I recently mentioned that our German Family Tree now includes the records of Trinity Lutheran Church in Friedheim. Today’s story will include some families that showed up in that congregation’s books during their early years. After the German Lutherans arrived in Perry County in 1839, one of the first pastors, Rev. Carl Gruber, who was the first pastor at Grace Lutheran Church in Uniontown, established preaching stations in an effort to serve other pockets of German Lutheran settlements nearby. One of those preaching stations was near Friedheim. Then, in 1848, Trinity Lutheran Church was established with Rev. Franz Julius Biltz as their first called pastor. Pastor Biltz was one of the first graduates of Concordia Seminary in Altenburg.

When Rev. Biltz first started putting records into that congregation’s books, he not only included Friedheim records, but also some records for a place called Sudheim. Below is an image of the cover page for the Trinity, Friedheim books. We not only see Sudheim listed on this page, but we see evidence that the town of Friedheim was called Dissen before being renamed to Friedheim at a later date. Rev. Biltz’s name is also written at the bottom of the image.

I consulted with both Gerard Fiehler and Lynn Degenhardt this morning and each of them thought that Sudheim was a populated area later known as Lixville. It also appears that Pastor Biltz served them from his headquarters in Friedheim. For a short time, Rev. Biltz kept separate church records for the Sudheim settlement.

Today’s birthday girl was reportedly born in Sudheim, Missouri, and when her parents arrived in the United States in 1854, they came from Sudheim, Germany. Christian and Augusta Haupt are found on the passenger list of the ship, Uhland, pictured here.

Caroline Mathilde Amalie Haupt was born on February 22, 1868, the 7th child of Christian and Augusta Fliege) Haupt. That makes today her 157th birthday. Mathilde is a rare person because I located two different baptism records for her. One of them is found in the books of Eisleben Lutheran Church in Scott City, Missouri. That congregation had been established in 1851. Here is Mathilde’s baptism record which I found in Ancestry.com’s Missouri Synod collection. In the last column, you see a note that says this baby was baptized in a house in Sudheim by Pastor John. Rev. John was the pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Friedheim at that time. Please also note that Mathilde was almost a year old when she was baptized.

Mathilde’s baptism record is also found in the books of Trinity, Friedheim. The information on both of these records is the same.

Mathilde is found in the 1870 census at the age of 2. Her father was a farmer in the Whitewater Township in Cape Girardeau County.

In the 1880 census, Mathilde was 11 years old.

Now, we will turn our attention to take a look at the man who would become Mathilde’s husband. His name was Christian August John Martin, who was born on March 12, 1867. August was the son of Wilhelm and Mathilda (Schatte) Martin. August’s grandparents likely arrived in this area prior to the arrival of the Gesellschaft in 1839. It can also be said that his grandmother, who was a Kasten, came from Sudheim, Germany. August was baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Friedheim. His baptism record is displayed here. This record also lists the name, Sudheim, on the far right.

August is found in the 1870 census at the age of 3. His father was a farmer in the Apple Creek Township.

Next, we find August in the 1880 census when he was 13 years old. This time, his family is found living in the Whitewater Township.

August Martin married Mathilde Haupt on October 24, 1889. We can view this couple’s Missouri marriage license. It is rather difficult to read the information on this license.

A marriage certificate below is quite a bit easier to read, and we can see that this couple was married by a probate judge in Jackson, Missouri.

I think August and Mathilde had 3 children. We see 2 children in their household when the 1900 census was taken. The Martin’s were living in the Whitewater Township. Although there is no occupation given for August, I suspect he was farming.

One more child, a son named Walter, was born in 1901. Then, Mathilde Martin died in 1904 at the age of 36. I am not able to tell you her cause of death. August got married again in 1906, so we will now take a look at the woman who would become his second wife. Her name was Mary Mollie Caroline Riehn, who was born on February 12, 1877. Mary was the daughter of William and Louise (Younglood) Riehn. Not long ago, I wrote a post, Daniel and Emma – The Crites Couple from Laflin, about Mary’s older sister, Emma Riehn. In that post, it mentioned that Emma and Mary Riehn’s mother had previously been married to a Schmidt, and one Schmidt child and Emma Riehn were baptized at Trinity, Friedheim. However, they were the only children baptized there. I do not know where Mary was baptized. She is found in the 1880 census at the age of 3. She is called M.C. is this entry. There were also 2 Schmidt (called Smith) children in this household. Mary’s father was a farmer in the Whitewater Township.

Mary is found in the 1900 census at the age of 23. She was still single and living with her parents.

August Martin married Mary Riehn on the day after Christmas, December 26th, in 1906. We can view this couple’s Missouri marriage license. This couple was married by Rev. Sieving, but I was unable to determine where he was the pastor.

I think August and Mary had 4 more children. When the 1910 census was taken, we see just 2 children that were born to August and Mary. Also in the household was the couple made up of Herman and Idalia Riehn. Herman, who was Mary’s brother, had married Idalia Martin, August’s daughter by his previous marriage. One puzzling fact is that August’s son, Walter, who would have been 9 years old, is not included in this entry, nor could I find Walter living elsewhere.

In the 1920 census, we see 4 children and a grandchild in the Martin household. Walter is now found living with his father and stepmother.

The 1930 census shows August and Mary with just one of their own children, along with 2 others who were called grandchildren.

The A.J. Martin farm is located not far from the town of Kurreville in the plat map below that was produced in 1930. You can also find some Haupt and Riehn parcels of land on this map.

The last census in which we find August is the one taken in 1940. In the Martin household was their daughter, Opal, who had married Earl Wills, and their young family.

August Martin died in 1947 at the age of 80. We can view his death certificate below.

Mary Martin is found in the 1950 census in which we once again find her living with Opal and Earl Wills and their son. Earl was farming.

Mary Martin died in 1955 at the age of 78. Her death certificate below says she died at the St. Francis Hospital in Cape Girardeau.

August, Mathilde, and Mary Martin are all reportedly buried in the Old Salem Cemetery in Kurreville, but only August and his 2nd wife, Mary, who are buried together, have a gravestone photo on Findagrave.com.

The church books mentioned earlier in this post were identified as the books of Dissen and Sudheim. Dissen’s name was changed to Friedheim when it was discovered there was another Dissen already located in Missouri, so they had to change their name. Sudheim appears to be another town that had its name changed. If it was the town later called Lixville, that town got its name when a man named Lix became their postmaster. Both Dissen and Sudheim had Lutheran churches located in their towns. However, only Trinity Lutheran Church in Friedheim is still active today.