About three years ago, I wrote a story about a man named George Kaufmann. He was part of the tale about the bicentennial birthday of his wife and titled, Regina’s Bicentennial Jubilee. That George Kaufmann came to Perry County as part of the New York Group when he was a boy. Well, I found a reason to write the story of another George Kaufmann today.

Today’s George Kaufmann was born on April 19, 1846, the son of Conrad and Christine (Loos) Kaufmann. George was baptized at Grace Lutheran Church in Uniontown. An image of that baptism record is displayed here.

There are a few census entries that I failed to find for this story, and the 1850 census for George is one of them. So, the first census entry I am able to show is the one taken in 1860. At that time, George was 14 years old, and his father was a farmer in the Byrd Township of Cape Girardeau County. George was the only child listed in the Kaufmann household. The Byrd Township is where the city of Jackson is located.

There is a confirmation record for a George Kaufmann in the books of Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg. I have some doubts as to whether this is the correct George Kaufmann. I know it was not the other George Kaufmann, even though I know he was a member of that congregation. The other George Kaufmann was confirmed in 1839, shortly after arriving in Perry County. Today’s George Kaufmann would have been about 18 years old in 1864, and that is typically older than a usual confirmand. The list below does not give us any help with identifying his parents. I will let you decide if this is the correct George.

Now, we will turn our attention to the woman who would become George’s bride. Her name was Emilie Auguste Penzel, who was born on Reformation Day, October 31, 1846 in Germany. Emilie was the daughter of Johann and Christiane (Zapf) Penzel. When Emilie was 7 years old, her Penzel family came to America in 1853 aboard the ship, Bank Edmund. We find the Penzel’s on this passenger list from that ship.

Emilie is found in the 1860 census at the age of 15. Her father was a farmer in the Byrd Township. Since the Penzel’s and the Kaufmann’s were each living in the Byrd Township in 1860, it is understandable how George and Emilie managed to get acquainted.

George Kaufmann married Emilie Penzel on December 22, 1865, so today would be this couple’s 160th wedding anniversary. According to the two civil marriage records pictured here, this couple was married by Rev. Doederlein.

Rev. Doederlein was the pastor of Zion Lutheran Church in Gordonville. In fact, he was the first pastor of that congregation that was organized during that year. I will add the fact that the larger town of Jackson still did not have a Lutheran church at that time.

It appears that this Kaufmann couple had 5 children. However, the next census taken in 1870 is the other entry that I failed to locate for this article. The next census entry I can show is this one from 1880. There were 4 Kaufmann children in this household, along with a nephew named George Loos, who likely came from George’s mother’s family. George was farming in the Byrd Township.

The next census we can view is the one taken in 1900. Another child had been born in the 1880’s and some others had moved away, so we see just 2 sons living with George and Emilie. George was still farming

The last census in which we find George is the one taken in 1910. This time, they had an empty nest and were living in Jackson. The census taker was having trouble getting Emilie in the row under George and had to make some corrections.

George Kaufmann died in 1915 at the age of 70. You can see on his death certificate that he died on December 27th, five days after his wedding anniversary and two days after Christmas.

An obituary for George was published in The Weekly Standard. It is shown below in two clickable images.

Emilie is found in the 1920 census as a widow. She was living by herself in Jackson.

Emilie Kaufmann died in 1925 at the age of 78. We can also view her death certificate.

Emilie’s obituary was published in the Cash Book Journal.

George and Emilie Kaufmann are buried together in the Jackson City Cemetery in Jackson.

There you go! Now you know about the Jackson George Kaufmann and his bride, Emilie Penzel.