In today’s mobile society, a situation like that found in today’s story is rather rare. Both the husband and the wife in a couple were born, baptized, confirmed, married, raised a family, died, and were buried while being members of the same congregation. Today’s such couple would be celebrating their 130th wedding anniversary today. I will begin with the groom.
Friedrich Johann Brune was born on December 5, 1870, the son of Christian and Maria (Sewing) Brune. Although he was born in 1870, he was not baptized until the first day of 1871. His baptism record is found in the books of Trinity Lutheran Church in Friedheim. We can view it below.
Like so many men who had the name, Friedrich, he was often called Frederick or Fred or Fritz. I will use the name, Fred. He is found in the 1880 census at the age of 10. His father was a farmer in the Apple Creek Township, and at the young age of 10, Fred and his 11 year-old brother were said to be helping on the farm.
If we could view the 1890 census, we would find Fred again prior to his marriage, but because we cannot, the above entry is the only one we can view when he was still single. So, we will now take a look at his bride. Her name was Emilie Maria Friedricke Vogt, who was born on September 4, 1873. Emilie was the daughter of Casper and Theresia (Schindler) Vogt. I have seen a variety of spellings of the name, Emilie, in other stories I have written, but I will stick with the spelling as seen on her baptism record. Like was the case with Fred, we can also view her baptism record from the books of Trinity, Friedheim.
Emilie’s father died in 1879 when she was just 6 years old. In the 1880 census, Emilie’s mother was the head of the Vogt household and called both a housekeeper and a farmer. An 11 year-old son, Charles, was helping with the farm work. Also, a man, Henry Wilke, was also living in this household and helping with the farming.
Fred Brune was confirmed at Trinity, Friedheim in 1884, and Emilie Vogt was confirmed there in 1886.
Fred Brune married Emilie Vogt on May 17, 1896, thus making today their 130th wedding anniversary. These two were married at Trinity Lutheran Church in Friedheim, as is shown in the church marriage record below.
We can also view two other civil marriage records from Cape Girardeau County. In the first one, the pastor’s name is spelled, Meyer, but that is incorrect. The second one gives the correct spelling, Meyr.
Our German Family Tree lists 5 children born to this couple, and all of them were baptized at Trinity, Friedheim. When the 1900 census was taken, there were 2 children in the Brune household. Fred was a farmer in the Apple Creek Township.
A play map produced later in 1930 shows where the Fred Brune farm was located. You can see that it was not far from Friedheim.
Next, we find the Brune’s in the 1910 census. They had all 5 of their children by this time. Fred and Emilie were in their 30’s.
The Brune’s had just 3 children still living with them when the 1920 census was taken. Their son, Paul, was helping Fred with the farming.
Next, we find the Brune’s in the 1930 census. Along with their single son, Walter, we find a grandson named Harold Thomas. Harold’s mother had died in 1926, and his grandparents had taken him into their family.
Fred and Emilie had an empty nest when the 1940 census was taken, but right below their entry, you find the entry for their son, Walter, who had married Flora Sauer in 1930.
The last census we can view is the one taken in 1950. In that year’s entry, Fred and Emilie, both in their 70’s, were still found in the Apple Creek Township, and Fred was still farming.
Both Fred and Emilie died in 1953. First, Fred died in August of that year at the age of 82. We can view his death certificate below.
Emilie Brune died in December of that year at the age of 80. When we look at both her and her husband’s death certificates, we see that their son, Walter, was the informant on both of them.
Fred and Emilie Brune are buried together in the Trinity Lutheran Cemetery in Friedheim.
During the lives of today’s bride and groom, there were 9 different pastors at Trinity, Friedheim, and another one began serving that congregation during the year that they each died. I recently asked the oldest member at our congregation, age 98, how many pastors have been at Trinity, Altenburg during his lifetime, and he said he had lost track. As near as I can figure, he has been through 9 pastors. I think that over the years, I have had 15 different pastors, but that is not a fair comparison. As a Lutheran teacher, I changed congregations on several occasions.