Somehow, a couple that has 13 children listed in our German Family Tree has escaped being characters on this blog for over 10 years of its existence. As near as I can tell, I have yet to write a story about any of the 13 children. That string comes to an end today. I begin with a birthday girl.

Martha Pauline Regina Cornehlsen was born on April 2, 1891, thus making today her 135th birthday. Martha was the daughter of Henry and Martha (Holschen) Cornehlsen. She was baptized at Concordia Lutheran Church in Frohna. We can view her baptism record below.

When Martha was not yet 2 years old, her mother died. Apparently, her father decided that someone else should take care of his children. They were “farmed out” to other families. Martha is found in the Julius Magwitz household at the age of 8. Julius was married to a daughter of Martha’s mother’s first husband before she married Henry Cornehlsen. That means Henry farmed his two youngest children, Martha and Theodore, to his stepdaughter and her husband. Julius Magwitz was a farmer in the Salem Township.

Next, we find Martha in the 1910 census at the age of 19. This time, she was living in the Henry Hadler household. Henry was married to another stepdaughter of Henry Cornehlsen. It says Martha was doing housework for a private family.

Martha was married later that year, so we will now take a look at the man who would become her husband. His name was Henry Christopher Wichern, who was born on November 11th in either 1877 or 1878. Henry was born in Germany, the son of Johann and Anna (Stueve) Wichern. One later census entry says he came to America in 1879, and another one says he came to this country in 1881. To me, 1881 seems more reasonable. Henry is found in the 1900 census living in the Fountain Bluff Township near Jacob, Illinois at the age of 21. It also says he was born in 1878. Henry was a boarder in the Joachim Rathjen household and working as a farm laborer.

During the next decade, Henry Wichern moved across the Mississippi River to Perry County. We find him living by himself in the Bois Brule Township and farming.

As said before, later that year, Henry Wichern married Martha Cornehlsen. This pair was married at Trinity Lutheran Church in Point Rest. The church marriage record for them is displayed here.

The Missouri marriage license for this wedding can also be viewed.

In 1918, Henry had his World War I draft registration completed. It gives him a Point Rest address and calls him a farmer. This document says that Henry was born in 1877.

The 1920 census shows the Wichern’s with 5 children. The first 6 of the 13 children born to this couple were baptized at Trinity, Point Rest. The next 4 were baptized at Salem Lutheran Church in Farrar. Then 1 child was baptized at Zion Lutheran Church in Longtown. The final children were baptized at Grace Lutheran Church in Uniontown.

The Wichern’s made a move during the next decade. When the 1930 census was taken, we find them living in the Union Township where Henry was still farming. There were 7 children in their household.

Henry Wichern died in 1939 at the age of 60. His date of birth on this form is given as November 11, 1878.

Martha Wichern is found as a widow in the 1940 census. Five sons were living with her. The oldest son was doing the farm labor.

The last census we can view is the one taken in 1950. Martha was living with 2 teenage sons. The oldest was working as a truck driver at a rock quarry.

Martha Wichern died in 1969 at the age of 78. Her death certificate says that she died at the Perry County Memorial Hospital in Perryville.

Both Henry and Martha Wichern are buried in the Grace Lutheran Cemetery in Uniontown.

Many of the Wichern’s who have been highlighted in this blog have lived in the Farrar, Crosstown, and Mississippi River bottomland near Menfro. This Wichern family began there, but later would migrate to the Union Township and end their lives buried in Uniontown.