Sometimes people refer to the youngest child born to parents as the “baby in the family”. I will tell the story of such a baby girl in the family of the pastor at Peace Lutheran Church in Friedenberg today. That baby is today’s birthday girl.

Augusta Marie Guemmer (pronounced Gimmer around here) was born on December 10, 1890, thus making today her 135th birthday. Augusta was the daughter of Rev. Henry and Elizabeth (Schack) Guemmer. She was the last of 6 children in this Guemmer family. As you would expect with a pastor’s child, Augusta was baptized at her father’s church, Peace Lutheran Church in Friedenberg. Since that congregation’s books were destroyed in a fire, we cannot view Augusta’s baptism record. Augusta is found in the 1900 census at the age of 9. Her father is called a Lutheran minister, and an older brother was a general merchant in the Central Township of Perry County.

Augusta would get married in 1910, but not until after that year’s census was taken. Augusta, at the age of 19, was the only child still living with her parents.

Now, we will take a look at the man who became Augusta’s husband. His name was Charles Joseph Hacker, who was born on January 5, 1887. Charles was the son of John and Felicitas (Thieret) Hacker. He was also baptized at Peace, Friedenberg. Charles is found in the 1900 census at the age of 13. His father was a farmer in the Salem Township.

In a later plat map, we see that the Hacker farm was located west of Farrar in the direction of Friedenberg.

Charles’s mother died in 1907, so she is no longer found in the 1910 census entry for the Hacker’s. Charles was 23 years old and working on his father’s farm. Included in this household were Emma Rauh and her two children. They are called a step-daughter and step-grandchildren. This had me flummoxed for a while. Charles had a half-sister named Emma Hacker who had married a Rauh, but that couple was living in Oklahoma in 1910. I eventually discovered that Charles’s mother, Felicitas, had previously been married to John Wirth, and that couple had two children, one of them named Emma. Emma Wirth married Christian Rauh in 1905, and that couple had the two Rauh children in this entry. Prior to this census, Christian Rauh had died in 1909, so that’s how these Rauh’s are found living with the Hacker’s in 1910.

Charles Hacker married Augusta Guemmer on October 16, 1910. I have to wonder if this couple gave any consideration to getting married a few days earlier on October 10th. In that case, they would have been married on 10/10/10, and Charles would have had a really easy time remembering when to celebrate his wedding anniversary. As you can expect, this couple was married at Peace Lutheran Church in Friedenberg with Augusta’s father performing the ceremony. I cannot display a church marriage record, but I am able to show 2 different civil marriage records. Here is the standard Missouri marriage license.

Below is pictured a document that looks more like a certificate.

Charles had his World War I draft registration completed when America got involved in that conflict. It gives Charles a Menfro address, but that just indicates that his mail was delivered from that post office. This form says Charles had a wife and 2 children and was a farmer.

Our German Family Tree lists 5 children born to this couple. All of them were baptized at Peace, Friedenberg. Only one of their children would have been baptized by Rev. Henry Guemmer because he died in 1912. In the 1920 census, we find the Hacker’s with 3 children. They were living with Charles’s father, so they were almost certainly farming on the land shown in the above map.

Next, we find the Hacker household in the 1930 census. Charles’s father was still living with them, but this time, Charles was listed as the head of the household. All 5 of their children are found in this entry. Their oldest son, Arthur, was helping with the farming.

In the 1940 census, the Hacker household once again included all 5 children. This time, two of the Hacker sons were helping Charles on his farm. Charles’s father had died earlier in 1940.

Charles had a World War II draft card completed in 1942. He is given a rural Perryville address.

The last census we can view is the one taken in 1950. Charles was farming with 2 sons, only this time, the census entry says they were living in the Central Township.

At a time later in his life, Charles had this photo taken. I would not be surprised if this is an image cropped out of a photo of both Charles and Augusta. However, I did not locate a photo for Augusta.

Charles Hacker died in 1967 at the age of 80. His death certificate below says he died at the Perry County Memorial Hospital in Perryville.

Augusta Hacker died in 1971, also at the age of 80. Her death certificate says she also died at the hospital in Perryville.

Charles and Augusta Hacker are buried together in the Peace Lutheran Cemetery in Friedenberg.

Charles and Augusta are one of those couples that spent their entire lives at the same congregation. They were each born, baptized, confirmed, married, raised a family, died, and were buried while members of Peace Lutheran Church in Friedenberg. In the case of this couple, we can add the fact that the bride was also the preacher’s kid. Even his baby girl.