I will begin by giving some credit to Dana Farrow, the president of the Perry County Historical Society for providing some guidance to me that assisted in telling today’s tale. If you happen to see or talk to Dana, I think you should suggest that she become a guest blogger for us. She could tell some great stories about people in her very large family tree.

Florene Kunigunda Dorothea Hoehn is today’s birthday girl. She was born on October 6, 1895, so she would have to blow out 130 candles on a birthday cake today. Florene was the daughter of John and Barbara (Bergmann) Hoehn. Below are photos of Florene’s parents.

Florene was baptized at Peace Lutheran Church in Friedenberg, so I am unable to display her baptism record. For some reason that even Dana Farrow does not know, Florene was pinned with the nickname, Butzie (rhymes with footsie). She is found in the 1900 census at the age of 4. Her father was a farmer in the Cinque Hommes Township.

I found some evidence that during her childhood days, Butzie may have been quite the little rascal. In the Friedenberg Remembrances book, we find this story that includes Florene as one of several schoolmates who schemed to smoke some tobacco on their way to and from school.

In the 1910 census, Florene was a teenager and just one of 3 Hoehn children living with her mother. She was the last-born child in her family. Because her father had died in 1901, her mother, Barbara, was the head of the Hoehn household.

I was unsuccessful at finding Florene in the 1920 census when she would have been in her 20’s. I suspect that she may have been one of the many Perry County young females who found work in St. Louis during those early years in the 20th century, but I did not find her in a St. Louis census entry either. It would be 1930 before Florene is found in a census again. This time, Florene’s brother, Arthur, who had married Dorothea Boxdorfer, was the head of the household. Included in the household were 2 of Arthur’s children, along with Florene and her mother, Barbara. Arthur was a farmer in the Cinque Hommes Township.

When the 1940 census was taken, Florene and her mother were still included in the Arthur Hoehn household. This time, we also see that one of Arthur’s sons, Floyd, had married Irene Pecaut, and Floyd’s family was also part of this household. The grandchild in this family would have called Florene her great aunt.

The last census the public can view is the one taken in 1950. Florene’s mother had died in 1940, so she is no longer included in the Arthur Hoehn household. Florene was 54 years old and still single. She never married. Even though she is not given an occupation in the column for that information, there is a WK written in a different column that indicates she was doing work at the house (housework).

Butzie Hoehn would live another 42 years after the above census was taken. She died in 1988 at the age of 92, too recently to view her death certificate. I think it is ironic that a lifelong single woman died on Valentine’s Day. Florene is buried in the Peace Lutheran Cemetery in Friedenberg. Even her gravestone gives her nickname, Butzie.

One thing I have discovered after becoming a resident of Perry County is that it is a place where there are an abundant number of people who have been given nicknames, many of which do not sound at all like their real names. Nicknames like Shorty, Reggie, Grubby, and Hyde. During my college years, my roommate pinned me with the nickname, Dudley. I didn’t mind it because it came from the cartoon character, Dudley Do-Right, a Canadian Mountie who was always trying to do the right thing. I only hear that nickname rarely these days, and you can be certain that it will not be engraved on my tombstone.