Martin Hellwege was the 5th child of Henry Hellwege and his 4th wife, Friedericke Winter. A previous story was written about Martin’s father and his 4 wives titled, The Fourth Marriage. You are going to discover that Martin would be another Hellwege who would have more than one wife.

Martin Theodor Hellwege was born on June 16, 1866. He was baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg. We can take a look at his baptism record from that church’s books.

Martin is found as a 5 year-old in the 1870 census. The Hellwege household was quite large, spilling over two census pages. Martin’s father was called both a farmer and a carpenter.

The only other census in which we find Martin as a single man was the one taken in 1880.

The first woman to become Martin’s wife was Ida Anna Muster. It is Ida’s birthday that led me to this story. She was born on July 29, 1872, so today would be a very special birthday for her. She would be 150 years old today if she was still alive. Ida was the daughter of Heinrich and Maria (Amsler) Muster, who were from Cape Girardeau, Missouri. Ida is found in the 1880 census at the age of 7. Her father was a miller.

Ida was married prior to marrying Martin Hellwege. Her first husband was Henry Sander. Family histories on Ancestry.com claim this couple had 5 children, 3 of which died very early. I ran across a photo of this couple.

Henry Sander died in 1897 and was buried in the Zion Lutheran Cemetery in Gordonville.

Martin Hellwege married Ida (Muster) Sander on January 22, 1899. This wedding took place at Zion Lutheran Church in Gordonville, Missouri. Below is a transcription of that marriage record.

The marriage license for this couple is shown below.

We find Martin and Ida in the Hubble Township when the 1900 census was taken, so it looks like Martin moved to the Gordonville area. Two Sander sons and one new Hellwege son were included in this household. A boarder by the name of Benjamin Oberndorfer was also living with them. Martin was a farmer.

There are different listings of children born to Martin Hellwege in family histories. I choose to go with the ones given by our friend, Diane Anderson. She lists 5 children born to Martin and Ida, although I think it’s safe to say that there were at least 5 children. It looks as if their firstborn son shown in the above census, Albert, likely died before the 1910 census was taken. Four Hellwege daughters are included in this family, along with the Sander sons.

After this census was taken, Ida died during that year, 1910, at the age of 37. Peritonitis is given as the cause of death on her death certificate. It also gives indication that she died at St. Francis Hospital in Cape Girardeau, and the doctor who signed this document, G.B. Schultz, has had his story told on this blog.

Like her first husband, Ida was buried in the Zion Lutheran Cemetery in Gordonville.

Martin would get married again. His second wife was Nina Maude Summers, who was born on May 31, 1889. Nina was the daughter of Franklin and Marie (Knupp) Summers. Her later death certificate says she was born in Burfordsville, Missouri. The 1900 census shows the Summers household living in the Kinder Township of Cape Girardeau County.

Next, we find this Summers family in the 1910 census. You can see that Nina was also part of a large family.

A year later, Martin Hellwege married Nina Summers on August 17, 1911. Like his first marriage, this wedding also took place at Zion, Gordonville. Here is that church record.

Below is the marriage license for this pair.

Diane Anderson lists 10 more children born to Martin and Nina. We find the Hellwege family in the 1920 census living in the Shawnee Township, and Martin was still farming.

During the time when Martin lived in the Shawnee Township, some children were baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in New Wells and some at Zion Lutheran Church in Pocahontas. Next, we find the Hellwege’s in the 1930 census. They had moved to Cape Girardeau where Martin was doing odd jobs.

The last census in which we find Martin was the one taken in 1940. Martin is said to be a common laborer for the Cape S.R. Dist.

Martin Hellwege died in 1942 at the age of 75. His death certificate says he died of stomach cancer.

I think it is likely that the photograph shown below of Nina Hellwege at Christmas time was taken after Martin’s death.

Nina Hellwege is found in the 1950 census as a widow. She was living with her son, Norman. His occupation helps explain Martin’s earlier employment. It says he was working for the Special Road District.

Nina Hellwege died in 1951 at the age of 62. Her death certificate states that she was at the Cape Osteopathic Hospital when she died. Nina is one of those rare people who was born and died on the same day.

I found this transcription of Nina’s obituary.

Martin and Nina Hellwege are buried together in the New Lorimer Cemetery in Cape Girardeau. Martin’s birthday is given as June 15th on his gravestone, not June 16th.

Martin was another one of those very prolific fathers. Between his two wives, he sired at least 15 children. That does not even include the two sons that became part of his family from his first wife’s 1st marriage. I’m sure there are plenty of folks that can claim Martin Hellwege as one of their ancestors.