The main character in today’s story is Johannes Traugott Kluegel, who was born on October 30, 1848. He was alternately called Johannes or John in some documents and Traugott in others. His gravestone calls him T.J. I am going to use the name, Traugott, mainly because that name means “trust God” in German, and I like the sound of it. Traugott was the son of two original Gesellschaft immigrants, George and Justine (Goehring) Kluegel. He was baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg. His baptism record is pictured here.

Traugott is found at the age of 2 in the 1850 census. He is called John in this entry, but he was not the only John. His father was a farmer in the Brazeau Township. Also included in this household was Rosina Goehring, Traugott’s maternal grandmother.

Next, we find Traugott in the 1860 census at the age of 11. His father had died in 1853, so his mother is the head of this household. She is called a farmer. I am guessing that she was thankful that her mother was still living in this family to help raise the children and do some housekeeping.

We no longer find Traugott living in Perry County when the 1870 census was taken. We find him in St. Louis in a household made up of him and John Attwein. John, at the age of 19, was a carriage maker, and Traugott, at the age of 21, was a wagon maker.

In the 1876 St. Louis city directory shown below, we find a few Kluegel names including that of Traugott. Traugott was in business with a man named Pelton. You also see the furniture business of his older brother, Gottlob, whose partner was Gotthilf Poppitz, another Perry County native. A story was written about Gotthilf titled, Gotthilf Poppitz – St. Louis Furniture Dealer.

Traugott’s carriage making business was located at 311 Chouteau Ave. The map below shows where that business was found not far from where Busch Stadium stands now.

In 1875, a fascinating series of drawings were made of neighborhoods in St. Louis. The drawing below shows the intersection of 3rd St. and Chouteau Ave., which is where Traugott’s business was found. The building with the smokestack was the Saxony Mills, a business that has been mentioned on this blog on several occasions. Also, Old Trinity Lutheran Church had its first church sanctuary on Lombard Street, one block away from Chouteau Ave.

In the 1880 census, Traugott was still single at the age of 32. He is called a wagon manufacturer. Two other young men were lodging with Traugott, one in the shoe business and the other a cabinetmaker.

Later in 1880, Traugott would get married, so let’s take a look at the woman who would become his bride. Her name was Maria Christiane Steinmeier, who was born on January 2, 1856. Mary was the daughter of David and Christiane (Kuenne) Steinmeier. I did not find Mary’s baptism record in the books of Trinity, St. Louis, but her younger brother was baptized there. Mary is found in the 1860 census at the age of 4. Her father was in the grocery business in St. Louis.

In the 1870 census, Mary was a teenager. Her father had the same occupation as before.

Mary was still living with her parents when the 1880 census was taken. She was 24 years old at the time.

Traugott Kluegel married Mary Steinmeier on August 29, 1880 at Trinity, St. Louis. We can view their church marriage record here.

This couple had 3 children. However, Mary Kluegel died in 1889 at the age of 33, leaving Traugott as a widower. A few years later, Traugott got married again. His second wife was Anne Marie Elizabeth Seele, who was born on October 24, 1855. Elizabeth was the daughter of Henry and Elizabeth (Schwier) Seele. I was not able to locate a census including Elizabeth until the one taken in 1870. She was 14 years old, and her father was a laborer in St. Louis.

Elizabeth is found in the 1880 census in her 20’s. She was still living with her parents.

Traugott Kluegel married Elizabeth Seele on September 6, 1891, which means today would be this couple’s 135th wedding anniversary. Like Traugott’s first wedding, this one also took place at Trinity, St. Louis. We can take a look at their marriage record from that church’s books below.

For this wedding, I was able to also locate a St. Louis marriage record. Rev. Hanser was the pastor at Trinity beginning in 1879, so he probably performed both of Traugott’s weddings. Pastor Hanser was also the pastor at Trinity when Rev. C.F.W. Walther died in 1887.

Two more sons were born to Traugott and Elizabeth, but one of them died right away. In the 1900 census, there were 3 sons in the Kluegel household, the youngest being the son from Traugott’s second wife. Traugott was still a wagon maker.

We find a bunch of Kluegel names in this 1901 St. Louis city directory. Traugott’s carriage business was located just a matter of a few blocks down from its previous address on Chouteau Ave.

In 1910, the Kluegel’s had 3 children in their household. Their daughter, Lydia, who was found living in Carlinville, Illinois with relatives when the previous census was taken, was back living with her parents in 1910. Also, Elizabeth’s sister, Dorothea, was living with them. This entry says Traugott had his own wagon making factory in St. Louis.

The Kluegel’s are found in the 1920 census which included their son, George, and his wife and child, as well as Elizabeth’s sister. At the age of 71, Traugott was still making carriages.

Elizabeth Kluegel died in 1926 at the age of 70. I was surprised to find out that she died in Perry County. Her death certificate can be viewed here.

An article printed in the Perry County Republican explains why Elizabeth had come to Perry County.

Elizabeth Kluegel is buried in the Trinity Lutheran Cemetery in Altenburg.

Traugott Kluegel was still alive in 1930, but I failed to locate him in that year’s census. Traugott died in 1934 at the age of 85. He must have gone to live with his daughter, Lydia in Wellsville, Missouri. Lydia had married August Wunderlich, who by that time was a Lutheran minister in Wellsville. Pastor Wunderlich had his roots in New Wells. Rev. Wunderlich is the informant on Traugott’s death certificate below.

Traugott and his first wife, Mary, are buried in a Kluegel plot in the Concordia Lutheran Cemetery in St. Louis. There is a Kluegel family stone, along with ones for individuals in the family. The gravestone for Mary must have broken.

Traugott Kluegel was a wagon and carriage maker in St. Louis for a lot of years, even after the advent of the automobile. My imagination goes wild while considering this man’s story. He was a carriage maker at the time when Rev. C.F.W. Walther was a professor and president at Concordia Seminary. I know there was a carriage that was destroyed in a recent fire at Saxon Lutheran Memorial here in Frohna. I have to wonder if Traugott may have been the maker of that carriage. I have also written a post, Kaempfe’s Carriage, which highlighted the fact that Samuel Kaempfe was reportedly the carriage driver for Rev. C.F.W. Walther. Was Samuel driving a carriage made by Traugott Kluegel? We may never know. One thing I think is fairly certain. When Rev. Walther died in 1887, there was a very long funeral procession from Concordia Seminary to Trinity Lutheran Church. That procession must certainly have included some carriages made at Traugott’s shop.