A baptism record from the books of Grace Lutheran Church in Uniontown is the starting point for today’s tale. Karl Erich Feiste was born on August 8, 1896, so today would be his 130th birthday. He would then be baptized at Grace, Uniontown. His baptism record is pictured here.
As you can see, Karl was the son of Otto and Hulda (Junge) Feiste. Karl’s parents had arrived in America in 1891 after making the voyage across the Atlantic Ocean aboard the ship, Karlsruhe. We can see a trio of Feiste’s in that ship’s passenger list shown here. Karl’s father is called Ernst in this image. They came into the United States through Baltimore and were headed for Missouri.
Karl’s mother must have been pregnant on board that ship because she had a child in America in October of 1891. That child may have been born along the way to Missouri because his baptism record is not found in local church records in Perry County. When a 3rd child was born in 1894, he was baptized at Grace, Uniontown. Karl and another girl were baptized at that congregation, but when another daughter was born in 1899, she was baptized at Salem Lutheran Church in Farrar.
Karl is found in the 1900 census at the age of 3. His father was a farmer in the Union Township.
A later plat map shows where the Otto Feiste farm was located west of Farrar.
Karl is next found in the 1910 census as a teenager. A year after this census entry, Karl was confirmed at Salem Lutheran Church in Farrar in 1911.
When Karl had his World War I draft registration completed, it gave him a Perryville address, but it said his employer was George Luther who lived in Wisner, Nebraska. Karl must have been one of the young men who traveled to Cuming County, Nebraska to do farm work, perhaps just harvesting work.
Karl did serve time in the military during that war. His military record is displayed below. This form does not indicate that he spent time overseas.
A later application for a military headstone gives a few more details about his service during that war.
Since I was unable to locate Karl in the 1920 census, I am not sure what he did after returning from his military service. Then, the next record for him was for his marriage, so we will now take a look at the woman who would become his bride. Her name was Lydia Amanda Petzoldt, who was born on February 1, 1895. Lydia was the daughter of Charles and Theresia (Leimer) Petzoldt. She was baptized at Concordia Lutheran Church in Frohna. We can take a look at her baptism record below.
Lydia was not in the branch of the Petzoldt family tree that began with “The Face” Petzoldt. She was descended from Friedrich Florian’s brother, August Petzoldt. Lydia is found in the 1900 census at the age of 5. Her father was a farmer in the Brazeau Township. Her mother had died in 1896 when Lydia was still a toddler.
When the 1910 census was taken, Lydia was 15 years old. She had been confirmed at Concordia, Frohna in 1908.
Lydia was still living with her parents and single when the 1920 census was taken.
Karl Feiste married Lydia Petzoldt on April 21, 1924 at Concordia Lutheran Church in Frohna. Since our records for Concordia marriages only go up to 1920, I am unable to display their church marriage record. However, I can show 2 different civil marriage records from Perry County. You can see that Rev. Hafner, the pastor at Concordia, Frohna, performed the wedding.
An article about this wedding was printed in the Perry County Republican. I hae to show it in 2 images.
The above article says that Karl had purchased his farm from Joachim Meyer. If you look at the map shown previously, you will see that farm was located between the two parcels of land farmed by Karl’s father, Otto.
According to our German Family Tree, Karl and Lydia had 3 children, and all of them were baptized at Salem, Farrar. One of their children was born prior to when the 1930 census was taken. In that year’s entry, Karl’s father was also included in the Feiste household. Karl was a farmer in the Union Township.
Next, we find the Feiste’s in the 1940 census. All 3 of their children are found in this entry.
Karl had his World War II draft card completed when America got involved in that war. He is given a Farrar place of residence, but his mailing address was Seventy-Six.
The last census entry we can view is the one taken in 1950. All 3 of the Feiste children were still living with their parents.
Karl Feiste died in 1965 at the age of 69. His death certificate says he was living in Jackson, Missouri when he died and had been living there for just 5 months.
Lydia Feiste had this photo taken of her and her brother, Bernard Petzoldt. It is the only photo I found of either Lydia or Karl.
Lydia Feiste died in 1974 at the age of 79. When she died, she was living in Cape Girardeau at the Cape LaCroix Manor.
Karl and Lydia Feiste are each buried in the Salem Lutheran Cemetery in Farrar. Karl’s gravestone acknowledges his World War I military service.
I think it might be said that the Feiste’s may have been one of the last families to arrive in Perry County by way of immigration from Germany. I do not think I have run across any such families that immigrated from Germany by way of crossing the Atlantic in the 1900’s.