A few days after Christmas last year, a friend of our museum and director of the Perry County Historical Society, Bill Hart, died. Perry County lost a great historian, and he is missed. After researching for this post, I discovered that today’s birthday girl is actually Bill’s grandmother. She is the starting point for today’s post.

Louise Regina Fassold was born on October 20, 1879, so today would be her 147th birthday. Louise was the daughter of Henry and Christina (Rodewald) Fassold. She was baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Perryville. We can view her baptism record below.

Louise is found in the 1880 census at the age of 10 months. Her father was a carpenter in Perryville.

Because we are unable to look at the 1890 census, the above entry would be the only one in which we find Louise before she got married. Now we will take a look at the man who would become Louise’s husband. His name was Thomas Odine Hart, who was born on May 7, 1873. He was mostly called Odine or Ode during his life. Since it is Ode on his gravestone, I will use that name. Ode was the son of James and Louise (Trapp) Hart. I located these photos of Ode’s parents. I found a family tree on Ancestry.com that traces this Hart family back pretty far. The first record of the Hart’s in Perry County is a marriage record for man name Hart who got married here in 1829. The Hart family may have been here when Missouri became a state.

Since Ode’s parents are buried in the Mount Hope Catholic Cemetery in Perryville, I have to think that Ode’s baptism record is found in a local Catholic parish’s books. Ode is found in the 1880 census at the age of 6. His father was a farmer in the Cinque Hommes Township.

Ode Hart married Louise Fassold on October 3, 1898 at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Perryville. The church marriage record for this couple is displayed here.

We can also view the Missouri marriage record for this pair.

Ode and Louise had 7 children, and all of them were baptized at Immanuel, Perryville. In the 1900 census, there was just one child in their household. Ode was called a liveryman in Perryville.

Next, we find the Hart’s in the 1910 census. Three more children had been added to the Hart family. Ode, called Thomas in this entry, was called a teamster.

Ode had his World War I draft registration completed in 1918. It gives Ode a Perryville address and says he was employed by Wm. Blechle as a bartender. William was married to Ode’s sister, Rosa, thus making him Ode’s brother-in-law.

Three more children were added to the Hart family during the 1910’s. Ode was simply called a laborer in this entry.

Some family trees on Ancestry, and even our German Family Tree, list an 8th child in the Hart family. A baby girl was born in 1923 named Verna Hart. Take a look at the baptism record for Verna shown below that is found in the Immanuel, Perryville books. This record states that the mother was Elsie Hart, not Louise Hart, and there is no father listed. Elsie was a daughter of Ode and Louise. It looks to me like Elsie had a child out of wedlock, and this was not the child of Ode and Louise.

The 1930 census turns out to be the last one in which we find Ode. There were 7 children in the Hart household. The youngest one was Verna, who is called a daughter in this entry. The mother of Verna, Elsie, is also included in this entry. She was 28 years old and still single. Four daughters in this household were part of the work force. One worked at the post office, and the other 3 worked at the shoe factory. Ode was not given an occupation at the age of 56.

Ode Hart died toward the end of 1938 at the age of 65. We can view his death certificate here.

Ode’s obituary can be read below.

Louise is found as a widow when the 1940 census was compiled. She was living with 3 daughters and a son in Perryville. It says Louise was a shoe worker, but it almost looks like an effort was made to erase those words. A daughter and a son were shoeworkers at the shoe factory.

Louise is found in one more census, the one taken in 1950. Louise was living by herself at the age of 76 in Perryville with no occupation.

Louise Hart died in 1957 at the age of 77. Arteriosclerosis is given as her cause of death on the form below.

We are also able to read Louise’s obituary.

Today’s highlighted couple, which was a Catholic/Lutheran marriage, is one of those in which the Catholic spouse remained Catholic throughout his life, and the Lutheran spouse remained a Lutheran throughout her life. Ode Hart is buried in the Mount Hope Catholic Cemetery, and Louise Hart is buried in the Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery. Both of these cemeteries are located in Perryville.

Bill Hart’s obituary can still be found on the internet. You can read it by clicking on the link below.

https://everloved.com/life-of/william-hart-ste-genevieve-mo/obituary/?flow=201

The obituary is where I was able to tell that Bill was the grandson of Ode and Louise. It says Bill’s father was Thomas Leroy Hart, who we know from this post was a son of Ode and Louise Hart. Bill was born in 1955. By then, his grandfather had died, and when his grandmother died in 1957, Bill was only 2 years old. So, Bill probably had no memory of his grandparents. However, I have to believe that Grandma and Grandpa Hart would have been proud of their grandchild, Bill, who became a respected leader of the Perry County Historical Society. And, by the way, if you look at Bill’s obituary photos and compare them with that of his great grandfather, James Hart, you would agree with me that you will see a definite resemblance.