I had originally planned to share this old story on this blog yesterday, but our granddaughters’ volleyball tournament began very early in the morning and ran most of the day. A big thank you goes out to Denise Hellwege for pinch-hitting for me yesterday. Today is also going to be a busy day, but I got up early to put this post together.
During the first year of this blog back in 2016, I posted the attached story on the first Valentine’s Day after I started blogging. I began my interest in family research not long after I arrived in Altenburg in 2010 as a result of a project that I was asked to do for our museum. I had told our museum director, Carla Jordan, that I would like to know what happened to the 11 original students who attended the Log Cabin College that opened up in December of 1839. Her response was, “You are going to do that research.” I accepted the challenge and wrote a paper that was eventually published by the Concordia Historical Institute. That paper was mostly about people attached to the clergy, but when we started a new website in 2016, I wanted to write stories about people connected to the history of East Perry County who were not only pastors and teachers, but part of the laity.
When I wrote the attached story, it highlighted the fact that February 14, 1886 was the 130th anniversary of Rev. John Jacob Trinklein and Emilie Buenger. Now it is 10 years later, and that couple would be celebrating their 140th anniversary this year. In doing a bit more research on this couple, I discovered a possible error. Not only is today’s post a day late, but it is possible that yesterday was not the right wedding date. I am going to add a few documents to the previous tale. After all, that post consisted of just one paragraph.
John Jacob Trinklein was born on February 4, 1860 in Frankenmuth, Michigan. That means he was likely baptized by Rev. Ottomar Fuerbringer, one of the builders of the Log Cabin College in Altenburg. In addition to that, Rev. Fuerbringer was married to Agnes Buenger, a fact that may have contributed to John Jacob finding his future wife. John Jacob was the son of Peter and Eva (Bickel) Trinklein. In the 1870 census, John Jacob was 10 years old, and his father was a farmer in Frankenmuth.
During the next decade, John Jacob must have gone off to study to become a Lutheran teacher, possibly in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. When the 1880 census was taken, John Jacob, at the age of 20, was living in Waterloo, Iowa where he was a school teacher. He was a boarder in the household of Henry Meyer, a stone mason.
It appears that John Jacob would then go to St. Louis to study some more to become a Lutheran preacher. He would then become a circuit rider for the Lutheran church in Texas, responsible for establishing several new congregations in that state. There is a historical marker in Texas that mentions the work of Rev.Trinklein. An image of that historical marker is displayed here.
Let’s now take a look at the woman who would become the preacher’s wife. Her name was Sarah Emilie Pauline Buenger, who was born on June 4, 1858. Emilie was the daughter of Herman and Catharina (Windecker) Buenger. Herman was one of the original students of the Log Cabin College and the brother of Rev. Fuerbringer’s wife, Agnes. In the 1880 census, Emilie was 21 years old, and her father was a druggist in St. Louis. Emilie was also the niece of Rev. C.F.W. Walther, who had married Emilie Buenger. In fact, today’s Emilie may have gotten her name from her aunt.
Rev. John Jacob Trinklein traveled back to St. Louis from Texas in 1886 to get married to Emilie Buenger. That wedding took place at Immanuel Lutheran Church in St. Louis. The pastor of that congregation had been Rev. J.F. Buenger, another of the builders of the Log Cabin College, up until his death in 1882. I located the church marriage record for this couple. Here is where we have a slight problem. This record says that they were married on February 13th. This document says that they were married by Rev. C.F.W. Walther and John Jacob was from Houston, Texas.
In a journal kept by Rev. Trinklein that can be found online, we find this paragraph concerning his wedding. It specifically says that he was married on Valentine’s Day.
Rev. Trinklein took his bride to Texas for a while and had a few sons there. There is evidence that the Trinklein’s lived in Sioux City, Iowa for a while. Then an 1894 Michigan state census says they were living in Bay County in that state. The 1900 census entry for the Trinklein’s shows them living in Frankenlust, Michigan where John Jacob was a preacher of the Gospel. There were 4 children in their family, two born in Texas, one in Iowa, and one in Michigan.
The only photo I located for today’s characters was this one of John Jacob that was displayed in the previous post.
Rev. Trinklein apparently left the ministry during the next decade because in the next 2 census entries for 1910 and 1920, John Jacob was working at an automobile factory in Detroit, Michigan. Below is the 1920 census entry.
Emilie Trinklein died in 1923 at the age of 62. However, that is based on the fact that her Michigan death certificate says Emilie was born in 1860. If she was born in 1858, then she would have been 64 years old when she died. The informant on this document was Rev. Oscar Trinklein, her son who had also become a Lutheran pastor.
In the 1930 census, John Jacob was a widower living with his daughter’s family. She had married Ernest Fackler. John Jacob was back to being called a pastor.
Rev. John Jacob Trinklein died in 1947 at the age of 86. We can also view his Michigan death certificate.
Rev. John Jacob and Emilie Trinklein are each buried in the Forest Lawn Cemetery in Detroit. They have sites on Findagrave.com, but there are no gravestone photos.
I will let you decide if the Trinklein’s were married on Valentine’s Day or not. Regardless of whether they were married on February 13th or 14th, today is still a belated wedding anniversary post.