Gladys Engert was one of our museum’s beloved docents who served us for a lot of years. It is hard to believe that she died almost 5 years ago. Today, you will read this post about her parents. This story begins with our birthday girl, who Gladys would have called “Mom”. Here is a picture of Gladys.

Clara Wilhelmine Kassel was born on September 2, 1896, thus making today her 130th birthday. Clara was the daughter of Frank and Louise (Bangert) Kassel. She was baptized at Salem Lutheran Church in Farrar. We can view Clara’s baptism record from that congregation’s books here.

Clara is found in the 1900 census at the age of 3. Her father was a farmer in the Salem Township.

In the 1910 census, Clara had become a teenager. That was also the year that Clara was confirmed at Salem, Farrar.

Since Clara would get married before the next census would be taken, we will now take a look at the man who would become Clara’s husband. His name was Otto Edwin Theodor Lorenz, who was born on January 26, 1894. I gave some thought to using the spelling for his name as it is spelled on his baptism record and a few other later records…without the final “e”. However, I settled on using the spelling that is found on his gravestone which has the final “e”. I was also reminded by Gerard Fiehler this morning at breakfast that he was often called “Tiets”. Theodore was the son of Immanuel and Martha (Soehl) Lorenz. Like his future wife, Theodore was baptized at Salem Lutheran Church in Farrar. His baptism record is pictured below.

I have looked at lots of family trees on Ancestry.com and looked at Theodore’s entry on Family Search, and not one person has listed the 1900 census entry for this Lorenz family. I even went through all the pages of the Salem Township myself, looking for the Lorenz family, but I failed. I think the census taker just missed getting that family into his records. So, the first census entry I can show that includes Theodore is the one taken in 1910. He was 16 years old, and his father was a house carpenter in the Salem Township. One son, Joseph had already followed in his father’s footsteps to become a carpenter, and another son, Martin, was a public school teacher.

A photo of the baseball team from Farrar was taken in 1910. That team was known as the Farrar Reds. Theodore was the catcher on that team and can be seen on the far right in the photo. I may be wrong, but Theodore looks like he may have been the youngest player on that team.

In 1913, this photo of the Lorenz family was taken. Theodore is standing in the back on the far right.

Five days before Theodore got married, he had his World War I draft registration completed. He is given a Farrar address and had become another carpenter in the Lorenz family.

On June 10, 1917, Theodore Lorenz married Clara Kassel at Salem Lutheran Church in Farrar. We can take a look at this couple’s church marriage record below.

I am also able to display 2 other civil records for this wedding from Perry County records.

The wedding photograph of Theodore and Clara can be viewed below.

Our German Family Tree lists 5 children born to this Lorenz couple, 3 girls and 2 boys. All of them were baptized at Salem, Farrar. When the 1920 census was taken, there was just one son in their household. Theodore was a carpenter in the Salem Township.

Next, we find the Lorenz’s in the 1930 census. Three more children had been added to the family. A public school teacher named Cora Morrison was boarding with the Lorenz family.

The last child born to Theodore and Clara was Gladys, who was born in 1932. In 1936, Theodore’s parents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary and had a few photos taken. Below is a photo taken of all those in attendance at that event taken in front of Salem Lutheran Church in Farrar. Four year-old Gladys is sitting in the front row, 6th person from the left, in front of her grandma.

Another photo of Immanuel and Martha with just their children was taken during that occasion. Theodore is standing on the far right.

When the 1940 census was taken, we see all 5 of the Lorenz children in their entry. Theodore continued to be a carpenter doing building construction. Their son, Hubert, was a public school teacher. Another son, Arnold, was called a farm laborer. Their daughter, Alice, was called a nurse-girl for a private family.

Theodore had a World War II draft card completed. Someone corrected the wrong spelling of the surname, Lorenz.

The last census we can view is the one taken in 1950. Just Gladys remained in their household, and carpentry was still what Theodore was doing at the age of 56.

Clara Lorenz died in 1964 at the age of 67. Her death certificate below lists lung cancer as her cause of death.

Theodore Lorenz died in 1982 at the age of 88. Both Theodore and Clara Lorenz are buried in the Salem Lutheran Cemetery in Farrar.

Thanks to some help from descendants of today’s couple, I am also able to share a gallery of photos, mostly of both Theodore and Clara. One shows just Theodore, and another is one of the Lorenz home in Farrar. You can click on the images to enlarge them. Some of them have dates on them for when they were taken and developed.

It is my understanding that Tiets Lorenz was responsible for the building of many homes in East Perry County. Based on the evidence presented in this story, even more homes in this area were constructed by men whose names were Lorenz.

I will put the couple made up of Theodore Lorenz and Clara Kassel in the group of people who were found as members of the same Lutheran congregation from cradle to grave. Theodore and Clara were both born, baptized, confirmed, married, raised a family, died, and were buried while members of Salem Lutheran Church in Farrar.