I have written stories on this blog about the building shown below. It was located right about where the newest buildings of the Altenburg Public School are found today.

Today, you will read about the carpenter who is said to have built this store. That man is also today’s birthday boy.

Carl Heinrich Fritsche was born on January 2, 1862, so today would be his 163rd birthday. Henry was the son of Carl and Maria (Engert) Fritsche. I use the terms “Farrar Fritsche’s” and “Altenburg Fritsche’s” to describe two different Fritsche clans in Perry County. Henry was part of the “Altenburg Fritsche’s”. He was baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Altenburg. His baptism record is pictured below.

Henry had a difficult childhood. His father died in 1869 when he was just 7 years old. His mother must have made the decision to have Henry live with his maternal grandparents, August and Anna Engert. This was a very large family. After all, August Engert was the father of 23 children with 2 wives. Henry was not the only 8 year-old in this entry. There was also a set of twin girls in the list that were 8. They would have been Henry’s aunts. August Engert was a farmer in the Brazeau Township.

During that year, Henry’s mother, Maria, and the other Fritsche children were living in the August Degenhardt household in Seelitz. August’s wife, Bertha, was Maria’s sister.

A state census for Missouri was compiled in 1876. This census entry indicates that Henry had reunited with the rest of his family.

When the 1880 census was taken, Henry was living in St. Louis. He was an 18 year-old boarder in the Jacob Vogel household. Jacob was a dairy man, and Henry was also said to be working in a dairy. I found no connection between this Vogel couple and any of the Vogel’s in Perry County.

Now, we need to take a look at the woman who would become Henry’s bride. Her name was Anna Friedericke Schade, who was born on February 27, 1867. Anna was the daughter of Bernhard and Wilhelmine (Gerler) Schade. I found this photo of Anna’s parents.

Anna, like her future husband, was baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Altenburg. We can view that baptism record below.

Anna is found in the 1870 census at the age of 2. Her father was a farmer in the Brazeau Township.

Next, we find Anna in the 1880 census at the age of 13. Her father had died in 1872 when Anna was just 5 years old, so both Henry and Anna had in common the fact that they each lost their fathers at a very young age. We see Anna’s widowed mother as the head of the house, with a few older brothers working the Schade farm.

Henry Fritsche married Anna Schade on November 20, 1887 at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Altenburg. Their church marriage record for this event is displayed below in 2 images. This record says Henry was born in Altenburg, but Anna was born in Friedland. Friedland is a name that was once used for the area north of Altenburg that is now more often called The Ridge.

We are also able to look at 2 different civil records for this wedding. First, here is the Missouri marriage license for this pair.

Below is a document that looks more like a marriage certificate.

Our German Family Tree lists 3 children born to Henry and Anna, two boys, Reinhold and Oswald, followed by a girl, Nora. When the 1900 census was taken, we find the Fritsche’s living in the Brazeau Township with all 3 of those children. Henry is called a carpenter.

I think it may have been in the next decade that Henry Fritsche constructed the store in downtown Altenburg that was shown earlier. In the 1910 census, we find Henry and Anna with just 2 of their children in their household. Both Henry and his son, Oswald, were called carpenters.

Meanwhile, their older son, Reinhold, is found in the 1910 census living in Altenburg with a man named Theodore Noennig. Both of these men were retail merchants. This was the time when the store in Altenburg was called the Fritsche-Noennig Store, as is shown in the previous photo. In that photo, Theodore is standing on the left, and Reinhold is standing on the right.

Here is another photo of Main Street in Altenburg that includes the Fritsche-Noennig Store. I know this was taken after 1910 because the Altenburg Bank building is shown in the background, and it was built in 1910.

The 1920 census shows 2 Fritsche households followed by a Noennig household listed consecutively. Reinhold and Henry Fritsche, along with Theodore Noennig, were all called merchants at a store.

Located down Main Street toward the west from the Fritsche-Noennig Store were three houses in which these 3 families lived. Henry and Anna lived in the middle one. I think there is a good chance that Henry was involved in building these 3 houses. Immanuel Lutheran Church can be seen in the background.

When the 1930 census was taken, we see Henry and Anna with no children still living with them. Richard Schade, Anna’s widowed brother, was also included in the household.

The last census in which we find Anna was the one taken in 1940. Henry and Anna had an empty nest, but on each side of their entry, we find the households of their 2 sons. Both sons were called owners of a general store. One of Reinhold’s sons, Walter Fritsche, was the owner of a hatchery. That hatchery was located just across Main Street from the 3 homes shown before.

Anna Fritsche died in 1945 at the age of 78. We can view her death certificate here.

An obituary for Anna was published in the Perry County Republican. This obituary says she died of a kidney ailment.

Henry is found in the 1950 census as a widower. He was living with his daughter, Nora, who had married Hugo Wirth. Hugo and Oswald Fritsche were called store clerks. Reinhold Fritsche, along with his wife, Ida (Thurm) and George Thurm were working together at the hatchery.

At that time, the store was called the Fritsche-Wirth Store. The photo below was taken when it was called the Fritsche-Wirth Store. From left to right are Henry Fritsche, Rudy Preusser, Reinhold Fritsche, Oswald Fritsche, and Hugo Wirth.

Henry Fritsche died in 1957 at the age of 95. Henry is called a retired merchant on his death certificate below.

Henry also had an obituary published in the Perry County Republican.

Henry and Anna Fritsche are buried together in the Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery in Altenburg.

The store that Henry built in downtown Altenburg no longer stands, but I think 2 of the 3 houses that he probably built are still standing and are occupied in Altenburg to this day. Perhaps there are other Fritsche-built structures still standing in Altenburg as well.