There is a bit of debate over a birth date today. I almost wrote this story yesterday because our German Family Tree says a baby girl was born on June 12th. However, after taking a quick look at some of the resources, I concluded that there is a better chance that this baby was born on June 13th, so I decided to publish this story today. As it turns out, there is some debate about the birth date of the groom in this story also.
Margaretha Hellwege was born on June 13, 1851, so if I have the date of birth correct, today would be her 172nd birthday. Margaret was the daughter of Johann and Catherine (Martins) Hellwege. I am able to display her baptism record from the parish located in Mulsum, Germany, which is located not far from Bremerhaven in the northern part of that country. If you look at the middle line of this record, you can see where it lists the 13th of June as the date of birth.
A later census entry for Margaret states that she came to America in 1857. She would have been about 6 years old when she made that trip. I will add at this point that I cannot find a connection between this Hellwege family and the Hellwege’s that have numerous pages in our GFT and lived in Perry County. Margaret’s family settled in the New Wells neighborhood in northern Cape Girardeau County. When the 1860 census was taken, we find Margaret’s family living in the Shawnee Township, and Margaret was 9 years old.
In 1866, Margeret was confirmed at Immanuel Lutheran Church in New Wells. Her confirmation class from that congregation’s books is displayed here. I wish it had contained Margaret’s birthday.
Since Margaret got married before the next census was taken, we will turn our attention to the man that would become her husband. His name was Johann Herman Popp, who was born on November 9, 1849. Herman was the son of Andreas and Catharina (Eggers) Popp. I will point out that our German Family Tree says Herman was born on that day in 1848. There is good reason for saying so, because there are 2 later church records that give that year of birth. However, his gravestone is engraved with the year of birth being 1849. The 1849 year of birth makes more sense to me. Herman’s father married his second wife in September of 1848, so if Herman was born in November of 1848, that would have been somewhat scandalous. Add to that the other fact that Herman’s baptism record is not to be found in the books of Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg. If he was born in 1848, Rev. Gotthold Loeber would have still been the pastor of that congregation, and he was pretty faithful at recording baptisms. However, Pastor Loeber died in August of 1849, and Trinity was without a pastor if Herman was born in November of 1849. That could explain why his baptism record is not found in Trinity’s books. All of Herman’s younger siblings have baptism records in that congregation’s books.
I found Herman in his first census in 1860 when he was 11 years old. His father was a farmer in the Brazeau Township.
In 1863, Herman was confirmed at Trinity, Altenburg. His confirmation record in Trinity’s books gives his birthday as November 9, 1848.
Herman Popp married Margaret Hellwege on November 11, 1869 at Immanuel Lutheran Church in New Wells. We can take a look at that couple’s church marriage record below.
We can also view a civil marriage record from Cape Girardeau County for this wedding.
Our German Family Tree lists 6 children born to Herman and Margaret, and all of them were girls. The baptism records for these children are found in the books of Immanuel, New Wells. I failed to find the Popp couple in the 1870 census. Three daughters were born before 1880, but 2 of them died as infants. The 1880 census shows the Popp family with one daughter. Margaret’s mother was also living in their household.
Three more daughters were born after 1880. The next census we can view is the one taken in 1900, but Herman Popp died before that census was taken. He died in 1898 at the age of 48. Let’s take a look at his death record from the books of Immanuel, New Wells. This is another place that says Herman was born in 1848. However, it also states that Herman was 48 years, 8 months, and 21 days old when he died. If Herman was born in 1848, then 48+ years later would have been 1897, not 1898.
Herman is buried in the Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery in New Wells. There is no doubt that the year of birth shown on his gravestone is 1849.
Margaret Popp never remarried. In the 1900 census, we find her as a widow with 3 remaining single daughters. However, there was also a married daughter in her household, Anna, who had married Gotthold Winter in 1891. Margaret is called a farmer, but so is Gotthold Winter.
Next, we find Margaret in the 1910 census. She was living with 2 remaining single daughters.
The 1920 census shows Margaret living in the Carl Gerharter household. Another daughter, Bertha, had married Carl in 1913. Carl was a dry goods merchant.
The last census in which we find Margaret was the one taken in 1930. Once again, we find her living with the Gerharter’s.
Margaret Popp died in 1931 at the age of 79. Her death certificate below says she died of meningitis. This death certificate gives her date of birth as June 12th, not June 13th.
Let’s take a look at Margaret’s church death record. It is found in the books of Trinity Lutheran Church in Shawneetown. If you backtrack from June 6th, her date of death, the 79 years, 11 months, and 23 days, you land on the date of June 13, 1851. The death certificate above gives a different age, 79 years, 11 months, and 24 days, which would get you to June 12th.
Margaret Popp is buried in the Trinity Lutheran Cemetery in Shawneetown. Her gravestone definitely gives her birth date as June 13th.
It is my opinion that the best authorities on a person’s date of birth are not the doctors or pastors that document a person’s birthday. I think the best authorities on birthdays are family members who have been celebrating a person’s birthday for a long time and are very well aware of how old those family members are, whether they want others to know their age or not.