October 2, 2013
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Photo courtesy of the City of Hazelwood
The Knobbe House in Hazelwood
Family Historian Makes Donation to the Knobbe House Photo Collection By Tim Davidson, communications coordinator, City of Hazelwood The television show Who Do You Think You Are has made geneaology, or tracing one’s ancesotrs, a popular hobby. Hazelwood recently benefitted from one family historian’s find when the city acquired three rare, hisotric images. Stan Busken, of Liberty, MO, is the great-grandson of Joseph S. Knobbe, Sr., who once owned the Knobbe House in Hazelwood. The house now sits at Brookes Park. Stan recently made a trip to the city of Hazelwood to present city officials with a generous donation of three large photos of his ancestors, dating back to 1872, mounted in beautiful antique frames. One of them is a long-lost photo he’s been looking for ever since he started doing historical research on Joseph S. Knobbe, Sr., and his siblings in 2009. It is the wedding photo of Joseph S. Knobbe, Sr., with his first wife, Anna Maria (Henke) Knobbe, taken in 1879. This is a rare photo since she died of tuberculosis at age 41 after giving birth to seven children. Knobbe, Sr., found himself a widower raising several kids. In 1897, his sister-in-law, Maria Anna (Keeven) Henke, became a widow with five children. Three years later, Knobbe, Sr., married his sister-in-law, and they formed a blended family of 11 children. Together they had one son, Joseph S. Knobbe, Jr., born on April 26, 1902.
In April 2013, several cousins and their spouses, all Knobbe descendents, gathered at Busken’s home in Liberty. The purpose was to exchange old family photos, memorabilia and interesting stories passed down from generation to generation. Mary Margaret Noll brought many of the photos she found in an attic trunk belonging to her maiden aunt’s estate (the daughter of August Knobbe, one of Joseph S. Knobbe’s four brothers). To Busken’s surprise, one of them was the elusive wedding photo that was the missing piece to his Knobbe family genealogy project. According to Busken, “When I started my book on the historical research of Joseph S. Knobbe, Sr. and his siblings, a lot of family pictures surfaced including wedding photos of his siblings. But I could never find the main one of my great-grandparents. My father always told me to keep looking because there’s one out there to find. I continued working on my book with this hope in my heart, and now I’m proud to say its finally in my possession. It brings closure to the years of genealogical research I did to document my family’s legacy for my nine grandchildren, and a tenth expected in September.” The other two donated photos are just as remarkable. One shows Busken’s great-grandfather Joseph S. Knobbe, Sr.
at the age of 15. Several family members confirm that Knobbe, Sr., kept this photo in his wallet until his death in 1934. In 1877, at the age of 19, Knobbe, Sr. immigrated to America from Wettrup, Germany. When he arrived in the St. Louis area to live with relatives, he had little clothing and only $25 to his name. Through his strong work ethics and perseverance, he was able to accrue over 300 acres of fertile farmland in Hazelwood (where the Village Square Shopping See GENEAOLOGICAL DISCOVERY page 2
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