Pfau’s Popp Frau

A few years back, a story was published on this blog titled, Popp’s Pfau Frau. That post told the tale of a Popp marrying a Pfau. In that case, the bride was a Pfau and the groom was a Popp. Today, the roles will be reversed. You will read about a Pfau groom and his Popp bride. The two Pfau’s were a brother/sister pair, but the Popp’s were not.

Amalia Friedericke Popp was born on January 5, 1863, so today would be her 160th birthday. Amalia was the 9th and last child listed in our German Family Tree for Johann and Anna (Grother) Popp. She was baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Altenburg. Her baptism record from that congregation’s books is shown here.

Amalie is found in the 1870 census living in the Brazeau Township. Her age looks like 9, but it may just be an unusual 7, which would be more accurate. Her father was a farmer.

Amalie’s father died in 1875, so he is not found in the 1880 census. Amalie’s older brother, Martin Popp, was the head of the household in which we find Amalie and her mother. Martin had married Margaretha Hacker and was doing the farming.

Next, we will take a look at the man who would become Amalie’s husband. His name was Friedrich Emil Pfau, who was born on August 17, 1851 in Germany. Emil was the son of Gottfried and Amalie (Trummann) Pfau. I was able to locate a transcribed baptism record for Emil from a church in Beerwalde, Germany.

In 1859, when Emil was 7 years old, his family came to America aboard the ship, Magdalene. We see the Pfau’s on the passenger list for that ship shown below. For some unknown reason, his mother is listed using her maiden name on this list.

Emil is found in the 1860 census at the age of 9. He is mistakenly called a female named Emile. His father was a laborer.

Next, we find Emil in the 1870 census at the age of 19.

Emil was still living with his parents when the 1880 census was compiled. The Pfau’s had likely been living in the portion of the Brazeau Township that became part of the Union Township when it was formed in the 1870’s. This Pfau family can be found in the pages of the Union Township 1880 census that were lost for a lot of years before recently being found. Emil was farming with his father.

Emil Pfau married Amalie Popp on October 30, 1884 at Concordia Lutheran Church in Frohna. The church record for this wedding is pictured here. Right above their record, you can see the one for Emil’s sister, Clara Pfau, who had married Henry Popp in 1883. That’s the couple that was highlighted in the Popp’s Pfau Frau post.

We can also take a look at the marriage license for this Pfau/Popp pair.

Four children are listed in the German Family Tree for this couple. They were all baptized at Concordia, Frohna. In the 1900 census, this Pfau family was living in the Union Township where Emil was a farmer. There were 3 females named Mollie in this household. One was Emil’s wife, one was Emil and Mollie’s daughter, and one was Emil’s mother.

This Pfau family relocated before the 1910 census. They are next found living near Wentzville, Missouri in St. Charles County where Emil was still farming.

In a previous post on this blog, I displayed a map for an area of farmland near Wentzville that included several names that could be connected to Perry County. We find Emil Pfau’s farm on this map that was produced in 1905, so he must have moved to that area prior to that year.

I might add that yesterday I wrote about a man named Blanken. That name also surfaces in this Wentzville area even though there are no Blanken’s on the map above. Some more information about Pfau’s, Blanken’s, and Wedig’s can be found in the story, Tornado Casualty Dies with Baby in Arms.

The 1920 census shows a smaller Pfau household. Emil was called a day laborer.

We find the same small group of Pfau’s in the 1930 census for the same location. Emil is called a sexton for a cemetery in this entry. My guess is that he was the sexton for the cemetery in which he and his wife would later be buried.

Emil and Amalia were still living in 1940, but I was unable to find them in that year’s census. Emil died in 1941 at the age of 89. His death certificate can be viewed below.

Amalia Pfau died in 1947 at the age of 84. We can also take a look at her death certificate.

Emil and Amalia Pfau are buried in the Koenig Lutheran Cemetery in Wentzville.

Now there are a few stories on this blog that elaborate on marriages between a Pfau and a Popp. You may also find several blog posts that end up in the vicinity of Wentzville, Missouri. I encourage our readers to utilize the search function on our website to find posts that might interest them. Just put the name or names of people in the search box and see if there are any stories that have been published on this blog containing those names. You may be surprised by what you find.