Franz Joseph Putz was born on September 13, 1861, so he qualifies to be today’s birthday boy. He would be 163 years old today. Our German Family Tree could possibly cast some doubt on whether Joseph was born on September 7th or September 13th, but the only place we find the September 7th date is in the binder we have in our research library for St. John’s Lutheran Church in Pocahontas. Several other documents, including his actual baptism record, state that he was born on September 13th, so I am convinced that he was born on today’s date. Joseph was a junior. He was the son of Joseph and Katherine (Pilz) Putz. His parents were made up of quite the combination of surnames…a Pilz and a Putz. Joseph’s baptism record is found in the books of Immanuel Lutheran Church in New Wells. We can take a look at that record below.

Joseph’s mother died prior to 1869, so we never see him in a census with his mother. In 1869, his father married again. His second wife was Josephine (Reisenbichler) Kain. She was also a widow whose husband had died in 1868. When the 1870 census was taken, we see 3 children in the Putz hosuehold. The 5 year-old Albert was actually Albert Kain, and the newborn child, John, was Joseph’s half-brother. Joseph’s father was a farmer in the Shawnee Township.

Joseph was confirmed in 1874 at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Pocahontas. It is in that congregation’s compiled records that we find a September 7th birthday for Joseph. The info from the St. John’s binder for Joseph is displayed below.

The 1880 census would be the only other census in which we find Joseph as a single man. He is called Frank J. in this entry, and he was 18 years old. John was working on his father’s farm.

Now, we will take some time to look at the woman who would become Joseph’s first wife. Her name was Elizabeth Wunderlich, who was born on June 9, 1867. She was the daughter of Zacharias and Maria (Ludwig) Wunderlich. Elizabeth, sometimes called Lizzie, was baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in New Wells. We can take a look at her baptism record from that congregation’s books here.

Elizabeth is found in the 1870 census at the age of 3. Her father was a farmer in the Shawnee Township.

Elizabeth is found at the age of 13 in the 1880 census. Her father had died in 1876, so Elizabeth’s mother was the head of the household and said to be farming. A year later, in 1881, she was confirmed at Immanuel, New Wells.

Joseph Putz married Elizabeth Wunderlich on May 23, 1886 at Immanuel Lutheran Church in New Wells. The church record below is from that congregation’s books, but it does not contain much information.

We can also take a look at the Missouri marriage license for this pair.

The German Family Tree lists 9 children born to Joseph and Elizabeth, all of which were baptized at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Pocahontas. Some of them died very early. The last of them was born in 1900, the year the next census we can view was taken. Sadly, that child was baptized on the same day that Elizabeth died. She was buried in the St. John’s Lutheran Cemetery in Pocahontas.

Apparently, Joseph must have felt that he was not able to care for his children at that point in his life. In the 1900 census, He was a lodger living with August Kasten. He was called a horse shoer. In that same year’s census, the young Putz children were living with Maria Wunderlich, Elizabeth’s mother.

Joseph would marry again in 1905, so let’s take a look at the woman who would become his second wife. Her name was Grace Elbertie Basinger, who was born on March 15, 1877. In the 1880 census, she was living in the Union Township of Crawford County, Indiana, which is located in the southern part of that state. She was the daughter of Michael and Jane (Houghton) Basinger. Her father was a farmer. It says Gracey was 1 year old, but if she was born in 1877, she would have been older than that.

I was not able to locate this woman (sometimes called Gracey and sometimes as Bertie) in the 1900 census. Then, on the first day of 1905, January 1st, Joseph Putz married Grace Elbertie Basinger. These two were married at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Pocahontas. Their Missouri marriage license is shown here. It says Bertie was from Hunterville, Missouri.

In the 1910 census, we find the Putz’s living in Parma, Missouri where Joseph was a butcher. Two of his sons from his previous marriage were living with them. Parma is not far from Hunterville, so perhaps Joseph had moved there prior to his second marriage, and he brought Bertie with him to get married in his home congregation in Pocahontas.

Our German Family Tree says that an infant was born in 1917 to this couple, but it died without being given a name or baptism. The 1920 census has the Putz’s living in the West Township of New Madrid County where Joseph was called a farmer.

The last census in which we find both Joseph and Bertie was the one taken in 1930. They were living in Canalou, Missouri, and neither of them had an occupation.

The map below gives you an idea of where Parma and Canalou were located in New Madrid County.

Bertie Putz died in 1935 at the age of 58. Her death certificate below says she died in Canalou of pneumonia.

The above certificate says Bertie was buried in the Sikeston Memorial Park. That cemetery on Findagrave.com lists her, but has no gravestone photo.

I think after Bertie died, Joseph may have returned to the Pocahontas area. He died in 1938 at the age of 76. His death certificate says he was living in Cape Girardeau County when he died.

Joseph Putz was buried in the St. John’s Lutheran Cemetery in Pocahontas. As you can see on his gravestone, it gives his birthday as September 13, 1861.

Joseph Putz ended up outliving several children who died rather early during their lives as well as both his wives. He began his life in the Shawnee Township of Cape Girardeau, then spent several years with his second wife in New Madrid County. Then, his life ended back in the Shawnee Township.