The birthday girl for today would be celebrating a special one. Agnes Sarah Wachter was born on August 13, 1876, thus making today her 150th birthday. Agnes was the 8th of 11 children born to Gottfried and Sarah (Jahn) Wachter. Below are photos of Agnes’s parents.

Agnes was baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg. Her baptism record from that congregation’s books is pictured here.

Agnes is found in the 1880 census at the age of 3. Her father was a blacksmith in Altenburg.

If we could view the 1890 census, we would almost certainly find Agnes still living in Altenburg. She was confirmed at Trinity, Altenburg in 1889. At some point in time when Agnes was young, the Wachter family had this photo taken. The caption identifies the people in the photo.

By the time of the 1900 census, Agnes was no longer living in Perry County. In the 1900 census, Agnes is found living in St. Louis, where she would spend the rest of her life. She and her older sister, Emma, were both dressmakers. They were both in their 20’s.

Meanwhile, back in Altenburg, since Agnes’s father had died in 1891, her mother was a widow. She is found still living in Altenburg with her youngest child, a daughter named Clara.

Agnes had this photo taken when she was fairly young, probably prior to her marriage.

When the 1910 census was taken, we find Agnes’s mother also living in St. Louis. I think the census taker switched the names of Sarah and Agnes in this entry, although Agnes’s middle name was Sarah. Agnes (called Sarah) was once again in the business of dressmaking. The younger daughter, Clara, was also in this household, working as a saleslady in a department store.

If you are wondering what happened to Agnes’s older sister, Emma, who was living with Agnes in the previous census entry, she got married in 1910 to William Albertin. William was a widower with a few children when he married Emma. The Albertin’s were living in St. Louis when the 1910 census was taken. William was a shoe worker at a shoe factory.

There were only 4 daughters in the Wachter family, and the daughter, Juliana, had died at the age of 11 in Altenburg. That means all 3 of the other Wachter sisters were living in St. Louis when the 1910 census was taken. Since Agnes would get married during the next decade, we will now take a look at the man who would become her husband. His name was Edward Woster Johnson, who was born on October 12, 1874. He was born in St. Charles County, Missouri, the son of George and Margaret (McClure) Johnson. According to Family Search, there were 17 children born into this Johnson family, and Edward was #15. When the 1880 census was taken, we find Edward at the age of 6. His father was a farmer in the Callaway Township of St. Charles County, and there were 13 children in the Johnson household.

Edward Johnson married a woman named Mollie Corrigan in 1900. That couple had a child born in 1905, a boy named George. I failed to find Edward in the 1900 census, but I did find him and his wife and child in the 1910 census. Included in their household was Edward’s sister, Ann. Edward was a driver for a dairy company. That sounds to me like a milkman.

Mollie Johnson died in 1914, leaving Edward as a widower. Then, Edward Johnson married Agnes Wachter on October 12, 1916 at Zion Lutheran Church in St. Louis. I am able to display this couple’s church marriage record.

We can also take a look at a St. Louis marriage record for this pair.

There were no more children born to this couple. Not long after this wedding took place, Edward had his World War I draft registration completed in 1918. It gives him a St. Louis address and says he was employed by the Hancock Insurance Company.

Edward did serve in the military during that war, as is shown in his military record below. It says he did serve some time overseas. I figure that Agnes was left at home during this time with her stepson, George.

The Johnson’s are found in the 1920 census in a household that also included Agnes’s younger sister, Clara. Agnes’s mother had died in 1914. Edward was a laborer at an electrical company. The son, George, was a teenager. Clara was a saleslady for a retail dry goods business.

Agnes’s sister, Clara, died in 1923 at the age of 39. She is called a nurse on her death certificate below. I am not able to decipher her cause of death.

In the 1930 census, the Johnson’s were both in their 50’s, and Edward was called a watchman for the railroad. There were 3 single Griffin sisters living with Edward and Agnes. They were all in their 20’s and part of the work force. I took a quick look into these sisters and found out that they were daughters of a man who worked for the railroad in Litchfield, Illinois. I find it interesting that Agnes was one of 3 Wachter sisters who ended up in St. Louis, and now she was housing 3 sisters who went to St. Louis to find work.

Agnes Johnson died in 1933 at the age of 57. Her death certificate below says she had cancer of the bones in her right shoulder.

Agnes and her sister, Clara Wachter, are buried in the New Bethlehem Cemetery in St. Louis.

Edward is found in the 1940 census living in the Veterans Administration Hospital in Danville, Illinois as a patient.

Edward Johnson died in 1950 at the age of 75. He reportedly died in Danville, Illinois, which means he was likely a patient at the V.A. hospital for quite a few years. Edward’s son, George, had died in 1937 at the age of 32. He was still single when he died according to his death certificate below.

George had been buried in the Linn Cemetery in Wentzville, Missouri when he died. So, when Edward Johnson died in 1950, he was buried with his son in that cemetery.

The third Wachter sister, Emma, who married an Albertin, is buried in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. Her son became a Lutheran minister in Sheboygan, and Emma is buried in the same cemetery in which her son is buried.

This story about the Wachter sisters is one that contains several people who are either marrying widowers or not getting married at all. Since Agnes’s stepson died without getting married and having children, and Emma’s stepchildren had no children, the only descendants coming from one of these 3 Wachter sisters come from the Rev. Edward Albertin family in Wisconsin.