A Wirth baby girl was born on this day to a farmer and his wife in Perry County. You will discover that this girl and her mother would witness the deaths of 3 men in her family who succumbed to the dreaded disease, tuberculosis.

Martina Kunagunda Christiana Wirth was born on February 26, 1882, making today her 142nd birthday. Her name was a real mouthful. Martina was the daughter of John and Elizabeth (Hornberger) Wirth. She was baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Perryville. We are only able to view a transcription of her baptism record from a binder that we have that includes Immanuel, Perryville church records.

Since we are unable to view the1890 census, the only census entry in which we find Martina before she got married was the one taken in 1900. The Wirth family was living in the Central Township where Martina’s father was a farmer.

Now, we will take a look at the man who would become Martina’s husband. His name was Ernest Friedrich Moritz Burfeind, who was born on October 25, 1881. Ernest was the son of Herman and Elizabeth (Schuessler) Burfeind. He was baptized at Concordia Lutheran Church in Frohna. We can view his baptism record from that congregation’s books below. He is called Ernst on this document, but most later documents and his gravestone call him Ernest, so that is what I will use.

Ernest is also found in his first census in 1900. His father had died in 1894, so he was living with his widowed mother. He was the only child left in the family and was doing farm work.

Ernest Burfeind married Martina Wirth on November 14, 1905. The wedding took place at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Perryville. A transcription of their church marriage record is shown here.

We can also view this couple’s Missouri marriage license.

Our German Family Tree lists 5 children born to Ernest and Martina. The first 2 were baptized at Concordia, Frohna. Their 3rd child was baptized at Immanuel, Perryville, and the last 2 were baptized elsewhere likely in Jefferson County, Missouri. We find the Burfeind’s living in the Brazeau Township when the 1910 census was taken. Two young children were in their household. The head of the household was Ernst’s mother, and there was a young farm laborer named Henry Vogel living with them.

Since their 3rd child was baptized in Perryville, I suspect the Burfeind’s were living there for a short time in the early 1910’s. Then, when Ernest had his World War I draft registration completed in 1918, he was living in Herculaneum, Missouri. His employer was the St. Joe Lead Company.

The Burfeind’s are found living in another location not far from Herculaneum when the 1920 census was taken. Ernest was a glass worker living in Festus in that year’s census entry.

It has been noted on this blog before that the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company once had a plant located in Crystal City, which is not far from Festus. This photo has appeared on the blog before.

In 1924, Ernest Burfeind died at the age of 42. His death certificate below says he died of tuberculosis.

In 1928, death once again entered Martina Burfeind’s family. Her son, Reinhold, died, also as a result of tuberculosis, at the age of 19. The Burfeind’s were still living in Festus, and Reinhold was working at the glass factory prior to his death.

It appears that Martina, after her son’s death, decided to move back to Perry County with her family. In the 1930 census, we find Martina and her 4 remaining children living with Martina’s parents in Perryville. There were also 2 boarders living in this household who worked at the shoe factory.

Tragedy struck this family once again in 1931. Another son, Edward, died at the age of 14, and once again, he died of tuberculosis.

In 1936, John Wirth, Martina’s father, died. So, in 1940, we find this census entry. Elizabeth Wirth was the head of the household which included Martina and 2 of her children, a boy and a girl. The boy, Clarence, was a truck driver for a soda company and the only one in the household with an occupation.

We are able to view the 1950 census which still included Martina and her mother. Clarence and Helen remained in the household, but Clarence had gotten married and later divorced during the 1940’s. The great grandson listed in this entry was likely Clarence’s son.

Martina Burfeind died in 1970 at the age of 88.

Ernest and Martina Burfeind are buried in the Gamel Cemetery in Festus. The two sons who died of tuberculosis are also buried in that cemetery. Below is the gravestone of Ernest and Martina.

Perhaps you noticed that the gravestone shown above, along with 3 other death certificates shown earlier, spell the surname for this family as Burfiend, not Burfeind. I know that our GFT uses the Burfeind spelling. As a former teacher, I cannot help but think of the old spelling rule “‘i’ before ‘e’ except after ‘c’. I really don’t think that rule caused this family to change the spelling of their surname, but it certainly fits. I also know that this is the 3rd blog post in a row that has mentioned spelling issues with a surname.

One more thing. If you look at the Blog Stats in the margin of our website, you will see that we are now less than 10,000 hits away from a million. I know this blog writer, who is a former math teacher and loves to look at numbers, is getting ready to celebrate.