You’ve heard that cats have nine lives. I found a story today in which a Katt has two wives. One of those wives is today’s birthday girl. I will begin by looking at her early years.

Maria Theresia Lorenz was born on October 16, 1856, making today her 165th birthday. Theresia was the daughter of August and Justine (Franke) Lorenz. In 1854, there had been a double marriage consisting of two Lorenz’s and two Franke’s getting hitched. That story was told in the post, Lorenz/Franke x 2. Below is a photograph of Theresia’s parents.

Theresia was the second child in her Lorenz family. Theresia and her older sister were baptized at Grace Lutheran Church in Uniontown, but after those two, the rest were baptized at Salem Lutheran Church in Farrar. Here is an image of Theresia’s baptism record from Grace, Uniontown.

The 1870 census shows Theresia at the age of 14. Her father was a farmer.

Theresia would marry Barthold Katt in 1877, so let’s take a look at him. Barthold Katt was born on July 16, 1852 in Lamstedt, Germany. His parents were Johann and Gesche (Pulsch) Katt. I managed to find a transcription of his baptism record from Germany.

In 1869, Barthold made the voyage to America aboard the ship, Donau. This list says he was 18 years old, but I think he was just 17. This ship had a few other passengers who made their way to Perry County, Missouri.

Barthold Katt married Theresia Lorenz on February 7, 1877. The church record for this wedding is found in the books of Salem Lutheran Church in Farrar.

We can also take a look at a civil marriage record for this occasion from Perry County.

Sadly, this marriage did not last long. Theresia died in 1878 at the age of 21 before she had any children. Her death record is in the books of Salem, Farrar. Findagrave.com says she is buried in that church’s cemetery, but there is no gravestone photo.

Now, let’s take a look at Barthold’s second wife. Her name was Anna Maria Sticht, who was born on September 18, 1858 in Germany. She was the daughter of John and Margaret (Mangels) Sticht. According to several census records, Anna arrived in America in 1867. We find her in the 1870 census for Brazeau Township.

Barthold Katt married Anna Sticht on March 15, 1879. This marriage also took place at Salem Lutheran Church in Farrar. The record for that marriage in that church’s books is not far below the record of Barthold’s previous marriage.

An image of this pair’s civil marriage record from Perry County is also available.

Included in our German Family Tree are 9 children born to this couple. One died quite early, and another was stillborn. The baptisms all took place at Concordia Lutheran Church in Frohna. When the 1880 census was taken, we find this family living in the Union Township before any of those children were born. Barthold was a farmer.

Twenty years passed before we can view another census in 1900. There were 5 children in their household.

One more child was born after the above census. Next, we find the Katt family in the 1910 census. A few of the sons were old enough to be helping on the farm.

The plat maps made in 1915 show the Katt farm located not far from the town of Brazeau.

The census taken in 1920 would be the last one in which we find Barthold Katt. Their son, Martin, is called the head of the household that still includes some of Martin’s other siblings.

Barthold Katt died in 1927 at the age of 74. We can take a look at his death certificate.

Anna Katt is found in two more census records, and in both, her son, Martin is the head of the household. Martin never married. Here is the one taken in 1930.

Finally, here is the one taken in 1940.

Anna Katt died in 1942 at the age of 83. It makes sense that Martin Katt is the informant on her death certificate.

Barthold and Anna Katt are each buried in the Concordia Lutheran Cemetery in Frohna.

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The arrival of Barthold in Perry County is the beginning of the surname, Katt, in this area. I understand there are still some Katt’s around here to this day.