We have another 125th birthday to celebrate today. Meta Mathilde Bingenheimer was born on August 25, 1897, the daughter of William and Martha (Bodenschatz) Bingenheimer. A previous post was written about Meta’s parents. That post had a similar sounding title to the one for this post, except it had a bunch of “B” words, not “M” words. That post was Bingenheimer and His Bodenschatz Bride. For some reason, you will see Meta’s name given as Mabel on some documents. She was the firstborn of 8 children born into her family. She was baptized at Grace Lutheran Church in Uniontown. Meta’s baptism record from that congregation’s books is pictured below. Two names above Meta’s, you will see the record for Bertha Bingenheimer, and her father’s name was also William Bingenheimer. Bertha was born the day before Meta. What are the chances that two girls, both with the same father’s name, William Bingenheimer, being born one day apart and baptized at the same congregation?

Meta shows up in her first census in 1900 when she was 2 years old. Already at a very young age, she is called Mabel. Her father was a farmer in the Apple Creek Township.

A later plat map shows the William Bingenheimer farm being located near the town of Appleton and very close to the Apple Creek.

Next, we find Meta in the 1910 census. Her family had gotten considerably larger during the previous decade.

Meta got married before the next census, so let’s take a look at the man who would become her husband. His name was Martin Immanuel Meyr, who was born on March 20, 1893. Martin was the son of Amos and Mary (Mirly) Meyr. I located this photo of Martin’s parents.

The story of Amos and Mary was told in the post, Meyr and Mirly Mates, which is another title that sounds like today’s. Martin was baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in New Wells. We can take a look at his baptism record.

Martin is found in the 1900 census at the age of 7. Martin’s father was a stone mason in the Shawnee Township.

When the 1910 census was taken, Martin was no longer living with his parents. He was a farm laborer in the Henry Detjen household at the age of 17. If you look again at Martin’s baptism record, you will note that Henry Detjen was one of his sponsors.

Martin had a World War I draft registration completed just before he got married in 1917. He is called a merchant and assistant postmaster living in New Wells. Perhaps he was involved in helping with the Schuppan Store in that town.

On November 18, 1917, Martin Meyr married Meta Bingenheimer at Grace Lutheran Church in Uniontown. It was the only marriage recorded in Grace’s books during 1917.

We can also view the marriage license for this couple.

Our German Family Tree lists 6 children born to Martin and Meta. The first 5 were baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in New Wells. The last one, who was born in 1935, was baptized at Zion Lutheran Church in Pocahontas. One child was born before the 1920 census. Martin is called a merchant in a general store in that year’s census entry.

When the 1930 census was taken, we find 5 children in the Meyr household.

Before the next census was taken, the Meyr’s moved to Pocahontas, where Martin operated his own store. One of his sons, Paul Meyr, was a clerk in that store. The Meyr’s last child had been born in 1935, so this entry includes all 6 of their children.

In 1942, Martin had a World War II draft card completed. This form says his business was called the Meyr’s Store.

The last census we can view including the Meyr’s was the one taken in 1950. Martin was called a store operator, and two of his children were clerks in his store.

Martin Meyr died in 1955 at the age of 61. His death certificate indicates that heart problems led to his death.

Meta Meyr died in 1976 at the age of 78. We are not able to view her death certificate yet. Both Martin and Meta are buried in the Zion Lutheran Cemetery in Pocahontas.

I would sure like to see photos of the businesses that once operated in the town of Pocahontas. I keep finding evidence of stores and other businesses that operated there, but photos of them seem few and far between. I would have loved to display a photo of the Meyr’s Store that Martin and his family ran.

I guess I have always enjoyed alliterations. If you’re are a regular reader of this blog, you have seen several titles with alliterations. I am always on the lookout for stories like the one today that has a lot of “M” names in it. Meyr, Mirly, Martin, Meta, Martha, and Mary, along with occupations like merchant and mason provided me with a myriad of “M’s”.