The birthday boy for today is Julius Henry Kipping, who was born on April 7, 1891. That means he would be celebrating his 135th birthday today. Julius was the son of Louis and Wilhelmina (Feuerhahn) Kipping. I was able to locate these photos of Julius’s parents.

According to information found on Ancestry.com and Family Search, Julius was born in Tilsit, Missouri. I suspect that Julius may have been baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Tilsit. We have a binder in our museum for the Tilsit congregation, but it only contains information about their cemetery. What I did find in that binder is this photo of that congregation’s parsonage which was built in 1890, the year before Julius was born. Standing in front of the house is likely the family of Rev. H.A.E. Schaefer, who was the pastor of that congregation at that time. If Julius was baptized there, Pastor Schaefer would have baptized him.

Before I continue with Julius’s story, let me point out that Julius had a sister, Hulda Kipping, who married Rev. Arthur Lohmann. Arthur was the boy who helped Teacher Asche plant the linden tree next Trinity, Altenburg in 1892. I wrote about that tree coming down a few weeks ago. In the short time since that event, I have now written 2 blog posts that had a connection to Rev. Lohmann. I am amazed how many times there has been a coincidence like this when I write for this blog. In fact, perhaps this is not a coincidence, but an act of God.

Julius’s mother died in 1897, so when we find him in his first census entry in 1900, his father was a widower. Julius was 9 years old, and his father was a farmer in the Hubble Township in Cape Girardeau County. That is where Tilsit is located.

In the 1910 census, we find Julius as a teenager. The entry does not give Julius an occupation, but I have to think that he must have been helping his father on his farm.

Julius would get married during the next decade, so we will now take a look at the woman who would become his bride. Her name was Anna Marie Miesner, who was born on December 8, 1889. Anna was the daughter of Friedrich and Sophia (Korte) Miesner. She was baptized at Salem Lutheran Church in Farrar. We can view her baptism record here.

Anna is found in the 1900 census at the age of 10. Her father was a farmer in the Union Township.

In the 1910 census, Anna, at the age of 20, was still living with her parents. She is called a cook for a private family.

I have no idea how a farmer’s daughter from Perry County became acquainted with a farmer’s son in Tilsit. Julius Kipping married Anna Miesner on January 16, 1916. Although I was unable to find a church marriage record for this couple, the 2 civil marriage records shown here indicate that they were married by Rev. Wilder, who was the pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Cape Girardeau.

I located these two photos of Julius and Anna, which appear to be cropped out of a wedding photo that I was unable to find.

This Kipping couple had 3 children. In the 1920 census, they were living in Cape Girardeau with 2 children. Julius was a mechanic at a garage.

Another son was born in 1922, but then Julius died in 1925 at the age of 34. His death certificate below says he died of a lung abscess, but it also specifically says that it was not tuberculosis. He died at the Barnes Hospital in St. Louis.

Anna Kipping is called a widow when she is found in the 1930 census. She was living in Cape Girardeau with her 3 children. Anna was called a laundress.

The 1940 census shows Anna living with 2 of her children. This time, she is called a telephone operator.

The last census we can view is the one taken in 1950. She was living in East St. Louis, Illinois with her son Leon, and his family. Leon had married Viola Hook in 1942. Leon was a carpenter.

Anna Kipping died in Illinois in 1963 at the age of 74. Julius and Anna Kipping are each buried in the New Lorimer Cemetery in Cape Girardeau.

It is not often that I get to write a story coming out of Tilsit, Missouri. Even this one contains no absolute proof that Julius Kipping was connected to the Lutheran church in Tilsit. Immanuel Lutheran Church in Tilsit has a history that goes way back to the 1840’s, not long after the German Lutheran immigration arrived in Perry County in 1839.