The last post that I authored was about a man who was born in 1895 and was named Rudolph. I have another story today about a Rudolph that was born that same year. Rudolph Heinrich Roth was born on January 18, 1895, thus making today his 130th birthday. Rudolph was the son of Christian and Agnes (Schuessler) Roth. He was baptized at Concordia Lutheran Church in Frohna. His baptism record from that congregation’s books is pictured here.

In the 1900 census, we find Rudolph at the age of 5. His father was a teamster in Frohna. His father is a character in my Wittenberg ’04 book. I figured that he delivered flour from the Frohna Mill operated by the Weinhold brothers to Wittenberg where it would have been loaded onto steamboats to be sent to market.

While researching for my Wittenberg books, I discovered that church records for people in this Roth family began appearing in the books of the new congregation, St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, in 1904. Christian became a farmer near Wittenberg at about that time, and I speculated in my book that he may have bought his farmland from the operator of the flour mill in Wittenberg, Joseph Weinhold.

Rudolph is found in the 1910 census at the age of 15. He had been confirmed in 1909, and his confirmation record is found in the books of St. Paul’s, Wittenberg. This time, his father is called a farmer.

Rudolph had his World War I draft registration completed in 1917. This form gives Rudolph a Wittenberg address and calls him a student. However, if you look on the right of this image, you discover that this document was filed in Cook County, Illinois where Rudolph was attending Concordia Teachers College. By that time, Concordia was located in River Forest. On the line asking for any exemption from military service, it says “student for teacher of religion”.

In 1919, Rudolph’s younger brother, Leo Roth, married Lina Mueller. Leo and Lina’s story was told in the post, The Preacher’s Grandparents. In that story, I included the wedding photo below. Rudolph is the man standing behind the groom, so we can say that Rudolph was the best man. By the way, the maid of honor in this photo, Bertha Mueller, would later marry another of the Roth boys, Gottfried Roth. And if that is not enough, Bertha’s half-sister, Frieda Mueller married my uncle, George Loebs, whose family is found right above the Roth entry in the 1910 census. And if you want to get more confused, George Loebs’s mother was another Bertha Mueller. I like to think that my father, Richard Schmidt, attended this wedding. Bertha (Mueller) Loebs, whose husband had died, married my grandfather, Emanuel Schmidt by this time. My father would have been about 6 years old when this wedding took place, and he must have been a neighbor to the Roth’s. The photo below is the only one I located for Rudolph.

Rudolph graduated from that college prior to the 1920 census. In that year’s entry, we find Rudolph living in Peoria, Illinois in the Jass household. He was called a teacher at a private school.

In a list of Lutheran teachers that were once members of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Wittenberg, we find the name of Rudolph Roth. There are 3 Roth’s on the list.

Now, it is time to take a look at the woman who would become Rudolph’s bride. Her name was Hilda Amanda Lueders, who was born on May 16, 1897. Hilda was the daughter of Gustav and Clara (Schuessler) Lueders. In case you are wondering, Hilda’s mother and Rudolph’s mother were Schuessler cousins. A previous post about Hilda’s parents was titled, Forth and Back. I am not able to display Hilda’s baptism record, but she was born in St. Louis, and I found this St. Louis birth record for her.

I do know that Hilda was baptized at Holy Cross Lutheran Church in St. Louis. We see quite a few baptisms of Lueders children on the list below of baptisms that took place at that congregation. Several of them, including Hilda’s, were children of Gustav and Clara.

Here is where we find another connection to my Wittenberg books. Hilda’s father, Gustav, was the son of William Lueders, who was the postmaster in those books, and brother of Otto Lueders, who operated the Lueders Store in Wittenberg. There was even a time in the books when Otto traveled to St. Louis to visit his brother.

Hilda is found in the 1900 census at the age of 3. Her father was a cigar dealer in St. Louis. This was quite a large Lueders family that was made up primarily of girls.

The Lueders family made a move prior to the 1910 census. Both of Hilda’s parents had family in Perry County, and in 1910 we find them living in Wittenberg. Her father was called the driver for a livery stable. Gustav and his brother Otto were involved in operating the store and the livery businesses in downtown Wittenberg. Hilda was 12 years old in this entry. Like Rudolph, Hilda was confirmed at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Wittenberg. She was confirmed in 1912.

Hilda and Rudolph undoubtedly got to know one another when they spent part of their childhood in Wittenberg. However, prior to 1920, this Lueders family moved back to St. Louis. Her father was called a helper at a book binding company. I think that may have been Concordia Publishing House. Hilda, at the age of 22, was a forelady at a biscuit company. Several other of her siblings were also part of the work force.

Rudolph Roth married Hilda Lueders on September 3, 1921 at Holy Cross Lutheran Church in St. Louis. A St. Louis marriage record for this couple is shown here. This form says that both Rudolph and Hilda were from St. Louis. I think that by the time of this wedding, Rudolph was a teacher in St. Louis.

In a book that we have in our research library, we have listings of records that can be found in the church books of Holy Cross. It includes the Roth/Lueders wedding in 1921.

Rudolph and Hilda had just one child, a daughter named Laverne, who was born in 1926. When the 1930 census was taken, the Roth’s were living in St. Louis, and Rudolph was once again called a teacher at a private school. I found evidence that Rudolph was a teacher at St. John’s Lutheran School in Ellisville.

Apparently, Rudolph did not continue teaching throughout his career. In the 1940 census, Rudolph was a florist in St. Louis.

Rudolph Roth died in 1947 at the age of 52. His death certificate below says he had a disease of the brain along with problems with his lungs. This document indicates that his recent occupation was a clerk in the post office.

Hilda is found in the 1950 census as a widow. She was working as a clerk at the Lutheran Laymen’s League. Her daughter, Laverne, was a clerk with a veterans organization. A niece, Mildred Roth, was a packer at a bakery. Mildred was the daughter of the Gottfried and Bertha (Mueller) Roth couple mentioned earlier.

Hilda Roth died in 1972 at the age of 75. Pancreatic cancer is given as her cause of death on the certificate below. She died at the Lutheran Hospital.

Rudolph and Hilda Roth are each buried in the Park Lawn Cemetery in St. Louis.

I would like to inject here at the end of this story one more thing that I think may have happened along the way in the life of Rudolph Roth. When Rudolph was a student at St. Paul’s Lutheran School in Wittenberg, his teacher was Rufus Schneider. I think it may have been Teacher Schneider who suggested to Rudolph that he might become a Lutheran teacher. Then, in 1911, Teacher Schneider married Concordia Lueders, Hilda’s sister. Then, in 1921, the same year as Rudolph and Hilda’s marriage, Teacher Schneider took a call to be a teacher at Holy Cross Lutheran School in St. Louis. So, there was a time when there were a couple of teachers’ wives in St. Louis from the Lueders family. One of those teachers may have been able to take the credit for influencing his brother-in-law to become a Lutheran teacher.

Just one more personal note. As I am attempting to write this story, I am also watching a livestream of our granddaughters playing in a basketball tournament in Peoria, Illinois. I suppose it is possible that this school was the one at which Teacher Roth was at in 1920.