Martha Sophia Adelheid Heins was born on March 9, 1876, making today her 145th birthday. Although Martha had two sisters and only one brother that lived to adulthood, her later life would be dominated by boys and men. Her husband was part of a family made up of mostly men, and her children were almost all boys.

I have to do a bit of explaining with regard to Martha’s parents, Claus and Metta (Reese) Heins. Our German Family Tree probably needs to be corrected because it states that Martha’s mother was Mette Steffens, not Metta Reese. Over three years ago, I wrote a post titled, Another Gerd from Lamstedt, I explained this situation, but I will quickly summarize it again. Metta Reese came to America on the same ship as Claus Steffens. The Perry County marriage record shown below is one that I think documents the marriage of Claus Steffens and Metta Reese. That marriage took place on January 2, 1868.

Another document that was not mentioned in that post was a probate record for Claus Steffens that says he died in December of 1869.

After her husbands’ death, Metta married another Claus. That was Claus Heins, the father of Martha, today’s birthday girl. The Perry County marriage record for Metta and Claus is shown here. They were married in 1870.

This explains why our GFT says Martha’s mother had the maiden name of Metta Steffens, not Metta Reese.

Let’s return to the story of today’s birthday girl. Martha was baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg, Missouri. Her baptism record contains another mystery. As stated before, she was named Martha Sophia Adelheid Heins. However, for some reason, her middle names are crossed out and replaced with the names Sophie Adele.

Martha is found in the 1880 census when she was 4 years old. On this entry, her mother is also called Martha, not Metta. Her father was a farmer.

That would be the only census in which we find Martha as a single person, so we will turn our attention to her future husband. His name was Jacob Gotthilf Kaufmann, the son of George and Regina (Goethe) Kaufmann. Regina was the sister of Justine (Goethe) Grebing, who was the subject of a post written recently, Justine’s Bicentennial Jubilee. The Kaufmann family had 9 children according to our GFT (although I think there might have been more) and 8 of them were boys. Gotthilf was the 8th of those 9 children. He was also the younger brother of Ferdinand Kaufmann, who was the father of Eda, the subject of another recent post, These Bucks Stop Here. Gotthild Kaufmann was born on January 4, 1866 and also baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg. Here is an image of his baptism record.

Gotthilf can be found in the 1870 census at the age of 5, although I think he was only 4. The rather large Kaufmann family spills over two census pages. There is a mystery here because I do not find an Ernst or Lena (the 21 and 23 year-olds found in this list) in our GFT.

We can find Gotthilf again in the 1880 census at the age of 14.

On November 13, 1895, Gotthilf Kaufmann married Martha Heins at Trinity Lutheran Church. We can view the church record for this wedding.

We can also take a look at this couple’s marriage license.

Gotthilf and Martha would have 7 children. Their first child would be their only girl, followed by 6 straight boys. One of the boys would die as an infant. Only their girl is found in the 1900 census. Three of Gotthilf’s older brothers were also found in their household as well as a farm laborer, Martin Schirmer. Both of Gotthilf’s parents had died before this census.

Next, we find the Kaufmann family in the 1910 census with 5 children. Gotthilf’s brother, Carl, was living with them along with a teenager by the name of Otto Weber who was a farm laborer.

The 1915 plat maps show the G. Kaufmann farm located just south of the town of Altenburg.

One more boy was born in 1913, so we find the following Kaufmann household in 1920. Martha was called Mollie in this entry.

The last census in which we find Gotthilf Kaufmann was the one taken in 1930. Martha is shown as being 45 years old, but she was actually 54.

Gotthilf Kaufmann died in 1938 at the age of 72. His death certificate is displayed below.

I looked for Martha in the 1940 census for Brazeau Township, but could not find her. I found an interesting census record from Alemeda, California which shows a Martha Kaufmann who is the right age and is said to have been born in Missouri, but I cannot explain why Gotthilf’s wife would be living there. I don’t know if this is the same Martha Kaufmann.

Martha Kaufmann died at St. Francis Hospital in Cape Girardeau in 1949. Her death certificate says she was 72 years old when she died.

Gotthilf and Martha Kaufmann are each buried in the Trinity Lutheran Cemetery in Altenburg.

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I am sometimes amazed by the times when I find a story that later ties into another recent post on this blog. In the case of Martha Heins, I found two such connections to recent posts. It’s almost as if it’s an act of God. Also, I might point out that between Gotthilf’s brothers and his sons, plenty of Kaufmann’s were found around here for generations to come.