As we approach another Valentine’s Day, I found it rather timely to discover a person named Valentine who would be celebrating a special birthday today. As it turns out, it will also be one of those tales about what may have been considered a forbidden romance between a Lutheran and a Roman Catholic. I will begin with the birthday boy.

Valentine Weibrecht was born on February 11, 1876, so today would be his 150th birthday. Valentine was the son of Johannes and Margaretha Weibrecht. In our German Family Tree, his mother’s maiden name is given as Schubert, but in his Family Search entry, her maiden name is given as Schaupert. Both Schubert and Schaupert are names that become fairly common in Perry County. I think the Schubert name comes from the Friedenberg Remembrances book, and the person who provided a lot of documentation on Family Search was Timm Yamnitz. I will let you determine which one you think is the correct one. Valentine’s baptism record is one of the first ones recorded in the books of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Perryville. That record is shown below, and it does not give the names of the parents, so it is no help in determining the correct maiden name for his mother.

Although I failed to find a map showing the location of where this Weibrecht family had their farm in Perry County, based on the census entries I will display, it looks like their land was located near Crosstown in the Salem Township. When the 1880 census was taken, we find Valentine at the age of 4. His father was a farmer in the Salem Township.

Since we cannot view the 1890 census, the next census entry in which can view Valentine is the one taken in 1900. His father had died in 1886, and his mother had then married John Gerstacker. Valentine was not living with his mother in 1900. He was living in the Salem Township and is listed all by himself and called the head of the household. I did not display it, but right above Valentine’s entry, you find that of his brother, Henry Weibrecht. Perhaps Henry and Valentine were farming together.

Valentine would get married during the next decade, so we will now look at the woman who would become his bride. Her name was Martha Celeste Justine Streiler, who was born on July 19, 1885. Martha was the daughter of Moritz and Celeste (Tucker) Streiler. She was born during the time when Perry County kept birth records, and Martha’s record is shown below in 2 images. It indicates that she was born in the Salem Township.

Later evidence indicates that these Streiler family members were Roman Catholics. Because they lived near Crosstown, I thought I might find some evidence of their baptisms in a book we have for St. James Catholic Church in Crosstown, but I failed.

The only census entry we can view while Martha was still single is the one taken in 1900. Her father had died in 1894, so we see her mother as a widow in this census entry, and she is called a landlady. Martha was 14 years old at the time. A young man named John Chaphines was called a farmer, and another young man, Michael Streiler, was a farm laborer and called a nephew. I can also tell you that this entry for the Streiler’s is on the same page as that of Valentine Weibrecht, so they must have been fairly close neighbors.

Valentine Weibrecht married Martha Streiler on August 2, 1904. According to the Missouri marriage license below, this wedding took place at a Catholic church in Perryville.

Our German Family Tree lists 6 children born to this couple, but none of them have a baptism record attached to their names. I have to think that they were baptized at a local Catholic church. When the 1910 census was taken, the Weibrecht’s had just one son. Valentine was a farmer in the Salem Township.

Valentine had his World War I draft registration completed when America entered that war. He is given a Menfro address, but that must have been where his mail originated. This form says Valentine was born in 1877, but I think that is wrong.

The 1920 census lists 4 children in the Weibrecht household.

Two more children were born in the 1920’s. The 1930 census shows 4 children living with their parents. An older son was helping Valentine with the farming.

Next, we find the Weibrecht’s in the 1940 census. Just 2 teenage children were still living with Valentine and Martha.

Valentine Weibrecht died in 1946 at the age of 70. His death certificate gives his cause of death as stomach cancer. He died at the St. Francis Hospital in Cape Girardeau.

Valentine has a death record in the books of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Perryville.

We can also read Valentine’s obituary here.

Martha is found as a widow in the 1950 census. She was living in Perryville with her daughter, Dorothy Wilson, and a granddaughter named Gloria. Dorothy was said to be separated.

The only photo I located of a character in this story is this one of Martha Weibrecht, and it is not a very clear one.

Martha Weibrecht died in 1966 at the age of 80. We can also view her death certificate.

It looks like Valentine kept his membership in a Lutheran church throughout his life, and Martha kept her membership at a Catholic Church. Valentine is buried in the Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery in Perryville, and Martha is buried in the Mt. Hope Catholic Cemetery in Perryville. Even though they are buried in separate cemeteries, their gravestones are very similar.

Before I close, let me tell a personal story. My Aunt Dorothy Schmidt had the maiden name of Schaupert. I do not know the precise reason why, but I know when my family got together for family occasions with my Uncle Rudy and Aunt Dorothy, there were often Weibrecht’s attending also. The Schmidt’s and Weibrecht’s were friends, and about all I knew at the time was that they were friends because of mutual connections to Longtown. When I started looking at this story and found a possible marriage between a Schaupert and a Weibrecht, I immediately thought about my aunt and uncle’s ties to the Weibrecht’s. I like to think that the correct maiden name of Valentine’s mother was Schaupert.