A wedding anniversary attracted me to today’s tale. The marriage was one in which a Roman Catholic man married a Lutheran woman. This couple had quite a few children, and a quick look demonstrated to me that some of those children are now buried in Lutheran cemeteries, and others are buried in Catholic cemeteries. So, it looks like the Catholic and Lutheran influences in today’s family were quite mixed. I will begin with the Catholic husband.

James Lawrence Brewer was born on October24, 1855, the son of Joseph and Catharine (Nesslein) Brewer. When he was a boy, it appears that he was called Lawrence, but as an adult, he was mostly called James. I will use James. His baptism record is likely found in a local Catholic parish, so I am unable to display it. James is found in the 1860 census at the age of 5. His father was a farmer in the Cinque Hommes Township. He is called Lawrence in this entry.

Next, we find James in the 1870 census as a teenager. His father had died in 1865, and his mother had then married James Hagan. So we find some Hagan’s and Brewer’s in this entry. James’s stepfather was also a farmer in the Cinque Hommes Township.

James was still single when the 1880 census was taken. His mother had died in 1873. His stepfather was still alive and had remarried, but James was not living with him. In the entry below, we see James and his younger sister living in the Central Township. James was a farmer.

Now, we will turn our attention to the Lutheran girl who would become James’s bride. Her name was Anna Barbara Fassold, who was born on March 18, 1863. That means she was about 8 years younger than James. Anna was the daughter of Albert and Margaretha (Bergmann) Fassold. She was baptized at Peace Lutheran Church in Friedenberg, so I am unable to display an image of her baptism record. Anna is found in the 1870 census at the age of 7. She was part of a rather large Fassold family that was living in the Cinque Hommes Township. This census entry was displayed in a recent post about Creek George Bergmann. We see Creek George at the bottom of this entry. Anna would qualify to call Creek George her grandpa. Anna’s father was farming.

When the 1880 census was taken, the Fassold’s were living in the Central Township. They did not necessarily move. Township lines had been readjusted. Anna was a teenager at this time. Creek George was still living in the Fassold household.

James Brewer married Anna Fassold on January 19, 1885, so today would be this couple’s 141st wedding anniversary. Back in those days, neither Lutheran pastors nor Catholic priests were likely to conduct a Catholic/Lutheran wedding. James and Anna’s wedding was conducted by a probate judge. And that judge just so happened to be Charles Weber, who by then was a prominent Perryville resident but had previously entered Perry County as part of the Gesellschaft in 1839. I am able to display 2 different civil marriage records for this pair.

James and Anna had a lot of children. Anna’s later obituary says that they had 10 children, and James’s obituary says they had 11. I suspect some of them died as infants. We cannot view this couple in a census until the one taken in 1900. James was a farmer in the Central Township, and there were 5 children in their household.

The 1910 census once again lists 5 children in the Brewer family. Two of them had been added during the previous decade and two daughters had gotten married prior to this census.

When the 1915 atlas of plat maps was produced, we find the J.L. Brewer farm located not far from Perryville, and also not far from where Peace Lutheran Church in Friedenberg was located.

In the 1920 census, there were 3 single children still living with their parents, along with a grandson Melvin Brown. Melvin was actually Cora Brewer’s son. Cora was called single in this entry, but she had been married to Charles Brown. The Brewer’s were now living in Perryville, and James was called a retired farmer at the age of 64.

The last census in which we find James and Anna was the one taken in 1930. James is back to being called Lawrence in this entry, and he is called a dealer of farm implements. Their daughter, Elsie, and her new husband, Robert Dean, were included in their household. Robert was an insurance agent, and Elsie was a public school teacher.

Anna Brewer died in 1932 at the age of 69. We can view her death certificate below.

An obituary for Anna was published in the Perry County Republican.

James Brewer died in 1935 at the age of 80. We can also view his death certificate.

I located 2 obituaries for James. Here is the one published in the Perry County Republican. I have to display it in 2 images.

Here is an obituary for James that was found in the Perry County Sun.

James apparently stuck to his Catholic faith, and Anna remained a Lutheran. Anna is buried in the Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery in Perryville. James is buried in the Mt. Hope Catholic Cemetery in Perryville.

I can just imagine that there were Sundays in the Brewer family when James would head off to attend mass at a nearby Catholic parish, and Anna would attend Peace Lutheran Church in Friedenberg in her younger years and Immanuel Lutheran Church in Perryville during her later years.