Today’s story was inspired by a baptism record for a girl who spent just a short time in Perry County. Like quite a few other posts that have been published on this blog, the move away from Perry County by this girl was made to St. Louis. It was there that most of this story takes place.

Antonie Klara Ludwig was born on December 11, 1894, thus making today her 130th birthday. This girl’s name is spelled with a “K” on her baptism record, but almost her entire life, her name was spelled with a “C”. Early on in language development, Germanic languages used a “c” in their words rather sparingly whereas languages based more on Latin used a “c” for the “hard c” sound. Americans also used the “c” spellings for names such as Carl and Clara, so many Germans chose to switch a “K” spelling to a “C” spelling. I suppose it may have been a way of “fitting in”. I will use Clara for the remainder of this post. Clara was the daughter of Herman and Clara (Gerhardt) Ludwig. I have this photo of Clara’s parents that first appeared in the story I wrote about them, Herman the Brewer.

Clara was baptized at Grace Lutheran Church in Uniontown. Her baptism record is displayed below. Notice that both the baby girl and her mother had their names spelled with a “K”.

Clara’s baptism took place on December 26th, the day after Christmas. Perhaps the family and/or the pastor chose to wait until the hectic Christmas season was over before having Clara baptized. December 26th was a Wednesday that year. Clara is found in the 1900 census at the age of 4. By this time, there were 8 children in this Ludwig family. Clara’s father was a brewer in the Apple Creek Township.

Herman was a brewer at the brewery located in Old Appleton. The photo below of that brewery gives you an idea about how large that operation was.

During the next decade, the Ludwig family moved to St. Louis. I think they left rather early after 1900 because the last church record for anyone in this family was a baptism that took place in 1901. We do not have actual records for Holy Cross Lutheran Church in St. Louis, but we do have a book that lists the records that can be found in that congregation’s books. I located a confirmation record for Clara, who was confirmed at Holy Cross in 1908. She was part of a rather large class.

In the 1910 census, the entry for the Ludwig’s finds them living in St. Louis, and Herman was still working as a brewer. Three of Clara’s siblings, 2 sons and a daughter, were part of the work force also.

Now, we will take a look at the man who would become Clara’s husband. His name was Frederick Jackson Probst, who was born on February 10, 1892 in St. Louis. Fred was the son of Frederick and Katherine (Fleisch) Probst. Fred is found in the 1900 census at the age of 8. His father worked for the city street department. Please note that Fred had older siblings, Clara and Carl, both spelled with a “C”.

Next, we find Fred in the 1910 census at the age of 18. He was called a shipping clerk for a jewelry company. This time, his father was called a night watchman at a factory.

Fred Probst married Clara Ludwig on the first day of 1914, January 1st. These two were married at Holy Cross Lutheran Church in St. Louis. A St. Louis marriage record for this event is pictured here.

In the Holy Cross book, we find this entry for the Probst/Ludwig wedding.

I found these photos of Fred and Clara in a Ludwig family binder we have in our research library. It says this couple was married on December 31, 1913, but I think that is when they got their marriage license.

Fred and Clara had two children, both girls. Then, in 1917, Fred had his World War I draft registration completed. He is called a bookkeeper working for the Overland Auto Company on this document.

When the 1920 census was taken, the Probst’s still had no children. Fred was an accountant for an auto company. For some unknown reason, it says Clara was born in Illinois. That is not correct.

Their 2 daughters were born in 1920 and 1922, so they would have appeared in a 1930 census. However, I was unsuccessful at finding them. I did manage to locate this 1930 St. Louis city directory, so I know they were still living in that city. Fred is called an auditor.

In the 1940 census, we find all 4 members of the Probst family. Fred is called an auditor for an automobile loan company. The 2 daughters were teenagers, each being part of the work force.

I found another interesting record in the Holy Cross book. In 1940, both Lorraine Probst and her father, Fred, were confirmed on the same day.

The last census the public can view is the one taken in 1950. In this entry, Fred and Clara had an empty nest, and Fred is called a finance comptroller for a finance company.

Fred Probst died in 1955 at the age of 63. We are able to view his death certificate below.

I also found this death record for Fred in the Holy Cross book.

The obituary below for Fred was published in a local newspaper.

Clara Probst died in 1982 at the age of 87. She died too recently to view her death certificate, but we can view her obituary.

Fred and Clara Probst are each buried in the New St. Marcus Cemetery in St. Louis.

Fred Probst was a man who worked with numbers who married the daughter of a man who made beer. It is my kind of story. I also cannot hear the surname, Probst, and not think of the German toast, “Prost!”. Nor can I look at that name without at least thinking about Pabst Beer, but I know that beer was not produced in St. Louis. The surname, Probst, seemed pretty common in the St. Louis area, but because this couple had only daughters, that name was not passed on to the next generation through this family.

Before I close, let me point out that the Ludwig family binder that we have in our research library has the sentence shown below which indicates that one of the persons who put the binder together was the grandchild of Fred and Clara. However, I was not able to find any place in the binder that stated the name or names of the person(s) who put this book together.

This person must have been the child of John and Lorraine (Probst) Mayhew. Their photos are shown below. I did find a 1950 census that listed a daughter named Sharon and a son named Robert in the Mayhew family.

Perhaps this person who compiled the material in the Ludwig binder will read this story and identify themself.