Back in 2018, a post was written that mentioned a wedding that took place on today’s date. I will be telling the story of that couple today. However, in that previous post, I put forth a theory about some connections between two surnames that were part of the 1839 immigration…Lindner and Landgraf. Those names will be seen in today’s post. If you are interested in reading that post, you can find it here…Landgraf-Lindner Links.

Friedrich Herman Landgraf was born on October 12, 1833 in Germany. There is not agreement on who were Herman’s parents. As was written in the previous post, I cannot help but think that perhaps Herman was the son of a pair of Landgraf’s that were part of the 1839 immigration who may have decided to leave their young son with a Lindner family in Germany. One thing we do know is that Herman’s church marriage record says that he was a stepson of Gottlob Lindner. We also know that Herman came to America in 1848, and he made the voyage to this country with a Lindner family. They made the trip aboard the ship, Mercury. We can view the Lindner’s and Herman Landgraf on the passenger list below. Herman was 14 years old at the time. There was also an 11 year-old girl named Ernestine Rudert on this list.

When the 1850 census was taken, we find Herman and Ernestine living with the Lindner’s in the Brazeau Township. John G. Lindner was a farmer, and Herman was called a laborer at the age of 16.

Herman would get married during the 1850’s, so we will now look at the woman who would become his bride. Her name was Mathilda Theresa Naeser, who was born on October 19, 1839 in Germany. She was the daughter of Heinrich and Johanna (Stolze) Naeser. According to a later census entry, Mathilda came to America in 1854.

Herman Landgraf married Mathilda Naeser on June 15, 1856, so today would be this couple’s 170th wedding anniversary. Their church marriage record is found in the books of Concordia Lutheran Church in Frohna. That record is displayed here.

I am also able to show two civil marriage records from Perry County for this wedding. These forms demonstrate a set of circumstances that were taking place in New Wells. Pastor Loeber from Frohna was performing services in New Wells for Lutherans that were living there. Then, in 1856, that congregation got its first called pastor, Rev. Lehmann. Rev. Lehmann is the one who performed this wedding according to the civil records. I think that congregation had not established an official set of record books yet, so Pastor Loeber included the record in the Frohna books.

When the 1860 census was taken, this pair is found living in the Shawnee Township, which is where New Wells is located. There were 2 children in their household, and Herman was a farmer.

Our German Family Tree lists 10 children born to this Landgraf couple. The first 3 have their baptism records in the books of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Altenburg. Their first child was born in November of 1857, and that child was just the 2nd baptism found in the newly-formed church in Altenburg with their first pastor Rev. Georg Schiefferdecker. Rev. Schieferdecker had also been conducting worship services with some folks in New Wells. In fact, there was a rather contentious relationship between Rev. Loeber and Rev. Schieferdecker, over the same issue that caused Rev. Schieferdecker to establish a new congregation in Altenburg. The baptism record below for Alwine Lina Landgraf mentions Cape Girardeau in it.

Beginning in 1864, the baptism records for this couple’s children are found in the books of Immanuel Lutheran Church in New Wells. After much effort, I failed to locate Herman and his family in the 1870 census, so the next census in which we find him is the one taken in 1880. There were 7 children in his family.

Since we are unable to view the 1890 census, the next census entry for the Landgraf’s that I can display is the one taken in 1900. Only 2 grandchildren with the surname, Starzinger, were living with Herman and Mathilda.

Herman Landgraf died in 1907 at the age of 74. His death occurred before Missouri kept death certificates, but in his church death record, it says that he died of pneumonia. Herman is buried in the Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery in New Wells.

Mathilda is found as a widow when the 1910 census was taken. She was living by herself in the Shawnee Township.

The last census in which we find Mathilda was the one taken in 1920. She was living with her daughter, Mathilda, who had married Stephen Kasten. Stephen was a carpenter.

Mathilda Landgraf died in 1929 at the age of 89. We can view her death certificate here.

Mathilda Landgraf is buried in the Trinity Lutheran Cemetery in Shawneetown.

Because they had so many children, this Landgraf couple must have plenty of descendants. Many of their children were boys, so there must have been a bunch of descendants who carried the Landgraf name to the next generation. I also found that some of the daughters married other names common around New Wells like Kasten, Gerharter, and Starzinger.