Both the bride and the groom in today’s story spent brief times in the places of their birth, but spent almost all of their lives in St. Louis. The groom is tied into our German Family Tree. The bride is not, at least not until she gets married. I am going to begin with the groom, but it is the bride who has a birthday today.

Leopold Henry Lueders was born on August 5, 1872, the son of John and Anna (Homann) Lueders. Leo’s later death certificate says he was born in South Bluff, Michigan. However, he has a baptism record in the books of Immanuel Lutheran Church in New Wells. He was not baptized until December 26th of that year, so I suppose the Lueders family may have moved with a young baby to New Wells shortly after Leo was born. We can view that baptism record below.

Leo’s father, John, was the brother of several other characters who are found living in Perry County and northern Cape Girardeau County, including August Lueders ,who operated the Lueders Store in Frohna ,and William Lueders, who operated the Lueders Store in Wittenberg. Then, prior to the 1880 census, Leo’s Lueders family made a move to St. Louis. We find them in that year’s census entry below when Leo was 8 years old. His father was the driver of a baggage wagon. You can see that it says Leo was born in Michigan.

Leo would get married before we can view another census in 1900, so we will now look at the woman who would become his bride. Her name was Daisy Withers, who was born on February 21, 1876, thus making today her 150th birthday. Daisy was the daughter of Alvin and Emma (Markee) Withers. Her later death certificate says she was born in Palestine, Illinois, which is very near the Indiana border in Central Illinois. I was unable to locate the Withers family in the 1880 census. Daisy’s father died in 1882, and then her mother married John Fickler later that year. It appears that the Withers/Fickler family moved to St. Louis prior to the late 1890’s.

Leo Lueders married Daisy Withers on November 26, 1896 in St. Louis. We can view this St. Louis marriage record which says this couple was married by the minister of the Centenary Methodist Church. This form says both Leo and Daisy were from St. Louis.

One of this couple’s 2 children was born prior to the 1900 census. The Lueders household is shown in the census entry for that year below. In addition to Leo, Daisy, and their son, Arthur, were Leo’s father and his sister. Also a lodger named Betty Hunter was living with them. Leo was called a railroad ticket broker.

Next, we find the Lueders household in the 1910 census. Both of the Lueders children are included in this entry. Leo was called the proprietor of a saloon.

In the 1920 census, we see the 4 members of Leo’s family, along with another person, Amelia Lueders, who was called a servant. In addition, there was a trio of Parker’s, a widowed father and two of his children included in this household. Leo was called a clerk for the railroad.

Later is 1920, Arthur Lueders married the Hazel Parker who is found in the above census entry. I know that their daughter , Corrine, was still single in 1930, but the census for that year shows Leo and Daisy with none of their children living with them. I was unable to locate their daughter, Corrine, in the 1930 census. Leo was a shipping clerk for a medical company.

The Lueders couple is found living by themselves in the1940 census. At the age of 67, Leo is called a shipping clerk for a wholesale chemicals company.

Daisy Lueders died in 1948 at the age of 72. We can take a look at her death certificate here. This is where we find Daisy’s date of birth as February 21, 1876. I could not help but notice that Daisy’s address was 5535 Waterman Avenue. I discovered their home was located just across the street from where Lutheran Central High School was located. I attended Lutheran Central High School during my freshman year.

Leo was still alive when the 1950 census was taken, but I failed to find him in that year’s enumeration. Leo died in 1956 at the age of 83. It looks as if he was living in the same house as Julian Sampson, who was the informant on this document. This form calls Leo a retired executive of Abbott Laboratory.

Leo and Daisy Lueders, along with Daisy’s mother, Emma Fickler, are buried together in the Valhalla Cemetery in St. Louis.

It looks like Leo Lueders spent just a short amount of time living in our area in Southeast Missouri. After his family moved to St. Louis, he found his wife, Daisy there. She also had probably arrived in St. Louis when she was quite young and spent most of her life there. However, as you can see, just a lonely baptism record found in the books of a local Lutheran church in our vicinity can be a reason for me to write a story.