Otto Heinrich Dost was born on July 21, 1890, so today would be his 135th birthday. I will display several documents that will confirm this date of birth, but his later death record and his gravestone say that he was born on July 28, 1890. Otto was the son of Otto and Elizabeth (Steiner) Dost. He was baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in New Wells. We can view his baptism record from that congregation’s books below.

Otto’s father died in 1898, so he is not found in the 1900 census. Otto was 9 years old in that census entry. His widowed mother was called a farmer, but her oldest son and a boarder by the name of Christian Putz were also called farm laborers. This must have been a very difficult time for Elizabeth Dost. She had 5 sons in her household from the ages of 1-12. I have a hard time imagining that she would have much time to do any farming.

Then, Otto’s mother died in 1902, thus leaving all of these Dost sons as orphans. Otto was confirmed in 1904. He was confirmed at Zion Lutheran Church in Pocahontas. I was not able to determine who Otto was living with in those first years after his parents died, but it looks as if it was a family that lived in the Pocahontas area. Then, in the 1910 census, we find Otto at the age of 18 (although I think he was older) living in the Arthur Richter household in the Shawnee Township. He was called a hired man who was a farm laborer.

A later plat map shows the Arthur Richter farm was located near New Wells and Shawneetown.

Otto would get married during the next decade, so we will now take a look at the woman who would become his bride. Her name was Clara Laura Rudert, who was born on November 28, 1891. Clara was the last child of Ernst and Ernestine (Schneider) Rudert. Like Otto, she was baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in New Wells. Here is an image of her baptism record. Her first name was spelled Klara on this document.

Clara is found in the 1900 census at the age of 8. Her father was a farmer in the Apple Creek Township.

In the 1910 census, Clara was 18 years old, and she was the only remaining child living with her parents.

Otto Dost married Clara Rudert on March 8, 1916. Our German Family Tree does not include a marriage record for this couple. However, I think she was married at Trinity Lutheran Church in Shawneetown. If you look at this Missouri marriage license for Otto and Clara, you will see that the pastor who performed this wedding was Rev. Hueschen, who was the pastor of Grace Lutheran Church in Uniontown.

However, there is no record for a Dost/Rudert wedding in Grace’s church books. Nor is there one in the books of Trinity, Shawneetown. I discovered that there was a vacancy for Trinity, Shawneetown that was filled by Rev. Birner in 1916. In fact, the only marriage record for 1916 in those books was done by Rev. Birner in June of that year. I think Rev. Birner did not arrive at that church until after March, and Pastor Hueschen was likely asked to perform the ceremony. Rev. Hueschen may have not had the opportunity to include that marriage record in Trinity’s books. We can also look at this marriage certificate for this couple.

I located this short article about this wedding in the Cash Book Journal. It said that Otto and Clara were going to live on the Rudert farm.

In 1917, Otto had his World War I draft registration completed. It gives him a rural Oak Ridge address and calls him a farmer.

Our German Family Tree lists 6 children born to this pair. Their first child born in 1918 died right away. When the 1920 census was taken, there was one son in the Dost household. Otto was a farmer in the Apple Creek Township.

Plat maps were produced for Cape Girardeau County in 1930. The Otto Dost farm was located west of Shawneetown.

In the 1930 census, there were 4 children in the Dost household. A 5th child was born in February of that year, but the census taker must have listed this family prior to that birth.

In November of 1930, Clara Dost died at the age of 38, not long before her 39th birthday. Her death certificate gives Bright’s disease as her cause of death.

I located two different obituaries for Clara. Here is one that is found on Clara’s Findagrave.com site. This article also mentions diabetes as a cause of death.

Here is an obituary for Clara that was printed in the Cash Book Journal.

With the death of his wife, Otto was left with 5 children younger than 12 years old, including the baby that was born in February. Then, as if that was not enough, a tornado went through northern Cape Girardeau County in March of 1938, and, according to an article published in the Cash Book Journal, it destroyed Otto’s home. I have placed that article here in 3 images that may have to be clicked to read it all.

I have previously written another post about that 1938 tornado because it also affected the town of Altenburg. That article was titled, Ides of March Tornado Outbreak.

In the 1940 census, we find Otto as a widower with 3 children. His oldest son, Erwin, was helping with the farming.

Otto was required to complete a World War II draft card. If you look at both of Otto’s military registration forms, you will see that he is given a birth date of July 21st, although this one incorrectly states that he was born in 1892, not 1890.

The last census entry the public can view is the one taken in 1950. His daughter, Helen, and her young family was living with her father. She had married John Morrison in 1949. Another of Otto’s sons, Elton, was in the household and working as a truck driver.

Otto Dost died in 1963 at the age of 72. His death certificate gives him a birthday of July 28, 1890, which I think is wrong.

An article about Otto’s funeral was printed in the Perry County Republican.

Both Otto and Clara Dost are buried in the Trinity Lutheran Cemetery in Shawneetown.

I think it was the death certificate that led the writer of the article in the Perry County Republican to give him a birth date of July 28th, and I think that death certificate may have also led to his gravestone being engraved with that same birthday, which I think is incorrect. I still believe that Otto Dost is today’s birthday boy.

Otto Dost certainly had a rough childhood, losing both his parents at a young age. Then, after his wife died, his children must have had childhoods that were more difficult without their mother, and Otto must have had some real challenges raising those children by himself. That Dost family, after losing the wife and mother, then lost their home in a tornado. I would not describe the life of Otto Dost to be an easy one.