There have been quite a few stories told on this blog over the years about a couple made up of a Missouri native and an Illinois native. Most of them have dealt with one from Perry County and another one from just across the river in Jackson County. Today, you will read another Missouri/Illinois story with a bit of a difference. I will begin with the Perry County boy and eventually get around to the Illinois birthday girl.

Herman Sticht was born on November 6, 1879, the son of Johann and Maria (Tietje) Sticht. Herman was baptized at Salem Lutheran Church in Farrar. An image of his baptism record from that congregation’s books is shown below.

Herman is found in the 1880 census at the age of 1. His father was a farmer in the Salem Township.

We cannot view the 1890 census, so the next census entry in which we can see Herman was the one taken in 1900. His entry is found on those notorious pages of the 1900 Salem Township that are so difficult to read. Herman’s father had died earlier in 1900, so his mother was a widow. She is called a landlady. Herman was called a farm laborer, and his older brother, Henry, was called the farmer.

Herman’s mother actually also died in 1900, but after the above census was taken. Herman was still single when the 1910 census was taken. He and his brother are listed next to each other in this entry, and each is called the head of the household, and both were farmers.

Herman would get married during the next decade, so let’s take a look at the woman who would be his bride. She also happens to be today’s birthday girl. Her name was Rosa Studt, who was born on September 6, 1885. That means today would be her 140th birthday. Rosa was the daughter of Herman and Johanna (Kindt) Studt. Rosa was born in Indiana, but by the time we find her in her first census in 1900, her family was living in the Haines Township in Marion County, Illinois. Do not confuse Marion County with the city of Marion, Illinois. Marion is not in Marion County. Rosa was 14 years old, and her father was a farmer. Rosa’s sister, Bertha, and her daughter were also included in this household. Bertha had gotten married and had a child, but by this time, she was already a widow.

The only other census in which we find Rosa prior to her marriage is the one taken in 1910. She was still living in the same location.

I have no idea how a farmer from Perry County, Missouri managed to get acquainted with a farmer’s daughter in Marion County, Illinois. On January 10, 1914, Herman Sticht married Rosa Studt in Illinois. We can view this pair’s Illinois marriage record here. It says Rosa was from Iuka, Illinois which is located in the Haines Township.

When the 1915 plat maps were produced, we find some parcels of land for both Herman and Henry Sticht located north of Farrar near the Red Rock Landing on the Mississippi River.

Herman had his World War I draft registration completed in 1918. It gives him a Seventy-Six address and says he was farming.

Herman and Rosa had just one child. Herman’s later obituary said their son was a foster son. That son was born in Iuka, Illinois according to his later death certificate. I have every reason to believe that they were living in Perry County when the 1920 census was taken, but I failed to find a census entry for them. In the 1930 census, we find Herman, Rosa, and their son, Louis, living in the Salem Township. Herman and his son were working the farm.

Herman Sticht died in February of 1940 at the age of 60. His death certificate below says he died of a cerebral hemorrhage.

An obituary for Herman was printed in the Perry County Republican.

Rosa is found in the 1940 census as a widow. She was living with her son, Louis, who had married Delora Crosswhite. Louis was doing the farming.

Rosa Sticht died in 1949 at the age of 63. We can also view her death certificate.

I found obituaries for Rosa in both the Perry County Republican and the Perry County Sun, but the archived images were almost impossible to read, so I am not displaying them.

Both Herman and Rosa Sticht are buried in the Salem Lutheran Cemetery in Farrar.

The son of Herman and Rosa, Louis Sticht, died tragically in 1965 as a result of a tractor accident. His death certificate is shown here.

Our German Family Tree says Louis and his wife had just 2 stillborn children. That means this branch of the Sticht Family Tree did not continue the Sticht name to the next generation. I must admit that I like the sound of a Sticht/Studt husband and wife pair. And once again, I had to add another surname, Studt, to our collection of names that have shown up on this blog.