A single church record in our German Family Tree leads us to today’s story about a man named Conrad Kiepe. According to his later obituary, he came to America twice, and shortly after his second arrival in this country, he was married by Rev. Franz Julius Biltz, the pastor of the relatively new Trinity Lutheran Church in Friedheim. I will tell Conrad’s story today.

Conrad Charles Kiepe was born on August 2, 1823 in Waldeck, Germany. Conrad was the son of John and Marie (Hofmann) Kiepe. In a previous post, Trip to the Lowes in Arnsberg, a man by the name of Johann Friedrich Kiepe was mentioned. It looks like Johann and Conrad were brothers. Johann Friedrich Kiepe came to America in 1845, and there is evidence that Conrad came to this country for the first time in about 1845. He worked in iron mines in Iron Mountain, Missouri for about a year, and then returned to Germany for a short time. Then, Conrad returned to the United States aboard the ship, Post, in 1847. There was a Wilke above his name on this passenger list and a Bangert below his name. Those are two surnames found often in the books of Trinity, Friedheim.

Conrad relocated to the same area after his return. He then got married to Louise Zarges on June 21, 1850. That means that wedding took place 175 years ago on today’s date. The church record for this event is found in the books of Trinity Lutheran Church in Friedheim. We can view that church record below. It really does not give much information.

We can also see 2 Cape Girardeau County civil records for this wedding. Here is the first one. Rev. Franz Julius Biltz is shown on this form as being the pastor who performed the wedding.

Below is another marriage record for this couple.

I was unable to find out any other information about Louise Zarges. I do not know the names of her parents, nor was I able to find any other documents for her prior to her marriage. Reportedly, the Kiepe’s next lived in the Iron Mountain area for a while. In the 1860 census, we find the Kiepe’s living in the Liberty Township in Saint Francois County. Conrad is called a bloomer. There were 3 children in the Kiepe household.

I had no idea what a bloomer was, so I did a little search. I found the following information that explains the work that Conrad was doing.

“A bloomery is a type of metallurgical furnace once used widely for smelting iron from its oxides.1 The bloomery was the earliest form of smelter capable of smelting iron. Bloomeries produce a porous mass of iron and slag called a bloom.”

Just a few days ago, in a post about Edward Emde, it was said that in 1870, Edward’s father was working in a furnace in Iron Mountain, Missouri. That sounds like he was a bloomer in the same approximate location and time as when Conrad was doing the same thing.

It is said that Conrad’s family had moved to Pilot Knob at about the time that the Civil War was taking place. If so, that would mean that Conrad may have been living there when the Battle of Pilot Knob took place in 1864. Then, Louise Kiepe died in 1868 at the age of 40. After the war, Conrad had purchased some land in the Liberty Township and became a farmer. In 1870, Conrad married again. His second wife was Margarete Katherine Cornelius. Margaret had been married to Diedrick Strahlmann, but he had also died in 1868. The marriage record from Saint Francois County shown below indicates that a preacher performed the wedding. They were married on May 2, 1870.

The 1870 census shows the Kiepe’s living in that township with 7 children. Two of the children look like Kiepe children, but were actually Strahlmann children. Those two were Margaret and Diedrick. So, even though it looks like Pauline and Diedrick were twin 8 year-olds, they were half-siblings. Conrad was called a farmer.

Next, we find the Kiepe household in the 1880 census. There were 8 children ranging from 2 to 28, living with Conrad and Margaret.

At some point in time, Conrad and his second wife, Margaret, had this photo taken.

I am also able to display this photo of the Kiepe home located near Libertyville, Missouri.

The last census in which we find Margaret Kiepe was the one taken in 1900. Just 3 children and Conrad’s niece, Lilly, were living with Conrad and Margaret.

Margaret Kiepe died in 1905 at the age of 74. In the 1910 census, Conrad was a widower with a son, Conrad, Jr., 2 granddaughters, and a farm hand named George Vogelsang. Conrad, Jr. was doing the farming. At the age of 86, Conrad, Sr. was no longer farming.

Some photos of the Kiepe family were taken of Conrad and other members of the Kiepe family, probably after Margaret’s death. One was taken on the front porch of the Kiepe home. The thumbnails are clickable.

Conrad Kiepe died in 1918 at the age of 95. His death certificate can be viewed here. It gives influenza as the cause of his death.

Conrad’s obituary can be read below. It contains several of the details that I included in this post.

Conrad and both of his wives are buried in the Copenhagen Cemetery in Farmington. Louise is buried separately while Conrad and Margaret are buried together.

After arriving in America in the 1840’s, Conrad lived a very long life, mostly near the village of Libertyville. Early in his life, it looks as if he had an up close-and-personal experience with a Civil War battle. Then, at the time of his death, the United States was involved in another war, World War I. Conrad spent a lot of his farming career during the horse-and-buggy era, but must have also witnessed the advent of the new technologies of automobiles, tractors, and airplanes. His must have been a very fascinating long life.