The story you will read today is one in which a man is born and raised in this area and later leaves and lives much of his life in Nebraska. He would come back to this area for a while, only to return to Nebraska, and then reappear around here to spend his last years back in Perry County. That man is also today’s birthday boy…maybe.

According to our German Family Tree, Martin Roth was born on November 10, 1891. He was the son of August and Paulina (Hoffmann) Roth and his baptism record is found in the books of Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg. However, his record seems to be inserted into those books after some other baptisms were recorded. It looks like an afterthought. It also includes no sponsors.

It is a Perry County birth record that casts some doubt onto Martin’s birth date. It states that he was born on November 11th, not November 10th. I have to display this record in two images. This document indicates that the Roth family was living in or near Wittenberg when Martin was born.

Based on the fact that Martin’s WWI and WWII draft registrations, his death certificate, and his gravestone all indicate a November 10th birthday, I think the above Perry County birth record is the one that is incorrect.

Martin’s father was born and raised in around New Wells in Cape Girardeau County. Apparently, by the time that Martin shows up in his first census in 1900, his family had moved to Apple Creek Township in the New Wells area. Martin was 8 years old in this entry.

When the 1910 census was taken, Martin was not living with his parents. I looked for Martin in Cape Girardeau County, Perry County, and even Nebraska censuses, but was unsuccessful. I do not know where he was living at that time in his life. The next document I can display is his World War I draft registration which was completed in 1917. It says he was living in Beemer, Nebraska which is in Cuming County and working as a farm hand for W.C. Wiehe.

Martin must have moved back with his parents who were then living in Shawnee Township in Cape Girardeau County when the 1920 census was taken. Once again, Martin almost looks like an afterthought here. He is listed at the bottom of the household, not in chronological birth order.

Later in 1920, Martin got married. Our German Family Tree says he was married on September 20th. Several family trees on Ancestry,com state he was married on September 28th. None of these places give documentation for this wedding. Let’s take a look at Martin’s bride.

Marie Pagels was born on January 6, 1901, the daughter of Fred and Bertha (Werbeloh) Pagels. The photos below of Marie’s parents are said to have been taken around 1895.

It is somewhat debatable where Marie was born, but by 1910, we find her family living in Barneston, Nebraska.

We have this photograph of Marie taken at the time of her confirmation.

By the time of her wedding in 1920, Maria’s family was living in Cuming County, Nebraska. It seems obvious to me that Martin met Marie when he was working for Mr. Wiehe around the time of World War I.

This Pagels family has shown up on this blog in the past. In a post titled, Farrar Off to the Potter’s Field, it told the story of a Perry County native, Edwin Aurich, who married Martha Pagels, the sister of Marie. So, you could say that both Mary and Martha from this Pagels family married men who were born in Perry County, Missouri.

Depending on which family tree you trust on Ancestry, this couple had 6 or 7 children. We find this household living in the Elkhorn Township of Cuming County in Nebraska in the 1930 census. Martin was a farmer, and they had their first two children.

I think the photo below must have been taken at about the time of the above census.

When the 1940 census was taken, we find that Martin and Marie must have moved their family back to Perry County. They were living in Perryville where Martin was working at a tavern. There were 6 children in their household. Since even their youngest child was born in Nebraska, the family must have been newly arrived in Perryville not long before this census.

We have another family photo taken later in Martin’s life.

Martin Roth had his World War II draft card completed in 1942.

Martin died in 1960 at the age of 68. His death certificate states that he was employed by the Mississippi Lime Company.

I am also able to display Martin’s obituary.

Marie Roth died in 1986 at the age of 85. She died too recently for us to view her death certificate. Martin and Marie Roth are buried together in the Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery in Perryville, Missouri.

The story of Martin Roth is one that takes us back and forth between Missouri and Nebraska. The area in Nebraska is a place where several Perry County natives settled in the early 1900’s. Quite a few stories of those people have already been told on this blog. A few of these stories are like the one you read today, where a person returned to Perry County after spending several years in Nebraska. Others stayed in that area of Nebraska for the rest of their lives.