraska. After the husband died, the wife went to live just down the road from the Golden Gate Bridge. So, strap yourself in for this wild ride.
Christiane Karoline Rauss was born on September 18, 1884, thus making today her 140th birthday. Christiane was the daughter of Hugo and Catharine (Ruhkopf) Rauss. She was baptized at Salem Lutheran Church in Farrar. An image of her baptism record is displayed below.
Since we cannot view a census until 1900, Christiane would have already been a teenager. Also, by that time, her father had died. Often, young ladies would find work elsewhere back in those days during their teenage years. I do know that Christiane was not living with her mother when the 1900 census was taken, but I was unable to find Christiane in that year’s census. Perhaps one of our readers can find her. Then, Christiane would get married prior to the 1910 census, so we never find her in a census as a single person.
Christiane’s future husband would be Emanuel Stueve, who was born on April 18, 1882. Emanuel was the son of Claus and Margaretha (von Glahn) Stueve. We have this photo of Emanuel’s parents.
Emanuel was also baptized at Salem Lutheran Church in Farrar. We can view his baptism record here. It says in the last column that Mrs. Magwitz, the midwife, performed an emergency baptism.
Like was the case with Christiane, Emanuel was a teenager by the time of the 1900 census. And like it was with Christiane, Emanuel was not living with his parents. But I was able to locate Emanuel in the 1900 census. He was living in the Edward Bachmann household in the Salem Township. Emanuel was a farm laborer at the age of 18.
Emanuel Stueve married Christiane Rauss on October 23, 1904 at Salem, Farrar. The church marriage record is shown below. At this point, let me say that this was not the first Stueve/Rauss wedding to take place at Salem. Henry, Emanuel’s brother, married Anna, Christiane’s sister in 1900.
We can also take a look at this couple’s Perry County marriage license.
According to our German Family Tree, Emanuel and Christiane had 9 children. However, the early years of this couple after they were married is a bit hard to follow. Their first child born in 1905 was baptized at Concordia Lutheran Church in Frohna. That child died in 1906, and her death record is found in the books of Concordia. The next child born in 1908 was baptized at Salem Lutheran Church in Farrar. Then, when the 1910 census was taken, we find the Stueve’s living in the Plum Creek Township of Wayne County, Nebraska. They were living in the town of Altona, Nebraska. This is really a fascinating census page. On the image below, we not only find the Stueve family at the top of this image with one child, but down farther on the page, you find the Gottfried Lorenz family. Gottfried was a Perry County native. Then, at the bottom, you find the J.G. Bergt household. Even though J.G. Bergt was born in Nebraska, his grandfather was one of the original Bergt brothers who came as part of the Gesellschaft. Plus, his grandfather had married a Rauss. A previous post was written about J.G.’s life that was titled, Bergt & Panning Store – Altona, NE. Emanuel Stueve was a blacksmith at that time.
The above census was submitted in May of 1910, and then the next 3 Stueve children were born in Perry County and baptized at Salem, Farrar, beginning with a child born in October of 1910. It appears that the Stueve’s had moved back home for a while. In 1917, another son was born, and that child was born in Wayne County, Nebraska. When Emanuel had his World War I draft registration completed in 1918, he is given a Wayne, Nebraska address. Wayne was just north of Altona. Emanuel is called a farmer on this document.
The 1920 census has the Stueve’s back living in the Plum Creek Township. Emanuel is called a farm operator. There were 4 Stueve children in the household, along with Emanuel’s older brother, Herman, who never married.
The Stueve family relocated yet again prior to the 1930 census. In that year’s census, we find them living in the Trognitz Township in Cheyenne County, Nebraska. That township was located near Sidney and Potter, a few other Nebraska towns that have appeared rather often on this blog.
The map below shows that Altona and Sidney are located almost all the way across the state.
Like I wrote about Alva, Oklahoma in yesterday’s post, the area around Altona and the area around Sidney are also referred to as Perry County suburbs by some of us that work at our museum. The 1940 census has the Stueve’s living in the Brownson Township, which is also located near Sidney. Emanuel was a farm laborer, along with 2 of his sons.
Emanuel’s life came to a tragic end in 1941, when he crashed his car into a telephone pole, and he was killed. He was 59 years old when he died. Quite a few details of that crash are found in this newspaper article that was published after that event occurred. I have to display it in 2 images, and you may have to click on them to view all the article.
Emanuel is buried in the Greenwood Cemetery in Sidney.
A lot of widows and widowers, after they lose their spouse, will move to live with one of their children, and that appears to have been what happened with Christiane. When the 1950 census was taken. we find her living in Daly City, California with her daughter, Lydia, who had married Wesley Peterson, who was a postal clerk.
Daly City is located in the San Francisco area near the Golden Gate Bridge as is seen on the map below.
The photo below was taken of Christiane Stueve.
Christiane Stueve died in 1957 at the age of 72. She is buried in the Cypress Lake Memorial Park in Colma, which is right near Daly City.
We’ve come to the end of this couple’s wild ride. Most of that ride had Emanuel and Christiane living together. Many couples that have been highlighted on this blog get buried together in the same cemetery. However, this Stueve pair ended up being buried 1,279 miles away from each other according to an internet map site.