Fiedler, William Augustus Charles

Male 1881 - 1947  (65 years)


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  • Name Fiedler, William Augustus Charles 
    Birth 15 Aug 1881  Missouri, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  [1, 2
    Gender Male 
    Death 17 Jan 1947  [1
    Person ID I17199  The Thoma Family
    Last Modified 20 Sep 2023 

    Father Fiedler, George William Herman,   b. 1855, Boonville Township, Cooper, Missouri, USA Find all individuals with events at this locationd. DECEASED, Moberly, Randolph, Missouri, USA Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Relationship natural 
    Mother Weber, Addie,   b. 7 Nov 1858, Boonville, Cooper, Missouri, USA Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 5 Sep 1889, St Louis, St Louis, Missouri, USA Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 30 years) 
    Relationship natural 
    Marriage 5 Oct 1875  Cooper, Missouri, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  [2, 3
    Family ID F3489  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Lerbs, Emma,   b. 26 Jan 1882, Little Rock, Pulaski, Arkansas, USA Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Marriage 1901 
    Family ID F5288  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 20 Sep 2023 

  • Event Map
    Link to Google MapsBirth - 15 Aug 1881 - Missouri, USA Link to Google Earth
     = Link to Google Earth 

  • Notes 
    • The following is from the genealogy book of Chris Burbach

      George William Herman Fiedler (1855)

      On October 5, 1875, George Fiedler married Ada (Addie) Weber in Boonville. According to census records and her death certificate, Addie was born in Missouri in 1858. Her mother was Katharine Zehringer, who was born on 18 May 1829 in Bavaria. The identity of her father, however, remains unknown. Perhaps Katharine had remarried after the death of Addie’s father.

      By the time of the 1880 census, George and Addie were living at 2015 Columbus Street in St. Louis, with Addie's mother, Katharine, and daughters Sophia (born 1876) and Norah (born 1878).

      On October 15, 1881, they had a son, William Augustus Charles Fiedler. Addie died on September 5, 1889, at the age of 30, due to complications from a miscarriage. After her death, George moved the family back to mid-Missouri, spending time in both Boonville and Moberly, Missouri. By February of 1890, George had married Fannie Kelly. It is known that George was a bandleader in Moberly, Missouri, and that Fannie was the stereotypical “evil stepmother”. After this point, there is no known information on what happened to George and Fannie. There are no death records for either in the state of Missouri. Daughter Norah is known to have married George Kempf.

      Addie’s younger brother Adolph died of anemia in 1895, and her mother Katharine Zehringer bought a plot in the old St. Marcus cemetery. Buried on this plot are:
      • Adolph Zehringer (17 May 1895, age 29)
      • Sophia Gessner, presumably George and Addie’s daughter, who died in Chicago of typhoid fever (22 November 1903, age 27)
      • Katharine (who died in 19 October 1914 at 3807 Fairview in St. Louis)
      • Addie (who must have been moved to this plot since George had remarried)
      • Infant child of William and Emma Fiedler (11/26/1904)
      This cemetery was eventually replaced by the new St. Marcus Cemetery further west on Gravois Road, but the bodies remain unmarked in the old cemetery, which is now a city park.
      William Augustus Charles Fiedler (15 Oct 1881 – 17 Jan 1947)

      After his mother's death just shy of his eighth birthday, William A.C. Fiedler spent much of his childhood in Boonville and Moberly, Missouri. William married Emma Lerbs in 1901.

      Emma was born 26 Jan 1882, in Little Rock, Arkansas, the daughter of Johann and Wilhelmina (Karpinski) Lerbs. Her family had emigrated in 1881 from Prussia. It is known that Wilhelmina was born in Konigsberg, East Prussia, which is now the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad. Her surname has also been recorded as Karpinsky. The Lerbs had six children, including Emma, Rose, Augusta, Charlie, Willie and Minnie. They lived at 3645 Pennsylvania Avenue in the “Dutchtown” neighborhood of St. Louis.

      William and Emma had four children, the first dying in infancy (26 Nov 1904), Elmer (born 20 Jan 1906; died 28 Sep 1976), Ralph (born 24 Jan 1911; died 23 Nov 1973) and Lucile (born 10 Dec 1912; married Richard Zweifel; died 1986). They were a musically inclined family, with William playing trumpet, Elmer playing piano and saxophone, Ralph playing saxophone and Lucile playing piano. William worked for the US Postal Service in St. Louis for many years before opening the Fiedler Hatchery in Fenton, Missouri.

      Ironically, considering his career with the Postal Service, William was struck and killed by a drunken driver while retrieving his mail on 17 Jan 1947. His wife witnessed the accident while waiting in the car. Emma subsequently sold the farm moved back to the city of St. Louis. Emma spent the last years of her life in a flat on Itaska Street near her daughter Lucile. She died on 25 June 1965, and was buried alongside her husband in Sunset Cemetery in Affton, Missouri.
      Elmer William Fiedler (20 Jan 1906 – 28 Sep 1976)

      Elmer Fiedler married Ada Lorene Goodman on 23 May 1926. He spent the early part of his career working at the Taylor Fur Company in St. Louis. An avid musician like his father and grandfather, Elmer played the piano and saxophone, and was a published composer (“Swaying”). He was known to play at local nightclubs in St. Louis, where his wife Lorene would take off her wedding ring to dance. Elmer was also had a passion for learning, as evidenced by his bachelors degree from Harris Teachers College, masters degree from Washington University, and doctors in theology degree from Pikes Peak Bible College.

      Ada Lorene Goodman was born in Mt. Vernon, Illinois, on July 3, 1902. Her parents were Lee Emerson Goodman and Dora Belle Lambert. There is a wealth of recorded information on both families, too detailed to be included in this document. Lorene was driven for success, having risen above her childhood of near poverty and earning a bachelors degree in education from Harris Teachers College. She also sang at least one season in the chorus of the St. Louis Municipal Opera. Lorene also valued her career, initially refusing to give up her job as a teacher, as was required when a woman got married in the city of St. Louis. It was only after her secret marriage to Elmer was “discovered” that she was forced to give up her job.

      Elmer and Lorene had four children: Lorraine Lucile (born 9/16/1927; married S. Joseph Gore, 1951), Helen Dora (born 10/2/1931; married Harold Burbach 29 July 1950), Betty Jane (born 22 Apr 1933; married James Johnson, 1952) and William Elmer (born 7 Jul 1936; married Iva Wack; died Oct 1988). They lived at 2746 Osage Street in the Dutchtown neighborhood of St. Louis, until Elmer took a job as the pastor of West Florissant Baptist Church in the northern edge of St. Louis. At that time they moved to the parsonage next door to the church at West Florissant Avenue and Mimika.

      Elmer and Lorene joined the suburban flight from north St. Louis, first moving to adjacent Bellefontaine Neighbors, and then to Florissant. Elmer later started Black Jack Baptist Church, and died in 1976 after a brief illness. Lorene died on 5 November 1987 at the age of 85.

  • Sources 
    1. [S433] CONTRIBUTORS:.
      Burbach, Chris: hrisburbach@sbcglobal.net

    2. [S433] CONTRIBUTORS:.
      Individuals: Schler, Laura Gail nee Stegner: Letters: Deceased

    3. [S411] USA: MO: COOPER: Marriages.
      https://cooper.mogenweb.org/CooperBitsMar.htm