There is a bit of mystery, along with some potential confusion, that we encounter when we begin to look at today’s birthday boy. First of all, I am going to show you the record of a baptism for a man named William Friedrich Loos that is found in our German Family Tree.

[FriedheimMO]: Wilhelm Friedrich Loos, Born 10 Apr 1850? & Baptized 31 May 1852 to Heinrich & Auguste Loos, Sponsors: Friedrich Heider, Augusta Blumenberg, Conrad Kaufmann & Dorothea Si__;

This record attracted me because if William was born on April 10, 1850, then today would be a special birthday, his 175th. However, as you can see, there is a question mark behind this date of birth. Since I was at our museum to lead a school group on a tour yesterday, I took some time to look for this baptism record. I failed miserably. So, I enlisted the help of Gerard Fiehler, so he looked through the Trinity, Friedheim books for this baptism record. Neither one of us could find it. We looked in the listing of baptisms that took place in 1850, and we also looked at listings in for the year, 1852, because other documents indicated that he was born on April 10, 1852. No success. I will just say that I have concluded the William was born on April 10, 1852 because several other documents, along with his gravestone, say he was born in 1852. That would mean that today would be William’s 173rd birthday. Even though this is not that special 175th birthday that I was hoping for, since I invested so much time into William’s story, I decided not wait until 2027 to tell it.

There is another fact that could lead to some confusion. I will write the story of William Friedrich Loos who was born in 1852, but I discovered that there was also a William Christian Loos who was born in Cape Girardeau County on August 1st in that same year. Both William F. and William C. went by the name William, and if you are not careful, you might be looking at documents for the wrong one. Not only that, these two William Loos’s were first cousins.

William Friedrich Loos was the son of Henry and Augusta Loos. Our German Family Tree says Augusta’s maiden name was Heier-Hopfer. A family tree on Ancestry.com says that Augusta may have also had the name, Meier. I do think that William was baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Friedheim, but at this point in time, I am unable to display his baptism record. William is found in the 1860 census at the age of 8. His father was a farmer in the Byrd Township.

The only other census entry in which we find William prior to his marriage is the one taken in 1870. William, at the age of 18, was helping his father on his farm. This time the entry is found in the pages of the Apple Creek Township.

Now, we will take some time to look at the woman who would become William’s bride. Her name was Emma Marie Ludwig, who was born on June 4, 1860. Emma was the daughter of John and Sophia (Baunach) Ludwig. She was baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in New Wells. We can view her baptism record here.

Emma is found in the 1860 census as a baby. She is called Emeline in this entry. Emma’s father was a farmer in the Apple Creek Township.

Next, we find Emma in the 1870 census at the age of 10. She is called Mary in this entry.

William Loos married Emma Ludwig on November 12, 1878. According to this Cape Girardeau County marriage record, these two were married by Rev. Eschenfeld, who was the pastor at St. John’s Lutheran Church near Oak Ridge. This congregation is now called St. John’s United Church of Christ. It was a Lutheran congregation back in those days, but not part of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.

There is another civil marriage record that we can look at for this couple.

Our German Family Tree does not list any children for this couple, but Family Search says they had 6 children. Not all of them lived to adulthood. In the 1880 census, this pair was still living in the Apple Creek Township, and they had one child. William was a farmer.

During the time period between this 1880 census and the next one we can view in 1900, the Loos family migrated across the Mississippi River to Illinois. In the 1900 census, we find them living in the Somerset Township, which is found in Jackson County not far from Murphysboro. There were 5 children in the Loos household, and William is called a day laborer.

The 1910 census indicates the Loos’s were living in Murphysboro with 4 remaining children. William was a car repairer for the railroad. Three of the Loos children were also part of the work force.

The Loos’s are next found in the 1920 census. William had the same occupation that he had in the previous census. Only one single daughter was still in their household. That daughter, Flora, was a clerk in a book store.

The last census in which we find William and Emma was the one taken in 1930. At the age of 78, William no longer had an occupation. Flora was still living with her parents. There was also a boarder named O.J. Firth living with them.

William Loos died in 1931 at the age of 79. We can view an Illinois death record for him below. This is another document that gives William an April 10, 1852 date of birth.

You can read William’s obituary here. It says William died of a heart attack.

Emma Loos died in 1936 at the age of 76. We are also able to view an Illinois death record for her.

William and Emma Loos are buried together in the Tower Grove Cemetery in Murphysboro.

Our German Family Tree does not include very many individuals with the Loos surname, but there are plenty of pages full of those with the surname, Ludwig. For some reason, I get a kick out of finding a couple that is made up of a bride and a groom whose surnames begin with the same letter.