This is a story about the courtship of Louise Frederici and William (Buffalo Bill) Cody.
Margaret Louise Frederici was born in Arnold, Missouri, May 27, 1844 on a farm near present day Jeffco Blvd. and Frederitzi Lane, just south of Church Road. Members of the Frederici family were some of the founding members of Immaculate Conception Church which was only a log church building when Louise was born.
Much of our information regarding this subject comes from the book Last of the Great Scouts (Buffalo Bill) by Helen Cody Wetmore (Buffalo Bill’s sister), along with noted author and writer Zane Grey.
The book delves into Buffalo Bill’s life and how he was a symbol of the Old West. Zane Grey stated that Buffalo Bill inspired the pioneers, guided the soldiers, and helped the builders of the railroad. His life was more thrilling than any wild, adventurous, and moving romance of that time.
Chapter 14 of the book gives an account of how Buffalo Bill met Louise Frederici. During the Civil War, Bill Cody was a Union scout. After he survived participation at the Battle of Pilot Knob in southern Missouri, Bill Cody was assigned to special service at Military headquarters in St. Louis (Jefferson Barracks), commaned by General Polk. Ironically, the wife of General Polk was an old school friend of Bill Cody’s mother. Through the years, the two school friends kept us a correspondence with each other until Bill Cody’s mother passed away. As soon as Mrs. Polk learned that the son of her dear friend was in the Union Army, she took it upon herself to obtain a good position for him while at Jefferson Barracks. Unfortunately, working behind a desk was not to Bill’s liking. Being the outdoors type, once being a rider for the Pony Express and a scout for the Union Army, he was not happy with the desk job that he had been assigned. His new duties became intolerable for him, lacking the excitement and danger that made his life worthwhile to him. One event, however, sparked his existence in St. Louis. He met Louise Frederici, the girl who was to become his wife.
Margaret Louise Frederici was born in Arnold, Missouri, May 27, 1844 on a farm near present day Jeffco Boulevard and Frederitizi Lane, just south of Church Road. Present day I-55 runs through part of the original farm. Members of the Frederici family were some of the founding members of the first Roman Catholic parish in Jefferson County, Missouri, the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church. The log church building was only two years when Louise was born. According to church records, Louise was baptized at this parish. Her immigrant parents were Christopher Frederici and Elizabeth Hennessienene, married February 22, 1816, in Cappel, Lorraine, France.
More than once, while out for a morning ride on his horse, Bill Cody often saw a woman of attractive face and figure riding her horse. Few things caught Bill’s eye more quickly than a lady riding a horse who demonstrated great horsemanship qualities. Bill Cody desired to establish an acquaintance with this young lady. Unfortunately, none of his friends knew her to formally introduce them and he was frustrated with the possibility that they would never meet. At that time, a man and a lady had to be formally introduced before they could court.
In time, a divine intervention occurred. While out riding his horse one morning, he saw this beautiful lady, whom he had admired from afar, riding on a run-away horse. The bridle rein had broken, and the horse was running wild. A rescue was needed for this damsel in distress. Bill Cody himself became the knight in shining armor. Because of this one incident, their acquaintance came easy.
From war to love, Bill Cody lost no time taking advantage of this chance meeting. His past offered few opportunities to enjoy feminine society. This accounts for his promptness in courting the lady that he so long admired from afar. He became the accepted suitor of Louise Frederici before the Civil Was ended in 1865.
Before he could dance at his own wedding, he realized that he needed to establish himself financially before he could get married. The pay of a soldier was next to nothing, barely supporting himself, not to mention a wife.
Bill Cody went to Kansas and drove horses between Leavenworth and Ft. Kearny for the Army. He met a former friend who owned a stage line business and was looking for drivers who were familiar with the area and Indian territory. Cody fit the bill and grabbed the chance to drive the stage lines. He earned enough money to support a wife, for the pay was quite substantial–$150.00 a month.
He did this for a while, but a letter from his intended, Louise Frederici, encouaged him to give up driving the stage lines and return home to find another calling. In his return letter, he asked Louise to set a date for the wedding, because he had resigned as a driver for the stage line.
Bill Cody returned to St. Louis, and the wedding date was set for March 6, 1866. The wedding was a quiet and simple affair held at the home of the bride’s parents before family and a few friends.
Louise Frederici and William “Buffalo Bill” Cody were married for almost 51 years. The marriage itself was “rocky” because of the numerous separations that they endured. His life on the wild frontier, being an Army scout, supplying buffalo meat for the pioneers and military, and later producing and traveling with his “Wild West” shows, kept them apart many times. Through the years they had four children — a son and three daughters. Their son Kit Carson Cody, died at age 6. Their second daughter. Orra Maude Cody, died at age 11. Their oldest daughter, Arta Lucille cody, died at age 38, and the youngest daughter, Irma Louise Cody, died at age 35. Irma Louise was the only child to survive her famous father. Irma passed away in 1918. Louise Frederici Cody outlived all four of her children.
William “Buffalo Bill” Cody, died on January 10, 1917, and was buried atop Lookout Mountain near Golden, Jefferson Couonty, Colorado. Louise Frederici Cody, died on October 21, 1921, and was buried next to her husband.
My own family connection to Margaret Louisa Frederici, Arnold, Missouri.
Your article above sparked my interest. Here’s why:
Over the past decade I got on Ancestry.com for US Census records and also found the Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Cemetery records (cemetery located near the St. Louis Arch) and retrieved most of my family ancestry information pertinent to St. Louis and Jefferson County, Missouri.
I was born in Mankato, Minnesota, Nov. 14, 1946. As a boy growing up in the 50′s and early 60′s I listened attentively to my great aunt Zita Guth (born 1887, Mankato, Minnesota) proudly tell me her family connection to Bill Cody and Louisa Frederici:
Zita’s mother’s (Mrs. Henry Guth = Barbara nee: Braxmeier Guth) SISTER was Katharine Guth who had married Michael Frederici, a BROTHER to M. Louisa Frederici, in St. Louis, Missouri. Zita told me the immigrant Frederici family spoke both fluent French and German, if I am correct.
Yes I discovered that records show they settled at Arnold Missouri, Jefferson County in 1833… the entire pioneer family of Christopher and Elizabeth Frederici from Cappel, Lorraine, France.
Katharine and Michael Frederici lived in the German neighborhood on S. 8th Street which I discovered was a block north of the Soulard Market Stalls in St. Louis.
Finding this household was a Eureka moment for me, because I discovered that Katharine Braxmeier Frederici had her mother living there… Anna Maria Braxmeier had immigrated with her children from Gleisweiler (in what is now Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany) settling early on in Quincey, Illinois, but re-locating to St. Louis (before the Civil War, I believe). Her husband Hermann had died in Germany before her emigration. This family (household) is buried in Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Cemetery near the St. Louis Arch.
BTW–I discovered Gleisweiler is only a very short distance from Lorraine province, France.
My great aunt Zita Guth who died in Mankato, Minnesota at 97 in 1984 was the youngest sibling who never married. Her oldest sister, Mary Guth was born in St. Louis in 1866, since Henry Guth from Mankato as a harness-maker was stationed in St. Louis during the Civil War. That’s how he met Barbara Braxmeier living there as German immigrants also. After their first child (Mary) was born (1866), they moved (back for him) to Mankato, where Henry’s parents had settled from Herbolzheim, Germany around 1845. Henry Guth had immigrated as a child with his parents, Joseph and Anna, and his siblings. Henry’s parents and most of his offspring are buried in Calvary Cemetery, Mankato, Minnesota.
My own father’s (Walter Hottinger, the youngest sibling) MOTHER was Julia Guth, the middle daughter of Henry and Barbara Guth.
Stephen D. Hottinger
Springfield, Missouri
Thank you Stephen for the great information on Louisa. My Mother’s maiden name was Guth (Cornelia.) I remember reading about Bill Cody and Louisa marriage on a newspaper article at home. My family (Weldon) lived on a farm in Blakeley township. I remember visiting Zita and Mary upstairs apartment in Mankato,Mn either on top of the meat market or the jewelry store. I would visit my Grandma Anna Guth, who lived upstairs over the S&S bar where my Uncle Louis worked that was across the Hubbard Milling Company in Mankato,Mn. Thank you again for the story of Louisa.
Grandpa Louis Guth—Grandma Anna Engelen/Guth
Colleen Weldon Morrison, Belle Plaine,Mn.