Two days ago, I wrote the story about Frieda Kasten, who would have been celebrating her 130th birthday. Today, you will read the story of her older sister, Dora, who would be celebrating her 135th birthday today. A few of the census entries will be the same ones you saw two days ago if you read Frieda’s life story. Frieda’s story began at Immanuel Lutheran Church in New Wells, then moved to Trinity Lutheran Church in Shawneetown, before ending up at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Pocahontas. Dora’s tale follows the same path through the first two congregations, but ends up at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Wittenberg.

Dorothea Amelia Kasten was born on August 19, 1891, the daughter of Henry and Mary (Boren) Kasten. Dora, as she was often called, was baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in New Wells.

Dora appears in the 1900 census at the age of 8. She was the firstborn child in the Kasten family. Her father was a farmer in the Shawnee Township.

If you recall, Frieda Kasten was a member of the first confirmation class at Trinity Lutheran Church in Shawneetown, but that congregation had not been established when Dora was confirmed. I did not find a confirmation record for her, but I figure the Kasten’s were still members of Immanuel, New Wells when Dora was confirmed.

Next, we find Dora in the 1910 census at the age of 17, although I think she was at least 18. Dora was the oldest of 10 children in this household, and the oldest 5 children were all girls.

Dora would get married during the next decade, so we will now switch our attention to the man who would become her husband. His name was Victor Friedrich Roth, who was born on February 18, 1890. Victor was the son of Christian and Agnes (Schuessler) Roth. Like was the case with Dora, Victor was the firstborn of quite a few children in his Roth family. Victor was baptized at Concordia Lutheran Church in Frohna. We can view his baptism record here.

Victor is found in the 1900 census at the age of 10. His father was a teamster in Frohna. I like to think that he was working for the Frohna Mill in that village and would sometimes be hauling flour from that mill down to Wittenberg to be loaded onto steamboats.

I know that when I was researching for my Wittenberg books, I found evidence that the Christian Roth family starts to appear in church books in Wittenberg in 1904. I also know that it is likely that Christian bought his farmland from Joseph Weinhold, who ran the flour mill in Wittenberg. My version of the story in the Wittenberg ’04 books is that Christian, on one of his trips as a teamster to Wittenberg, made a visit to Joseph Weinhold and negotiated the purchase of his land in 1904. That land is still farmed by a Roth family now. It is in Wittenberg that we find the Roth family in the 1910 census. Victor’s mother had died in 1905. Victor was 20 years old in 1910 and helping his father on his farm.

Victor had his World War I draft registration completed in 1917, a few months before he got married. It gave him a Wittenberg address and says he was born in Frohna. He was called a farmer.

I have often noticed that people from the New Wells/Shawneetown/Pocahontas neighborhood in northern Cape Girardeau County managed to find spouses in Wittenberg. That is the case with today’s couple. My best explanation for this fairly common occurence is that Wittenberg may have been the nearest location to take their farm products to a market, such as the flour mill found in Wittenberg. I like to think that Victor might have noticed the young Kasten girl from Shawneetown when they were both in Wittenberg doing business. Once they got to know one another, Victor had quite a trip to take while courting his future bride, but as we all know, love is a great motivator.

Victor Roth married Dora Kasten on August 12, 1917, a week before Dora’s 26th birthday. This couple was married at Trinity Lutheran Church in Shawneetown. Two days ago, we discovered that Frieda Kasten’s wedding was the only one to take place at Trinity during 1916. This Roth/Kasten wedding was the only one to take place at that church in 1917. We can view the church marriage record for this event below.

We can also take a look at the Missouri marriage license for Victor and Dora.

This Roth pair settled on a farm near Wittenberg. Our German Family Tree lists 4 children born into their family. All of them were baptized at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Wittenberg. When the 1920 census was taken, just their first child is found in their census entry. Victor was farming.

In the 1930 census, all 4 of the Roth children were included in Victor and Dora’s entry.

The photo below was reportedly taken in 1931. It shows Christian Roth with his 9 children. You can see how many of those children were Roth boys. I will let you determine which of the boys was Victor. I do not know.

The Roth’s are next found in the 1940 census. Just their 2 sons were still living with their parents. Richard was doing the farming, and Victor had a new occupation. He was a mail carrier.

Victor had his World War II draft card completed around 1942. It gives him a Wittenberg address and says the U.S. Government was his employer. He was still a mail carrier.

The last census the public can view is the one taken in 1950. In that year’s entry, we find Victor and Dora with an empty nest. At the age of 60, Victor was still working for the post office.

Dora Roth died in 1964 at the age of 72. Her death certificate below says tha she died at the Rose Hill Nursing Home in Cape Girardeau. It also says her usual residence was in Egypt Mills.

I have to think that Victor might have been living at the Rose Hill Nursing Home when his wife died. Then at some point in 1965, he must have been moved to the state hospital in Farmington. That is where Victor died in 1966 at the age of 76. He was only at that hospital for about 8 months.

Victor and Dorothea Roth are each buried in the St. Paul’s Lutheran Cemetery in Wittenberg.

I do have a few questions I would like to have answered about this Roth couple. If I was not out of town today, I may have gone to my neighbor, Dave Roth, and sought out those answers. Dave is a grandson of today’s highlighted couple.