It is a rare occasion when I use a confirmation record as a starting point for a story, but that is the case today. That confirmation record was noticeable because it did not happen at the normal time in a person’s life. Most Lutheran youngsters get confirmed when they are about 14 years old. Today’s main character was confirmed after he was married.

Friedrich Heinrich Weltecke was born on October 13, 1851 in Twiste, Waldeck, Germany. Friedrich, who would later be called Frederick or Fred, was the son of Johann and Marie (Schmidt) Weltecke. A later census entry says Fred came to this country in 1856, but I did not find any immigration documentation. A narrative found in our German Family Tree says that Fred’s parents may not have been married. We also have evidence that Marie Schmidt married Henry Hamann in 1858, and then married Henry Dickmann in 1865. I was unable to locate Fred Weltecke in the 1860 census. I did locate Fred in a Missouri state census that was taken in 1868. He was living in the William Struve household in Cape Girardeau County.

Then, in the 1870 census, I think he is the person in the Dickmann household who is named Henry at the age of 17. There are two 17 year-olds in this household, one a girl born in Missouri and one named Henry born in Prussia.

Our German Family Tree indicates that 2 events took place in Fred’s life in 1877. One of those was his marriage. So, let’s take a bit of time looking at the woman who would become his bride. Her name was Anna Catherine Elbrecht, who was born on November 18, 1857. Anna was the daughter of Charles and Wilhelmine (Sewing) Elbrecht. She was baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Friedheim. An image of her baptism record from that congregation’s books is shown here.

As was the case with Fred, I was unsuccessful at finding the Elbrecht family in the 1860 census. Then, in the 1870 census, we find Anna at the age of 12. Her father was a farmer in the Apple Creek Township.

Fred Weltecke married Anna Elbrecht on April 5, 1877 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Freidheim. The church marriage record for that occasion is shown below. There is plenty of German in this document that I cannot read, but I can determine that it says both Fred and Anna were from the Arnsberg neighborhood not far from Friedheim.

We can also view 2 different civil marriage records from Cape Girardeau County. Here is the first one.

A second document for this wedding is displayed next.

Now, we finally get to the confirmation record that prompted me to write this story on today’s date. Fred Weltecke was confirmed at Trinity, Friedheim on July 23, 1877, about 3 months after he was married. I am guessing that Fred was taking confirmation classes prior to his wedding and completed them shortly after that event. There is a narrative written in German in the last column by Rev. Voigt that I am unable to read. The confirmation records that are listed below Fred’s record were confirmations that took place at the regular time in April of 1878.

Our German Family Tree lists 6 children born to this couple. All of those were baptized at Trinity, Friedheim except for the last one born in 1893. It looks as if another child was also born after 1893. In the 1880 census, we find the Weltecke’s with just one child. Fred was a farmer in the Apple Creek Township.

It would be 20 intervening years until we find the Weltecke’s in another census entry. The 1900 census lists 6 children in the Weltecke family. They were living in Jackson, Missouri, where Fred was a saloon keeper.

As it turns out, the last census in which we find Fred is the next one taken in 1910. The Weltecke’s were still living in Jackson, but this time, Fred is called a deputy recorder. Other newspaper articles that I saw indicated that he was a county assessor. One of his sons was called a brick mason.

Fred Weltecke died in 1913 at the age of 61. His death certificate below says he had cancer of the stomach. It would have been helpful if the names of Fred’s parents would have been listed on this form, but they are not.

I did not find the original article printed in 1913, but I did find an article about Fred’s death that was re-published in the Cash Book Journal 20 years later. This article mentions that Fred was a justice of the peace at the time of his death.

A short biography of Fred’s life can be found on his Findagrave.com site. It gives more details about his early life in Germany. It also mentions the fact that he was a teacher for a while.

Anna Weltecke is found as a widow in the 1920 census still living in Jackson. Only her daughter, Tillie, was living with her. Tillie was a telephone operator.

Next, we find Anna in the 1930 census living by herself.

Anna was still alive in 1940, but I did not locate her in that year’s census. In 1944, Anna Weltecke died at the age of 86. She died a rather tragic death as described in this article that appeared in the Cash Book Journal.

Her death certificate shown here also gives the cause of death being shock from her severe burns.

Both Fred and Anna Weltecke are buried in the Jackson Cemetery in Jackson.

In the case of today’s characters, a confirmation record led me to tell the tale of two quite interesting people. Fred’s service to the local government in Jackson, Missouri is very commendable. Anna may not have had other reasons for her name to be in the newspaper, but her tragic death certainly made the news.