Anna Caroline Dickmann is today’s birthday girl. She would have to blow out 135 candles on her birthday cake if she was still alive today. That means she was born on August 11, 1890. Anna was the daughter of Charles and Mary (Dambach) Dickmann. She was baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Friedheim. An image of her baptism record from that congregation’s books can be viewed below.

Anna is found in the 1900 census at the age of 10. She was the 5th child of 10 born into this Dickmann family. There were quite a few females in this family also. Her father was a farmer in the Apple Creek Township.

Anna was 20 years old when she is found in the 1910 census. Even though this household was quite large, Anna’s father had only one son to help him with the farming.

That census entry would be the last one in which we find Anna prior to her marriage, so we will now turn our attention to the man who would become her husband. His name was Friedrich Wilhelm Arthur Ruesler, who was born on February 18, 1888. He went by the name Arthur during his life. He was the firstborn child of Herman and Ida (Moeller) Ruesler. Like Anna, Arthur was baptized at Trinity, Friedheim. We can view his baptism record here. I find it interesting that one of Arthur’s sponsors was a highlighted character in yesterday’s post, Friedrich Sewing.

Arthur is found in the 1900 census at the age of 12. Already at that young age, Arthur was helping his father on his farm in the Apple Creek Township.

When the 1910 census was taken, Arthur was 22 years old and still farming with his father.

Arthur Ruesler married Anna Dickmann on October 12, 1913 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Friedheim.

Trinity’s books also contain records called “Records of Marriages Solemnized”. Here is the one for the Ruesler/Dickmann wedding.

We can also view 2 different civil records for this event. Below is the standard Missouri marriage license.

Next, here is a marriage certificate for this couple.

Arthur had his World War I draft registration completed in 1917. This form says his dependents were a wife and a child.

Arthur and Anna have 6 children listed in our German Family Tree. The first one was stillborn. Then, in the 1920 census, we find the Ruesler’s with just one child. Arthur was a farmer in the Apple Creek Township.

In the 1930 census, the Ruesler’s had 4 children in their household, 3 sons and a daughter.

When the 1940 census was taken, we see that 2 more children had been born in the 1930’s. Arthur continued to be a farmer.

Arthur had his World War II draft card completed when America entered that war. He is given a Friedheim address.

The last census the public can view is the 1950 census. In that entry, Arthur was called a farmer, and Anna was called a farm laborer. Their son, Harold was a truck driver, and their daughter, Virgie, was just a teenager.

Arthur Ruesler died in 1961 at the age of 73. His death certificate is shown here. It is not often that you see the “length of stay” box filled in with the same number as the age at death, meaning that the person lived in the same location his entire life.

An obituary for Arthur was published in the Perry County Republican.

Anna Ruesler died in 1968 at the age of 78. We can also view her death certificate.

Both Arthur and Anna Ruesler are buried in the Trinity Lutheran Cemetery in Friedheim.

I had to create a new digital folder for the Ruesler name because this is the first post in which I had to store images with that name. I would have probably written about people with this name earlier if we had the Friedheim church records included in the German Family Tree, but that has just happened fairly recently.

Arthur and Anna can now be added to the collection of stories on this blog that document a couple who both were born, baptized, confirmed, married, raised a family, died, and were buried while being members of the same Lutheran congregation for their entire lives. This does not happen that often in today’s day and age. As a member of Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg, I know that there has been one marriage which has taken place at Trinity in my time here in which the bride and groom qualify for this designation so far. I am rooting for them to make it all the way to their graves to be buried in our cemetery. However, I won’t be around to verify it.