Mathilda Linna Lueders was born on February 12, 1885, so today would be her 140th birthday. Lina, as she was mostly called, was the daughter of Charles and Susanna (Palisch) Lueders. A previous post was written about her parents titled, Lueders/Palisch: Marriage or Competition? Lena was baptized at Concordia Lutheran Church in Frohna. We can take a look at her baptism record from that congregation’s books pictured here.

I think the photo shown below of the Lueders family was taken just prior to 1899. Lina’s mother died in 1899, and she is said to be the woman in this photo pictured next to her husband. Lina was the third-oldest daughter in this family, so I figure that she is one of the 3 girls standing in the back.

Lina is found in the 1900 census at the age of 15. She is called Mathilde in this entry. Her father was a widower at the time of this census. He would marry Anna Petzoldt in 1902. Charles was a merchant in Frohna.

In the 1910 census, Lina was no longer living with her parents. She was a servant in the household of Martin Schuessler. Lina was 25 years old at the time. Martin was a driver for the Frohna Flour Mill.

Lina would get married during the next decade, so we will now look at the man who would become her husband. His name was Noah Henry Brown, who was born on August 5, 1889. I was unable to determine the names of his parents except for the possibility that his mother’s name was Carrie. It looks like Noah’s father died prior to 1900 because in that year’s census, Noah is called a 10 year-old boarder, and the person right above his name was Carrie Brown, who was a housekeeper for a man named Charles Barsturf (?). They were living in St. Louis.

I was unable to find Noah in the 1910 census. However, I found evidence that he had enlisted in the military in 1909. The images below also say he was discharged in 1912. He enlisted in St. Louis. Most likely, Noah was at some sort of military base when the 1910 census was taken.

Noah’s records of military service are a bit of a mystery to me. A later application for a military headstone says that he enlisted on November 6, 1909, but there is also a date of August 15, 1916 in the same box. It also says that he was discharged on October 15, 1917. It also has WWI circled at the top of the form and notes at the bottom of the form that he was a corporal in World War I.

Another military record for Noah says that he was inducted at Jefferson Barracks on December 5, 1912. It gives no date of discharge. It says that he left the military with a 25% disability.

America entered World War I in April of 1917. As near as I can figure, it looks like, since Noah was already in the military prior to that time, he went to serve during that war not long after our country joined that conflict. Then, in 1918, after he was discharged, Noah had a World War I draft registration completed. This form says that he had a heart disease. It also points out that Lina was about to have a child.

I am thinking that Lina may have gone to St. Louis after the 1910 census to find work, and while there, she met Noah. Noah Brown married Lina Lueders on November 6, 1917. That would have been very shortly after Noah had been discharged from the military. I found this church marriage record in the Missouri Synod collections of records found on Ancestry.com. It says they were married at Grace Lutheran Church in Chesterfield, but I am not aware of a Grace Lutheran Church in Chesterfield. Perhaps this was Grace Lutheran Church in Wellston. This document says Lina was from St. Louis.

According to later census entries, the Brown couple had 2 children. When the 1920 census was compiled, we find the Brown’s living in Ames, Iowa. Their first child had been born. Noah had no occupation. Perhaps that was due to his disability.

Another child was born in the 1920’s. Then, in 1930, we find the Brown’s back living in St. Louis. It says that Noah was a policeman in Park St. Louis.

The 1940 census once again lists no occupation for Noah. Their daughter was a saleswoman at a department store, and their son was a dispenser at an ice cream store.

I did not locate Lina in the 1950 census, but I think she was still living in St. Louis. However, I did find Noah in that year’s census. He is found living in Beverly Hills, California. He is listed among several pages of people who are said to be living at the Veteran’s administration. Several pages earlier, it says this was the location of the neuropsychiatric hospital. This entry states that he was separated.

I found a few paragraphs online that described the kind of care that was given to patients at that hospital.

Lina Brown died in St. Louis in 1960 at the age of 75. Her death certificate says that she had taken a fall, but it also gives coronary heart disease as the cause of death. She died at the Christian Hospital in St. Louis.

Lina Brown is buried at the Memorial Park Cemetery in St. Louis, but Findagrave.com has no gravestone photo for her.

Noah Brown died in 1964 at the age of 74. He died in California and is buried in the Los Angeles National Cemetery. Findagrave.com also has no gravestone photo for him.

I am by no means in a position to definitively say what happened to Noah, but I think his short time serving during World War I with a disability indicated on his military form, makes me think that he may have suffered from some sort of effect from his war experience for the rest of his life. His lack of occupation at certain times and his time at a veterans hospital lead me to that kind of conclusion. Certainly, when there is a war, there are soldiers who carry some adverse effects long after their time of service.