Looking for an Irish name in our German Family Tree is like looking for a needle in a haystack. I did not even try this year on St. Patrick’s Day to find one to write about. However, I did run across another name that is not a very common one to show up on this blog. In fact, when I did a search on this name, Constantin, I found only one result. Placing Constantin in the search box in our German Family Tree came up with 45 results, and many of those would be what I call “repeat results” because they referred to the same person many times. Almost all of the results for Constantin came up as “middle names”. The person did not get called by this name often. I could jokingly say that the people with this middle name may have only heard it when they were in trouble. I also found it interesting that it was a couple of pastors, Rev. Beyer and Rev. Koestering, who used this middle name for a few of their children. As you might expect, it means “constant”, “steady”, “reliable”, etc.

Today’s birthday boy is Gotthilf Constantin Mueller, who was born on March 17, 1864. That makes today his 160th birthday. He went by the name Constantin, which would later often have an “e” at the end. A family tree on Ancestry.com says his nickname was Cooney. He was the son of Friedrich Bernhard and Amalia Johanna (Hornemann) Mueller. A photo of Constantin’s parents is shown here.

Constantin was baptized at Salem Lutheran Church in Farrar. We can view his baptism record from that congregation’s records below.

Constantine is found in the 1870 census at the age of 6. His father was a farmer in the Cinque Hommes Township. You can see that this Mueller family was quite large. I also find it interesting that the next child after Constantine was a girl named Hulda Perpetua Mueller.

That would be the only census entry in which Constantine would be found living in Missouri. During the next decade, the Mueller family moved across the Mississippi to Chester, Illinois. The 1880 census lists all sons in the Mueller family, with Constantine being 16 years old. Four of these sons, including Constantine were called laborers. Their father was a shoe and boot maker.

Now, it’s time to turn our attention to the woman who would become Constantine’s wife. Her name was Anna Wilhelmina Heitkamp, who was born on January 25, 1864. Anna was the daughter of Charles and Henrietta (Drexhage) Heitkamp. I thought Anna may have been baptized at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Chester, and we have some early church records from that congregation, but I did not find her baptism record there.

I was unsuccessful at finding the Heitkamp’s in the 1870 census, so the only one I can show you that includes Anna prior to her marriage is the one taken in 1880. The Heitkamp household was full of females. Anna was one of 8 daughters listed, along with no sons. I understand that one son would be born after 1880. Anna was 15 years old at this time, and her father was a laborer in Chester.

Constantine Mueller married Anna Heitkamp on April 5, 1888. Someone on Ancestry.com has placed an image of this couple’s marriage record on their family tree. I cannot tell if this is a church record or a civil record.

At the time of this couple’s wedding, the pastor at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Chester was Rev. J.A.F.W. Mueller, the first graduate of Concordia Seminary, Altenburg. It has been a matter of debate as to whether Constantine’s father, Bernhard, was a brother of Rev. “Alphabet” Mueller. If he was and this wedding took place at St. John’s, then Constantine and Anna were married by Constantine’s uncle.

Family trees on Ancestry.com indicate this pair may have had 7 children. The 1900 census finds this family living in Chester with 4 children. Constantine was a day laborer.

The 1910 census displays 5 children in the Mueller household, and Constantine was a stone cutter for a marble works in Chester.

Now, the story of this Mueller couple gets puzzling. In the 1920 census, Constantine is found living in the Lenzburg Township in the St. Clair County of Illinois. That location is found near Belleville, Illinois. Constantine was living in the Adam Waertz household and was called a hired man. The marriage status column states that he was married.

What is puzzling is that he was not living with his wife, Anna. In the same year’s census, we find her living in East St. Louis, Illinois with one of her sons, Carl Mueller. Carl was working at a roofing plant, and in the marriage status column, it says that Anna was a widow, even though we know that Constantine was still living.

Next, let’s take a look at the census that was taken in 1930. Constantine is found living in Steeleville, Illinois, which is not far from Chester. He was a cobbler at a shoe shop. This time, in the marriage status column, it says Constantine was a widower.

At the same time, we find Anna still living with Carl, her son, only by this time, Carl had gotten married. Once again, Anna was called a widow on this form.

Constantine Mueller died in 1937 at the age of 73. An Illinois death record shown here says that he died in Steeleville. We know this must be the correct person because it gives his correct St. Patrick’s Day birthday. However, it incorrectly states that he was born in Illinois. It also gives his wife’s name as Anna Heitkamp Mueller.

Constantine Mueller is buried in the Evergreen Cemetery in Chester.

Anna was still alive when the 1940 census was taken. We find her living in the same household in East St. Louis.

Anna Mueller died in 1941 at the age of 77. We can also view an Illinois death record for her. Several facts on this form also confirm that she is the wife of Constantine.

Anna Mueller is buried in the Valhalla Burial Park in Belleville, Illinois.

Evidence certainly points to the fact that the marriage of Constantine and Anna did not last till death did them part. Perhaps there is some explanation for these two being found in different locations for so many years, and each of them at some point being called widowed, even though they were both still living.