Albert A. Kain was perhaps born on September 23, 1865, and if so, he would be celebrating his 160th birthday today. There is a bit of debate about his date of birth because his gravestone says he was born on September 15th of that year. Regardless, you are getting his story today.

Albert’s story has another twist. A few sources say that he was born “at sea”. Obviously, I am a man and will never experience what it feels like to be pregnant, but I must admit that I find it really hard to understand how a very pregnant woman would let herself get on a sailing ship heading across the Atlantic Ocean in such a condition. Today is not the first time that I have written about a baby being born at sea. I have actually written a few stories about such sea births. One was one of the original immigrants who was part of the Gesellschaft. That boy was named Gotthilf Ahner, whose story was told in the post, Born at Sea. Another such story, Adam Klobe – Born at Sea, was written a few years back. I find it interesting that today’s birthday boy had the same initials, A.K., as Adam Klobe.

Albert Kain was the son of John and Josephine (Reisenbichler) Kain. I cannot display a baptism record. Perhaps he had been baptized on the ship. Albert is found in the 1870 census at the age of 5. This entry says that Albert was born in Missouri. His father had died in 1868, and his mother had remarried. Her second husband was named Joseph Putz. Joseph Putz had previously been married to Catharine Pilz, but she also died in 1868. The 3 children in this entry are an interesting trio. The oldest, Joseph Putz, was the son of Joseph and Catherine Putz. Albert, who looks like his name is Albert Putz, is actually Albert Kain, the son of John and Josephine Kain. And the young baby, John Putz, was the son of Joseph and Josephine Putz.

Next, we find Albert in the 1880 census at the age of 15. This time, he is correctly identified as Albert Kain, a stepson. He was working on his stepfather’s farm. This entry says Albert was born in Austria.

Albert would get married in the next decade, so I will now discuss the woman who became his wife. Her name was Marie Theresia Schattauer, who was born on June 24, 1871. Marie was the daughter of Mathias and Marie Theresia (Haberfellner) Schattauer. Marie was baptized at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Pocahontas. We only have a summary of all information about people from that congregation in a binder we have in our library. Below is the information we have for Marie.

Marie is found in the 1880 census at the age of 9. Her father was a farmer in the Shawnee Township.

Albert Kain married Marie Schattauer on October 31, 1889 at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Pocahontas. The Missouri marriage license for this couple is shown here.

A marriage certificate for this pair can also be viewed.

Our German Family Tree lists 6 children born to this couple. Their first 3 children died as infants. When the 1900 census was taken, the Kain’s had just one child, a baby that was just 3 months old. Albert was a carpenter in the Hubble Township. Marie’s sister, Louise, was living with them. This entry says that Albert was born “at sea”.

Albert Kain died in 1907 at the age of 41. Since he died prior to Missouri keeping death certificates, I could not determine a cause of death. I did find this obituary for him in the Weekly Tribune. It is another source that says he was born at sea, but it does not refer to a cause of death.

In the 1910 census, Marie is found as a widow. She and her 3 children were living with 2 Stevenson brothers in the Shawnee Township. The 2 brothers were both single and in their 50’s. Marie was doing the housekeeping.

Marie married again in 1919. Her second husband was Charles Lucius Short, who was born August 20, 1874. Charles was the son of Thomas and Mary (Gilliland) Short. Charles is found intoe 1880 census at the age of 6. His father was a farmer in the Randol Township.

Charles was still single when the 1900 census was compiled and still living with his parents. At the age of 25, he is given no occupation.

Charles Short married Jeffie Slack on January 17, 1904. Their marriage license below indicates that they were married by a pastor in Jackson. I suspect they may have been married at Pleasant Hill Presbyterian Church in Fruitland because I found a baptism record for their first child in that congregation’s books.

The Short’s are found living in the Byrd Township in the 1910 census, where Charles was a farmer. There were 2 young children in their household.

Jeffie Short died in 1914. Her death certificate says she died of liver cancer. Then, on March 19, 1919, Charles Short married Marie Kain. They were married by a justice of the peace. That justice of the peace was John Putz, who was the John Putz shown as a baby in the 1870 census entry shown earlier.

Charles and Marie are found in the 1920 census with 3 of the Short children from Charles’s first marriage. This time, Charles was a farmer in the Randol Township.

Next, we find the Short’s in the 1930 census which included the same members of the family as were found in the previous census.

In the 1940 census, Charles and Marie had their daughter, Helen, and her husband, Elmer Wilkins, living with them. Charles and Elmer were farming.

Charles is found living with the the Wilkins family at the age of 75 when the 1950 census was taken. He is called separated in the marriage status column.

The reason for Charles being separated from Marie can be explained by seeing where Marie is living when that year’s census was taken. She was a patient at the State Hospital in Farmington.

Charles Short died in 1951 at the age of 75. His death certificate below says he died at the Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau as a result of cancer.

Charles is buried in the Jackson Cemetery in Jackson, which is also where his first wife is buried.

Marie Short died in 1952 at the age of 79. Her death certificate gives the main cause of death as pneumonia.

Both Albert Kain and Marie Short are buried in the St. John’s Lutheran Cemetery in Pocahontas. Albert’s gravestone gives his date of birth as September 15th. We cannot view a death certificate to verify his birthday.

Both of the above gravestones are inscribed with the Bible verse, “The Lord is My Shepherd”. Both of the above characters had some pretty traumatic events take place during their lives. At such times, it helps to know we have a Lord who cares for his sheep.