My wife is a Jessen from Minnesota. She has a brother who married a Luepke from St. Louis, who happens to have today’s birthday girl in her family tree. There were a few times during my married life when the Jessen’s would have family gatherings and the spouses of the Jessen siblings would gather as a group and call ourselves, not the in-laws, but the out-laws. Carol Jessen is one of those out-laws, and I was able to use her Ancestry.com family tree to find a lot of the information I will share in today’s post about a person from that family tree. That person is also one who is found in our German Family Tree. It is not every day that I get help for a blog from an out-law.

Our birthday girl for today is Amanda Mathilda Hueschen, who was born on June 28, 1891. That means that today would be her 135th birthday. During her life, many documents called her Ada, so I will primarily use that name for her in this post. Amanda was the daughter of Rev. Otto and Christine (Nommensen) Hueschen. A previous post about this Hueschen family was titled, Pastor’s Wife Gives Birth on Two Christmas Eves. Amanda’s father was a pastor who was serving both Trinity Lutheran Church in Egypt Mills and Hanover Lutheran Church in Cape Girardeau when she was born.

I now have discovered that Amanda’s baptism record is found in the books of Hanover Lutheran Church, as is shown in this list of baptisms that were performed at that congregation in 1891.

In 1892, Pastor Hueschen had accepted a call to Grace Lutheran Church in Uniontown. So, when we find Ada in the 1900 census, the Hueschen family is found living in the Union Township. Amanda was 8 years old at the time. You can see that the Hueschen parsonage in Uniontown was quite full of children. There are 11 children listed in this entry.

When Ada was quite young, the Hueschen’s had a family photo taken. In the image below, Ada is the girl sitting in the front on the far right.

Next, we find Ada in the 1910 census as a teenager. She was no longer living with her parents in Perry County. Like so many other young ladies back in those days, she had made her way to St. Louis and found work as a servant in a private family. She was living in the John Johansen household. John was a shoe manufacturer in St. Louis.

Since Ada would get married during the next decade, we will now take a look at the man who would become her husband. His name was Oscar Carl Alexander Schmidt, who was born on September 20, 1892. Oscar was the son of George and Dora (Hunnius) Schmidt. He was baptized at Holy Cross Lutheran Church in St. Louis. We can view his baptism record in the two images below.

Oscar is found in the 1900 census at the age of 7. His father was a bookbinder in St. Louis. I think there is a decent chance that he was working at Concordia Publishing House.

When the 1910 census was taken, Oscar was 17 years old and working as a salesman for a carpet company. His Schmidt household was also quite a large one.

Oscar Schmidt married Ada Hueschen on June 25, 1916 at Grace Lutheran Church in Uniontown. The church marriage record shown here says that Oscar was from St. Louis and Amanda was from Uniontown. They were married by Pastor Hueschen.

I also located a St. Louis marriage record for this wedding that also says that they were married in Uniontown by Rev. Hueschen. The bride is called Amanda on the church record above, but is called Ada on the St. Louis record below.

In 1917, Oscar had his World War I draft registration completed. Oscar is given a St. Louis address and called a clerk for a coal company.

According to Family Search, the Schmidt’s had 4 children, but I think one of them is misidentified. When the 1920 census was taken, the Schmidt’s had 2 children in their household. Oscar was called a clerk for a motor car company.

In the 1930 census, we find the Schmidt’s with 3 children. Also included in their household was Ada’s widowed father, Rev. Hueschen, and her single sister, Esther. Oscar was called a cashier for a motor company.

Oscar and Ada are found in the 1940 census with their 3 children. This time, Oscar was called a bookkeeper for a commercial printer. I think he was employed by Concordia Publishing House.

Oscar had his World War II draft card completed when America entered that war. This document says Oscar’s employer was Concordia Publishing House.

Oscar and Ada’s household in the 1950 census included one single son, along with their daughter, Dorothy, who was divorced, and her 7 year-old son. It looks as if Oscar was still working for CPH.

Later in their lives, Oscar and Ada had this photo taken.

Ada Schmidt died in 1970 at the age of 79. Her death certificate below says she died on her way to Deaconess Hospital in St. Louis.

Oscar Schmidt died in 1987 at the age of 94. Oscar and Amanda Schmidt are buried together in the Park Lawn Cemetery in St. Louis. Buried with them is Ottilie Hayes, who was Oscar’s younger sister.

I received some input from Carol Jessen and her family about Ada. All of their comments about Ada were very complimentary. She was a cheerful person who was a great cookie baker and housekeeper. And I will add that the fact that she married a Schmidt was a sign of good judgment. My wife, Carol’s sister-in-law, showed good judgment in marrying a Schmidt. At least, I think so.