Today’s tale will focus on a couple that got married on this day 140 years ago. The groom had his beginnings near Egypt Mills, and the bride was born and raised near Friedheim. I will begin with the groom.
George Frank Kassel was born on September 22, 1859, the son of Phillip and Wilhelmina (Bultmann) Kassel. He was born near Egypt Mills, Missouri. Frank is found in the 1860 census at the age of 1. He was the firstborn child in his family, so at this time, he was the only child in the census entry. His father was a farmer in the Randol Township.
Frank’s father died in 1865, and then his mother married again in 1867. Her second husband was Robert Grosse, who lived in or near Altenburg. In the 1870 census, Frank is found in the Grosse household. Only the youngest child in this entry was a Grosse. The others, including Frank (Francis) were Kassel’s. Robert was a farmer in the Brazeau Township. Frank was 11 years old at the time.
The last census in which we find Frank prior to his marriage is the one taken in 1880. He was still living with his mother and stepfather. This time, he is correctly called Frank Kassel and described as a stepson. He was helping on the Grosse farm.
Frank would get married in the 1880’s, so we will now turn our attention to the the woman who would become his bride. Her name was Louise Fredericke Bangert, who was born on February 21, 1866. Louise was the daughter of Charles and Caroline (Wilke) Bangert. She was baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Friedheim. An image of her baptism record is shown here.
Louise is found at the age of 4 in the 1870 census. Her father was a farmer in the Apple Creek Township.
Next, we find Louise in the 1880 census still living with her parents in the same location. She was 14 years old at the time. She had been confirmed at Trinity, Friedheim the previous year in 1879.
I do not know how an Altenburg man became acquainted with a Freidheim woman. Frank Kassel married Louise Bangert on November 11, 1886, thus making today this couple’s 140th wedding anniversary. These two were married at Trinity, Friedheim. We can view their church marriage record below.
I am also able to display 2 more civil records for this event.
Our German Family Tree lists 7 children born to Frank and Louise. Their first child was baptized at Concordia Lutheran Church in Frohna, but the rest of them were baptized at Salem Lutheran Church in Farrar. When the 1900 census was taken, all but one of the Kassel children were born. Frank was a farmer in the Salem Township.
One more child was born into this Kassel family in 1901. When the 1910 census was taken, there were 6 children in the Kassel household. One of Frank’s sons was helping with the farming.
Louise Kassel died in 1918 at the age of 52. Her death certificate below says she was 51 years old when she died, but that is because her date of birth is not correct. She died at the Lutheran Hospital in St. Louis.
Frank is found as a widower in the 1920 census. Just his son, Henry, was living with him. Frank and Henry were farming together.
Frank Kassel died in 1927 at the age of 67. His death certificate can be viewed below.
I located two different obituaries for Frank. The first one shown here was printed in the Perry County Republican.
The second obituary was printed in the Perry County Sun. It was a bit longer.
Frank and Louise Kassel are each buried in the Salem Lutheran Cemetery in Farrar.
We have a pair of Kassel family binders in our research library now that were the product of Wernold “Cowboy” Kassel. They are each about 3 inches thick. Yet, there are only a few short references in them for today’s Frank and Louise Kassel. Most of the pages are about Frank’s brothers, Christian and Phillip Kassel. And, sadly, there were no photos of Frank and Louise.
One more thing. My wife and I get opportunities to gather with some of our family at the Lake of the Ozarks here in Missouri. When we are there, we often patronize a restaurant known as Franky and Louie’s. I cannot help but think of today’s characters as being another pair of Franky and Louie’s.