George Bingenheimer was born on March 31, 1861, so today would have been his 159th birthday.  We do not have a baptism record for George, but there are a few documents that say he was born in Cape Girardeau County.  For what it’s worth, bingen means “bang” and heimer means “home” according to Google Translate.

Before we discuss George’s life, let’s take a look at his father, another George Bingenheimer and his wife, Elizabeth Reinemer.  George, Sr. arrived in America with his parents and a few siblings aboard the ship, Jaque Lafette, in 1848.  George was 11 years old.

Several years later, in 1853, Elizabeth Reinemer arrived in the United States with her family aboard the Adonis.  Elizabeth was 15 years old.

On January 6, 1859, George Bingenheimer married Elizabeth Reinemer.  Their marriage record shows them getting married in Perry County.  This was actually a double wedding.  Elizabeth’s brother was also married on that day.

We seem to have another one of those cases in which our German Family Tree is in conflict with some other evidence.  The GFT says Elizabeth Reinemer was born on March 31, 1838.  If that was so, then George, Jr. was born on her birthday.  However, her gravestone says she was born on May 31st.

Elizabeth Bingenheimer’s death certificate also gives the May 31st date of birth.

Let’s return to George, Jr.  The first census in which we find him shows him living in Cinque Hommes Township in Perry County.  George was the firstborn in that family.

We find the Bingenheimer family in a different location in the 1880 census.  They were then living in Cape Girardeau County in the Apple Creek Township.

Now, we will take a look at the early life of George’s wife, Marie Mathilda Elbrecht.  Most documents refer to her as Mathilda, so that is what I will call her.  She was born on February 10, 1866, the daughter of Charles and Wilhelmine (Sewing) Elbrecht.  In a family book we have, cleverly called the Sewing Circle, there is a mention of Mathilda being born in Arnsburg, Missouri.  In the 1870 census, we find her and her family living in the Apple Creek Township.  Mathilda was 4 years old.

We find Mathilda in the same location in the 1880 census.

That brings us to the time when George Bingenheimer and Mathilda Elbrecht got married on May 12, 1887.  Their marriage license says both of them were from Cape Girardeau County.

When I saw that the pastor on this license was a Rev. Meyr, I then discovered that he was a pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Friedheim, Missouri which is located in Cape Girardeau County.  That got me to look in the church records we now have for that congregation.  Those records will eventually show up in our German Family Tree.  I hit paydirt in those books.  Here is that church record.

George and Mathilda, according to our GFT, had six children, and all of them were girls.  This image from Ancestry.com shows the names of those girls along with their mother at the top.

A few days ago, in a post about a Thauwald family, I pointed out that they had four girls whose names all ended with an “a”.  We see the same thing in the above list.  Even the mother had an “a” at the end.

The Bingenheimer couple can be found in every census from 1900 to 1940 living in the Cinque Hommes Township in Perry County.  We also find this family’s records in the books of Zion Lutheran Church in Longtown.  Here is the 1900 census.  Five of the six girls are displayed.

The last girl was born in 1905, so she joins the group of George’s girls in the 1910 census.  We find Mathilda’s cousin, Oscar Elbrecht, living in their household as a farm laborer.  With only young girls in his household, it makes sense that George may have needed some help on his farm.

Next, we find this family in the 1920 census.

Here is the 1930 census.  Three of the daughters never married.

The last census we can view was the one taken in 1940.

Mathilda Bingenheimer died in August of that census year, 1940, at the age of 74.   We have her death certificate.

George Bingenheimer died in 1944 at the age of 83.  We can also view his death certificate.

George and Mathilda are buried together in the Zion Lutheran Cemetery in Longtown.

The research on this story enabled me to get a better understanding of the Bingenheimer name.  That name has not shown up much on this blog.  There are quite a few folks with this surname in our German Family Tree.  Today’s Bingenheimer family is pretty much the only family found in the Longtown church.  Most of the others can be found at Grace Lutheran Church in Uniontown.  So, I think I’m going to call George’s family the Longtown Bingenheimers.  Too bad that surname died in his branch because he had all those girls.