Martin Peter Bachmann was born on October 15, 1870.  A year from today, he will be celebrating his 150th birthday, but I don’t feel like waiting till next year to write his story.  You get it today.  According to a family book we have that was put together by Wayne Schuessler, it indicates that Martin went by the name “Pete”, but I see no records that indicate this.  Martin was the son of Heinrich and Ernestine (Koenig) Bachmann.  Our German Family Tree includes 10 children in this Bachmann family.  One was a stillborn that was not identified as being a male or female.  Another one was a foster daughter named Rosalia Upton whose story was told in the post titled, Rosalia’s Story.  The rest of the Bachmann children were all boys, and Martin was one of the youngest.  Martin was baptized at Salem Lutheran Church in Farrar, Missouri.  Below is his baptism record.

I must add here that there is some question about whether Martin was actually born on October 15th.  The above record certainly says so, but his death certificate and gravestone show his birth date to be October 8th.

 

A Missouri state census was taken in 1876, and we find Martin in it as a 6 year-old.

Four years later, Martin is found in the 1880 census for Salem Township.

By the time the next census in which we can find Martin was taken in 1900, he was married.  His bride was Gesche Martha Steffens.  His marriage took place on November 1, 1894.  Here is this couple’s marriage license.

Let’s take a look at Martha Steffens.  She was born on November 2, 1872.  A few days ago, I told a story in which I said the bride would have woken up on the day after her wedding saying “Happy Birthday” to her new husband.  In Martha’s case, it would be Martin who would wake up on the day after their wedding to wish his new bride a “Happy Birthday”.  Martha was the daughter of Michael and Hedwig (Katt) Steffens, and she was baptized at Salem Lutheran Church in Farrar.  Below is her baptism record.

Like her husband, Martha was first found in the Missouri 1876 state census.

Then we find Martha in the 1880 census.

That leads us back once again to her marriage in 1894.  We also have this couple’s marriage record from the books of Salem Lutheran Church in Farrar.

We also have the wedding photo of Martin and Martha.  Martha is wearing what I refer to as a black and white wedding dress.

This couple had 5 children, all of which lived long, complete lives.  Their first three children were baptized at Salem, Farrar, but their fourth child who was born in 1903, was baptized at Zion Lutheran Church in Crosstown, Missouri.  We find this family in the 1900 census in which we see the first two of these children.  That 1900 census for Salem Township is notorious for being so difficult to read.

The 1910 census shows all five children.

In the 1915 plat maps for Perry County, we find a parcel of land owned by Martin Bachmann.  It is a map that was edited by Wayne Schuessler when he included it in one of his guest blogs.  It shows several pieces of land owned by Bachmann’s.  Martin’s land is colored in yellow on this image.

Martin died at a rather early age.  He was just 47 years old.  He died in 1918.  We have his death certificate.

Martha never remarried and remained a widow for the rest of her life.  In the 1920 census, we see that she is still raising some of her children.

The 1930 census shows Martha living in a household headed by her son, Alfred Bachmann.

Then in the 1940 census, Martha is basically living in the same household, but she is described as the head of that household.

Martha Bachmann died in 1951 at the age of 78.  Here is her death certificate.

Martin and Martha Bachmann are both buried in the Zion Lutheran Cemetery in Crosstown, Missouri.

Because there were so many male Bachmann’s, there are plenty of descendants in our German Family Tree with that surname.  Just this Heinrich Bachmann family stretches out for several pages in that document.  That sometimes makes it a challenge.  In today’s case, I had to be careful because today’s Martha Bachmann wasn’t the only Martha Bachmann.  Today’s Martha is buried in the Zion, Crosstown cemetery, while the other is buried in the Salem, Farrar cemetery.  Not only that, there is also a Martha Steffens who is buried in the Salem cemetery.  Thou must be careful.