The birthday boy for today is Friedrich Eduard Koch, who was born on February 17, 1860. That means today would be his 165th birthday. Edward was the son of Gottfried and Maria (Haertling) Koch. In several previous posts, I have referred to a location near New Wells that could be called the Koch-Koenig-Haertling Neighborhood. Over the years, there are quite a few census pages that are populated with households with those 3 surnames. In the case of Edward’s parents, his father and mother came to America in the 1850’s, and those two were married in 1854. So, already we find a close connection between the Koch and Haertling families in the 1850’s. Edward was baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in New Wells. His baptism record from that congregation’s books is pictured here.

Edward is found in the 1860 census as a baby. The Koch family was living in the Shawnee Township where his father was a farmer.

Next, we find Edward in the 1870 census at the age of 10. The 1860 census entry indicated that the post office for the Koch’s was Pocahotas, and this 1870 census gives New Wells as the location of their post office, so this family may have moved closer to New Wells during the previous decade.

The following years in Edward’s life must have been difficult. Later in 1870, his father died. His mother married again, but not until 1879, so there were about 9 years in Edward’s childhood and teenage years when he had no father figure. I suspect that it was Edward and his older brother, Jacob Koch, who did a lot of farm work during those years. When the 1880 census was taken, Edward was not living with his mother who had remarried, but with his brother, Jacob, who had married Wilhelmine Hellwege. Jacob and Edward were farming together.

Now, we will take a look at the woman who would become Edward’s bride. Her name was Laura Constanza Sophie Grosse, who was born on January 4, 1861. Laura was the daughter of Alfred and Maria (Schaefer) Grosse. In a previous post about Laura’s parents, Alfred Grosse and His Two Marie’s, it states that her father had come to America as part of the Gruber Group. In early census entries, his father was found living near Altenburg. In fact, the year before Laura’s birth, the Grosse’s were living in Perry County. However, it looks as if the Grosse’s moved to the Shawnee Township not long after that census because when Laura was baptized in 1861, her baptism record shows up in the books of Immanuel Lutheran Church in New Wells. That baptism record is displayed below. It looks like the Grosse family may have already removed an “e” from the end of their surname by this time. I will switch over to use that spelling from now on.

Laura is found in the 1870 census at the age of 9. She was the oldest of the Gross children. Her father was a farmer in the Shawnee Township.

When the 1880 census was taken, Laura was 19 years old and still living with her parents.

Edward Koch married Laura Gross on April 23, 1885 at Immanuel Lutheran Church in New Wells. The church marriage record for this couple is shown here.

We can also take a look at the Missouri marriage license for this pair.

A marriage certificate for the Koch/Gross wedding can be seen below.

According to our German Family Tree, the Koch’s had 2 children, boys named Theodore and August. Both of them were born prior to the next census we can view in 1900, so we find the Koch household in that year’s entry with both sons. Edward was a farmer.

The 1910 census has just one son in the Koch household. There was also a hired man named Ernst Schneider living with them.

Their other son, August, must have been studying to become a teacher at Concordia, River Forest at that time because when he completed a World War I draft registration, he was a Lutheran teacher in Des Plaines, Illinois.

In the 1920 census, Edward and Laura had an empty nest. Edward was still farming in the Shawnee Township.

The last census in which we find Edward was the one taken in 1930. Once again, we find just Edward and Laura in the household.

Plat maps for Cape Girardeau County were produced in 1930. I did not find land with Edward’s name in that atlas, but I did find a parcel of land belonging to M.H. Koch, who was Edward’s brother. Edward and his brother were found in census entries fairly close to one another over the years, so I think Edward’s farm was near his brother’s. You can see Haertling and Koenig names nearby also.

I found just one photo for the characters in this post. It is this photo taken of just Edward that looks like it was taken on his farm. It might have been taken at about this time in his life.

Edward Koch died in 1938 at the age of 77. His death certificate can be viewed here.

I had a bit of difficulty finding Laura in the 1940 census. I eventually discovered that I did not find her because she is called Mrs. Edward Koch in that year’s entry. She was living by herself and doing house work at the age of 79.

Laura Koch died in 1946 at the age of 85. Her death certificate says a hip fracture contributed to her death. The church death record for her says she died of a leg fracture.

Edward and Laura Koch are buried together in the Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery in New Wells. Even though all other documents say Edward was born on February 17th, including his death certificate, his birth date is shown on this stone as February 16th.

There must be plenty of locals and not-so-locals who are descendants of people like Edward and Laura who once resided in the KKH (Koch-Koenig-Haertling) Neighborhood. I can also list today’s Koch/Gross couple as being ones that became members of Immanuel Lutheran Church in New Wells when they were born, and they remained members of that congregation all the way to their death and burial.