Yesterday, I told the tale of a woman who had 2 husbands with children born to each husband. I will tell another such story today. It is a story with a bit of a debate as well as a trace of mystery. I will begin with the birthday girl.

Nora Belle Ross was born on November 24th, so she qualifies to be today’s birthday girl, but is also debatable whether she was born in 1873 or 1874. If she was born in 1874, today would be her 150th birthday. He later death certificate gives her a birthday of November 24, 1874, but her gravestone is etched with the birth date of November 24, 1873. Nora was the daughter of James and Mary Jane (Brown) Ross. I have written several stories on this blog about people with the surname, Ross, but Nora’s family does not fit into those family trees. In fact, her family can be traced back to having roots in North Carolina, and I would add that there is no indication that she had any German genes in her. Nora was born in Cape Girardeau County, Missouri, and I am not aware of where she was baptized. She is found in her first census in 1880 at the age of 5. Her age given here could give credence to an 1874 birth because her age would be closer to the age calculated from that birth year. Please note that Nora’s father had parents who were from North Carolina. Nora’s father was a farmer in the Shawnee Township.

Nora is still found living in the same location when the 1900 census was taken. A few more Ross daughters were added to the family during the previous decade.

Now, we will turn our attention to the man who would become Nora’s first husband. His name was George Kropf, who was born on May 22, 1859. That would make him about 15 years older than Nora. George was the son of John George and Margaret (Poehner) Kropf. George’s Kropf family were members of Peace Lutheran Church in Friedenberg, so that is likely where he was baptized. George is found in his first census entry in 1860 at the age of 1. His father was a farmer in the Bois Brule Township.

Next, we find George in the 1870 census at the age of 10. He was the youngest child in his family.

In the 1880 census, we find George at the age of 21, and he was working on his father’s farm.

Twenty years would pass before we are able to view his next census entry in 1900. At that point in time, George was a single 41 year-old farmer in the Central Township. Both of his parents had died prior to this year’s census. His nephew, Fred Albrecht was helping him on his farm.

On November 19, 1902, George Kropf married Nora Ross at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Perryville. The church marriage record for this couple is pictured here. It indicates that Nora was from Cape Girardeau County.

The above record says that Rev. Rudolph Norden from Fremont, Nebraska performed this wedding ceremony. Rev. Norden was a character in a previous post on this blog titled, A Mehner Mother Amongst a Passel of Pastors.

We can also take a look at the Missouri marriage license for this pair. This document says Rev. Griebel, the pastor of Immanuel, Perryville at that time, performed this wedding. There is a bit of mystery there.

After this wedding and prior to the next census in 1910, Nora was primarily in the business of having and raising children. She had 5 children in 8 years, and all of them were baptized at Immanuel, Perryville. Then, in 1909, George Kropf died at the age of 50, just 3 days after his last son was born. Since he died before 1910, we are not able to view a death certificate for him. His death record is not found in our German Family Tree either. However, an obituary published in the Perry County Republican says that George died of consumption, which is another name for tuberculosis. Another bit of a mystery is that this obituary states that 2 non-Lutheran pastors were involved in conducting his funeral.

Nora is found as a widow in the 1910 census. She was called a farmer and had children who were much too young to help. A woman, Josephine Janus, was living in this household as a servant.

Nora would get married again in 1912. Her second husband was Albert August Hintman, who was born on July 10, 1873. His later death certificate says that he was born in Grand Tower, Illinois. That death certificate says his father was named Joe Hintman, but it does not give his mother’s name. I did not find Albert in the 1880 census, but in the 1900 census, he was a 24 year-old farm laborer in the Lawrence Huber household.

I also failed to find Albert in the 1910 census. Then, on October 14, 1912, Albert Hintman married Nora Kropf at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Perryville. The church marriage record for this couple is shown below. This record was shoved into an open space in the church’s records, indicating that the pastor may not have inserted it in the books right away, but at a later date.

The Missouri marriage license for this pair is pictured here.

One child was born to Albert and Nora, but that child was baptized at Immanuel, Perryville prior to this couple’s wedding. When the 1920 census was taken, the Hintman household contained 5 Kropf children and 1 Hintman child. Albert was a farmer in the Central Township.

Nora Hintman died in 1924 at the age of 49. Her death certificate is where we find a birthday of November 24, 1874.

An obituary for Nora was published in the Perry County Republican. I have to display it in 2 images.

Albert Hintman died in 1929 at the age of 55.

An obituary for Albert was also published in the same newspaper.

Nora (Ross)(Kropf) Hintman is buried in the Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery in Perryville. Her gravestone calls her Mother and includes all three of the surnames that she carried during her life, Ross, Kropf, and Hintman.

Nora’s two husbands are each buried in the Home Cemetery in Perryville.

Another mystery to me is the fact that Nora, who had no apparent German roots or early connection to a Lutheran church would be the only one in this story to be buried in a German Lutheran cemetery. However, her two German husbands, one of which spent his childhood in a German Lutheran church, were each buried in a cemetery not connected to any church.