By Faron Bartons
It’s been a while since I’ve done a blog post for Warren, but I won’t be doing a full one today. This will be an update to a post Warren did a few years ago on Leonard Fischer. Warren was able to cover extensively most of the details of Leonard’s early life and some after he moved away from Perry County. I hope to add a little bit more to his later life. As you will discover in the original and extended versions of this post, Leonard Fischer spent most of his teaching career at Trinity Lutheran Church in Jefferson City, MO. I assumed the role of archivist at Trinity in Jefferson City last year, so I will supplement Warren’s original post with records we hold at Trinity, Jefferson City. My additional wording to the original post is bolded; everything else is Warren’s original writing.
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A Perry County boy would be celebrating his 125th birthday today. However, he is one of those local-born boys who is only found in our German Family Tree with just a baptism record and a confirmation record being noted. When I see such a situation, I have come to realize that it may mean that the a young man left this area quite early to go off and study to become a Lutheran teacher. Before I get in trouble for not mentioning girls following such a path, this was back in the day when almost all Lutheran teachers were men.
Leonard Emanuel Fischer was born on August 29, 1898, the son of Emanuel and Agnes (Boehme) Fischer. Leonard was baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg. We can take a look at the baptism record for Leonard found in the books of that congregation.
Leonard is found in the 1900 census at the age of 1. His father was a teamster in Altenburg.
Leonard’s mother died in 1904. So, when the 1910 census was taken, his father was a widower. This time he is called a farmer in Altenburg.
The last church record we find for Leonard in our German Family Tree is his confirmation record. He was confirmed in 1912 at Trinity. When we see his record from that congregation’s books, we also see that his cousin, George Fischer, was in the same class. George was the father of one of our docents, Caroline (Fischer) Littge.
In 1918, Leonard had his World War I draft registration completed. This document gives his address as Altenburg, but he is called a divinity student at Concordia College in River Forest, Illinois. Translated, that means he was studying to become a Lutheran school teacher.
I located an entry for Leonard Fischer found in the 1920 yearbook for Concordia, River Forest. It says that he began his studies at that institution in 1914. It also references some of his interests in both music and athletics.
It must have been the fact that Leonard graduated from Concordia in 1920 that explains why he is still found living in Altenburg when the census was taken for that year. It says Leonard was a 21 year-old student. I think he was spending some time at home before he went off to become a teacher in Cass Lake, Minnesota. Leonard’s father had married Hulda Meister in 1918, so she is included in this entry. I find it interesting that Leonard’s father was said to be farming “for stores”. Perhaps he was providing some groceries to be sold in the Fischer Store in Altenburg operated by his Uncle Edward Fischer. His cousin, George, who was mentioned earlier, was a clerk in that store in 1920.
Leonard spent just a short time in Minnesota before he was called to be a teacher at Trinity Lutheran School in Jefferson City, Missouri. It was there that he met his wife. Let’s take a look at her early life.
Clara Lucille Beck was born on February 8, 1900, the daughter of John and Lillie (Kaeppel) Beck. She was born in Jefferson City, Missouri. I suspect that her baptism record might even be found in the books of Trinity Lutheran Church, where Leonard had become a teacher. The Beck family has always been and still is quite extensive throughout Cole County; but Warren was correct, Clara was baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Jefferson City, MO on March 4, 1900. Her baptism record is located below.
Because she was born so early in 1900, we find her in that year’s census as a baby. Her father was a dry goods merchant.
I located photos of Clara’s father and mother. By the way, I did go down another rabbit hole and discovered that Lillie was indeed related to a Professor Koeppel that married one of Joseph Weinhold’s daughters, as told in the post, Another Wittenberg Musician. I won’t go into detail, though, what I found in that rabbit hole.
Next, we find Clara in the 1910 census at the age of 10. Not only was her father a retail merchant of dry goods, but a brother and sister were already working in his store as a clerk and cashier. It looks as if Clara was destined to work at that store in the future.
Clara was confirmed at Trinity Lutheran Church in 1913, but the specific date of the confirmation is not listed in the church records. Clara’s confirmation record can be seen below.
Clara was still single when the 1920 census was compiled. She was indeed working as a saleslady at her father’s store.
I was unable to find any documentation for the marriage of Leonard Fischer and Clara Beck, but I also suspect there may be a church record for that event in the books of Trinity, Jefferson City. I do know that the wedding took place on June 19, 1927. Warren would be correct again. Leonard Fischer and Clara Beck were married at Trinity Lutheran Church on June 19, 1927, which record can be seen below.
The 1930 census shows this young couple with their first child, a son named David. Leonard was not just a teacher at Trinity, he is called the principal.
The 1940 census shows the Fischer household with 3 children. I think the census taker made a mistake in calling Leonard a school principal of a public school.
In 1942, Leonard had a World War II draft card completed. It said his employer was Trinity Lutheran congregation.
At some point in time when Leonard was the principal of that school, the photo below was taken. I have every reason to believe that Leonard is the man standing on the far left in this image. Unfortunately, Warren is incorrect in this case. Leonard is actually the man on the very right end of this photo. This photo of the school was taken at the time of Trinity’s 75 th anniversary in 1945.
Leonard Fischer was not just a simple teacher for Trinity Lutheran Church. He was very active in multiple aspects of the congregation. At the time of Trinity’s 75th anniversary, Leonard was in his 18th year as secretary of congregation, served on the school board, served as a Sunday School teacher, and was director of the Senior Choir, Men’s Chorus, and Girls’ Chorus. Various photos of Leonard from the 75th anniversary book are included below. Leonard is posing as the director in the choir photos.
Trinity’s records also hold a couple other candid shots of Leonard from the 1940s.
We can view one more census entry for the Fischer’s, the one from the 1950 census.
As I said, Leonard was not just a simple teacher; he was highly respected and celebrated for his work at Trinity Lutheran Church. The congregation held a special anniversary celebration for his 40th anniversary of serving as a Lutheran school teacher and 35 th anniversary of teaching at Trinity, Jefferson City. The pages from the bulletin for that celebration are seen below. Trinity’s archives also hold an audio tape recording from that celebration. If that tape is still good, I plan to have it digitized and make sure the museum receives a copy.
Leonard’s 40 years of teaching also received recognition in the Jefferson City Post-Tribune on February 10, 1960.
Leonard would serve eight more years as a teacher before retiring in 1967 after 43 years of service at Trinity, Jefferson City, and 48 total years as a Lutheran educator! A newspaper article announcing his retirement is included.
Trinity also honored Leonard at a special dinner following his retirement, which is described in the following newspaper article.
Trinity also had a special picture of Leonard displayed in the school following his retirement.
A later photo of Leonard and Clara is found in Trinity’s 100th anniversary membership directory in 1970. Leonard would have been about 72 years old, and Clara would have been about 70.
A rather detailed biography of Leonard Fischer can be found on his Findagrave.com entry. I am going to include that article below to tell the rest of Leonard’s story. His lifetime accomplishments are very impressive.
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The Daily Capital News
Jefferson City, Missouri
11 May 1976Leonard E. Fischer, for many years principal of Trinity Lutheran School, died Sunday morning at Memorial Hospital after being a patient there since May 3.
Mr. Fischer, 77, lived at 225 E. Dinklin St. He was born Aug. 29, 1898 at Altenburg, the son of Emmanuel and Agnes Boehm Fischer. He was married June 19, 1927 in Jefferson City to the former Clara L. Beck, who survives.
An area resident since 1924, Mr. Fischer was educated in Altenburg parochial and public schools and later attended Concordia Teachers College, River Forest, Ill., Chicago University and the University of Missouri, earning a masters degree in education.
Mr. Fischer was ordained into the teaching ministry of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod in 1930. After teaching in Cass Lake, Minn., he spent 43 years as principal of Trinity, retiring in 1967. On March 10, 1968, he was named principal emeritus of the school.
After his retirement, Mr. Fischer was employed by the Jefferson City School District as attendance supervisor and visitor.
He had served 25 years as secretary of the Trinity Lutheran congregation, served as music director for the church until recently, taught Sunday School teachers for service in the church for many years, and taught Bible class for church laymen.
He was one of the organizers of the Trinity Men’s Club and a member of the Lutheran Laymans League.
He was chairman and founder of the Missouri District Lutheran Principals Conference, chairman of the Missouri District Lutheran Teachers Conference, past president of the Mid Missouri Walther League, chairman of the Mid Missouri Sunday School Institute, secretary of the Stewardship and Finance Committee of the Missouri District of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, secretary treasurer of the Cole County Tuberculosis Assn., secretary of the Jefferson City Park Board, president of the Jefferson City Softball Assn., commissioner of the softball district, and also served on the Cole County Red Cross Board for ten years and was a member of the United Community Fund Committee.
Mr. Fischer organized the free text book program for the Lutheran school and started the lunch program at trinity in the early 1960’s.
On June 5, 1967, the Missouri Senate passed a resolution commending Mr. Fischer for his many years of service to education.
Other survivors include two sons, David and Charles; a daughter, Mrs. John Erckman; and a sister, Aleda Meyr.
Funeral services will be held at 10 am today at the Trinity Lutheran Church. Burial will be in Riverview Cemetery.
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Leonard Fischer died on May 9, 1976, at the age of 77. We are unable to view his death certificate until it’s released on January 1, 2027, but the church’s death record, seen below, states he died from a stroke. His funeral and burial were on May 11.
A newspaper article announcing his death and the bulletin from his funeral are also found in Trinity’s archives.
Clara Fischer died on August 27, 1987, at the age of 87. The death record for her from Trinity Lutheran Church is seen below. Her funeral and burial were on August 31, 1987.
Leonard Fischer died in 1976 at the age of 77; Clara Fischer died in 1987 at the age of 87. These two are buried together in the Riverview Cemetery in Jefferson City.
I would like to share a quick personal story. When I was an 8th grader at St. Jacobi Lutheran School in St. Louis, I played on the basketball team (mostly on the bench). One of the highlights of that year’s basketball season was participating at the tournament that took place at Trinity Lutheran School in Jefferson City. The way I have it figured, Leonard was still the principal of that school when I participated in that tournament. By that time, that church and school had relocated to a new location and had a new church and school building. Memories of that tournament stick with me.
One more fascinating part of this story is the fact that there is another Fischer family descendant who just this year joined the faculty of Trinity, Jefferson City. Addie Esselman, the granddaughter of Caroline (Fischer) Littge, who was mentioned earlier, was installed as a teacher at that school this past weekend. I wonder if she knows that she is now teaching at a school that had a Principal Fischer for over 40 years.