Today’s birthday boy is Albert Wilhelm Preusser, who was born on October 22, 1885. That means today would be Albert’s 140th birthday. He was the son of Adolph and Julia (Bodenschatz) Preusser. Albert’s parents had been married in Altenburg, but by the time of Albert’s birth, they were living in Perryville. Albert was baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Perryville. We can look at his baptism record below.

In 1899, Albert was also confirmed at Immanuel, Perryville. We can see a list of the confirmands from the 1899 class pictured here.

In the 1900 census, Albert was 14 years old, and his father was a saddler in Perryville.

During the next decade, Albert’s family moved to St. Louis. He would meet his bride there. We will now take a look at her early life. Her name was Lillian Josephine Fuchs, who was born on September 6, 1889. Lillian was the daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth (Erbe) Fuchs. I do not have any documentation for Lillian’s baptism. In the 1900 census, we find Lillian at the age of 11. Her father had died in 1896, so her widowed mother was the head of the Fuchs household.

By the time of the 1910 census, Lillian’s mother was married to Robert Brachet. The Brachet household included 4 Fuchs children and 1 Brachet child. Lillian was 20 years old at the time. Robert Brachet was a brewer.

Albert Preusser married Lillian Fuchs on April 24, 1918. The St. Louis marriage record shown below says they were married by Rev. Buchheimer. He was the pastor of the Church of Our Redeemer in St. Louis.

When Albert had his World War I draft registration completed later in 1918. It gives Albert a St. Louis address and says that he was a clerk in a post office.

Albert and Lillian had just one daughter named Rhoda. Rhoda was born in 1920, but not until after that year’s census was compiled. So, in that year’s entry, we find Albert and Lillian with no children. Albert was once again called a clerk in a post office.

Next, we find the Preusser’s in the 1930 census. Their daughter, Rhoda was 10 years old. This time, it says that Albert was a bookkeeper at the post office.

The 1940 census displays the same trio of family members. Albert had the same job, and Rhoda was also part of the work force with a job as a stenographer.

Albert was required to complete a World War II draft card. His address shows that he lived on Chippewa Street in St. Louis.

The last census the public can view is the one taken in 1950. Their daughter, Rhoda had married Harold Sanders in 1946, so we see Albert and Lillian with an empty nest. At the age of 64, Albert still had a job with the post office.

Albert Preusser died in 1962 at the age of 77. Heart problems caused his death according to his death certificate shown here.

Lillian Preusser died in 1974 at the age of 85. Since we are able to view death certificates all the way up to 1974, I am able to display hers here. It says she died at the Lutheran Medical Center, which I figure was the Lutheran Hospital.

Albert and Lillian Preusser are buried together in the Our Redeemer Cemetery in Affton, a municipality of St. Louis.

Like so many other stories already published on this blog, this one tells the tale of a man who was born and raised in Perry County but spent most of his life in the big city of St. Louis. Albert also is one of those persons who appears to have worked for the same business, in his case, the post office, for his entire career.