This past week, I wrote the story, Life Story of the Asche/Lohmann Linden Tree, which included a young pupil named Arthur Lohmann, who was involved in planting that historic linden tree that fell in Altenburg recently. In my search for a story to write for today, I found that today’s birthday boy married Arthur’s younger sister. That was good enough for me.

Clara Pauline Lohmann was born on July 14, 1894, the daughter of Peter and Wilhelmine (Mueller) Lohmann. Clara was baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg. An image of her baptism record from that congregation’s books is shown below.

Clara is found in the 1900 census at the age of 6. Her father was a shoemaker in Altenburg. After Clara was born, her parents’ last child was stillborn in 1897, so Clara would be the baby in the Lohmann family. By this time, Clara’s brother, Arthur, had gone off to begin his studies to become a pastor. However, in today’s story, I will mention Clara’s older sister, Frieda, later. Frieda is found in this entry as a teenager. I may have to write Frieda’s story next year on her 140th birthday.

Next, we find Clara in the 1910 census as a teenager. We see another well-known Altenburg resident in this entry, Rudolph Lohmann, who is called the manager of a hardware store. I ate breakfast this morning in the building that once housed that hardware store in downtown Altenburg. It is now called Lindy’s Morning Table.

Clara would get married during the next decade, so we will now look at the man who would become her husband. His name was Martin Ludwig Knecht, who was born on March 28, 1891. That means he would be celebrating his 135th birthday. Martin was the son of Henry and Mary (Schneider) Knecht. He was born in Darmstadt, Illinois just southeast of Belleville. When the 1900 census was taken, Martin was 9 years old. His father was a farmer in the Fayetteville Township in St. Clair County with a rather large family.

Martin was no longer living with his parents when the 1910 census was taken. He was living in Granity City with his older sister, Mary, who had married Charles Eckert. Let me add that I have written another story about an Eckert from the same area in Illinois who married a Mahnken from Farrar. Martin and two other brothers, Charles and Peter, were also in this household. Martin, Charles, and Charles Eckert were all working at a rolling mill in Granite City.

One question that came to my mind was how a girl from Altenburg became acquainted to a man from Granite City. As it turns out, I figured out how this happened. It is because Clara’s sister, Frieda, had married Martin’s brother, George, in 1913. That explains how Clara met Martin, but it causes me to question how Frieda got to know George. At this point, I do not know. Martin Knecht married Clara Lohmann on July 11, 1915 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg. The church marriage record for this couple is displayed here. It says that Martin was from Darmstadt, Illinois.

A Missouri marriage certificate for this couple is shown below.

In 1917, Martin had his World War I draft registration completed. It gives him a Granite City address and says that he was a steam engineer.

Martin and Clara had two children, both daughters. In the 1920 census, there was just one child in the Knecht household. Martin was living with his father, Henry. You can see 2 other Knecht household under the one for Martin. One of those households was that of George Knecht and Clara’s sister, Frieda. All of the Knecht brothers were working in some sort of milling businesses in Collinsville, Illinois.

Another daughter had been born in 1920 after the above census was taken. Then in 1925, that daughter, Dorothy Knecht, died at the age of 5. The Illinois death certificate for Dorothy shown below says this child died of septic pneumonia. Another sad fact is that this child died on Christmas Eve.

When the 1930 census was taken, we once again see two different Knecht households right next to each other in the census entry. In Martin’s household, you find Clara, their daughter, Mildred, and Martin’s father. Martin was a laborer at a steel mill in Granite City. So was his brother, Peter.

The 1940 census page on which we find Martin’s family, we find 3 Knecht households. All 3 Knecht brothers were working at a steel mill in Granity City. Martin is called a stationary engineer. Just their daughter, Mildred, was living with Martin and Clara.

Martin had his World War II draft card completed in 1942. It says that Martin was employed by the Granite City Steel Company.

Below is an old photo of the Granite City Steel Foundry.

The last census the public can view is the one taken in 1950. In that year’s entry, even though Martin and Clara had an empty nest, Martin is found at the bottom of one census page, and Clara is at the top of the next page. Martin had the same occupation.

Clara Knecht died in 1975 at the age of 80. We can view her obituary below. It says her funeral service was held at Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Collinsville. You can see that one of her survivors was Rev. Arthur Lohmann of Perryville.

Martin Knecht died in 1980 at the age of 89. Martin, Clara, and Dorothy Knecht are buried together in the Sunset Hill Cemetery in Glen Carbon, Illinois.

When Clara Lohmann was born in 1894, the Lohmann/Asche linden tree had been in the ground for almost 2 years. Clara spent her childhood days watching that tree getting taller each year. Maybe by the time Clara got married in 1915, she and her groom may have been able to get respite in the shade of that tree during the hot July days in Altenburg.