Ernst Rudolph Koenig was born on June 12, 1890, so he is today’s birthday boy. Rudolph would be 135 years old today. He was the son of Immanuel and Clara (Weinhold) Koenig. Rudolph was baptized at Salem Lutheran Church in Farrar. An image of his baptism record from that congregation’s books is shown below.

Rudolph was born during the time when Perry County kept birth records. His record is shown here.

Rudolph is found in the 1900 census at the age of 10. He was the oldest child in this Koenig family. His father was a farmer in the Union Township.

The only other census entry in which we find Rudolph prior to his marriage is the one taken in 1910. He was still living with his parents and helping his father on his farm.

Now, we will take a look at the woman who would become Rudolph’s bride. Her name was written as Lina Rebekka Hemmann one her baptism record, but most other records and information from family researchers say it was Lena Rebecca Hemmann. I will call her Lena because that is what her gravestone indicates. Lena was born on November 19, 1889. She was the daughter of Julius Hemmann and his second wife, Gesche Hesse. Lena was baptized at Grace Lutheran Church in Uniontown. She was the last of the Hemmann children in her family to be baptized at Grace. Later children were baptized at Salem, Farrar. Lena’s baptism record is displayed here.

I am also able to display Lena’s Perry County birth record.

Lena is found in the 1900 census at the age of 11. Her father was a farmer in the Salem Township.

In the 1910 census, Lena was 20 years old and still living with her parents.

Rudolph Koenig married Lena Hemmann on November 2, 1913 at Salem Lutheran Church in Farrar. This couple’s church marriage record is pictured here.

We can also view this pair’s Missouri marriage license.

According to our German Family Tree, this Koenig couple had 5 children, and all of them were baptized at Salem, Farrar. When the 1920 census was taken, there were 3 children in their family. Rudolph was a farmer in the Union Township.

Next, we find the Koenig’s in the 1930 census. This time, they were living in the Salem Township. All 5 of their children were in this household. Lena’s parents were living with them also.

In the 1940 census, we once again see all 5 of the Koenig children, except this time the children are listed in a different order. The census taker was one of those who listed the male children first, followed by the females. Two of Rudolph’s sons were helping with the farming.

Rudolph had his World War II draft card completed in 1942. He is given a Farrar address, but was getting his mail from Menfro.

The last census we can view is the one taken in 1950. Rudolph and Lena were living with their son, Hilmer, and his family. Rudolph and Hilmer were farming together.

Rudolph Koenig died in 1959 at the age of 68. His death certificate below says he was living in Perryville at the time of his death.

An obituary for Rudolph can be read below.

Later in her life, Lena Koenig had this photo taken.

Lena Koenig died in 1975 at the age of 85. At the time of this writing, we are only able to view Missouri death certificates up to 1974, so I cannot display the one for Lena. Perhaps next year, that document will be available. Rudolph and Lena Koenig are buried together in the Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery in Perryville.

I cannot finish this post about Rudolph and Lena without mentioning the accomplishments of one of their sons. Their youngest child, Robert Koenig, went on to become a Lutheran pastor, and I found evidence that he served congregations in Minnesota and Texas. Robert is also a person who was one who inspired me to become a writer of historical fiction books about East Perry County characters. Robert’s book, Except the Corn Die, is a book that I have read and enjoyed. It helped develop an interest in me for the history of this area that has now resulted in me also writing true stories of people on this blog.

Here is a photo of Robert Koenig.

Robert’s book is no longer in print, so if a person wants to read it, you will have to find a used book. I discovered that there is a copy of his book available on Amazon right now. Every once in a while, our museum acquires a copy of Except the Corn Die, and we offer it for sale in our gift shop.