Every once in a while, I run across the story of a widower who marries a widow. When that happens, it puts me through the process of describing the lives of four people, not the ordinary story that focuses on just a husband and a wife. That is the case with today’s story. The one I tell today takes us beyond what I would call the “Lutheran Universe” and into some other Christian denominations.

The story begins with a birthday girl. Her name was Katherine Irene Jacob, at least that is what family histories on Ancestry.com name her. In our German Family Tree, she is called Kady Alwine Jacob. Katherine was born on January 25, 1895, so today would be her 130th birthday. She was the daughter of Charles and Evaline (McCain) Jacob. The only photo I located for Katherine was this one in which Katherine is the baby on her father’s lap.

Before I move on, let me say that Katherine’s mother was the daughter of a McCain father and a Byrd mother. Both those surnames go way back in American history. Evaline’s grandfather had an interesting name, James Commodore Perry Byrd. I think his middle name refers to Commodore Matthew Perry, who was the brother of Oliver Hazard Perry. Perry County is named after Oliver Hazard Perry, and both of those brothers were famous ship captains. James C.P. Byrd is buried in the McLain’s Cemetery in Oriole, Missouri, which is found in Cape Girardeau County not far from Trail of Tears State Park. McLain’s Cemetery is the cemetery for McLain’s Chapel, which was once a Methodist church in the early days of Southeast Missouri.

Back to Katherine. I found her for this story because she has a baptism record in our German Family Tree. I did not look carefully at her listing in the GFT before I went to the museum to get a photo of her baptism record. I knew she was baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg, but when I looked for her in the pages for the 1895 baptisms, she was not there. Once I looked again at the GFT, I discovered that she was not baptized until 1901. It was after I found her in the list of 1901 baptisms that she was one of 3 Jacob children to be baptized on March 10, 1901. The Jacob children were baptized by Pastor Roesener on a Friday, so these baptisms did not take place during a Sunday worship.

Then, I discovered that I have already written a post about the triple baptism back in 2017, Triple Trinity Baptisms. I wrote it on March 10, the date of these baptisms, and that post focused on the Jacob parents. I will focus on Katherine, one of the children, today.

Katherine was found in a census entry prior to her baptism. In the 1900 census, we find the Jacob family living in the Shawnee Township of Cape Girardeau County. Her father was a carpenter. She is called Irene in this entry. Her 2 brothers with whom she was baptized a year later are also found in this entry.

There were plenty of Christian churches in the Shawnee Township, so I do not know why Charles and Evaline brought their children to be baptized in Altenburg. Here is my thought on how this baptism took place on a Friday. The Jacob’s may have brought their children to Altenburg to Pastor Roesener to be baptized, and then Rev. Roesener went to find some people to be sponsors. The sponsors for these children were all Fischer’s and Wagner’s. The Fischer Store and the Wagner Hotel were located practically next to each other in downtown Altenburg. I think Pastor Roesener found several members of his congregation by going to those two businesses and gathering up some sponsors for some unexpected baptisms. I do think that they were likely baptized in the church, but it may have been just a small gathering of people who were present. Of course, this is all speculation on my part.

I was unable to find the Jacob family in the 1910 census. I do know that if I did find them, Katherine’s father would have been a widower because Evaline died in 1906. She was buried in the Neely’s Landing Cemetery.

In the 1920 census, we find the Jacob’s still living in Neely’s Landing in the Shawnee Township. Katherine was 25 years old, and this time, her father was a laborer for the railroad.

Katherine would get married later in 1920, so we will now take a look at the man who would become her husband. His name was William Fred Littleton, who was born on May 4, 1892. William was the son of William and Wilhelmina (Blattner) Littleton. William’s later death certificate says he was born in Perry County. We find William in the 1900 census at the age of 8. His father was a farmer in the Brazeau Township.

In the 1910 census, we find the Littleton’s living in the Shawnee Township. William, at the age of 17, was helping his father on his farm. He had an older sister who was a public school teacher.

William had his World War I draft registration completed in 1917. This form says that he was born in Wittenberg.

The final census in which we we find William prior to his marriage was the one taken in 1920. His father had died in 1917, so William was doing the farming by himself. His father is buried in the Apple Creek Cemetery, which is a cemetery associated with Apple Creek Presbyterian Church near Pocahontas. Only his mother lived in the household with him in 1920. A note on the side of this census page says they were living in or near Neely’s Landing.

William Littleton married Katherine Jacob on August 12, 1920. For some reason, they got married in St. Louis by a justice of the peace. We can view this St. Louis marriage record. This form says Katherine was from St. Louis, and William was from Pocahontas.

I think this couple had 4 children. In the 1930 census, we find this couple with all 4 of those children. They were living in the St. Ferdinand Township, which is found in the St. Louis area. William was a night watchman for a department store.

Katherine Littleton died in 1933 at the age of 38. She died after a surgery that took place in Barnes Hospital in St. Louis.

After his wife’s death, William made his way back to the Shawnee Township. He was a widower who was farming. Three children were living with him.

William had his World War II draft card completed in 1942. This form says William was renting a farm from Mrs. Floy Young.

Let’s now take a look at this Floy Young. She was born as Floy Myrtle Armstrong on June 18, 1891, the daughter of William and Hattie (Hughes) Armstrong. Early in her life, her family was living in the Randol Township. I am going to skip over some of her early life and tell you that she would later get married to William Young in 1913. I found it interesting that in the 1930 census, William Young was working as an engineer on a steamboat. I suspect that they lived in or near Neely’s Landing.

William Young died in 1938 of pneumonia, leaving Floy as a widow. She apparently owned some farmland, and it is that farmland that William Littleton was renting.

William Littleton ended up marrying Floy Young on February 17, 1943. They were married by a probate judge from Scott County.

The census entries for 1950 give evidence of some marital difficulties in the Littleton family. First, we find William living in the Shawnee Township at the age of 57, with a divorced daughter, a single son, and a grandson. William was described as being separated.

Meanwhile, Floy was living in the Randol Township with a son from her first marriage. She is said to be married. Her son was the farmer, and Floy is called a farm helper.

One year later, Floy Littleton died at the age of 60. Her death certificate says she was married, but it doesn’t have an option for separated.

Floy is buried in the McLain’s Chapel Cemetery in Oriole. Her first husband, William Young, is reportedly buried in that cemetery also, but he has no gravestone photo on Findagrave.com.

William Littleton died in 1963 at the age of 70. His death certificate below gives him an address of near Neely’s Landing.

William and Katherine Littleton are buried together in the Apple Creek Cemetery near Pocahontas.

This story certainly took us on quite a ride. What are the chances that people from the Jacob family and that of the Young family have family members who are buried in the McLain’s Cemetery in Oriole, a small cemetery that has never appeared on this blog before? What are the chances that a story would include both the names, McCain and McLain? And why would a set of parents take 3 young children to Perry County to have them baptized? Did they just go on a shopping trip to Altenburg with their children and run into the Lutheran pastor while spending time in the Fischer Store and were asked if their children were baptized? There is certainly not much of a Lutheran footprint in this story. I would never have found this tale without those 3 baptism records in the books of Trinity, Altenburg. But now not only I know this story, but you do too.