Today is a travel day for us, so I looked for an old story to repost, and I found this one that was published on this date 8 years ago. It tells the tale of a Perry and Cape Girardeau County couple who would eventually migrate across the Mississippi River into Illinois. I did manage to locate a few extra images to share this time around.
Back in 2017, Ancestry.com did not have its collection of Missouri Synod Lutheran records, but now they do. Therefore, I am able to display this couple’s church marriage record from Immanuel Lutheran Church in Perryville. It says Carl Gross was from New Wells, and Lydia Dreyer was from Altenburg.
I think perhaps the 1950 census records were not yet available for the public to view back in 2017, or at least I did not find a census entry for Carl and Lydia for that year. Now, I am able to display that the 1950 census entry for the Gross’s. They were living in Vandalia, Illinois, and Carl was called a cleaner for the Four Star Cleaners.
In that previous post, I wrote that I was unable to locate a place of burial for Carl and Lydia. This time around, I was able to find that they are buried in the Holy Cross Lutheran Cemetery in Vera, Illinois, which is not far from Vandalia.
The Gross family moved across the Mississippi River to live much of their life in Illinois. Today, my wife and I will cross the Mississippi River at Memphis and travel back to Perry County. We will have to watch plenty of harvested cotton fields in Arkansas on our way back, and that is not exactly the most scenic roadway. However, we will eventually recognize the beautiful rolling hills of Perry County and be back home to a more routine life. At least until Christmas.