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Many names are written in early chapters of Lohman history, highlighting the people who established the foundation of this rural Cole County community.
The late Christian Soell, a respected businessman, became more than a footnote in this fascinating historical account and made significant contributions during a period of the town’s economic prosperity.
Born in Germany on Jan. 30, 1881, Soell was reputed to have received an excellent education in his homeland. In 1896, when only 15 years old, he immigrated to the United States and settled in Lohman, where his sister was residing.
“I have always heard that my grandfather, Christian Soell, had his passage to America paid by his older sister, Sophie,” Carol Beck said. “He apparently arrived penniless because he purchased a box of sandwiches to last him on the train ride and also bought a 25-cent harmonica.”
She added, “After he missed his stop in Jefferson City, a man by the name of Brandt, who was employed by the railroad, helped get him to his sister’s house.”
After attending school in Stringtown for only a few days, young Christian’s sister advised him to quit wasting his time in classes since he already possessed as much knowledge and education as the teacher.
In an effort to scratch out a living in his new homeland, Soell began working on the Stringtown-area farm of his older brother-in-law, Fred Lochner. He soon met and developed romantic interests for a young woman living on a neighboring farm, Anna Margaretha “Margaret” Kautsch.
“Adam Kautsch, a well-established farmer, wasn’t happy about having his daughter courted by a young man who was yet to prove his worth,” wrote Erwin, the youngest of Soell’s children. “I’m not sure when the courting started, but it was apparently by letter.”
He continued, “During some of those years, he would write letters and leave them under a tub in the Kautsch smokehouse where Margaret would find and answer him.”
Through patience, dedication and demonstrated work ethic, Soell was given Margaret’s hand in marriage in a ceremony held April 4, 1905, at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Stringtown.
Prior to his marriage, Soell, also worked for a couple of years at a general store in Lohman. On Dec. 4, 1904, when only 23 years old, the aspiring businessman took a great risk when going in debt to purchase the general store from Peter Kiessling.
“The general merchandise stores in Lohman have traditionally been the heart of the business life of the community, making the town relatively self-sufficient with a wide range of goods,” noted a Lohman historical booklet printed in 1976.
In 1910, Otto Kirchner bought into the store, which became a business partnership lasting only two years. Then, in 1913, Otto J.F. Plochberger (who married the sister of Soell’s wife) purchased Kirchner’s shares and became a co-owner.
For more than three decades, “Soell & Plochberger” served as an important cog in Lohman’s economic base and embraced the slogan, “Every day is a bargain day.”
As the years passed, Soell and his wife were active members of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Lohman while also becoming parents to one son and five daughters — Oswald, Alma, Martha, Bertha, Wiltrud and Esther.
Erwin Soell explained that in addition to his father’s work as a storekeeper, he “was a notary public and did a lot of legal work now done by attorneys. He drew up deeds, wills, promissory notes, etc., in addition to putting his notary seal on other legal documents.”
In 1911, a year following the official incorporation of Lohman, Soell demonstrated his commitment to community betterment when elected to the position of town clerk. He went on to serve in this capacity longer than anyone else in the town’s history.
A dark moment came on Jan. 2, 1927, when Soell’s 42-year-old wife died after being hospitalized for several months with ovarian cancer. She was interred in the cemetery of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church.
Still reeling from the loss of their mother, Soell’s children helped keep the store running and ensured household tasks were completed. Soon, the widower was informed by relatives living in Germany of a woman with no children whose fiancée had been killed in World War I.
Margaret Marie Muller “received her first letter from (Soell) in November 1927,” wrote Erwin. “By March 1928, she had agreed to come to New York and meet Dad.”
The couple married at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church on Nov. 24, 1928, once again providing Soell’s children with a mother and he a wife. On Aug. 11, 1931, Erwin Soell was born, becoming the only child born to this union.
Christian Soell left the mercantile business in 1945, selling his shares to his partner, Otto Plochberger and his son, Martin Plochberger. The store was later sold to J.R. Strobel, who continued operating it as a general merchandise store for three decades.
In his retirement, Soell continued his notary work, completed income tax forms and sold Hartford Insurance. He was 69 years old when he died after suffering a heart attack driving to a doctor’s appointment in Jefferson City.
He was laid to rest in the cemetery at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church alongside his first wife. When his second wife died in 1982, she was buried in the same burial plot as Soell.
Reflecting on a grandfather of whom she has few memories, Carol Beck maintains she has relied on stories from friends and family to help her know the person who was Christian Soell.
Smiling, she said, “I remember getting to sit on his lap when he had a wicker rocking chair. He died when I was only in the first grade, and I don’t remember a lot about him, but hearing stories and reading about him has helped me feel as though I have been given a chance to get to know him.”
Jeremy P. Amick is the author of “Moments on the Moreau.”
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