A search on our blog for the surname, Burfeind, produces 14 results, so today’s Burfeind story is by far not the first one describing this family. You are going to discover that this story got its beginning with the birthday of the first wife of today’s Burfeind. So, we will begin with her.

Catherine Margaretha Roth was born on January 14, 1844, making today her 178th birthday. Margaret was the daughter of Johann George and Margaretha (Burkhardt) Roth. That Roth family arrived in Perry County in 1839 as part of the New York Group. They arrived in this area with 4 children, and then had 6 more. Margaret was the 3rd child born in this county, and her baptism record is included in the books of Grace Lutheran Church in Uniontown. Below is an image of her baptism record in two images.

The rather large Roth household is found in the 1850 census living in the Brazeau Township. Margaret is 6 years old at the time, and her father was a farmer.

Before the time of her confirmation, Margaret’s family had moved to the Frohna neighborhood. She was confirmed at Concordia Lutheran Church in Frohna in 1857.

The 1860 census shows Margaret as being 16 years old.

Now, we need to discuss the early life of the man that Margaret would marry. His name was Barthold Burfeind, who was born on December 8, 1841 in Lamstedt, Germany. I am able to show a transcription of his baptism record from Germany.

On a later census record, it says Barthold came to America in 1850, but I could find no evidence of that. I do know that some other members of his family ended up in Perry County, and there is a death record for a younger brother of Barthold in the books of Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg. It says he died in 1851.

Barthold Burfeind is found in the 1860 census for St. Louis. He was there because he was attending Concordia Seminary and studying for the ministry. The Lochner above his name, and the Markworth below it, are also young men connected to the Lutherans in Perry County.

Barthold Burfeind married Margaret Roth on November 10, 1864. It is interesting that a church record for this wedding is in the church books of Trinity, Altenburg and Concordia, Frohna. I find it interesting for a variety of reasons. First of all, it is unusual for someone to have a church record for the same wedding in the books of two congregations. The other reason for it being unusual is that, because it took place in 1864, that was the year that Rev. J.F. Koestering showed up on the scene in Perry County. When he first arrived, he was serving both Trinity, Altenburg and Concordia, Frohna. That makes finding his church marriage record in both congregation’s books make sense, except for the fact that Rev. Koestering has received the reputation as being the pastor responsible for the “Koestering Hole”. Marriage and death records for both congregations are missing during his time in Perry County. That makes it more astounding that it looks like he recorded this particular wedding twice. First, here is the record found in the Trinity, Altenburg books. This record only has the bride and groom’s names and the date of the wedding.

Next, here is the record from Concordia, Frohna. Based on the fact that the Roth’s were members of Concordia at this time, I think this is the church at which the marriage took place.

We can also take a look at the Perry County civil marriage record for this pair. You should be able to locate Rev. Koestering’s name on this form.

Barthold and Margaret did not have any children as far as I can tell. It was not long after their marriage that Margaret died. There is no death record for her in local church books. That is not surprising. If she died in Perry County, Rev. Koestering would not have recorded it. It is actually likely that she did not die around here because Barthold Burfeind had become a pastor and was serving somewhere else. I think it is also possible that Margaret might have died in childbirth, with both her and the baby dying.

What we do know is that Barthold married again in 1867. He was married in Adams County, Illinois on June 20, 1867. His second wife was Louisa Weinreich. Here is a transcription of his Illinois marriage record.

I certainly have been running across stories about people whose surnames include “Wein” lately. In the last week, I have published posts about Weinkein, Weinrich, Weinhold, and now Weinreich. Louisa Weinrich was born on March 23, 1849 in Germany, the daughter of Christian and Marie (Rippel) Weinreich. Later census records indicate that she came to America in 1852 or 1854. I was unable to find Louisa in an 1860 census, but I did find some evidence that there were some Weinreich’s living in Adams County in 1870.

According to a family tree on Ancestry.com, Barthold and Louise had 10 children. The first 2 children are said to have been born in Adams County, Illinois, but the rest were born in Cook County, where Chicago is located. Rev. Burfeind can be found in a gallery of pastors who served St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church in Lemont, Illinois. It says he served that congregation from 1889-1895. Rev. Koch was tied to the Buenger/Loeber family tree, and Rev. Querl had his story told on this blog in the post, Pastor Q.

Unfortunately, I could not find a census entry for the Burfeind’s until the census taken in 1900. In that entry, we find 6 children in the household.

Rev. Barthold Burfeind died in 1903 at the age of 62. Below is an Illinois death record for him.

Louise Burfeind is found in the 1910 census for Chicago. In her household, you find several of her children, including Clara, who had married Charles Clapper. There were also two boarders.

At the age of 70, we once again find Louise in a census entry in Chicago that includes a few other family members and other roomers.

Louise Burfeind died in 1925 at the age of 76. We can take a look at her Illinois death record. It includes her father’s name and her mother’s maiden name.

Rev. Barthold and Louise Burfeind were buried in the Bethania Cemetery in Chicago.

Pastor Burfeind did not spend much time in East Perry County, but he still qualifies to be added to a list of full-time church workers that came from here.