A lonely confirmation record found in our German Family Tree has led me to write today’s story. I did not have much hope for writing his story to begin with, but when I found that he had a special birthday, was the son of a Lutheran teacher, married the daughter of a saloon operator, who had the name, Schmidt, I figured it was right in my wheelhouse. So, I will go with it.

Arthur Paul August Weise was born on December 4, 1899, so today would be his 125th birthday. Arthur was born in Giddings, Texas where his father was a Lutheran teacher. Arthur was the son of August and Augusta (Stahmer) Weise. There is an LCMS congregation located in Giddings, Texas that was established in 1883, so perhaps that is where Arthur’s father was a teacher. August, the teacher is in this photo of his father’s Weise family. August was the oldest son in this family and sitting in the front row next to his father.

Arthur is found in the 1900 census at the age of 4 months. As you can see, his father was called a school teacher. You might note that Arthur’s father was said to be born in Texas. Perhaps that is how he managed to be assigned to a school in Texas after graduating from the Lutheran Teachers Seminary in Addison, Illinois. By the way, Arthur’s parents had gotten married in Addison, where Augusta Stahmer’s father was working at the college and had previously attended that college himself.

During the next decade, Arthur’s father took a call to become a teacher at Immanuel Lutheran Church in New Wells. That is how Arthur came to get his name into our German Family Tree. Four of the Weise children were confirmed at Immanuel. Another child was born to the Weise’s in 1912, and that child had 3 male sponsors who were local Lutheran teachers, Matthias Wukasch from Frohna, along with Benjamin Hemmann and Henry Fiehler from Altenburg. Arthur is found in the 1910 census at the age of 10 and living in the Shawnee Township.

Arthur was confirmed at Immanuel, New Wells in 1914. His confirmation record is pictured here.

The last record for a Weise found in the books of Immanuel, New Wells was a confirmation that took place in 1919. It appears that it was just after that occasion that August’s career as a Lutheran teacher came to an end. When the 1920 census was taken, we find Arthur’s family living in Davenport, Iowa. I have to think that Teacher Weise may have decided that his Lutheran teacher salary may have not enabled him to support a family with 7 children adequately. It is likely that the Weise’s chose that location to move because his mother had been born in Davenport. This time, his father was a line polisher at an optical company. Arthur was a laborer for a transfer company.

It was in Davenport that Arthur found his bride. Her name was Margaret Hermione Schmidt, who was born on August 9, 1902. Margaret was the daughter of John and Bridget (Malone) Schmidt. She is found in her first census entry in 1910 at the age of 7. She is called Minnie in this entry, which probably comes from her middle name, Hermione. Her father was the proprietor of a saloon in Davenport. It was quite a large Schmidt family consisting of 10 children.

Next, we find Margaret in the 1920 census. She was no longer living with her parents. She was living with her older brother, John L. Schmidt, who had gotten married to Hazel Bahns in 1917. I had to laugh a bit when I saw that Margaret (Minnie) was called a stripper. Then I noticed she was a stripper for a cigar company.

Arthur Weise married Margaret Schmidt on February 15, 1922 in Davenport. The pastor who conducted the wedding was Rev. Herman Harms, who was a Lutheran minister, but I was not able to determine which church he served.

Evidence seems to indicate that Arthur and Margaret had 3 children. In the 1930 census, there were 2 children in their household. Arthur was a truck driver for a dairy in Davenport.

One more child was born in the early 1930’s. At some point, the Weise’s had this photo taken. It supposedly shows Arthur and Margaret, and I suspect the 3 younger children on the right are their 3 children. There are several others in the picture that I cannot identify.

Arthur Weise died in 1937 at the age of 37. I am able to display an Iowa death certificate for him. It indicates that heart issues caused his death. It also says he was working for the Ralston Purina Company.

I also located an obituary for Arthur that is shown below.

Msargaret Weise is found in the 1940 census as a widow. All 3 of her children were living with her.

It appears that Margaret would get married 2 more times during her life. Sometime in the 1940’s, she married a man named John Clifford McKee. I am not going to go into much detail about Margaret’s next 2 husbands, but I will tell you that in the 1910 census, John McKee is found as being a sailor on the ship, USS Kansas. John was also born in Kansas before finding his way to Davenport.

In the 1950 census, we see John and Margaret McKee living in Davenport where John was a construction superintendent.

John McKee died in 1960, reportedly in Florida, but he is buried in the Elmwood Cemetery in Fort Madison, Iowa. His gravestone indicates that he served in the U.S. Navy in both World War I and World War II.

Later, Margaret apparently married another man named George Udell. I found this application for a military headstone for George. It indicates that he had also served in the U.S. Navy from 1918-1921. The name of the applicant on this form is Margaret Udell. It also states that George had died in 1968.

Margaret (Schmidt)(McKee) Udell died in 1997 at the age of 94. The Florida death index shown below indicates that she died in Alachua, Florida.

Margaret’s body was returned to Iowa, and she was buried with her first husband, Arthur Weise in the Fairmount Cemetery in Davenport.

The Weise family lived in our neighborhood for only about 10 years, but the lonely confirmation record for Arthur Weise took us on a journey from Giddings, Texas, on to New Wells, then to Davenport, Iowa. After Arthur’s death, it even took us to two other men who both had experience as sailors in the Navy and each died in Florida. Along the way, a Schmidt entered the story, but not a Schmidt from Perry County.