The birthday boy for today is Martin Theodore Oberndorfer, who was born on June 9, 1880. Theodore would be celebrating his 143rd birthday today. He was the son of Joseph and Catharine (Hacker) Oberndorfer. I wrote a post about Theodore’s parents titled, An Austrian/Bavarian Pair in Saxon Frohna. Theodore was baptized at Concordia Lutheran Church in Frohna. An image of his baptism record from that congregation’s books is pictured here.

Theodore was confirmed in 1894. His confirmation record can also be viewed.

Apparently the 1880 census was taken just before Theodore was born because he is not listed with his parents in that year’s entry. That means we have to wait until he was 19 years old before we see him in a census entry. He was working on his father’s farm in the Brazeau Township when the 1900 census was taken. You can see that he was part of a rather large Oberndorfer family. Our German Family Tree lists 10 children born to Theodore’s parents.

Theodore’s later obituary states that Theodore moved away from Frohna in 1898, which does not fit with him being found in the 1900 census for the Brazeau Township. That obituary states that he spent some time in North Dakota before moving to Montana. I was unable to find Theodore in the 1910 census. When Theodore had his World War I draft registration completed, he was living in St. Joseph, Montana. It says he was farming.

Once again, I could not find Theodore in the 1920 census. The next census in which I found him is the one taken in 1930. He was living in Lloyd, Montana and working as a farmer. Theodore is called the head of the household, which was made up of a variety of men who were all called farm laborers. At the age off 49, Theodore was still single.

Theodore got married not long after this census was taken, so let’s take a look at the woman that he would marry. Her maiden name was Alma Fredericka Wilhelmina Leverenz, who was born on December 27, 1885. Alma was the daughter of John and Fredericka (Anders) Leverenz. She was born in Danville, Illinois. That is where we find her in her first census in 1900. She was called Emma in this entry, and she was 15 years old.

Alma Leverenz married George Stuebe on October 18, 1907 in Chicago. An Illinois marriage record for that occasion is shown here.

In the 1910 census, we find the Stuebe’s living in Danville where George was a carpenter. There were 2 children in their family.

A few major changes occurred in the next decade for the Stuebe’s. They not only moved to the state of Montana, but George had changed from being a carpenter to being a farmer. We see evidence of that in George’s World War I draft registration.

The Stuebe’s are found in the 1920 census living in the McCone County of Montana. George was a farmer. There were 3 Stuebe children in the household.

George Stuebe died in 1927 at the age of 41. We can take a look at his Montana death certificate.

Alma Stuebe was a widow when the 1930 census was taken. She was living in Lloyd, Montana in the Henry Miller household. Alma was called a cook. This census entry is found on the page right before the one that included Theodore Oberndorfer shown earlier.

Henry Miller and one of his brothers operated the Miller Brothers Land & Livestock Company. An article published online tells the story of this company which started in 1892. You can read it here…https://montanacowboyfame.org/inductees/2015/4/miller-brothers-land-livestock.

Theodore Oberndorfer married Alma Stuebe on February 9, 1932. A Montana marriage record for this pair is displayed here. The wedding was conducted by Rev. M.A.W. Cohrs in Chinook, Montana.

This couple likely were married at Zion Lutheran Church in Chinook, which was established in 1913. Here is a recent photo of that church.

The map below illustrates where Chinook and Lloyd, Montana are located. The boundary right above Chinook is the Canadian border.

Theodore and Alma are found in the 1940 census where it says Theodore was a foreman for a ranch. Several other workers on the ranch are found in their census entry.

Alma Oberndorfer died in 1941 at the age of 55. We can take a look at her Montana death certificate. Apparently, she had some kind of accident that involved some broken bones.

Theodore had a World War II draft card completed in 1942. He was employed by the Henry Miller company. Theodore’s younger brother, Walter, who was living in Sylvan Grove, Kansas, was listed as the person who would always know his address.

Theodore is found as a widower in the 1950 census. He is called a ranch hand and listed amongst many other men who were also ranch hands.

A note on the top of this census page indicates that these people were working for the Miller Bros. Corp.

Theodore Oberndorfer died in 1975 at the age of 94. We can also look at his Montana death certificate.

An obituary for Theodore was published in a local newspaper.

Theodore and Alma Oberndorfer are each buried in the Kuper Memorial Cemetery in Chinook.

A well-known local character here in East Perry County is also named Theodore Oberndorfer. I am guessing that he may have been named after his Montana relative. However, no one around here calls him Theodore or even Ted. They call him “Tater”. This comes from the old German pronunciation of Theodore which would sound like “tay-oh-door”. I understand that Tater’s father also spent some time in Montana.