In a previous post, the story was told of Carl and Anna Mirly coming to America in 1852 and settling in the vicinity of New Wells. A brother of Carl, Matthias Mirly, arrived at about the same time and settled in the same area. Those two Mirly brothers were early members of Immanuel Lutheran church in New Wells.

Today, you will read about another Mirly brother who also came to this country at about the same time, but in his case, he did not first settle in Missouri. That brother is today’s birthday boy.

Joseph Mirly was born on August 19, 1830 in Vöcklabruck, Austria. That makes today his 195th birthday. Joseph was the son of Joseph and Maria Anna (Kastenhuber) Mirly. According to a few later census entries, Joseph either came to this country in 1852 or 1853. He must have made his way to Chicago after coming to the United States. It was in that city that Joseph got married.

The woman who would become Joseph’s bride was Wilhelmine Caroline Albertine Schimmelpfennig, who was born on August 8, 1838 in Germany. That is about all I know about Wilhelmine. I do not know the names of her parents, nor do I know when she arrived in America. She must have also made her way to the city of Chicago.

Joseph Mirly married Wilhelmine Schimmelpfennig on January 20, 1856. This is the first time that I have been able to find a church record for a historic church located in Chicago. I discovered that the marriage record for Joseph and Wilhelmine is found in the Missouri Synod collection of records found on Ancestry.com. Their marriage took place at First St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Chicago. Below is an image of the church record for the Mirly/Schimmelpfennig wedding.

First St. Paul’s Lutheran Church was established in 1846, and in 1847, it was their location in Chicago in which a gathering of Lutheran pastors agreed to a constitution, and what eventually became known as the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod was formed. Later, First St. Paul’s was also the place where the first sessions of the Western District of that synod were held in 1855.

When the Mirly’s were married at that church in 1856, the pastor was Rev. Heinrich Wunder, who was one of the 5 graduates of Concordia Seminary in Altenburg, Missouri. I find it somewhat amusing that on the above marriage record, Pastor Wunder appears to have had more trouble spelling the name, Mirly, than he had spelling the name, Schimmelpfennig.

When this couple’s first child was born in November of 1856, she was baptized at First St. Paul’s. Her baptism record is pictured here.

Another child was born to the Mirly’s in Illinois. Then, when we find the Mirly’s in the 1860 census, they were no longer living in Chicago. They are found in the St. Louis area. The 2 children born in Illinois are included in their household. Joseph was a shoemaker.

It appears that another child was born in St. Louis, and then this Mirly family relocated to the Shawnee Township in Cape Girardeau County, which is where Joseph’s 2 brothers lived. When another daughter was born in 1864, that child was baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in New Wells. When the 1870 census was taken, we find the Mirly household living in the Shawnee Township. There were 6 children in their entry, and Joseph was still a shoemaker.

Our German Family Tree lists 13 children for Joseph and Wilhelmine. Almost all of them were born prior to the census taken in 1880. There were 8 children listed in that entry, including a set of twins that had been born in 1875. This time, Joseph was called a farmer.

One more child was born after the above census, but that child likely died early. Most of the children had gotten married and moved away by the time of the next census we can view in 1900. Just one child was still living with Joseph and Wilehlmine, who is called Willie in this entry.

Wilehlmine Mirly died in 1907 at the age of 68. Her death record in the books of Immanuel, New Wells, says she died of pneumonia. Joseph is found in the 1910 census as a widower. He was part of the Karl Hoffmann household. His daughter, Emilie, had married Karl in 1890.

Joseph Mirly died later in 1910 at the age of 80. Missouri began keeping death certificates that year, so we are able to view this one for Joseph.

Both Joseph and Wilhelmine are buried in the Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery in New Wells, but only Wilhelmine has a gravestone photo on Findagrave.com.

Immanuel Lutheran Church in New Wells has two cemeteries, an old one and a new one. Joseph and Wilhelmine are buried in the old one. Between the two cemeteries on Findagrave.com, there are 26 grave sites that include the surname, Mirly. The 3 Mirly brothers who arrived in America around 1852 ended up producing a rather large Mirly Family Tree which has 3 main branches.

In another previous post, Another Irresistible Name…..Schimmelpfennig, I wrote that I did not know when or where this Mirly/Schimmelpfennig couple was married. Now I know. As for Wilhelmine Schimmelpfennig, which is a name that has a total of 8 syllables, I believe she was happy to eventually be called a much easier name, Willie Mirly.