Yesterday, I wrote the story of a life-long single woman whose middle names were Maria and Martha. I know it made me think of the Biblical story of Mary and Martha. I guess that is why I noticed today’s birthday girl and decided to pursue her history for a possible post today. Her name was Maria Martha Jacob, and she was born on June 30, 1842, so today would be her 183rd birthday. Mary was the daughter of Michael and Maria (Hopfer) Jacob. Mary’s parents were part of the Gruber Group that arrived in America in November of 1839 after making the voyage to this country on the ship, Johann Georg. At that point in time, there were two children in their family who had been born in Germany. Mary was the first child of Michael and Mary who was born in the United States. She was baptized at Grace Lutheran Church in Uniontown. An image of her baptism record is shown here.

Mary is found in the 1850 census at the age of 9, although I think she was only 8. Her father had died in 1846 when Mary was just 4 years old, so her widowed mother was the head of the household. No one in the household had an occupation. It must have been a very difficult time for Mary’s mother. It was also true that her last child was born a few months after her husband had died.

In 1851, Mary’s mother married Benjamin Hoffmann. When Mary shows up in the 1860 census, it appears that her name was Mary Hoffmann, but she was really Mary Jacob. Benjamin Hoffmann was a farmer in the Cinque Hommes Township. Mary was 18 years old at the time.

Now, we will turn our attention to the man who would become Mary’s husband. His name was Herman Eduard Valentine Koenig, who was born on July 3, 1836. That means Herman’s birthday was 3 days after Mary’s. Herman was the son of Gottfried and Rosine (Wunderlich) Koenig. He was born in Germany and baptized at the Korbussen parish. I am able to display his German baptism record.

When Herman was 18 years old, his Koenig family came to America aboard the ship, Gaston, which arrived in New York in 1854.

Sadly, Herman’s parents did not live in America very long. They each died before they had been in this country for 2 years. When the 1860 census was taken, we find Herman living in the Henry Bachmann family in the Brazeau Township. Herman was called a tailor.

Herman Koenig married Mary Jacob on May 15, 1862, at Grace Lutheran Church in Uniontown. The church record for that event is displayed here.

We can also view this Perry County record for this wedding.

Just 3 months after getting married, Herman joined the Union Army in August of 1862. His Civil War military record is shown here. When he left to serve in that war, he left behind a pregnant wife, although he may not have known it.

Our German Family Tree lists 11 children in this Koenig family. However, I am going to make that 12. Here is why. Child #11 in the list says that there was a pair of twin stillborns. It is likely that there was just a single death record for “stillborns” in the church records. Because of my belief that life begins at conception, I consider a set of twins who were once alive in the womb, count as two babies. All of the Koenig baptisms took place at Salem Lutheran Church in Farrar.

When the 1870 census was taken, there were 2 children of Herman and Mary, along with 4 other Koenig’s who were likely members of their extended Koenig family. I did not take the time to run down who they all were. Herman was a farmer in the Salem Township.

Next, we find the Koenig’s in the 1880 census . There were 8 children in their household.

The last children in this family, the twin stillborns, were born in 1885. If we were able to view the 1890 census, it might have shown the Koenig family at its largest. Then in 1897, Mary Koenig died at the age of 55. Her death record in the books of Salem, Farrar says she died of typhoid fever.

Herman is found as a widower in the 1900 census. Quite a few children had gotten married and moved away, and Herman was left with just 3 children in his household.

The 1910 census displays that Herman was living with his son, Joseph, and his young family.

A photo of Herman Koenig was taken later in his life.

The last census in which we find Herman was the one taken in 1920. In fact, because that year’s census for the Salem Township in 1920 was enumerated in January of that year that enabled Herman to be listed. He was still living in the Joseph Koening household. Herman was listed as being 84 years old and called a retired farmer.

Herman Koenig died in April of 1920 at the age of 83. His church death record says he died of influenza. I should have been able to find a death certificate for him, but I failed. Both Herman and Mary are buried in the Salem Lutheran Cemetery in Farrar, but only Herman has a gravestone photo on Findagrave.com.

Because Herman and Mary had a lot of children and many of them were boys, there are a lot of Koenig descendants. Those boys and future men born into that family tree had plenty of boys, so many descendants in this family continued to carry the Koenig surname. Our German Family Tree has 30 pages of Koenig descendants. Not many families included in our GFT include that many pages coming from just a husband a wife.