Today would be the 150th birthday of a lady who was a life-long single. For a portion of her life, one could classify her using the German term, Tante, a single woman who cares for members of her family. In many instances, the family members that received such care were elderly parents. That was the case for today’s main character, at least until her parents died.

Ottilie Maria Ruehling was born on October 3, 1875, thus making today a very special 150th birthday. She was sometimes called Tillie during her life, so that is what I will use. Tillie was the daughter of Traugott and Martha (Goethe) Ruehling. She was baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg. An image of her baptism record from that congregation’s records is pictured below.

Tillie is found in the 1880 census at the age of 4. Her father was a farmer in the Brazeau Township.

Tillie was confirmed at Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg in 1889. Her confirmation record is displayed here.

Because we are unable to view the 1890 census, the next entry in which we find Tillie is the one taken in 1900. Just 2 Ruehling children, both in their 20’s, are found in this household, including Tillie.

Next, we find Tillie in the 1910 census at the age of 34. She was the only remaining child living with her parents who were then in their 60’s.

When the 1915 plat maps were produced, we find the T. Ruehling farm located just north of the town of Altenburg. In fact, we find the Traugott land also shown on the map in that atlas for Altenburg.

The 1920 census shows the same trio of characters in the Ruehling household that we had seen in the previous census. This time, Tillie was 45 years old, and her parents were in their 70’s.

Tillie’s mother died later in 1920, and her father died in 1921. Tillie was likely unable to live on the family farm and keep it going, so when we find her in the 1930 census, she was living in St. Louis and working as a servant. She was working for the William Burg family, which consisted of an 83 year-old widower and his son, a 50 year-old single man.

I am guessing that Tillie may have still been living in St. Louis when the 1940 census was taken, but I failed to find her. When we find her in the 1950 census, she was once again found in the pages of the St. Louis census. This time, she was a lodger in the Nagel household, which was made up of a 73 year-old widow and her 48 year-old single daughter.

Tillie Ruehling died in 1963 at the age of 87. When she died, she was living in Pocahontas, Missouri. I am guessing that Tillie’s death record is found in the books of Zion Lutheran Church in Pocahontas, but the death records we have in our museum only go up to 1942. On her death certificate below, the informant on this form was Hugo Ruehling, who was Tillie’s cousin. Perhaps Tillie was living with Hugo and his wife, who were about the same age, at the time of her death.

Tillie is buried in the Zion Lutheran Cemetery in Pocahontas.

As I have said on several occasions, when I research the story of a person who remained a life-long single, I rarely find any situation where that person is living alone. I know there were quite a few years when I was a bachelor, I was living alone, but I think that was more the case of me being a teacher in a faraway city from home, and had no family around. In many cases with single ladies, Perry County natives, such as Tillie, were living in St. Louis households and working as servants.