The lonely baptism record for David Markworth found in our German Family Tree is the starting point for today’s post. 

Christian David Markworth was born on February 2, 1854, making today his 170th birthday. David was the son of Heinrich and Fredericke (Mueller) Markworth. Below is a photo of David’s parents.

Both of David’s parents were part of the Gesellschaft that arrived in Perry County in 1839. They can be seen in the list of passengers found in Zion on the Mississippi. Heinrich came here on the Copernicus; Fredericke came on the Republik.

Heinrich and Fredericke got married near the Mississippi River in September of 1839, so they were one of the first immigrant couples to be married in Perry County. David was the 7th of 8 children in this Markworth family. His baptism record is found in the books of Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg. It can be seen below.

It is easier to see in the GFT information that David’s two male sponsors were named Christian and David, so they were likely the reason this baby was named Christian David Markworth. David is found in the 1860 census at the age of 6. His father, who had come to America described as a tailor, was then a farmer in the Brazeau Township.

I was unable to find David in the 1870 census. However, I did find this evidence that David was studying to be a Lutheran teacher at Northwestern University in Watertown, Wisconsin in 1870. 

That university no longer exists, but I found this short history of that school. It was a WELS (Wisconsin) Synod school.

David’s first teaching position was in Little Rock, Arkansas. He was the first Lutheran teacher in Little Rock. He was teaching at First Lutheran Church. We see his name in a list of early teachers at that school.

Now, we will take a look at the woman who would become David’s bride. Her name was Fredericke Henriette Krueger. I am having a hard time justifying who Fredericke was. There was a Fredericke Krueger living in the Jackson Township of Jefferson County, Wisconsin who was the daughter of Carl and Sophia Krueger, but she is listed as being 3 years old in 1860. That would indicate a birth year of about 1857. However, several other more reliable documents say she would have been born in 1853 or 1854. He gravestone says she was born in 1854. 

Almost all the family trees found on Ancestry.com say Fredericke is the daughter in the above Krueger family, but I have my doubts. Another indication that Fredericke was not the daughter of the above Krueger family is the fact that Carl and Sophia’s daughter is still found living with them in the 1880 census, and David and Fredericke got married in 1876.

David Markworth married Fredericke Krueger on August 3, 1876 in Watertown, Wisconsin. The pastor who married them was Rev. Carl Strasen, who was David’s uncle. Rev. Strasen had married the sister of David’s mother. It also may have been Rev. Strasen’s influence that got David to attend a Lutheran teachers college in Watertown where Pastor Strasen was a Lutheran pastor. Watertown was likely the place where David became acquainted with his future wife. I can display a Wisconsin marriage record for this couple.

This document says that David was a resident of Little Rock, Arkansas. It also points out that Fredericke was the daughter of Christian and Fredericke Krueger, not Carl and Sophia Krueger.

Apparently, David took his new bride back to Arkansas where they had their first 2 children. Probably just prior to the 1880 census, David took a call to become a teacher at Trinity Lutheran School in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. We find the Markworth’s living in Sheboygan in the 1880 census entry shown here. It says their 2 children were born in Arkansas with the youngest being just one year old.

I located this photograph of Teacher Markworth with his class at Trinity Lutheran School in Sheboygan. We know this photo was taken in 1886 because the small chalkboard being held by a girl in the front row gives that date. It also says it was a “Zweig Schuleder” which I think means second grade. I am amazed that his class consisted of all girls.

It was on Teacher Markworth’s birthday the next year, in 1887, that the first official Ground Hog Day took place in America. Another Markworth photo was taken around 1890. It shows 5 children of David and Fredericke.

The next census entry we can view is the one taken in 1900. According to this entry, a 6th child was born in 1893. 

It must have been about this time that a photograph was taken of David at an older age.

David Markworth died in 1903 at the age of 49. When the 1910 census was taken, we find Fredericke as a widow with 3 remaining children.

Fredericke Markworth died in 1917. We can take a look at her obituary from a Sheboygan newspaper. This document says she died at the age of 63, which is yet another piece of evidence that she was born around 1854, not 1857.

Both David and Fredericke Markworth are buried in the Lutheran Cemetery in Sheboygan. As you can see, Fredericke’s stone says she was born in 1854.

I want to add a few more tidbits to this story. First, another fact about Trinity Lutheran Church in Sheboygan is that the architect for its church sanctuary was Rev. Martin Stephan, Jr., the son of Rev. Martin Stephan, leader of the Gesellschaft in 1839. Below is a photo of the interior of that church. The pews are packed with students and other adults. The school at Trinity must have had a large enrollment when this photo was taken.

I can also display this school building for Trinity Lutheran, Sheboygan.

Another fact is that now I can identify at least 3 Perry County natives who taught at Lutheran schools in Little Rock, Arkansas.  Not only was David Markworth once a teacher there, but also Leonard Schilling and Dan Palisch. There is also a Teacher Wukasch in the list of teachers at First Lutheran Church who likely was related somehow to the Teacher Wukasch who taught in Frohna for 50 years.

One more note: Tomorrow, the annual Schlimpert family hog-butchering day will be taking place here in Altenburg. I have participated in that event for several years, and will be doing so again tomorrow. I will not be writing a new story.