Wilhelmine Ruehling is today’s birthday girl. She was born on July 28, 1845, so today would be her 180th birthday. I will be telling her story today. Wilhelmine was the daughter of Gottlieb and Christina (Thurm) Ruehling. She was born in Germany, and her family came to America in 1853 when Wilhelmine was 8 years old. We find them on the passenger list for the ship, Ella, shown below. Several folks with the Ruehling name were on that list. Wilhelmine is called Minna on this document.

I was unable to locate the Ruehling family in the 1860 census, so the first census in which I found Wilhelmine in America is one taken after her marriage. So, we will now take a look at the man who would become her husband.

Tobias Scholl was born on September 7, 1842, the son of Conrad and Elisabeth (Grebing) Scholl. The only place I found Elisabeth’s maiden name of Grebing was on her Family Search entry. Also, the only place I found immigration information was on that entry. It says she came to America (apparently with her family) in 1856. The Scholl’s are found in the 1860 census living in the Brazeau Township. Tobias was 17 years old in this entry. He and another brother were farm laborers, and his father was a stone mason.

Tobias served in the Union Army during the Civil War. I located two documents which tell of his time of military service.

Tobias Scholl married Wilhelmine Ruehling on January 8, 1867 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg. During that year, Trinity was in the process of constructing a new church building. That church would be dedicated on Reformation Day that year. I have heard a story about a Ruehling who contributed his labor to that building by digging for the footings. Perhaps that was Wilhelmine’s father. I also have to wonder whether Tobias’s father was involved in some of the stone masonry. In 1864, Rev. J.F. Koestering became this congregation’s pastor, and for several years, we have no marriage records included in Trinity’s books. So, we are unable to look at a church record for the Scholl/Ruehling wedding. However, I am able to display 2 different civil records from Perry County, both of which include Pastor Koestering’s name. Here is the first one.

The second such record is displayed below.

Our German Family Tree lists 8 children born to Tobias and Minnie. The first two were baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg. The 2nd one was born and baptized in 1869. Starting with the next child born in 1871, the rest of their children were baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in New Wells. It must have been around 1869 that this Scholl couple moved their family to the Shawnee Township. It is there where we find the Scholl family in the 1870 census. Tobias was a farmer. There were 2 children in their household.

In an atlas of plat maps produced later in 1930, we find an interesting neighborhood east of New Wells for farms with the names Scholl and Ruehling.

Next, we find the Scholl’s in the 1880 census with 6 children. Tobias was still farming.

We have to proceed all the way to 1900 before we can view another census. In 1900, we find the Scholl’s with just 2 remaining children. Tobias was still farming in the Shawnee Township, but the two sons were helping him.

We have the images of Tobias and Wilhelmine Scholl shown here.

Tobias Scholl died in 1907 at the age of 64. He is buried in the Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery in New Wells. His gravestone recognizes his military service during the Civil War.

An article about Tobias’s death was published in a local newspaper.

Minnie is found as a widow in the 1910 census. She was living with her single son, Edward.

The last census in which we find Minnie was the one taken in 1920. She was still living with Edward, but by this time, he had married Clara Leimer and had a young child.

Wilhelmine Scholl died in 1922 at the age of 77. Her death certificate says gastric carcinoma was her cause of death.

Wilhelmine is buried in the Zion Lutheran Cemetery in Pocahontas.

The surnames, Scholl and Ruehling, certainly had and still has a large presence in the Shawnee Township of Cape Girardeau County, but you will find that there are also plenty of folks carrying these surnames in Perry County these days also.