The birthday boy for today’s post is Gustav Ferdinand Heimbecher, who was born on June 6, 1861. That means today would be his 165th birthday. Gustav was the son of Johann and Maria Heimbecher. Family trees on Ancestry say that Gustav’s mother’s maiden name was Doering, but Family Search says her maiden name was Scheuer. Our German Family Tree indicates that her maiden name was “Doering ?”. Gustav was baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg. We can view his baptism record here.

Gustav is found in the 1870 census at the age of 9. His father was a farmer in the Brazeau Township.

The last census entry we can view before Gustav got married is the one taken in 1880. His father had died in 1879, so his mother is the head of the Heimbecher household. Gustav, at the age of 19, was doing the farming.

Now, we will take a look at the woman who would become Gustav’s bride. Her name was Anna Martha Hemmann, who was born on December 31, 1874, which means that she was about 13 years younger than Gustav. Anna was the daughter of Julius and Christina (Mueller) Hemmann. She was baptized at Grace Lutheran Church in Uniontown. Her baptism record is displayed below.

Anna is found in the 1880 census at the age of 5. Her father was a farmer in the Union Township.

Anna’s mother died in 1884, and her father then married Gesche Hesse, who was a member of Salem Lutheran Church in Farrar. That helps explain why Gustav Heimbecher married Anna Hemmann at that church. Gustav and Anna were married on September 19, 1897. The church marriage record for this wedding is pictured here.

I can also display this pair’s marriage license.

Gustav and Anna had 3 children, and all of them were daughters. All of them were baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg. The 1900 census was taken before this couple had any of their children. Gustav was a farmer in the Brazeau Township.

Two daughters were born during the next decade. We then find the Heimbecher’s in the 1910 census with those two daughters living in the same place and with Gustav still farming.

The last daughter of the Heimbecher’s was born in December of 1910. Then, Gustav Heimbecher died in 1911 at the age of 50. This was one of the early years of Missouri keeping death certificates, so we can view the one for Gustav. It says he was killed accidentally by a wood saw.

The document above says that Gustave was buried in Altenburg. He does have an entry on Findagrave.com, but there is no gravestone photo. So, since I had the time and the weather is nice, I went to the museum to get Gustav’s death record, along with other ones who were buried right before he was and ones that were buried right after him. His death record is pictured here, and you can see that he was the last person buried in 1911. You can also see on the death certificate and this death record that Gustav was buried on Christmas Day in 1911. By the way, the term, verusglucht, in the cause of death column means “accident”.

When I arrived at the cemetery, I located the first grave for the year, 1912. It is shown on the left in the photo below. I figure that the site for Gustav’s burial is the open spot to the right of that gravestone.

Anna Heimbecher is found as a widow in the 1920 census. She was living with her father and stepmother in the Salem Township.

Next, we find Anna in the 1930 census. She was living with Gottwerth Telle, and was said to be his cook. Gottwerth operated a hardware store in Longtown.

In the 1940 census, Anna is found still living with Gottwerth Telle and working as a servant. This time, Anna’s daughter, Adela, is also in the household and also called a servant.

Anna Heimbecher died in 1950 prior to that year’s census being taken. She died at the age of 75. We can view her death certificate below.

Anna Heimbecher is buried in the Zion Lutheran Cemetery in Longtown.

The Heimbecher surname has died out in this area. Certainly no Heimbecher descendants came from Gustav and Anna’s family since all of the children were girls. Gerard Fiehler told me recently that another local old-timer used the phrase “daughtered-out” to describe the situation when a family only had daughters who lived to adulthood, and their surname came to an end in their branch of their family tree. I may have to start using that term on this blog.

I cannot help but point out that Anna Heimbecher managed to be baptized at Grace, Uniontown, get married at Salem, Farrar, have her children baptized at Trinity, Altenburg, and get buried at Zion, Longtown. She certainly made a grand tour through East Perry County Lutheran churches.