My wife and I left Minnesota yesterday and are on our way back home. I have just a bit of time to share an old story with you today, and I just so happened to take a look at the first post that was published on today’s date ten years ago. Lo, and behold, it was one which told about a special character that spent most of his life in the state of Minnesota. I am going to add a bit more documentation to his story that was not included in the short story that was written back in 2016.
Karl Heinrich Theodore Buenger was born on April 29, 1860. That means today would be his 166th birthday. Theodore was the son of Theodore Ernst and Martha (Loeber) Buenger. His father was a teacher at First Immanuel Lutheran Church and School in Chicago, Illinois, so that is where Theodore was baptized. I found Theodore’s baptism record in Ancestry.com.’s Missouri Synod collection of church records. He was baptized by Rev. Heinrich Wunder, who was one of the 5 men who graduated from Concordia Seminary when it was still located in Altenburg. You can see that in the list of his sponsors, are the names of a Loeber, a Walther, and a Brohm
Theodore is found in the 1870 census at the age of 10. There were 7 children in the Buenger household, and Theodore’s father was called a school teacher in Chicago.
When the 1880 census was taken, Theodore was a students to Concordia Seminary in St. Louis studying to be a Lutheran pastor.
Theodore got married to Ottilie Meier on April 9, 1885 in St. Louis. The St. Louis marriage record shown below indicates that he was married by Rev. C.F.W. Walther. It says that Theodore was from New Bremen, Illinois, which I believe was a municipality of the Chicago metropolitan area.
According to Family Search, the Buenger’s had 5 children. One of them died as an infant. In the 1900 census, the Buenger household included 4 children. Theodore was a professor at Concordia College in St. Paul. Actually, Theodor was more than a professor. He was the first president of Concordia College, which was established in 1893.
Next, we find the Buenger’s in the 1910 census. In this entry, it says Theodore was the president of Concordia College. I included just a few of the students at that college who are listed as part of the Buenger household. It’s quite a lengthy list.
The 1920 census shows just 2 children still living with their parents. Also included in this entry was a young roomer who was called a professor at the college.
The Buenger’s are next found in the 1930 census. Theodore and Ottilie had an empty nest.
It was pointed out in the attached post from 2016 that Theodore Buenger died in Oregon in 1943 at the age of 83. His Oregon death certificate is shown below. It mentions hepatitis and a few different forms of cancer as his causes of death.
There is a building on the campus of Concordia, St. Paul to this day that carries the Buenger name. I believe it once housed that school’s library.