Today’s birthday girl was a life-long single person. I will attempt to tell her story today.

Ida Katharine Kraml was born on September 14, 1880, thus making today her 145th birthday. Ida was the daughter of Gottlieb and Anna Maria (Lichtenegger) Kraml. Her father had previously been married to Franziska Pichler, but she died in 1878. That couple had 3 children, one of which was stillborn. Ida was the first child born to the Kraml/Lichtenegger couple. One other child would be born after Ida, but that child was born and died on the same day. Id would end up being a part of a family in which she would have 2 half-sisters. Ida was baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in New Wells. An image of her baptism record from that congregation’s books is pictured here.

When Ida was rather young, her Kraml family had this photograph taken. Her older half-sister, Maria, was already married prior to Ida’s birth, so we only find Ida and her half-sister, Theresia, pictured with Gottlieb and Anna Maria. Ida is standing on the left.

Fairly early in Ida’s life, it looks as if her family became members of St. John’s Lutheran Church in Pocahontas. That is where Ida was confirmed in 1893. The information for Ida that is found in a binder we have for St. John’s is displayed below. This binder lists people according to when they were confirmed. Ida’s information is included in the confirmation class of 1893.

Ida was born too late in 1880 to be found in that year’s census, and because we cannot view the one taken in 1890, the first census in which we find her is the one taken in 1900. She was 19 years old, and her father was a farmer in the Shawnee Township. By this time, Ida’s other half-sister had gotten married, so this household consisted of just Gottlieb, Anna Maria, and Ida. For some reason, her mother is also called Ida in this entry.

Ida’s mother died in 1907, so when the 1910 census was taken, he was a widower. Gottlieb and Ida were living in the household of Friedrich Schoen, who had married Theresia Kraml, Ida’s half-sister. That couple had 4 children by this time, so Ida was able to live with 4 of her nephews and nieces. Friedrich Schoen was a merchant in Pocahontas. If you would like to read the story of this Schoen family, it can be found in the post, A Beautiful Kraml.

Ida’s father died in 1913, so that left Ida as a 32 year-old unmarried woman who could also be classified as an orphan. In her 1920 census, we find that Ida continued to live in the Friedrich Schoen household. However, Ida’s half-sister had died in 1912, and Friedrich had married again. His second wife was Amanda Kasten. Ida is called a servant housekeeper in this entry. Ida is called a sister-in-law, but she was really only the sister-in-law of Friedrich by his first marriage, and even then, you might have to call her a half-sister-in-law.

Ida was still living in the Schoen household when the 1930 census was taken. This time, it says that Friedrich was the proprietor of a grocery store in Pocahontas.

Next, we find Ida in the 1940 census at the age of 59 and still living with Fred and Amanda Schoen. Fred was called a salesman for a medicine company.

Friedrich Schoen died in 1942, so we find an interesting pair of ladies listed in the 1950 census. Amanda Schoen and Ida Kraml were both 69 years old, and they are listed right next to each other in this census entry. I have to think that even though they are each called the head of their census households, they may have been living together, or at least very close to one another. The only relationship between the two is that Amanda’s husband had been married to Ida’s half-sister.

Ida Kraml died in 1965 at the age of 84. Her death certificate below says she died of congestive heart failure at the Perry County Memorial Hospital in Perryville. The informant on this form was Edna Ruehling, who was one of the daughters of Friedrich and Theresia Schoen.

Ida Kraml is buried in the St. John’s Lutheran Cemetery in Pocahontas.

Ida fit into the category of women who spent their lives being single who was never really found living alone. She was either living with her parents or with other family members throughout her life. Let me add another fact about Ida’s family. Her oldest half-sister, Maria, married Joseph Perr, and that couple had 13 children. Several of those Perr children have had their stories told on this blog. Several of the oldest Perr children were born before Ida was born. That means Ida had several nephews and nieces who were older than she was. Ida likely went to school with nephews and nieces who were about her age and might have once in a while called her “Aunt Ida”.

Although we sometimes refer to single people as being unattached, we can also say that Ida, with all the members of her family, had plenty of family attachments.