The bride and groom in today’s tale both have their beginnings in Southern Illinois, not far from Perry County. However, each of them have a bit of connection to Perry County as well. However, most of their lives were spent in St. Louis. We begin with the birthday girl.

Anna Sophia Mathilda Stueven was born on March 15, 1886, so today would be her 140th birthday. Mathilda was the daughter of Henry and Anna (Hollmann) Stueven. Although most of her mother’s life was spent in Illinois, she spent a few of her younger days in Altenburg in Perry County, Missouri. Mathilda was baptized at Christ Lutheran Church in Jacob, Illinois. Her baptism record from that congregation’s books is displayed here in 2 images.

Mathilda is found in the 1900 census at the age of 14. She is called Ottillie in this entry. Her father was a farmer in the Fountain Bluff Township. Mathilda had been confirmed at Christ, Jacob the year before this census in 1899.

Since Mathilda would get married during the next decade, we will now take a look at the man who would become her husband. His name was Wilhelm Heinrich Hartenberger, who was born on August 27, 1880 in Chester, Illinois. William was the son of Johannes and Margaretha (Wirth) Hartenberger. Like was the case with Mathilda, William’s mother spent her early days in Perry County. William was baptized at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Chester. In a binder we have in our research library for that congregation’s history, we find transcribed church records. Here is the baptism record for William that is found in that binder.

William was born too late in 1880 to make it into that year’s census, so the first one we can view with him in it is the one taken in 1900. He was 19 years old and helping his father on his farm in Chester. William’s mother had died when he was very young, and his father had remarried in 1882. So, the Rosetta listed as his father’s wife was William’s stepmother.

William was confirmed at St. John’s, Chester in 1894. I will place 2 images of his record below. I want you to know that his confirmation instructor was Rev. J.A.F.W. Mueller, who was the first graduate of Concordia Seminary when it was still in Altenburg, so there is another Perry County connection to this story.

William Hartenberger married Mathilda Stueven on June 1, 1905 at Christ Lutheran Church in Jacob. Their church marriage record for this couple is pictured here. They were married by Rev. Haertling, who had his origins in New Wells. Rev. Haertling always wrote very detailed marriage records in the church books.

I always love it when I find a wedding photo for a highlighted couple. Here is the one for William and Mathilda.

After this pair was married, they made their way to St. Louis. In the 1910 census, there were already 3 sons in the Hartenberger family. This pair would have 8 children according to their Family Search entries. At this time, William was called a collector for an ice company in St. Louis. William’s brother, Henry, and a cousin, Charles Newberry, were living with them.

William had his World War I draft registration completed in 1918. He was called a coal dealer on this form.

The Hartenberger’s are found in the 1920 census with 6 children. Also included in the household were a brother, a sister-in-law, and a niece. This time, William is called a manager of an ice & coal company.

There were many such ice & coal businesses in those days, with ice deliveries being more prevalent in the summer and more coal deliveries in the winter.

I think William and his family may have traveled back to Chester, Illinois when his parents were celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary in 1922. William’s father and stepmother are seated in front. William is standing in the back row, second from the left.

In the 1930 census, William and Mathilda had 7 children in their household, along with Mathilda’s father. William is called a dealer of ice & coal.

The 1940 census shows that only 2 Hartenberger children were still living with their parents, but there were also 3 different boarders living in their home. There is a 7 year-old child named Betty Greenstreet who is called a daughter in this entry, but based on the next census, I think Betty was a niece.

The last census the public can view is the one taken in 1950. William and Mathilda still had quite a few in their household, but only Betty Jean (who looks like her surname was Hartenberger this time) was called a niece. The other 3 were lodgers.

Mathilda Hartenberger died in 1953 at the age of 67, four days after her birthday. Colon cancer is given as the cause of death on the certificate below.

William Hartenberger died in 1958 at the age of 77. He died as a result of lung cancer.

William and Mathilda Hartenberger are buried together in the Our Redeemer Cemetery in St. Louis County.

I think you discovered that even though this Hartenberger family spent their early years in Illinois and their later years in St. Louis, they did have a variety of connections to our local area here in Perry County.