When you look at some family trees on Ancestry.com, you will see that they describe a marriage that took place on this day included a bride by the name of Cook and a groom by the name of Diamond. I know better. A more accurate description of this marriage would be a Koch who married a Deimund. I will begin today’s post by looking at the bride.
Caroline Martha Koch was born on February 14, 1884, the daughter of Ludwig and Louise (Lix) Koch. If you look at Martha’s page on the Family Search website, it says she was born on February 11th, not the 14th, but we can see on her baptism record that it says she was born on Valentine’s Day. An image of her baptism record from Trinity Lutheran Church in Friedheim is displayed below.
Martha would get married prior to the 1900 census, so we never see her in a census entry as a single woman. Yes, that also means that she got married at the age of 15, which we would find pretty amazing nowadays. So, now we need to take a look at the man who would become Martha’s husband.
Theodore August Deimund was born on August 2, 1879, the son of William and Mathilda (Wills) Deimund. Mathilda was William’s 3rd wife. He had been married previously to Mary Glim and had a few children. Then he married Sophia Schweer and had some children with her. I located this photo of William’s family with Sophia.
William’s 3rd wife was also previously married. Mathilda had been married to Jacob Sievers, and that couple had some children. Theodore Deimund was the 2nd child to William’s 3rd wife. I am not aware of where Theodore was baptized. I did look in the Trinity, Friedheim books for him, but did not find him. Since he was born before 1880, we find Theodore in that year’s census as a youngster, and it would also be the only entry in which we find him before he became married. For some unknown reason, he is called Edward in this entry. Theodore’s father was a farmer in the Apple Creek Township. You can see a few stepchildren with the Sievers surname in this entry.
Martha’s mother had the maiden name, Lix. A small village located west of Friedheim in Bollinger County was named Lixville, which was named after Louise’s brother, Louis Lix, who was the first postmaster for that village. For a short time, from 1879-1899, there was a Lutheran church in Lixville that was just called Lixville Lutheran Church. On July 2, 1899, Theodore Deimund married Martha Koch at that church. We happen to have that congregation’s books in our museum (although they have yet to be included in our German Family Tree). The church marriage record for Theodore and Martha is pictured here.
Our German Family Tree just has 3 children listed for this couple, but their Family Search entry includes 8 Deimund children. When the 1900 census was taken, we find Theodore and Martha with no children. They were living with Theodore’s mother, Mathilda, who was a widow. Theodore’s father had died in 1898. Theodore was a farmer in the Cinque Hommes Township. His name is spelled Diamond on this form, but that may be because that is how the census taker spelled his name when he heard it.
By the time of the 1910 census, the Deimund’s had 3 children. This time, they were living in the Hubble Township. Theodore was said to be a laborer who was “workiing out”.
In 1918, Theodore had his World War I draft registration completed. This is an indication that Theodore may have decided to spell his surname as Diamond. I am thinking that he may have been asked by the registrar to spell his name.
Next, we find the Deimund’s (or Diamond’s) in the 1920 census. They were back to living in the Cinque Hommes Township, and Theodore was back to being a farmer. That likely explains why the last couple of children were baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Perryville. There were 5 children in their household in 1920.
The 1930 census finds just 3 remaining children in the Diamond household. Theodore’s son, Walter was old enough to help his father on his farm.
The 1940 census shows Theodore and Martha with 2 Stewart grandchildren living with them. Right below their entry is that of their son, Walter, and his young family.
Theodore, despite being in his 60’s, was required to complete a World War II draft card in 1942. His surname is back to being spelled Deimund.
The last census we can view is the one taken in 1950. Theodore and Martha had an empty nest.
Martha Deimund died in 1964 at the age of 78. Cancer of the colon is given as a cause of death on her death certificale. This document uses the surname, Deimund, but misspells it. It also gives Marha the middle name of Louise, which I did not find elsewhere.
Theodore Deimund died in 1967 at the age of 87. His death certificate also mentions cancer as a cause of death, and like it was with Martha, his surname is misspelled as Diemund.
Theodore and Martha are buried in the Lixville Lutheran Cemetery in Lixville. They were buried in that cemetery long after that congregation closed on the year of their wedding in 1899. Their gravestone indicates that their surname was Diamond.
I have to think that Theodore and Martha possibly had just gotten tired of people spelling their surname as Diamond and finally gave in to use that spelling. Perhaps someone in that family can set the record straight on that.