I have an amazing story to tell today. Before I tell it, let me describe how I found this story. I happened to be working as a docent at our museum yesterday, and it was one of those days that we had only 2 visitors all day long. So, I had plenty of time to not only finish writing the post that we published yesterday, but I had the time to pick out a story for today. As it turns out, I located a story that also manages to connect with the two previous posts that I have authored. Those 2 posts were about men named Rudolph…Rudolph Arbeiter and Rudolph Roth. Each of those Rudolph’s was born in 1895, and I stumbled across another person for today’s post that was also born during that year.

Charles Richard Nennert was born on January 19, 1895, thus making today his 130th birthday. Since he is often called C.R. during his life, I am going to call him that in this post. C.R. was the son of Carl and Loretta (Swan) Nennert. As near as I can tell, C.R.’s parents were a combination of a German Lutheran (baptized at Trinity, Altenburg) and a Scots-Irish Prebyterian (Brazeau Presbyterian). That couple had 4 children, one which died right away. Those children were baptized at Christ Lutheran Church in Jacob, Illinois. Before I move on, let me point out that Loretta Swan, C.R.’s mother, who was born in 1872, lost her mother in 1874 and her father in 1876, so she had plenty of experience with becoming an orphan. C.R.’s baptism record from the books of Christ, Jacob is displayed below in 2 images. It contains a few extra items of interest. First of all, not far below the record for C.R., you will see that of Rudolph Arbeiter, which was a record displayed in the story, Rudolph Arbeiter and the Coal Miner’s Daughter, that was published on January 16th, his birthday.

Another interesting fact shown above is the fact that between C.R.’s baptism record and Rudolph’s is one for Loretta Emilie Thieler, and if you look at that child’s sponsors, you will find C.R.’s mother, Loretta, and and another woman named Emilie Schuerenberg. That Thieler child was likely named after her two female sponsors. Also, one of C.R.’s sponsors was Charles Swan, who I believe was Loretta Nennert’s cousin. He lived across the river in Wittenberg. His full name was Charles Richard Swan, and I think C.R. was was named not only after his father, but after his sponsor, another C.R.

The years, 1899 and 1900, were particularly tragic years in the Nennert family. On January 21, 1899, C.R.’s father died and was buried in Jacob, Illinois. After her husband’s death, Loretta placed her family’s possessions on a ferry boat and came across the Mississippi River to Wittenberg. Then, on July 5, 1900, Loretta died, leaving the 3 Nennert children as orphans. And if that was not enough, C.R.’s grandmother, who was already a widow at the time, died on July 21st. One might think that she would have been the first one to be considered to help raise her 3 Nennert grandchildren.

I located the 3 Nennert orphans in the 1900 census, but their entries leave us with some puzzling questions. First of all, we find the youngest Nennert child, Rosa, living with her grandmother who was a hotel keeper in Wittenberg. However, it is that grandmother that died just 16 days after her daughter-in-law, Loretta died. Loretta is not found in this entry, but Rosa is (even though she is called a daughter, not a granddaughter). Is it possible that the census taker compiled this list between July 5th and July 21st? And one would have to wonder why the other 2 Nennert children were not included in that household.

Just a few pages after the above entry in that census, we find the other 2 Nennert children in another entry. It appears that Viola and Richard (C.R.) are living with 3 single men, all in their 20’s. How could 2 orphans be placed in a household with 3 single men, all with occupations, so soon after they lost their parents and grandmother? I have a theory. This entry, as you can see, is at the very end of the enumeration for the town of Wittenberg. Is it possible that the census taker found it necessary to add these two orphans who had just lost their mother at the end of his list because he did not know where else to put them? Of course, this does not answer the question why these 2 were not included in the Nennert hotel household. I think this unsettled Nennert situation corresponding with the time when the census was being taken caused some unusual things to end up in that year’s census.

I did find the last will and testament for Loretta Nennert, and it says that William Lueders was named the guardian of the 3 children. When the 1910 census was taken, we see that R.C., at the age of 15, was living in the William Lueders household and called a ward. Right above the William Lueders household, you will see that of Otto and Lydia Lueders, two of the main characters in my Wittenberg books.

Now, I want to backtrack a year to 1909. This is where I made an amazing discovery. Let’s take a look at an image below that includes the confirmation record of C.R. Nennert. The pastor at that time, Rev. Henry Albert Klein listed this confirmation class in the order of the confirmand’s birthdays. That placed the four confirmands shown in this image right next to each other. You should notice that the confirmand right above C.R.’s record was Rudolph Roth, whose story was told yesterday. I did not include his confirmation record yesterday, but you get to see it today.

This list from top to bottom shows boys named Arnold Mueller, Rudolph Roth, C.R. Nennert, and Edward Birner. I will now let you know that later in their lives, these men would be known as Teacher Mueller, Teacher Roth, Teacher Nennert, and Pastor Birner. Yes, all four of these young men would become full-time church workers in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. All of these boys would have had Teacher Rufus Schneider as their teacher in Wittenberg and Pastor Klein as their confirmation instructor. I think these two men inspired many of their students to go into church work.

The picture below may have been C.R.’s confirmation photo.

C. R. Nennert graduated from Concordia Teachers College in River Forest, Illinois in 1915. However, he was not alone at that college. His longtime classmate at St. Paul’s in Wittenberg, Arnold Mueller, was also in that graduating class at River Forest. In fact, in an alphabetical listing of the graduates in that school’s yearbook, you will find Arnold Mueller and C.R. Nennert on the same page. What are the chances that 2 young men from the little town of Wittenberg not only appear in this college yearbook together, but also on the same page. Please note that the information for C.R. calls him a “parentless lad”.

I just have to add another fascinating part of this tale. Several pages later in that yearbook, you find another young man from East Perry County. That graduate’s name was Theobald Wukasch who was the son of Teacher Wukasch who was a teacher at Concordia Lutheran School in Frohna for 50 years. I will add that all 3 of these Perry County boys played baseball and tennis at Concordia. I can understand baseball, but how in the world did these boys learn how to play tennis?

While I am at it, I also found a photo of Rudolph Roth in a yearbook from that school in 1918. He must have made the decision to become a teacher later in his life.

C.R. Nennert first became a teacher in New Kensington, Pennsylvania. When we take a look at his World War I draft registration from 1917, he was a teacher at St Paul Lutheran School in Arnold, which is part of the New Kensington area.

In the 1920 census, C.R. was living in the Karl Reiter household in New Kensington. He was called a teacher at a parochial school.

Later in 1920, C.R. took a call to become the teacher at St. Paul’s Lutheran School in Indianapolis, Indiana. He would spend 40 years and the rest of his career at that school. That means that C.R. attended St. Paul’s Lutheran School in Wittenberg, and then went on to be a teacher at two more St. Paul’s Lutheran Schools. The school in Indianapolis is also the place where the two classmates from Wittenberg, C.R. and Arnold Mueller, were once again reunited. They both taught together at that school for many years. I will also add that for a part of that time, Teacher Theobald Wukasch taught with C.R. and Arnold at that school. In the 1930 census, C.R. was living in the Anton Roesener houshold and called a teacher at a Lutheran school. C.R. never married.

Next, we find C.R. in the 1940 census at the age of 45. He was a roomer in the household of his old friend, Arnold Mueller, who had married Gladys Hemphill.

The last census we can view for C.R. was the one taken in 1950. He was still living with Arnold Mueller, who was by then a widower.

It is reported that C.R. Nennert was the principal at St. Paul’s Lutheran School for the last ten years of his career. Since he retired in 1960, he must have been named the principal at about the time of the above census. I think it was in 1951 that the article shown below was printed in an Indianapolis newspaper. It describes both C.R. Nennert, the principal, and Arnold Mueller, a teacher. I could not get this article in one image, so I am placing it below in 2 images, one below the other, so you can follow the two columns.

After his retirement in 1960, C.R. moved back to Wittenberg. He lived at the house that is about the only standing building in Wittenberg at the present time. While in Wittenberg, C.R. took a lot of photos and became an important part of telling the story of East Perry County Lutheranism. He would often give people tours of sites in our area and explain the same history that our museum attempts to keep alive today. Mary Dillon’s Wittenberg book calls C.R. “Mr. Wittenberg” because of his activities in that town. I am going to include here a gallery of photos of C.R. Nennert taken during his lifetime. The thumbnails are clickable.

Later in his life, C.R. had this photo taken.

C.R. Nennert died in 1967 at the age of 72. His death certificate below says he died at the Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau.

I am able to display two obituaries for C.R. Nennert.

C.R.’s body was taken back to Indianapolis to be buried in the Concordia Cemetery in that city. Findagrave.com does not have a photo of his gravestone.

Another question remains unanswered. I have to wonder how an orphan boy in the small town of Wittenberg would be able to come up with the funds to pay his way at Concordia Teachers College. I figure that Arnold Mueller’s father ran a successful store in Wittenberg, so he would not have as much of an issue with tuition and boarding payments. Not so with C.R. I have to think that his guardian, William Lueders, may have helped C.R. along the way. I also like to think that Joseph Weinhold, the flour mill operator in Wittenberg, who was well-known for welcoming Lutheran students to visit his home, would be another suspected benefactor for C.R.

The story of C.R. Nennert is special to me. His story is one of becoming a Lutheran teacher. After many years of service in the classroom and as a principal during his later years, he retired and moved to East Perry County. In his retirement, he became an ambassador for Lutheran history in this area. That bio is one that could be used to describe my life. I am proud to follow in the footsteps of “Mr. Wittenberg”.