WEDDE, Lena and Clara

Lena Wedde

Identification on photo: Lena WEDDE / Clara
Photo taken: Keller Studio, 1010 live Street, St. Louis Missouri, circa 1909
Purchased: Feb 2018 at the Palm Beach County Fairgrounds Antique Show

At the Antique Show, I found a booth with probably a hundred old photographs in a large enamel wash-basin. My husband and I spent probably 15 minutes scanning the backs for identification. In the group I was perusing, I came across one labeled "Lena Wedde" and right next to it one labeled "Clara" with no surname.

My standard modus operandi would be to leave Clara behind because she'd be impossible to track down without a surname. But as luck would have it, Clara was right next to Lena in the basin, and I could see that the handwriting was the same on the back of both photos. So I flipped both over to the front side, and saw an immediate similarity between the girls right down to the same hairstyle.

Clara

Furthermore, the photos were taken at the same studio in St. Louis. I decided to purchase Clara also, convinced the two were sisters.

The minute I got home, I logged onto Ancestry.com and started checking Census records and family trees, and found the Wedde family in St. Louis in 1900. Parents Henry (46) and Margaret (40), with children Lena (17), John (16), Clara (13) and Mary (7). Henry is a carpenter and son John is a machinist at a car company. Lena has no occupation, and the younger sisters are at school.

Ten years later, in 1910, John has left home. The following remain:

1910 Census Missouri > Saint Louis > Ward 23 > 4318 Manchester Ave.
WEDDE, Henry, head, 55, born in MO of German parents, carpenter
WEDDE, Margaret, wife, 50, 4 children born, 4 still living, born in OH of German parents
WEDDE, Lena, daughter, 27, born in Missouri, dressmaker
WEDDE, Clara, daughter, 23, born in Missouri, seamstress at a Wholesale Co.
WEDDE, Mary, daughter, 17, born in Missouri, no occupation

The 1920 Census report is largely unchanged. Henry is a patern-maker in an iron factory. Lena is a dressmaker, Clara is a seamstress, and Mary is a music teacher.

Lena (5 Aug 1882-10 Jan 1963) and Clara (1 July 1886-15 Aug 1958) are daughters of Henry Wedde (1854-1940) and Margarethe Greb (1860-1924).

Lena and Clara never married. After the death of their parents, the sister lived together at 5187 Rosa Street, supporting each other until their own deaths in 1963 and 1958 respectively.