This post will not fit the same template that most posts follow. First of all, instead of focusing on a birthday or anniversary, this tale begins with a baptism date. When I have written stories based upon a baptism date in the past, it has usually been a case of multiple baptisms on the same date. That is the case today also. It not only focuses on a baptism date, but ones that took place on today’s date 150 years ago.

On May 12, 1876, three young boys, ages 5, 3, and 1, have their baptism records included in the books of Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg. Those 3 baptism records are pictured here.

The parents of the 3 boys were Dr. F.B. and Auguste (Zedler) Schulz. I have already written a post about these parents titled, Surgeon from Wittenberg. That story told about how Dr. F.B. Schulz had been living in Wittenberg, Missouri for a while, but then moved his family across the river to Grand Tower, Illinois prior to when these baptisms took place. I can also tell you that May 12th in 1876 was a Friday. I think that Rev. J.F. Koestering, who was the pastor at Trinity, Altenburg, who must have gotten to know Dr. Schulz when he was in Wittenberg, may have gone across the river to baptize these 3 boys in Grand Tower. Either that, or Dr. Schulz brought his family across the river to Wittenberg to have his children baptized. The sponsors for these 3 baptisms are all the same…Heinrich Schmidt, Mrs. Schirmer, and Auguste Schulz (the mother). The names of the three boys were Gustav Bernhard (age 5), Friedrich Wilhelm (age 3), and Carl August (age 1).

Regardless of what the situation was, some people had to cross the Mississippi River to have these baptisms take place. In a Wittenberg book, put together by Mary Dillon, we find this paragraph that says a man by the name, John Tucker, began running a ferry service from Wittenberg to Grand Tower in 1876, the year the 3 baptisms took place. And, by the way, Devil’s Oven, refers to the place near Grand Tower, the Devil’s Bake Oven, and it is where Rev. Martin Stephan was exiled back in 1839.

The post about the Schulz parents also told the story of Dr. G.B. Schulz, who went on to become rather notable in Cape Girardeau for helping establish Southeast Missouri Hospital. I have located another document that was not included in that story about him. Below you can read the obituary for Dr. G.B. Schulz. It notes that Dr. Schulz first served as a doctor in Altenburg after completing his internship as a medical doctor.

I have also written a post about the youngest of the 3 boys, Carl August. That post was titled, Dr. Charles Schulz DDS. He became a dentist who practiced in several locations in the state of Illinois.

The boy who has not had his story told on this blog yet is the one who was 3 years old when he was baptized 150 years ago. Friedrich Wilhem Schulz was born on January 13, 1873. He was sometimes called Frederick and sometimes William in documents, so I am going to use his initials in this post, F.W. A later document that I will display will say that he was born in Wittenberg. Apparently, not long after spending some his childhood in Grand Tower, the Schulz family moved to Cape Girardeau. That is where we find this family living when the 1880 census was taken. F.W. was 6 years old, G.B. was 9 years old, and C.A. was 3 years old in this entry. Their father was a physician in Cape Girardeau.

In 1886, F.W. was confirmed at Trinity Lutheran Church in Cape Girardeau. We can view a transcription of that confirmation record below.

I located another photo of the Dr. F.B. Schulz family that has not been displayed on this blog before. It was likely taken in front of their home (and doctor’s office) in Cape Girardeau. There is a sign on the building in the background that says Doctor F.B. Schulz. I do not know which person in the photo was F.W. Schulz. I cannot help but point out the dog in this photo. Unlike many dogs I have shown in family photos on this blog, this dog is doing a great job of posing for the photo.

When F.W. was 25 years old, he enlisted in the military when the Spanish-American War was being fought. His enlistment form shown below was completed in 1898. This is the document that says he was born in Wittenberg. It also says that F.W. was a plumber.

A different family photo of the Dr. F.B. Schulz family was pictured in the post about Dr. Charles Schulz, the dentist.

On the back of this photo, people in this picture are identified. It also gives some additional information about what you see.

There is a date on the above photo. It looks to me like it was originally written as 1897, but was later changed to 1898. You might also notice that the name, Friedrich Wilhelm Schulz, is not included in the listing of family members in the photo. One more thing. It says that the photo is made up of two photos put together. The left side of the photo was taken after Auguste Schulz died in 1898. I figure that the left side was taken when F.W. was off to fight in the Spanish-American War which took place during 1898. I was able to locate this photo of F.W. Schulz in military uniform. This may be the first individual photo of a soldier in a Spanish-American War uniform that has been placed on this blog. I know I have pictured a Spanish-American War band in a previous post.

I was unable to locate F.W. Schulz in the 1900 census. I figure that may be because he was still serving in the military at that time. We find F.W. in the 1910 census at the age of 37. His older brother was the head of this household because the parents had both died by this time. The household consisted of a variety of other family members. A sister, Ida, had married John Sample, and that family was also included in this entry. G.B. was called a physician, F.W. was called a plumber, and John Sample was a letter carrier. Another person listed, Mary Lenz, was actually a half-sister, the child of Auguste Schulz’s by her first husband before marrying Dr. F.B. Schulz.

F.W. had his World War I draft registration completed in 1918. It says he was a plumber. The “nearest relative” on this document, Emma Arnoldi, was his sister.

The last census in which we find F.W. is the one taken in 1920. F.W. was a 47 year-old single plumber. He was living in the Herman Arnoldi household. Herman was a dentist who was married to F.W.’s sister, Emma. If you look at the caption of the previous photo, it describes Emma as Dr. Emma Schulz – Arnoldi. There is a family history that says that Emma was also a dentist, not just her husband.

F.W. Schulz died in 1924 at the age of 51. The informant on his death certificate below was his brother, Dr. G.B. Schulz.

Frederick William Schulz is buried in the New Lorimer Cemetery in Cape Girardeau.

Now, all three of the boys baptized on May 12, 1876 have had their stories told on this blog. These 3 are the only Schulz children who are included in our German Family Tree, so it is not likely that I will discover any special birthdays or anniversaries for the rest of the Schulz family, and therefore, I am probably not going to write their stories. At least, you got the tales of these 3 boys.