The birthday boy for today’s post is Johann Kester, who was born on October 11, 1850. That means today would be his special 175th birthday. Johann was the son of Heinrich and Wilhelmine (Grossheider) Kester. Johann was baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Friedheim. An image of his baptism record from that congregation’s records is pictured here.

John was born too late in 1850 to be included in that year’s census, so the first one in which we find him is the one taken in 1860. This entry is a bit puzzling because it says he was 14 years old. However, the names on this list of family members are correct. The ages are questionable. John’s father was a farmer in the Apple Creek Township.

Next, we find John in the 1870 census. He was 20 years old and still single. His mother had died in 1862, so she is not found in this entry. This time, John’s father is called a blacksmith, and John was a farmer. He had a few younger brothers who were farm hands.

John would get married during the next decade, so we will now take a look at the woman who would become his bride. Her name was Alwine (Alvina) Thomas, who was born in Germany on January 26, 1851. She was the daughter of Gottlieb and Sophie (Mueller) Thomas. I am able to show Alvina’s baptism record from the parish church in Großstöbnitz.

When Alvina was just 3 years old, her family made the voyage to America aboard the ship, Prince. We see the Thomas family on this passenger list for that ship. That ship arrived in New York in 1854.

I was unable to located the Thomas family in the 1860 census, but in the 1870 census, we find them living in the Apple Creek Township. Alvina was 19 years old, and her father was a farmer.

John Kester married Alvina Thomas on February 6, 1873. They were married at Trinity Lutheran Church in Friedheim. The church record for that occasion is shown here. This document says they were married in Dissen, which is the name of that town prior to being renamed Friedheim.

I am also able to display 2 different civil marriage records for this wedding.

Our German Family Tree lists just one child who was baptized at Trinity, Friedheim, but it looks as if they had 2 children altogether, both girls. In the 1880 census, we find a trio of Kester’s. John was a farmer in the Apple Creek Township.

The last census in which we find John Kester was the one taken 20 years later in 1900. The two daughters, Annie and Amanda, were included in their household.

John Kester did not live long enough to make it into the 1910 census. He died in 1909 at the age of 58. Someone has included this obituary for John on his Findagrave.com site. It is from a German newspaper in Cape Girardeau County. If you read German, you should be able to know what it says.

John Kester is buried in the Trinity Lutheran Cemetery in Friedheim.

Alvina Kester was a widow when the 1910 census was taken. She was living in her daughter, Anna’s, household. Anna had married John Hanschen. Also included in the household was Alvina’s other daughter, Amanda. John Hanschen was a farmer in the Cape Girardeau Township.

The last census entry in which we find Alvina Kester was the one taken in 1920. She was still living with the Hanschen’s, but her daughter had married William Lange in 1913, so she is no longer living with her mother.

Alvina Kester died in 1928 at the age of 77. We can take a look at her death certificate below which says she died in Jackson.

I located 2 obituaries that were written in local newspapers. Here is the one published in the Cape County Post.

Here is her obituary published in the Cash Book Journal.

Alvina Kester is buried in the Russell Heights Cemetery in Jackson. I think Alvina’s date of birth is incorrect on her gravestone.

The Kester name became a common one found in the books of Trinity, Friedheim early in the history of that church. Now that we have the books of that congregation indexed in our German Family Tree, I have written a few posts about people with that surname. However, this branch of the Kester family tree did not have any descendants who carried that surname to the next generation because both of the children were girls.