It will be another day for me to describe the story of a girl who was born and raised in Perry County but moved away to spend most of her life elsewhere. Most of the time, such a story includes a young woman who finds her husband in a different location, and they spend their lives there. In today’s case, the bride does find her husband in another place, but he also was born in Perry County. We begin with the birthday girl.

Catherina Emma Boxdorfer was born on August 14, 1895, so today would be her 130th birthday. Early in her life, she used the spelling, Catherine, but her name would be spelled Katherine on her gravestone, so that is the spelling I will use. She was the daughter of Johann and Catherina (Maisel) Boxdorfer. Katherine was baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Perryville. An image of her baptism record is shown here. It looks like she may have gotten the name, Catherina, from her mother, and her middle name, Emma, from her female sponsor, Emma Boxdorfer.

Katherine is found in the 1900 census at the age of 4. She was child #10 in this Boxdorfer family according to our German Family Tree. One more child was born after her, but that son died after just one month. That means Katherine spent her childhood as the “baby of the family”. All 10 of the living Boxdorfer children are included in this census entry. Her father was a farmer in the Central Township, but he already had several sons helping with the farming by this time.

Katherine was a teenager when the 1910 census was taken. Only 4 of the Boxdorfer children were still living with their parents. This is also the year that Katherine was confirmed at Immanuel, Perryville.

Katherine would get married in the next decade, so we will now discuss the man who would become her husband. His name was Joseph Gaines Colin, who was born on March 2, 1892. This man would mostly be called Joseph on documents, but on some, he was called Gaines. He was the son of Rudolph and Rosa (Streiler) Colin. I do not have any baptism information about him, but he was born during the time when Perry County kept birth records, and I can show you his. This is a document that uses the name Gaines.

The Colin family had a history of men serving in the military. Joseph’s grandfather served during the Civil War, and his father also enlisted in the Army in 1895 according to the document shown below. Joseph would have been about 3 years old when his father enlisted.

I was unable to determine what happened to Joseph’s father after his military service. The above form does say he was discharged in 1896. What I do know is that Joseph shows up in the 1900 census without a father. His mother, who was called a servant, has an “M” in the marital status column, indicating she said she was married. Joseph was 8 years old at the time.

Joseph’s mother died in 1901, and her children were left without parents, at least if the father was no longer part of the picture. I found this article in a 1905 issue of the Perry County Republican indicating that some of the Colin children, including Joseph, had John J. Seibel as their guardian.

I found Joseph’s siblings in the 1910 census living with other families, but I was unable to locate Joseph in that year’s census. I do know that in 1911, according to the document pictured here, Joseph enlisted in the military in 1911 and served until 1914.

I found a bit of evidence that Joseph spent some of his time in the military on the Mexican border. Apparently, after being discharged from the military, Joseph settled in Steubenville, Ohio. That is where he and Katherine Boxdorfer were married on May 11, 1917. I was able to locate an Ohio application for a marriage license for this pair. They were married by a judge. This form says that both Joseph and Katherine were from Steubenville.

When this couple got married in Ohio, an article appeared in the Perry County Republican about their wedding.

A month after they were married, Joseph was required to complete a World War I draft registration form. Joseph was a crane man for the La Belle Iron Works in Steubenville. I am thinking that Joseph may have learned some skills working with heavy equipment while he served in the Army.

Steubenville is a city located not far west from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. That whole are is well know for its iron and steel production. The city of Steubenville gets its name from the famous Prussian man, Baron von Steuben, who helped train Revolutionary War soldiers under General George Washington. Here is an old post card with a photo of the La Belle Iron Works in Steubenville.

According to information found on Ancestry.com, it looks as if this couple had 6 children. In the 1920 census, the Colin’s had 2 children, and Joseph was called a crane man for a mill.

Next, we find the Colin household in the 1930 census. This time, we find 5 children in the family. Joseph had the same occupation.

The 1940 census shows that one more child had been born in the 1930’s. Three daughters and a son were still living with their parents.

Joseph Colin had a World War II draft card completed in 1942. This time, it says that Joseph was employed by the Wheeling Steel Corporation. Wheeling, West Virginia is also located very near Steubenville and Pittsburgh.

The last census the public can view is the one taken in 1950. Joseph and Katherine had an empty nest and Joseph continued to be a crane man for a steel mill.

Joseph Colin died in 1976 at the age of 84. We can read his obituary below. It says he was a member of St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in Steubenville. That congregation was organized in 1928. Perhaps the Colin’s were involved in helping that congregation get started.

Katherine Colin died in 1994 at the age of 98. Joseph and Katherine Colin are buried together in the Ft. Stueben Burial Estates in Wintersville, Ohio.

Once again, I had to create a new folder in our German Family Tree Images collection for this story. I figured that it was time to check again how many folders we have in that collection. As of this date, there are now 1248 folders. That is certainly evidence that the German Family Tree may document people who are found in church books in and near Perry County, Missouri, but that “family tree” has now extended its branches far beyond this area to places all over the country and around the world.