I am going to tell today’s tale in a bit of a different way. I will describe the process of discovering different aspects of this story in the order of the steps I took. It all starts with me finding today’s birthday boy.

Leonard Johann Adolph Klemp was born on February 28th. Different records will say that Leonard was either born on that day in 1870 or 1871. Leonard was the son of William and Margaret (Schneider) Klemp. Other older siblings in this Klemp family were baptized at Peace Lutheran Church in Friedenberg, but Leonard was baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Perryville. We can view his baptism record below. You can see that this document says that Leonard was born on February 28,1870, so if that is the case, then today would be Leonard’s 156th birthday.

I think one of the pieces of evidence that is the most convincing that Leonard was born in 1870 and not 1871 is found in the 1870 census. Leonard is included in the William Klemp household as a baby. His father was a farmer in the Cinque Hommes Township. As a sneak peak at what will be important later in this post, please note that Leonard had an older brother named Henry, who was about 12 years older than Leonard.

It did not take me long to discover that Leonard was a man who would never get married. He is found next in the 1880 census at the age of 10.

Twenty years would go by before we can view another census entry from the 1900 census. Leonard’s father had died in 1893, so his widowed mother is the head of the Klemp household which consisted of two older brothers, Henry and Leonard, along with two younger sisters. The mother and Henry were called farmers, and Leonard, at the age of 29, was a farm laborer.

At this point in my research, I wondered whether Henry Klemp would ever get married. After all, in the above census, he was already in his 40’s. I then discovered that Henry would never get married. It was then that I figured I could write this story about a pair of brothers who would remain bachelors for their entire lives. When the 1910 census was taken, the Klemp household consisted of just Margaret, the mother, and the two single sons, Henry and Leonard. Henry was the head of the household, and he and Leonard were doing the farming.

Let me take a moment to say that Henry A. Klemp was born on either December 29th or December 30th in 1856. Because he was born prior to the establishment of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Perryville, he was baptized at Peace Lutheran Church in Friedenberg. Therefore, I am not able to display a baptism record for Henry.

When the 1920 census was taken, we see the same 3 characters we saw in the 1910 census. Henry, being the older brother, was called the head of the household in both the 1910 and 1920 censuses.

Henry Klemp died later in 1920 at the age of 63. His death certificate below indicates that he died of stomach cancer.

The obituary below was published in the Perry County Republican.

As you can see on both the death certificate and in the obituary, Henry A. Klemp was buried in the Zion Lutheran Cemetery in Longtown. His gravestone gives his date of birth as December 30, 1856.

When I located the 1930 census for Leonard Klemp, I really had to scratch my head. First of all, let me tell you that after Henry died, we find his mother living with the Oswald Funke household in Longtown. Leonard is found living by himself and farming in the Cinque Hommes Township. However, right above Leonard’s name, you will see a boarder in the Theodore Diemund household named Henry Klemp. I immediately had to wonder how Henry Klemp could still be alive in 1930 when he died and was buried in 1920. Was there another Henry Klemp?

My efforts to find another Henry Klemp was not really helped by our German Family Tree. Eventually, though, I did find a Henry Joseph Klemp who was reportedly born on October 3rd of either 1862 or 1863. Although his age given in the above census as 58 does not compute correctly, I believe the man in that entry was Henry J. Klemp. That Henry was the son of John and Caroline (Zoellner) Klemp. Let’s take a look at his early life. I do not know where Henry J. Klemp was baptized. He is found in the 1870 census at the age of 9

Next, we find Henry J. in the 1880 census when he was 18 years old. His father had died in 1872, so his widowed mother was the head of the household. The mother was called the farmer, and Henry and his younger brother, William, were working on the farm.

When the 1900 census was taken, Henry was living with his mother and farming at the age of 37.

Since he was already in his 30’s and still single, and since he was listed in the earlier census living next to Leonard as also being single, I wondered if this Henry Klemp was another lifelong bachelor. Lo, and behold, he was. Then, I wondered if the two Henry Klemp’s were related to one another. I eventually discovered that Henry J.’s father, John, was the brother of Henry J.’s father, William, so these two Henry Klemp’s were first cousins. In the 1910 census, we see the same pair as were found in the previous census entry, but this time, Henry J. was the head of the household.

In the 1915 plat maps, we find the farms of Margaret Klemp and Caroline Klemp located right next to each other west of Longtown. Apparently, it looks as if the 2 Henry Klemp’s were born and raised as next door neighbors.

The 1920 census is the last one in which we find Caroline Klemp, Henry J. Klemp’s mother. She would die in 1928.

We have already looked at the 1930 census, but let me go back to the 1880 census. I discovered that both Henry’s were found on the same census page in that year’s enumeration. I have highlighted them on the image shown below.

Henry J. Klemp died in 1934 at the age of 71. His death certificate can also be viewed.

We can also read an obituary for Henry J. Klemp.

After both Henry’s died, we are left with our birthday boy, Leonard. He is found in the 1940 census living by himself at the age of 70 with no occupation.

The last census we can view is the one taken in 1950.

Leonard Klemp died in 1961 at the age of 90. His death certificate says that he died at the Pine Lawn Nursing Home in Perryville.

This obituary for Leonard appeared in the Perry County Republican.

Leonard Klemp and his cousin, Henry J. Klemp are each buried in the Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery in Perryville.

Now, we come to the end of this tale. It began with me discovering one lifelong bachelor. Then I found out that he had a brother who also remained single all his life. Then, to my surprise, I found a second Henry Klemp, who happened to be the first one’s cousin, and believe it or not, that Henry was also never married. I found it to be quite a wild ride. I do know this. None of the readers of this post will be descendants of any of these three Klemp’s.