Our German Family Tree led me to today’s story because the main character was born 200 years ago. However, the only place where I found her date of birth is on her gravestone. I believe that she was actually born on that day, but this leads me to point out the fact that it is more common for this situation to exist for women. If we cannot view a birth or baptism record, and if there is no death record to view, there is a pretty good chance that no other document gives the birthday for a woman. For men, the other documents that will give a date of birth are their military records.

Katharina Lang was born on April 20, 1826, so today would be her bicentennial birthday. Katharina was born in Wiessenfels, Germany, the daughter of Peter and Barbara (Schmeisser) Lang. Here are photos of Katharina’s parents which have been displayed on this blog before because I have written other Lang stories.

Katharina’s parents came to America in 1855, but when we look at their ship’s passenger list, Katherina was not on it. Katharina must have come to this country before her parents did because she got married in this country in 1852. A later census entry says that she came to the United States in the year she got married, 1852. Katharina Lang is a fairly common name, and I found several women with that name on passenger lists, but I am not certain that any of them were today’s birthday girl.

Now, we will take a look at the man who would become Katharina’s husband. His name was George Hupfer, who was born on March 9, 1830. George was the son of Ernest and Anna Mary (Walter) Hupfer. George was born in the Bavarian region in Germany. According to the same later census entry, it says that George also came to this country in 1852. I found neither Katharina or George in a U.S. census prior to their marriage. George Hupfer married Katharina Lang on August 15, 1852 in Rochester, Ohio. That date and place is listed on many Ancestry.com family trees as well as Family Search, but I found no documentation for it anywhere.

After getting married, we have evidence that this couple made their way to Missouri prior to the 1860 census. The citizenship application form shown below indicates that George completed this form in Perry County, Missouri in 1857.

When the 1860 census was taken, the Hupfer’s were living in the Cinque Hommes Township with 3 children. All of the children were said to be born in Missouri. If that is the case, then the Hupfer’s were already in this state in 1854. George was a farmer.

It appears that the Hupfer’s had 7 children all together. During the 1860’s, this family made a move across the Mississippi River to the city of Chester where they would spend the rest of their lives. I found the first baptism record for a child of theirs born in 1865 in the books of St. John’s Lutheran Church in Chester.

The 1870 census shows this family with 5 children. Their son, John, who was in the previous census entry, had apparently died. All of them were said to be born in Illinois, but I do not think that is correct. This time, George is called a shoemaker.

Next, we find the Hupfer’s in the 1880 census. No more children had been added to the family. George was called a shoe and boot maker.

This photo below of the Hupfer Shoe Store and their home may have been taken in the interim between the 1880 and 1900 censuses. The caption identifies several of the people in the picture, including both George and Katharina.

In the 1900 census, we find that George and Katharina had an empty nest. George is called a cobbler.

The photos below were taken of George and Katharina Hupfer.

Katharina Hupfer died in 1904 at the age of 78. If you do the math, her age in years, months, and days gets you back to a date of birth of April 20, 1826.

A granddaughter of this Hupfer couple kept a journal, and she wrote the following paragraph about Katharina’s death.

George is found as a widower in the 1910 census. He was living in the household of his son-in-law, Herman Decker. George, at the age of 80, was still a shoemaker at his own shop. You can see his granddaughter, Anna Decker, in this entry. She was the author of the above journal entry.

George Hupfer died in 1913 at the age of 83. His death record below is also in the books of St. John’s, Chester.

Anna Decker wrote this paragraph about her grandfather’s death.

Both George and Katharina Hupfer are buried in the Evergreen Cemetery in Chester.

Today, we can remember another one of those 200th birthdays, the one for Katharina Hupfer, who led us on a journey that took us through Ohio and Missouri before ending up not far from here in Chester, Illinois. Their church in Chester just recently celebrated their 150th anniversary.