Lydia Bachmann was born on March 31, 1894, so today would have been her 125th birthday.  Lydia would later marry Theodore Mangels, but as it turns out, we have to be very careful to make sure we identify the correct Theodore Mangels because there were two of them.  But first, let’s take a look at Lydia’s origins.

Lydia was the daughter of Eduard and Mathilde (Eggers) Bachmann.  She was baptized at Salem Lutheran Church in Farrar, Missouri.  Below is her baptism record.

The first census in which we find Lydia was that 1900 census which is notoriously hard to read.  This particular entry is better than most.

As mentioned, there were two men named Theodore Mangels, and they were cousins.  The first to be born was Theodore Benjamin Mangels, who was the son of Gerhardt and Martha (von Glahn) Mangels.  He was born on July 14, 1887.  However, this is not the Theodore that became the husband of Lydia Bachmann.  This Theodore married Flora Palisch in 1910.  Here is a wedding photo of that couple.

The other Theodore was Theodore Martin Mangels.  He was the son of Herman and Katharina (Katt) Mangels.  His birthday was May 10, 1889.  He was baptized at Salem, Farrar.  Here we have his baptism record.

The fathers of these two Theodore’s were brothers, so the two Theodore’s were cousins.  I suppose if there were family reunions, these two may have been referred to each other differently.  Maybe one was called Theo and the other Ted.

We find Theodore M. Mangels in the 1900 census for Salem Township, but it is a rather curious entry.  We find him living with his sister, Anna, and her husband, Claus Luehrs.  Theodore was just 11 years old and going to school, but for some reason, he is not living with his own parents.

When the 1910 census was taken, we find that Theodore was back living with his parents.  We also find Lydia on the same page.  The Claus Luehrs household in which Theodore had been living is found in between Theodore and Lydia.

On May 4, 1913, Theodore Martin and Lydia were married at Salem Lutheran Church.  Sadly, Theodore’s father, Herman, died about two months before this wedding.  Below is the church record for this marriage.

We also have this wedding photograph.

The land atlas produced in 1915 shows a piece of property in the Farrar area labeled as belonging to Theo Mangels.

I am almost certain that this is the farm owned by Theodore Martin Mangels.  Theodore Benjamin Mangels is shown to be living in the Brazeau Township at this time.  We can also see that the Claus Luehrs family that was mentioned earlier was a neighbor.

When the time came for Theodore to register for the World War I draft, the form shown below was completed.

Theodore was a farmer throughout his lifetime.  Our German Family Tree shows this family having 8 children.  Their last child was born in 1939 when Lydia was well into her 40’s.  Their two oldest children, both boys, are buried in Nebraska.  Two of their girls married Versemann’s, but they were not brothers.

Theodore’s World War II draft card is shown below.

Theodore died in 1957 at the age of 68.  Below is his death certificate.

Lydia died one year later in 1958 at the age of 64.  We also have her death certificate.

Lydia and Theodore are both buried in the Salem Lutheran Cemetery in Farrar.

This marriage between a Mangels and a Bachmann brought together two surnames that take up quite a few pages in our German Family Tree.  When you have such a scenerio, care must be taken to confirm that you are identifying the right individuals.