Today’s birthday boy is Ludwig Herman Koenig, who was born on March 29, 1897. That makes today his 129th birthday. Throughout his life, documents called him Ludwig or Louis or even L.W. I will use Ludwig, mainly because that is what is on his gravestone. He was the son of Theodore and Louise (Popp) Koenig. Ludwig’s baptism record is found in the books of Salem Lutheran Church in Farrar. We can look at an image of that record below.

When Ludwig was just a matter of months old, his mother died. The church death record for her says she died of malaria. About a year later, in 1898, his father remarried. His second wife was named Emma Ruehling. So, when the 1900 census was taken, we see Ludwig at the age of 3 and his parents named Theodore and Emma. His father was a farmer in the Salem Township.

Next, we find Ludwig in the 1910 census when he was 13 years old. I do not know why, but the census taker did not list the children in the order of their ages like it is usually done.

The plat maps produced in 1915 show that the Theo. Koenig farm was located east of Crosstown and not far from the Mississippi River.

Ludwig had his World War I draft registration completed in 1918. It gives him a Menfro address and says his employer was P.H. Eckhart in Menfro.

Ludwig did serve in the military during that war, but his military record shown below does not indicate that he was sent overseas.

A later application for a military headstone after Ludwig died gives more details about his service. It says he was at Camp Funston in Kansas.

In the 1920 census, we find Ludwig at the age of 22 and still single.

Ludwig got married during the next decade, so we will now take a look at the woman who would become his bride. Her name was Bertha Katharina Mahnken, who was born on July 20, 1898. Bertha was the daughter of John and Maria (Heitmann) Mahnken. Like Ludwig, she was baptized at Salem Lutheran Church in Farrar. We can take a look at her baptism record here.

Bertha is found in the 1900 census at the age of 1. Her father was a farmer in the Salem Township with the help of a few of her older brothers.

We find Bertha in the 1910 census at the age of 11. Her older brother, Frederick, is called a student at college. He was studying to become a Lutheran pastor. His story has been told on this blog.

The John Mahnken farm is found on the plat map shown here. This map section is actually part of the plat map for the Koenig’s shown earlier. So, Ludwig and Bertha were fairly close neighbors.

Bertha was still single when the 1920 census was taken. She was still living with her parents on their farm.

Ludwig Koenig married Bertha Mahnken on January 1, 1923 at Salem Lutheran Church in Farrar. The church marriage record for this couple is displayed below.

I can show 2 different civil marriage records for this pair.

Ludwig and Bertha had no children of their own, but they adopted a girl named Seda Scholl, who was born in 1917. By 1921, both of Seda’s parents had died. Then at some point, Ludwig and Bertha adopted Seda “Sadie”, and she took the surname, Koenig. In the 1930 census, we find Ludwig, Bertha, Seda, and Albert Koenig, Ludwig’s younger half-brother.

Ludwig and Bertha moved their family to St. Louis at some point during the next decade. In the household in the 1940 census, we find their daughter, Seda, and a lodger named Ottilie Ruehling, who happened to be the single sister of Ludwig’s stepmother. Ludwig was called a brewer.

Ludwig had his World War II draft card completed in 1942. His address was within walking distance to Holy Cross Lutheran Church in South St. Louis. It says he was employed by the Anheuser-Busch Brewing Company.

The Koenig’s did not remain in St. Louis. By the time of the 1950 census, they were back living in Perry County. Ludwig and Bertha had an empty nest, and Ludwig was a janitor for a church and school. I have to think that he was employed by Immanuel Lutheran Church in Perryville.

Ludwig died in 1958 at the age of 61. His death certificate below says he died at the Perry County Memorial Hospital in Perryville.

Bertha Koenig died in 1978 at the age of 79. Both Ludwig and Bertha are buried in the Salem Lutheran Cemetery in Farrar. Ludwig’s gravestone recognizes his military service during World War I.

Because this couple only had one adopted daughter, the Koenig surname came to an end in this branch of the Koenig family tree.

Just a side note. Yesterday’s post said there was an Eckert who married a Mahnken who was from the same area in Illinois where the highlighted Knecht family was found. That Mahnken was Rev. Fred Mahnken, Bertha’s brother whose wife was Alwena Eckert.