Today’s bride and groom were both born and raised near Perry County, but after they were married, they spent the rest of their lives in Cleveland, Ohio. The groom is today’s birthday boy.

Theodore Frederick Hoerr was born on April 22, 1856, so today would be his 170th birthday. Fred was the son of Jacob and Katharina (Nischwitz) Hoerr. He was baptized at the fairly new congregation in Cape Girardeau, Trinity Lutheran Church. We can view a transcription of his baptism record here.

Fred is found in the 1860 census at the age of 4. His father was a carpenter in Cape Girardeau.

In the 1870 census, Fred was a teenager and still the only child in the Hoerr family.

1870 was also the year that Fred was confirmed at Trinity Lutheran Church in Cape Girardeau. Below is a list of students who were part of that year’s confirmation class. Fred is found at the top of the list.

Although I found no evidence, I think Fred spent some of his years after his confirmation attending the Lutheran Teachers Seminary in Addison, Illinois, studying to become a teacher. According to a family tree on Ancestry.com, Fred began his teaching career at Zion Lutheran Church in Cleveland, Ohio in 1877 when he was 21 years old.

Now, we will take a look at the woman who would become Fred’s bride. Her name was Adelheid Amalie Helene Engelmann, who was born on April 15, 1858. Adelheid was the daughter of Edward and Adelheid (Wiese) Engelmann. She was baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Friedheim. An image of her baptism record from that congregation’s books is displayed below.

Adelheid is found in the 1860 census at the age of 3, although I think she was only 2. Her father was a merchant in the Apple Creek Township.

During the next decade, the Engelmann’s moved to Cape Girardeau. That is where we find them living when the 1870 census was taken. Adelheid was said to be 13 years old in that year’s entry. This time, her father was called a notary public.

Adelheid was confirmed in 1871 at Trinity, Cape Girardeau. We find her in this list of that year’s confirmation class at Trinity.

Fred Hoerr married Adelheid Engelmann on August 8, 1878 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Cape Girardeau. If Fred had started teaching in Cleveland in 1877, then he must have traveled back to his hometown after his first year of teaching to get married. We can view a transcription of the church record for this wedding.

Teacher Hoerr took his bride with him back to Cleveland where he continued to teach for the rest of his career. In the 1880 census, the Hoerr’s had just one daughter. Fred is called a teacher.

Family Search says that the Hoerr’s had 7 children, but a family tree on Ancestry.com lists 9 of them. A few of them did not live to adulthood. They were all almost certainly baptized at Zion Lutheran Church in Cleveland. We cannot view another census for the Hoerr family until the one taken in 1900. Two of their children were part of the work force. One son was a picture frame salesman, and another was an apprentice architect.

The Hoerr’s are next found in the 1910 census. Behind his occupation as teacher, it says “German”. Zion Lutheran School must have still been primarily one in which German was used as a primary language. It would be especially after World War I that many Lutheran schools began switching over to English. Only 2 children were still living with their parents. One son was a bookkeeper at a bank.

When the 1920 census was taken, we find the same two single children living with Fred and Adelheid.

Below are photos of the historic Zion Lutheran Church and School in Cleveland that I located on a Wikipedia site.

I also located this photo of Teacher Hoerr, which looks as if it may have been included in a school yearbook or an anniversary booklet made for that church. I failed to find a photo of Adelaid.

The last census in which we find Fred and Adelheid was the one taken in 1930. Just their son, Albert was living in the Hoerr household. Albert is given the surname, Herr, in this entry. Fred was retired at the time. The family tree mentioned earlier says Fred taught at Zion Lutheran School from 1877-1927…50 years at the same school.

Fred Hoerr died in 1934 at the age of 78. We can view his Ohio death certificate below.

Adelheid Hoerr died in 1937 at the age of 79. Her Ohio death certificate can also be viewed below.

Fred and Adelheid Doerr are buried together in the Lutheran Cemetery in Cleveland.

You can see on the gravestone that one of the sons of Fred and Adelheid, the single son, Albert, was buried with them. His surname is spelled as Herr. In fact, I discovered that several of the sons of Fred and Adelheid have the name, Herr, on their gravestones. I think both you and I know why some of the children would want to change their name from Hoerr.

Every once in a while during my teaching career, someone would call me Herr Schmidt. Germans often used the title of respect, Herr, when they addressed a teacher. Just imagine for a moment if Teacher Hoerr had also changed his name to Herr. Then some folks would possibly address him as Herr Herr.