Today’s birthday boy is Charles Herman George Lowes, who was born on May 14, 1881. That makes today his 145th birthday. Charles was the son of Henry and Louise (Kiepe) Lowes. Some early children born into this Lowes family were baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Friedheim, but then some children do not have baptism records in our German Family Tree. I have reason to believe that those children were baptized at Arnsberg Lutheran Church during the short time that it existed. I even found a Lowes (Lobes) child in a very limited portion of the Arnsberg records that can be found on Ancestry.com that had a baptism record there. By the time of the birth of Charles, that congregation had ceased to exist. A few children born later, including Charles, were baptized at Grace Lutheran Church in Uniontown. The baptism record for Charles is pictured here.

When Charles was just one year old, his father died. A note made in the Arnsberg binder we have in our research library states that he was killed by being “pawed to death by stud horse”.

Because we cannot view the 1890 census, the first one in which we find Charles was the one taken in 1900. His widowed mother was the head of the Lowes household. Charles was 19 years old and called a farm laborer. His mother is called a farmer. There was also a young man, Charles Hull, included in this household who was also doing farm labor.

That census entry would be the only one in which we find Charles as being unmarried. So, we will now take a look at the woman who would become his bride. Her name was Estelle Susan Wilson, who was born on July 7, 1886. She was mostly called Stella during her life, so that is the name I will use. Stella was the daughter of Charles and Susan (Schmidt) Wilson. I am unable to say where Stella was baptized. When the 1900 census was taken, Stella was said to be 12 years old, but I think the census taker made a mistake. She would have been 14 years old. A younger sister is also 12 years old in this entry, and we know Stella was not a twin. Her father was a farmer in the Shawnee Township.

Charles Lowes married Stella Wilson on August 11, 1903. According to two civil marriage records below, this couple was married by a justice of the peace in Cape Girardeau County.

I also found a note that was attached to a marriage record that gives permission for Stella to get married signed by her parents. Stella was 17 years old when she got married. This form was also signed by Stella.

We have 13 children listed as being born into this Lowes family, but none of them have a reference to a baptism record in our German Family Tree. The main reason is that all of these children except for the final set of twins were born in Illinois. A few of these children died at a young age. It appears that Charles and Stella moved across the Mississippi River to have a farm in or near Grand Tower, Illinois. That is where we find this family living when the 1910 census was taken. Charles was a farmer. There were 4 children included in this entry. A hired man named George Champion was helping Charles Lowes with the farming.

Charles had his World War I draft registration completed in 1918. He is given a Grand Tower address.

Next, we find the Lowes household in the 1920 census with 6 children. Charles was still farming in Illinois.

It looks as if the Lowes family moved back to Missouri toward the end of the next decade. In the 1930 census, we find this family living in the Apple Creek Township. Charles was still farming, and there were 7 children in his household.

A note is found in the Arnsberg binder which says this about Charles, indicating that the Charles Lowes family had moved back to the Arnsberg vicinity.

A set of twins, Earl and Pearl, were born either in 1930 or 1931 to add to the Lowes family. Only Earl lived to adulthood. In the 1940 census, there were 5 single children living with their parents. Also, their daughter, Cora, had married Phillip Dambach, and that young family was included in this household.

I think it was about this time that the Lowes family had this photo taken. It includes 10 children.

The Lowes family is found in the 1950 census 2 single sons. Included in their household this time was their son, Leslie, who had married Jacklena Feltz. They and two of their children are found in this entry.

This photo of Charles and Stella was taken at a later time in their lives.

We find a rather amazing set of facts associated with the deaths of Charles and Stella. We find their church death records in the books of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Perryville. It is not often that you find the death records of a husband and wife shown consecutively in the death records of a church’s books. Stella died on March 31, 1967, and Charles died about 3 weeks later on April 24, 1967.

Stella died at the age of 80 according to her death certificate below. She died at the Sunrise Retirement Home in Perryville.

Charles Lowes died at the age of 85. Charles died at the Perry County Memorial Hospital in Perryville.

The bodies of both Charles and Stella Lowes were transported across the Mississippi River to be buried in the Walker Hill Cemetery in Grand Tower, Illinois.

The story of Charles and Stella Lowes is one that begins in Missouri, then takes them across the river to Grand Tower, Illinois, where a whole bunch of Lowes children were born. This family would later return to Missouri and live in the Arnsberg area where Charles was born and raised.