May 11th was the birthday of twins in Farrar, Missouri.  There was a baby boy and and baby girl born on this day in 1886.  The boy’s name was Claus Heinrich Mangels.  The girl’s name was Maria Margaret Mangels.  Their parents were Herman and Katharina (Katt) Mangels.

What makes this set of twins more interesting is the fact that when they got married, each one of them married a Lohmann.  The two Lohmann spouses were cousins.  Claus Heinrich married Wilhelmina Josephine Lohmann.  Maria Margaret married Friedrich Emmanuel Lohmann.  Both of those marriages took place at Salem Lutheran Church in Farrar.  Emmanuel Lohmann married Maria Mangels in 1910.  Here is the record of that marriage in the Salem, Farrar church books.

It is interesting to note that Heinrich Mangels and Wilhelmina Lohmann are listed as witnesses to the wedding.  Those two would get married three years later in 1913.

Now we run into a problem.  It is a problem we have discussed previously.  Here is a photo of Maria’s tombstone in the Zion, Crosstown cemetery.

There is no problem there, but now we will look at her twin brother’s tombstone in the Salem, Farrar cemetery.

Here we see another example of a tombstone that has an incorrect birth date.  The Farrar records are very definite about these two children being twins born in 1886.  And we once again see how genealogists must be very careful about determining which type of record is the most reliable.