I want to take the opportunity to send out some thanks today before I begin to tell the story. Lynn Degenhardt, the creator of our German Family Tree, which is basically an index of pertinent records found in the area surrounding our museum in Altenburg, has recently produced an important update to this document. Probably the most important development is that this 5000+ page document now includes most of the old records from the books of Trinity Lutheran Church in Friedheim. Yesterday, Lynn made this updated document available for me to use. So, today I issue my word of thanks to my buddy, Lynn for all his work because it makes it possible for me to write these blogs on an almost daily basis. Having said that, I will admit that when I looked for a story for today’s post I searched for one that came from the Friedheim books, and I found one. It turns out to be a rather lonely baptism record that led me to today’s main characters. Below is a baptism record for a baby named Johanne Bertha Kuhlmann who was born in 1861. That record is displayed here.

I will not be telling the story of Bertha Kuhlmann. I will be telling the story of her parents, Carl Herman Kuhlmann and Johanne Friederike Zoellner. We do not find this fact in the above document, but Bertha’s mother was born on February 4, 1835, so she is today’s birthday girl. Today would be her 190th birthday. She was the daughter of Johannis Henry and Anna (Schuemer) Zoellner. Johanne would later go by the name of Annie, so I will use that name in this post. She was born in the Bavarian region in Germany and came to America in 1857 aboard the ship, Bremen. We find her on the passenger list for that ship below. It lists two females in their 20’s. I think Annie is the one that is 22 years old because of her date of birth. You cannot see it on this image, but another column indicates that these 2 Zoellner’s were headed to St. Louis.

Now, we need to take a look at the man who would become Annie’s husband. His name was Charles Harman Kuhlmann, who was born on August 12, 1833 in the Hanover region of Germany. I was unable to determine the names of his parents. I think Charles may be the Carl Kuhlmann who is found on a passenger list of the ship, New Orleans, which arrived in America in 1857. However, it says he was 20 years old, and that does not seem right. It does say that his destination in this country was St. Louis, and that makes sense.

Since Charles and Annie were from two rather distant regions of Germany, I do not think they knew one another before they came to the United States. I have to think that they became acquainted with one another in St. Louis not long after their arrival. Charles Kuhlmann married Annie Zoellner on July 15, 1858 in St. Louis. We can take a look at the St. Louis marriage record shown below. This document says they were married by a minister, but one cannot tell which denomination the minister served.

It must have been shortly after this couple was married that they made their way to Perry County. In the 1860 census, they are found living in the St. Marys Township. The Kuhlmann couple had one son, and Charles was a farmer.

It was a year later that Bertha Kuhlmann was baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Friedheim. It would be the only Kuhlmann child to be baptized at that congregation. I think the Kuhlmann’s may have had 9 children, and I am not able to tell you where the rest of the children were baptized. My best guess is that some or most of them were baptized at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Highland. There are Zoellner’s buried in that church’s cemetery. The map below shows the proximity of the towns of Yount, Highland, and Friedheim.

Charles Kuhlmann served in the Union Army during the Civil War. We can take a look at his military record below. He is called Herman Kuhlmann on this document.

Next, we find the Kuhlmann’s in the 1870 census still living in the St. Marys Township. Once again, Charles is called Herman. There were 5 children in their household, which also included a 13 year-old boy named Melchior Yates.

In 1876, the state of Missouri compiled a census. We find the Kuhlmann’s in that census, and their entry is shown below in 2 images. On the second image, I have included the headings so you can determine what the columns mean. This entry lists 8 Kuhlmann children. One of the Kuhlmann daughters, Dorothy, died in 1875 at the age of 12 right before this census was taken.

I am able to show you this picture of Charles and Annie Kuhlmann.

Charles Kuhlmann died in 1877 at the age of 44. When the 1880 census was taken, we find Annie as a widow. Once again, there were 8 children in the Kuhlmann household.

Annie Kuhlmann died in 1891 at the age of 57. We find a group of gravestones for Kuhlmann’s in the Yount Community Cemetery in Yount. I am going to display individual gravestones for Charles, Annie, and Dorothy, along with a gravestone that must have been placed near those gravestones at a later date which is much more readable. It is inscribed with the names of Charles, Annie, and their daughter, Dorothy. The Kuhlmann’s were yet another family that removed a final “n” from their name prior to their burials.

I look forward to finding more stories like this one which originate with a record or records from the books of Trinity Lutheran Church in Friedheim. Thanks again to Lynn for his hard work.