When I went to my Kindergarten class at St. Jacobi Lutheran School in Jennings, Missouri, my first principal was a man named Kenneth Markworth. Today, I will tell the story of Mr. Markworth’s grandparents. His grandfather is today’s birthday boy, and he was born in Perry County. Being a Perry County boy himself, I wonder if my father knew that my principal had Perry County roots. I suspect he did. If he told me that, though, I do not remember it or, more likely, did not care to know it at the time. These days, I am always interested in these kind of connections.

Christian Gottfried Markworth was born on July 27, 1840, so today would be his 185th birthday. Gottfried was the son of Heinrich and Friedericke (Mueller) Markworth. He was baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg. Gottfried’s parents were united in one of the first marriages to take place in Perry County in 1839, and Gottfried was this couple’s first child. Gottfried’s baptism record is displayed here.

Gottfried is found in the 1850 census at the age of 10. The Markworth family had gotten quite large. Gottfried’s father was a tailor in the Brazeau Township.

Next, we find Gottfried in the 1860 census at the age of 20. This time, his father was called a farmer.

It may have been possible that Gottfried was already attending Concordia Seminary in St. Louis at the time of the above census. Gottfried graduated from the seminary in 1864. That is the year that he got married, and I have found several such stories of seminary graduates getting married shortly after completing their studies at the seminary and marrying a St. Louis girl before heading off to their first calls in the ministry.

Gottfried’s bride was Marie Elisabeth Brinkmeier, who was born on February 9, 1846. Marie was born in Germany. She was the daughter of Ernst and Clara (Barahsicker) Brinkmeier. I do not know when her family came to America, but we find Marie in the 1860 census living with her family in St. Louis. Marie was 14 years old, and her father was a saddler.

Gottfried Markworth married Marie Brinkmeier on August 21, 1864 at Trinity Lutheran Church in St. Louis. The church marriage record for this couple is shown below.

We are also able to view a St. Louis marriage record for this pair.

According to evidence found on Ancestry.com and Family Search, it looks as if this couple had 11 children. When the 1870 census was taken, the Markworth’s were living in Danville, Illinois where Gottfried was a minister. There were 2 children in their household. The fact that both of their children were born in Illinois is evidence that Gottfried’s first call as a pastor was to Danville.

The Markworth’s made a move in the next decade. In the 1880 census, Gottfried was a clergyman in Wyandotte, Michigan, a city in the Detroit metropolitan area. By this time, there were 6 children in their family. That last 4 were born in Michigan, which means that they had been in Wyandotte for several years before this census was taken.

I located a few photos of Gottfried and Marie when they were younger in age. Perhaps these photos were taken between 1880 and 1900.

I wish we could view the 1890 census. We could see where Rev. Markworth was living at that time. In the 1900 census, we find the Markworth’s living in Indiana. I believe they were living in the small town of White Creek, Indiana where Rev. Markworth was the pastor of St. John’s Lutheran Church.

St. John’s Lutheran Church in White Creek was established during the same year that Gottfried was born…1840. That means this year, this congregation is celebrating their 185th anniversary. Here is a recent photo of that congregation’s church sanctuary.

Next, we find Rev. Markworth at yet another location. In the 1910 census, he is found living in New Palestine, Indiana. At the age of 71, Gottfried is still called a minister. He was probably assisting his son, Rev. Fred Markworth, who was the pastor at Zion Lutheran Church in New Palestine. That church has been in existence over 170 years.

Here is a photo of the church building for Zion, New Palestine when the Markworth’s served there.

In this photo taken of Rev. Gottfried and Marie Markworth, we see Zion Lutheran Church in the background.

This photo of Gottfried and Marie was also taken later in their lives.

In 1914, this Markworth couple celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. This article was published in a local newspaper giving details of that event.

Marie Markworth died in 1916 at the age of 70. Her Indiana death certificate can be seen below.

An obituary for Marie was printed in a local newspaper.

Rev. Gottfried Markworth died in 1919 at the age of 78. It says his son, Rev. Fred Markworth was the pastor at Zion, New Palestine.

Rev. Gottfried and Marie Markworth are buried together in the Zion Lutheran Cemetery in New Palestine.

Rev. Gottlieb Markworth spent his career serving churches in the Midwest. The map below pins the locations of Lutheran churches that he served. It appears that all of these churches are still active. They all would be over 150 years old now.

In a previous post, Tailor, Tiler, Teacher, Preachers, it was mentioned that a lot of descendants of the original Markworth’s in Perry County went on to become full=time church workers. Several of Gottfried’s children became Lutheran pastors and teachers. His youngest son, Theodore, became a Lutheran teacher, and Theodore’s son was Kenneth Markworth, who was once principal of St. Jacobi Lutheran School. For a short time when I was very young, I was being influenced by one of these Markworth church workers. Perhaps he had just a tiny influence on me becoming a Lutheran teacher.