A post published yesterday told the story of Emil Popp. Today, one of the main characters will be Marie Popp, who married a man who was born the day after Emil’s birthday. From a research perspective, I found today’s tale to be one of those that required a bit of extra effort because Ancestry.com has family trees about Marie Popp that give very little information about her husband. Meanwhile, the family trees about her husband say very little about his wife. So, I had to combine the facts that I found from a variety of trees on Ancestry.com. I will begin with the man who is today’s birthday boy.

Howard Edward Neil was born on March 12, 1900, so today would be his 125th birthday. Howard was the son of Edward and Matilda (Yates) Neil. Howard was reportedly born in St. Louis, Missouri, and several documents indeed indicate he was born in Missouri. However, when he was just one month old, we find him and his parents living in Memphis, Tennessee. Below is the 1900 census entry for the Neil family. Howard’s father was a grocer. Even this first census for Howard says he was born in Missouri.

In the 1910 census, the Neil’s were still living in Memphis. Howard was 10 years old, and this time his father was described as a butcher.

Howard had his World War I draft registration completed in 1918. He was no longer living in Memphis. He is given a St. Louis address, and it says he was working as a chauffeur, which back in those days was someone who was hired to drive just about any sort of vehicle. Since his mother is also included on this form, and she is given the same address as Howard, the whole Neil family must have moved to St. Louis.

The above document was completed in September of 1918. Howard would get married in December. So we will now take a look at the woman who would become his bride. Her name was Elsa Marie Popp, who was born on August 11, 1899. Marie was the daughter of Heinrich and Clara (Pfau) Popp. She was baptized at Concordia Lutheran Church in Frohna. An image of her baptism record is displayed here.

Marie is found in the 1900 census at the age of 9 months. Her father was an engineer in Frohna. She was the youngest of quite a few Popp children in this household.

Next, we find Marie in the 1910 census at the age of 10. This time her father was doing odd jobs in Frohna.

It appears that when she got a little older, Marie probably moved to St. Louis to find work. Then on December 7, 1918, Howard Neil married Marie Popp in St. Louis. The St. Louis marriage license shown here says that the wedding was officiated by Rev. Daeumler, who was the pastor at Christ Lutheran Church in St. Louis. It also indicates that Marie was from the city of St. Louis.

Some records from Christ Lutheran Church in St. Louis are included in the Missouri Synod collection found on Ancestry.com, and it includes the one for Howard and Marie.

The Neil couple is found in the 1920 census. At that point, they had yet to have children. Howard is called a chauffeur for an electric company.

It appears that the Neil’s had just one child, a daughter named Genevieve, who was born in 1921. That child was born in Ohio, but by the time of the next census, the Neil’s were back living in St. Louis. We see Harold, Marie, and their daughter in the 1930 census. It says Howard was the proprietor of an ice and coal business in St. Louis.

The Neil’s were lodgers in the Lena Schappe household when the 1940 census was taken. Howard is called a driver, but I was not able to decipher the kind of business in which he was involved. Marie is called a cashier at a department store.

Their daughter, Genevieve, is not included in the above census because she was a patient at the Missouri State School for the Feeble-minded and Epileptics in Marshall, Missouri. This is one place where we find evidence that Genevieve was born in Ohio.

Genevieve died in 1941 at the age of 20. Her death certificate below says she died of pneumonia. This document also says she was born in Dayton, Ohio.

Howard had his World War II draft card completed in 1942. It says that Howard’s employer was the Hudson Van Line in Overland.

Howard and Marie were both still alive in 1950, but I was unable to find them in that year’s census. I believe they were still living in St. Louis. Marie Neil died in 1970 at the age of 70. Her death certificate indicates that she was a cashier at Stix Baer & Fuller, a department store chain in St. Louis.

Howard Neil died a year later in 1971 at the age of 71. His death certificate can be viewed below. It says that his usual occupation was as a cab driver.

Howard, Marie, and Genevieve Neil are buried together in the Memorial Park Cemetery in Jennings, Missouri.

The story of this Neil/Popp couple took us to a variety of locations. Most of the tale took place in St. Louis, but we were also taken to the locations of Frohna and Marshall in Missouri, along with Memphis, Tennessee and Dayton, Ohio. Who would have thought that such locations could all be associated with a girl from a little village in East Perry County.