The birthday boy for today is Charles Frederick William Schmidt, who was born on September 27, 1890. That means today would be his 135th birthday. Charles was the son of Frederick and Carolina (Kiepe) Schmidt. This Schmidt clan has no connection to my Schmidt’s. Charles was baptized at Grace Lutheran Church in Uniontown. An image of his baptism record is shown below.

Charles is found at the age of 9 in the 1900 census. His father was a farmer in the Apple Creek Township.

A 1930 plat map illustrates that this Schmidt farm was located not far from Old Appleton.

Next, we find Charles in the 1910 census. He and his older brother, Albert were helping their father on his farm.

Charles had his World War I draft registration completed in 1917. His first name is given as Charley on this form. It was a name that shows up on quite a few documents. He was given an Old Appleton address and was said to be a farmer. It said he was also epileptic.

The last census in which we find Charles as a single man was the one taken in 1920.

Now, we need to switch our attention over to the woman who would become Charley’s wife. Her name was Martha Magdalena Sauer, who was born on January 11, 1889. Martha was the daughter of John Joseph and Amelia (Mehner) Sauer. She was baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Friedheim. We can take a look at her baptism record here.

The photo of the Sauer family shown below was supposedly taken in 1895. Martha is standing on the left, as indicated by the captioning. I am guessing that her mother made the outfits for both Martha and little Fritz because it looks like the same fabric was used.

When the 1900 census was taken, we find the Sauer family living in the Cinque Hommes Township. Martha was 11 years old, and her father was a farmer.

In the 1910 census, Martha was 20 years old. The Sauer family consisted of the same characters who were shown in the earlier photograph.

The J.J. Sauer farm is found on the 1915 plat map shown below not far from Biehle.

Martha’s father died in 1912. When the 1920 census was taken, Martha’s younger brother, Fritz, was the head of the Sauer household, which included Martha, at the age of 30, and her widowed mother. Fritz was farming.

Charley Schmidt married Martha Sauer on December 28, 1921. The Missouri marriage license displayed below says they were married by Rev. Langehennig, who was the pastor of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Jackson. We do not have access to their church records. This document says that Charley was from Old Appleton, and Martha was from Biehle.

We can also look at this marriage document that looks more like a certificate.

This Schmidt couple had just one child, a daughter name Elsie, born in 1924. Elsie was baptized at Trinity, Friedheim. In the 1930 census, we find the Schmidt’s living in the Apple Creek Township, where Charley was farming. Charley’s father had died in 1920, and his mother was living with him in this census. That leads me to conclude that it is likely that Charley was farming the land on which he was born and raised.

The 1940 census shows just the trio of Schmdt’s, mom, dad, and daughter. Elsie was a teenager by this time.

Charley had his World War II draft card completed in 1942. He is given a rural Oak Ridge address, which means he received his mail from the Oak Ridge post office.

One more census entry can be viewed that includes this Schmidt family. The 1950 census entry below says that Charley was the farm owner, and both Martha and Elsie were farm helpers.

Charles Schmidt died in 1973 at the age of 82. We can take a look at his death certificate below.

Martha Schmidt died in 1982, too recently to view her death certificate. Charles and Martha Schmidt are buried together in the Trinity Lutheran Cemetery in Friedheim.

Charley started out as a member of Grace Lutheran Church in Uniontown. Martha began by being baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Friedheim. However, I think it was Martha’s mother, whose Mehner family were members of Trinity, not her father, that led to Martha and all her siblings being baptized at Trinity, Friedheim. Martha’s father is buried in the St. Joseph’s Catholic Cemetery in Apple Creek, but her mother is buried in Friedheim. I have been told that the Sauer name around Perry County is primarily a Catholic name. I know that today’s story caused me to add the Sauer surname to our collection of surname folders. The Sauer name is found rather sparingly in the Lutheran records in our German Family Tree.