Rosa Emma Marie Hollmann was born on August 15, 1891, thus qualifying her to be today’s birthday girl. She would be 135 years old if she was still alive today. Rose (her name as it appears on her gravestone) was the daughter of Henry and Martha (Stueve) Hollmann. She was born across the Mississippi River in Jackson County and baptized at Christ Lutheran Church in Jacob, Illinois. I have to display her baptism record in 2 images.

Rose’s father, who was living in the Fountain Bluff Township in Illinois, managed to find his wife across the river in Frohna, and that is where Rose’s parents were married. The first 4 children in this Hollmann family were baptized at Christ, Jacob, but when their 5th child was born in 1898, that child was baptized at Concordia Lutheran Church in Frohna. This indicates that the Hollmann’s had moved their family back to Perry County prior to that child being born. When Rose is found in her first census entry, she and her family were living in the Union Township. Rose was 8 years old, and her father was a farmer.

I failed to locate the Hollmann family in the 1910 census. However, in the 1920 census, we once again find this family across the river in Jackson County. They were living in Murphysboro, Illinois. Rose was listed as being 25 years old, but I think she was older. She and her brother were working at the shoe factory, and their father was a house carpenter.

Rose got married in the 1920’s, so we will now take a look at the man who would become her husband. His name was Orin Murn Moss, who was born on January 2, 1885. Orin was born in or near the town of Kimmswick located in Jefferson County, Missouri. He was the son of Frank and Mary (Ogle) Moss. I found an Ancestry.com family tree that gives evidence that the Moss family arrived in Virginia in the 1650’s. Orin is found in the 1900 census at the age of 15. His father was a farmer in Kimmswick.

We find the Moss family still living in Kimmswick when the 1910 census was taken. Orin was 25 years old and helping his father on his farm.

Perhaps it was about this time that the Moss family had this photograph taken. The caption tells you which person was Orin.

Orin had his World War I draft registration completed in 1918. This form gives him a rural Kimmswick address and says he was farming for himself.

Orin was still single and in his 30’s when the 1920 census was taken. Orin, his brother Harvey, and his father were farming together.

Orin Moss married Rose Hollmann on August 8, 1923 at St. John’s Lutheran Church in St. Louis. Rev. F. Rupprecht was the assisstant pastor at that congregation at that time. This form says that both Orin and Rose were from St. Louis, so each of them must have moved to that city in the early 1920’s.

Orin and Rose had one child, a girl named Geraldine who was born in 1926. In the 1930 census, we find the trio of Moss’s living in St. Louis. Orin was an assembler at an auto factory.

Next, we find the Moss’s in the 1940 census. This time Orin was called a tire mounter at the auto manufacturer.

Orin had his World War II draft card completed around 1942. This form says he had no occupation. It also confirms the fact that Orin was born in Kimmswick.

In the 1950 census, Orin and Rose had an empty nest. Orin was a watchman at a shoe factory.

Orin Moss died in 1977 at the age of 92; Rose Moss died in 1983 at the age of 91. These two are buried together in the Lakewood Park Cemetery in Affton.

Our birthday girl for today, Rose Hollmann, hopped across the Mississippi River from Jackson County to Perry County and back during her early years. Her husband Orin Moss began his life in the historic town of Kimmswick, Missouri. These two must have moved to St. Louis at about the same time, and it is there that this Rose became a Moss.