A week ago, the post, Floyd and Rosa – The Brazeau Blair’s, appeared on this blog. That post highlighted Rosa (Wichern) Blair. In that article, the photo below was shown of Rosa’s parents. I will write the story of Henry and Louise Wichern today.

Louisa Eva Leible was born on February 20, 1860, so she is today’s birthday girl. I will use the spelling Louise for her because that is what is on her gravestone. Today would be her 165th birthday. Louise was the daughter of Joseph Frank and Cecelia (Triller) Leible. Louise was baptized at a Catholic parish, so I cannot display her baptism record. She was born early enough in 1860 to appear in that year’s census. She is listed as being 3 months old in the entry below. Her father was a farmer in the Brazeau Township.

Next, we find Louise in the 1870 census at the age of 10. She was part of a large Leible family.

Now, we will take a look at Louise’s first husband. His name was Anton Roman Ponder, who was born on May 1, 1856. Anton was the son of Roman and Mary (Kirn) Ponder. He was also a member of a Catholic family. Anton is found in the 1860 census at the age of 4. His father was a farmer in the Cinque Hommes Township.

In the 1870 census, Anton was a teenager. His father had died in 1862, and now Anton, at the age of 14,was doing the farming.

Anton Ponder married Louise Leible on November 25, 1878. The Perry County marriage record shown below says they were married by a Catholic priest.

I am able to show this photo of Anton.

Two significant events took place in 1880. First, this couple had a baby girl named Barbara born in January. Then, in February, on the day before Louise’s 20th birthday, Anton died. I am not able to tell you his cause of death. When the 1880 census was taken, Louise was a widow, and she and her baby girl were living with Anton’s widowed mother. Her mother-in-law was called a farmer. It must have been some difficult years for this household with all females. They were living in the Union Township.

Louise would get married again, so we will now look at the man who would become her second husband. His name was Henry Wichern, who was born on April 3, 1859 in Germany. Henry was the son of Claus and Catharina (Muller) Wichern. Later census entries would indicate that Henry arrived in America in 1880. Henry was the younger brother of Daniel Wichern, who has appeared on this blog before. Daniel had come to America in 1872, so it appears that others in this Wichern family followed him to this country. Henry does not appear in a U.S. census until after he was married. I honestly cannot tell you what religious denomination Henry belonged to, if any, prior to his wedding.

Henry Wichern married Louise Ponder on August 3, 1885. This wedding was also conducted by a Catholic priest. This couple’s Missouri marriage license is pictured below.

Our German Family Tree lists 9 children born to this couple. In the 1900 census, we find the Wichern’s with 6 children. Louise’s daughter from her first marriage had gotten married just before this census was taken, so all of these are Wichern children. Henry was a day laborer in the Union Township. The youngest daughter, Rosa, was a main character in the post written a week ago.

Next, we find the Wichern’s in the 1910 census. Henry was doing odd jobs There were 5 children in their household.

Henry Wichern died in a tragic accident in 1911. His death certificate below says that he was run over by a train. In parentheses, it says that this was an accidental death.

An article published in the Perry County Republican describes the circumstances of his death. I have to display this article in 2 images which may have to be clicked to view.

Louise was a widow and living with her daughter, Rosa and her husband, Floyd Blair, when the 1920 census was taken.

I failed to find Louise in the 1930 census, but I did find her in the 1940 census. However, her census entry is hard to figure. The entry appears to begin on another census page which I failed to locate. Louise is called a mother, but I was not able to connect Louise with any of the people in the part of the household I can see. Louise was 80 years old at the time.

It may have been about this time that this photo was taken of Louise and bunch of her children.

Louise Wichern died in 1946 at the age of 86. She is given a Longtown address on her death certificate.

Henry and Louise Wichern are buried together in the St. Joseph Catholic Cemetery in Apple Creek.

This is a rare story on this blog about people whose records never show up in Lutheran church books in East Perry County. I can tell you that one of this couple’s Wichern children would marry a Lutheran named Noennig, and some Wichern’s would then appear in Lutheran records later.