Yesterday’s post took us to the state of Wisconsin. Today’s will do the same thing. However, you will discover that the situations that contributed to the two different migrations to that state are dramatically different. We begin with a special birthday.

Arthur Heinrich Markwort was born on March 4, 1875, thus making today his 150th birthday. Arthur was the son of Henry and Wilhelmine (Behrens) Markwort. A previous post, Wife of Soldier and Saloon Keeper, was written about Arthur’s parents. Arthur was baptized at Grace Lutheran Church in Uniontown. We can view his baptism record from that congregation’s books below.

Another son was baptized at Grace, Uniontown in 1877, but the next child born in 1879 was baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Perryville. This indicates that the Markwort’s had relocated to Perryville at about that time. So, we find Arthur in his first census in 1880 living in Perryville. He was 5 years old at the time, and his father was a retail grocer.

I was originally going to write this post about just Arthur, but a discovery I made along the way convinced me to include his two younger sisters, Bertha and Ida Markwort, in this post. All 3 of these siblings were lifelong single people and were found living with each other for much of their lives. Bertha Markwort was born on December 15, 1881, but I was unable to find a baptism record for her. Ida Sophia Amalia Markwort was born on April 11, 1884 and was baptized at Immanuel, Perryville. Her baptism record is pictured here.

Because we cannot view the 1890 census, the next one in which we find both Bertha, Arthur, and Ida was the one taken in 1900. Their father, at the age of 62, had no occupation listed. Arthur, at the age of 25, has an occupation that I think may say that he was a restaurant man.

Next, we find Bertha, Arthur, and Ida in the 1910 census. Arthur, in his 30’s, was working at odd jobs.

Bertha, Arthur, and Ida’s father died in 1914. In 1917, Arthur had his World War I draft registration completed. He was already 43 years old, so he was unlikely to be drafted into service because of his age. However, this form gives us another reason for him to not serve in the military, and also explains what will happen to him in his future. It says that he was subjected to epileptic fits.

The 1920 census shows 3 Markwort children, Arthur, Bertha, and Ida, living with their widowed mother. Arthur is simply called a laborer.

The mother, Wilhelmine Markwort, died in 1927, and I think her death triggered some decisions made that affected the 3 single Markwort children. An article appeared in the Perry County Republican in 1929 that described a move made by Arthur and Ida to a Lutheran Home in Wisconsin. I find it interesting that Immanuel Lutheran’s pastor, Rev. A.M. Lohmann participated in taking this pair to that home.

The Lutheran Home mentioned in this article was the Bethesda Lutheran Home in Watertown, Wisconsin. This fact compelled me to research the history of that institution. An organization was founded in 1904 that was once named as the Evangelical Lutheran Home for Feeble Minded and Epileptics. In 1924, that institution was renamed the Bethesda Lutheran Home. A detailed history of that organization can be found by clicking on the link below.

https://www.watertownhistory.org/articles/bethesda.htm

One photo found included at the above link is this one of the Bethesda Lutheran Home taken in 1921.

A wide, panoramic photo was taken of the Bethesda Lutheran Home as it looked at about the time when Arthur and Ida arrived in 1929. It is a bit difficult to place such a photo in this blog, but I found this short video that gives a better view of the entire panorama.

The 1930 census shows Arthur and Ida living in Watertown. They were called inmates, but that is a term used back in those days to describe people that were in some sort of institution similar to a hospital.

In that same year’s census, we find evidence that Bertha Markwort, the other single child, made a move to St. Louis. The census page below says this was an entry for an organization known as the Girl’s Industrial Home. This entry includes a lot of women who are called inmates also, but Bertha is called an assistant head and a supervisor. I questioned just a bit whether this is the correct Bertha. She is called a widow in this entry, but I think this is incorrect.

Arthur Markwort died in 1932 in Watertown at the age of 57. An obituary for him is found in the Perry County Republican.

Arthur’s body was brought back to Perryville to be buried in the Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery. His gravestone calls him a brother.

Ida is found in the 1940 census still residing at the Bethesda Lutheran Home in Watertown. She was 55 years old at the time.

I can also tell you that Bertha was still working at the Girl’s Industrial Home when the 1940 census was taken. In January of 1950, Ida Markwort died in Watertown at the age of 65. Ida also had an obituary published in the Perry County Republican.

Ida is buried in the Evangelical Lutheran Cemetery in Watertown, Wisconsin.

In the 1950 census, Bertha Markwort is found living in the Lutheran Altenheim in St. Louis. Even at that “old folks’ home”, we see that the residents were called inmates.

Back in my childhood days, I would go to the Lutheran Altenheim to visit my Great Aunt Clara Schmidt, another woman who was never married. Clara is found living in Perryville when the 1950 census was taken, but she must have moved to the Altenheim not long after that. Since Bertha Markwort did not die until 1961, I have to think that Aunt Clara and Bertha must have had some opportunities to talk to each other and discuss their earlier lives in Perry County.

Bertha Markwort died in 1961 at the age of 79. Her death certificate below says that she was never married.

Bertha Markwort is buried in the Concordia Cemetery in St. Louis.

I know that during my early years as a student in a Lutheran school, and later as a teacher in Lutheran schools, we would often be involved in fund-raising efforts to support the Bethesda Lutheran Home in Watertown. I now know that just a few years ago, the name of that organization has undergone another name change. It is now called AbleLight. I am an old dog who has trouble learning new tricks, and I will likely go to my grave calling it the Bethesda Lutheran Home.

I also know that at one time there was a certain stigma attached to those who suffered from epilepsy. This is evidenced by the fact that epileptics were once housed in institutions that associated them with those who were feeble minded. I also discovered that there were efforts made by some people in the past to ban epileptics from getting married. Nowadays, I do not think epileptics are institutionalized. The medical profession has developed effective treatments for epilepsy that enable people to live fairly normal lives.