In today’s tale, you will read about a couple made up of a Griffaw and a Juengel. The name, Griffaw, has only shown up in one previous post, and it was not a main name in that post. The name, Juengel, has never shown up on this blog. Neither one of these surnames had a folder in our database of images before I started gathering information for this post. That does not happen very often, especially after so many years of placing images into that database. I am going to begin with the Griffaw groom for this story.

Lawrence Griffaw was born on June 13, 1892. He was the son of Louis and Amanda (Rhyne) Griffaw. He was born in Perry County, but we have no record of him being baptized at a local Lutheran church. Lawrence is found in the 1900 census at the age of 8. His father was a day laborer in the Bois Brule Township.

Lawrence was a teenager when the 1910 census was compiled. This time, his family was living in the Salem Township. Based on the evidence I see, I figure the Griffaw’s were living near Crosstown. Both Lawrence and his father were called laborers on a farm.

Lawrence would get married in 1920, but not before he was included in that year’s census. Lawrence was called the head of the household and was a farmer. His father was called a farm laborer. They were still living in the Salem Township.

Now, we will take a look at the woman who would become Lawrence’s bride, who also happens to be today’s birthday girl. Her name was Anna Marie Juengel, who was born on May 4, 1886. That means today would be Anna’s 140th birthday. Anna was the daughter of Theodore and Anna (Ehmig) Juengel. Anna was born in St. Louis, and I suspect that she was baptized as a Lutheran, but I was not able to find a baptism record for her. Anna is found in the 1900 census at the age of 14. Her father was a pressman.

Anna had been confirmed in 1899 at Emmaus Lutheran Church in St. Louis. I thought she might have been baptized at that congregation, but I discovered that this church had not been established until 1889. Below is Anna’s confirmation record from that congregation’s books. This is a record that confirms her birthday as being on May 4th.

In the 1910 census, Anna was 23 years old and still living with her parents.

Anna is found in her last census as a single woman in 1920. She is called a checker at a laundry.

Lawrence Griffaw married Anna Juengel on September 18, 1920 at Emmaus Lutheran Church. The pastor on this document, Rev. Richard Kretschmar, was the pastor at Emmaus Lutheran Church at that time. This form says both Lawrence and Anna were from St. Louis, which is puzzling since Lawrence is found living in Perry County when that year’s census was taken.

This couple had two children, both girls, who were born during the 1920’s. Both of these girls were baptized at Zion Lutheran Church in Crosstown. In the 1930 census, we see the Griffaw’s living in the Salem Township with both young daughters. Lawrence was a laborer for the railroad.

When the 1940 census was taken, we see the 4 characters from the previous census along with the addition of Lawrence’s widowed father. Lawrence was a laborer doing road construction.

The last census the public can view is the one taken in 1950. Lawrence and Anna were living in Perryville. Their daughter, Elizabeth, had married Earl Walther, and that young family was living with the Griffaw’s. Both Lawrence and Earl were working at the shoe factory.

At a later time in their lives, the Griffaw’s became members of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Perryville. Anna Griffaw died in 1969 at the age of 83. We can view her death certificate below.

Lawrence Griffaw died in 1983 at the age of 90, too recently to view a death certificate. Lawrence and Anna Griffaw are buried together in the Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery in Perryville.

I am not familiar with anyone who carries the surname, Griffaw. If there were any living near here, they would not have come from today’s couple because they only had daughters.