There is a question in today’s story that I cannot answer. How did a farmer’s daughter from rural Cape Girardeau County manage to find her husband, a machinist from Dayton, Ohio? About my only hope for an answer to this question is for a member from that family who would get in touch with us and provide it. We begin with a birthday girl.

Pauline Louise Kromann was born on August 23, 1867, thus making today her 158th birthday. Pauline was the daughter of George and Ernestine (Pensel) Kromann. She was baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Friedheim. An image of her baptism record from that congregation’s books is pictured here. This document says that the baptism took place at the Kromann house.

Pauline is found in the 1870 census at the age of 2. Her father was a farmer in the Apple Creek Township.

When the 1880 census was taken, the Kromann’s were living in the Byrd Township where Pauline’s father was still farming. Pauline had just become a teenager.

The next census we can view is the one taken in 1900, but I failed to find Pauline in that census. I do know that she got married in 1900, and her wedding took place in Dayton, Ohio. I do know a few things that may have contributed to Pauline moving away from her home. One is that her mother died in 1888. Another is that her father is found in the 1900 census, but he was a resident at a state mental hospital in Missouri.

Now, we will take a look at the man who would become Pauline’s husband. His name was Johann Herman Raffel, who was born on June 23, 1872. He was the son of August and Wilhelmina (Wollmann) Raffel. Herman was born in Germany, and a later census says that his family came to America in 1881. That means we can only view one census prior to his marriage. That was the one taken in 1900. Herman, at the age of 27, was the only child living with his parents in Dayton, Ohio. His father was a blacksmith, and I cannot really tell what Herman’s occupation was. Ancestry.com transcribes it as a “friler”.

That census entry must have been compiled prior to Herman’s marriage that year. Herman Raffel married Pauline Kromann on August 15, 1900. The Ohio marriage record for this couple shown below says that both Herman and Pauline were from Dayton.

Family Search lists 3 children born to Herman and Pauline. There is a document found on Family Search that says their first child was christened in Jackson, Missouri in 1902. Perhaps that child was baptized at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Jackson, but we do not have access to that congregation’s books.

When the 1910 census was taken, the Raffel’s are found living in Dayton, Ohio. There were 3 children in their household. It says the first one was born in Missouri, and the other two in Ohio. Herman was called a machinist in a factory.

Next, we find the Raffel’s in the 1920 census, once again with their 3 children. This time, Herman was called a tool milling machinist at a register factory. One of their sons had a newspaper route.

The 1930 census shows the Raffle’s with just one remaining son. Herman was a toolmaker and Paul, their son, was a secretary, both at a cash register business.

Dayton, Ohio was the home of the National Cash Register Company. Our museum in Altenburg has an old cash register that was once used at Nick’s Place, a tavern that operated in Wittenberg, Missouri. That cash register was produced by the National Cash Register Company in Dayton.

The 1940 census shows Herman and Pauline with just one son, but this time that son was Alvin. Herman was still working for the cash register company, and if I read it correctly, Alvin was a free lance artist who painted portraits.

Pauline Raffel died in 1948 at the age of 81. Her Ohio death certificate is displayed below.

The last census we can view is the one taken in 1950. Herman was a widower who, at the age of 77, had no occupation. He was living by himself in Dayton.

Herman Raffel died in 1954 at the age of 81. The collection of Ohio death certificates only goes up to 1953, so I cannot display the one for Herman. Both Herman and Pauline are buried in the Beaverton Cemetery in Dayton, Ohio.

I had to add another surname folder to our collection for the name, Raffel. That Raffel name became connected to a name we have in our German Family Tree…just one lonely baptism record. I have to wonder. Did Herman Raffle show up in Missouri for some reason and became acquainted to Pauline near here? Or did Pauline make her way to Dayton and become acquainted with Herman there? Or did they happen to meet each other in some other location? And if Pauline was living in Dayton when she got married, why did this couple have their first child in Missouri? This is just another one of those stories that I research in which I can only find out so much about the people involved based on the documents I find. I am often left with so many unanswered questions.

One thing I do know that I find interesting is that one of those cash registers made by the company at which Herman worked found its way to East Perry County and probably rung up many purchases at a tavern in Wittenberg. Perhaps one of the customers that was rung up at that tavern was my father, born and raised in Wittenberg, who may have stopped by for a beer.