You will read the story of a man and a woman who each came to America as part of the Stephanite immigration in 1839. The man was 22 years old, and the woman was 17. These two got married not long after their arrival in this country. One might think that they became acquainted while making the voyage to America. However, these two made that trip aboard two separate ships. Their budding romance more likely took place in St. Louis. Let’s get started by looking at the groom.

Friedrich August Grosse was born on July 19, 1815 in Leisnig, Germany. Friedrich was the son of Paul and Christiana (Mezdorf) Grosse. Not long before the Gesellschaft was formed, Friedrich’s father died in 1837. His widowed mother and 3 of her sons, one being Friedrich, joined the Gesellschaft and made the voyage to America aboard the ship, Johann Georg. All 3 of the sons were shoemakers. We can see this Grosse family on the passenger list below from that ship.

Some members of this Grosse family remained in St. Louis and became members of Trinity Lutheran Church. They chose not to settle in Perry County, perhaps because their talents as shoemakers may have gotten them better jobs in St. Louis. In a previous post, Too Many Shoemakers…..Not Enough Feet, it was pointed out that there were 44 shoemakers amongst the original immigrants. The remote Perry County settlement was not going to accommodate that many shoemakers.

Now, we will look at the bride. Her name was Christiane Henrietta Mende, who was born on October 16, 1822. Henrietta was the daughter of Christian and Christiane Mende. I was unable to determine a maiden name for Henrietta’s mother. The Mende’s were from Naumburg, Germany. They also joined the Gesellschaft and made the voyage to America aboard the ship, Copernicus. The Mende’s brought 6 children to this country, their oldest being Henrietta at age 17. The father was a cooper. The Mende family was also one which remained in St. Louis and did not settle in Perry County.

Friedrich Grosse married Henrietta Mende on May 31, 1841 at Trinity Lutheran Church in St. Louis. That means that today would be this couple’s 185th wedding anniversary. We can view this Excel worksheet entry from the Trinity books which gives information about this wedding. I have to display it in 2 images. Apparently, Henrietta’s father had died prior to this marriage because he is called the late Christian Gottlieb Mende in this entry. This document also states that the wedding took place at the home of the groom. Trinity had yet to have its own church building in St. Louis.

We can also view this St. Louis marriage record for this wedding. You can see that Rev. C.F.W. Walther performed this marriage ceremony. Rev. Walther had accepted the call to Trinity right after the Altenburg Debate in April of 1841, so this must have been one of the first marriages for him as pastor of that congregation.

Before I discuss this couple further, I want to tell you that there apparently was another Grosse brother who came to America a bit later. His name was Carl Grosse, and Carl married Henrietta’s sister, Johanna Mende in 1848. That marriage took place at Immanuel Lutheran Church in St. Louis, which was a rather new congregation whose pastor was Rev. J.F. Buenger. I am able to display the actual marriage record for that wedding.

The St. Louis marriage record below indicates that Rev. Buenger performed the wedding. By the way, Carl was also a shoemaker.

Friedrich and Henrietta Grosse had 6 children, one who died rather early. The first 4 children were born in St. Louis and baptized at Trinity. When the 1850 census was taken, there were 2 children in their household. Friedrich was a shoemaker in St. Louis.

Prior to the 1860 census, the Grosse’s migrated across the Mississippi River and made their home in Collinsville, Illinois. In the entry below, you will see 3 children in the Grosse household. Friedrich continued making shoes in Collinsville.

Another girl was born in 1861. In the 1870 census, there were 3 children living with Friedrich and Henrietta. This time, Friedrich was called a storekeeper.

One more daughter named Anna was born in 1872. Then, Freidrich Grosse died in 1877 at the age of 62. Friedrich is buried in the Old Lutheran Cemetery in Collinsville, which was the first cemetery of Holy Cross Lutheran Church. It looks like the top of his gravestone has broken off, but the important information on the stone is still there. This gravestone is where we find Friedrich’s date of birth.

I failed to find Henrietta in the 1880 census. However, I did discover that Henrietta was still alive when the 1900 census was taken. Her youngest daughter, Anna, had married Frank Kiess in 1893. Frank became a Lutheran pastor, and when the 1900 census was taken, we find the Kiess family living in the Pusheta Township in Ohio, which is near Toledo. Henrietta was living with the Kiess’s at the age of 77. Fred’s mother was also in this household.

Henrietta Grosse died in 1907 at the age of 85. She may have died in Ohio, but, if so, her body was returned to Illinois where she is buried in the Holy Cross Lutheran Cemetery in Collinsville.

I have written at least one previous post about a Grosse shoemaker, Ferdinand Grosse, who ended up living in Altenburg. I know that I have not written about all of them because I only discovered by researching this story that there was another Grosse shoemaker that is not included in our German Family Tree.