The Gruber Group arrived in America in November of 1839 aboard the ship, Johann Georg. On that ship was a family of Sittner’s. The book, Zion on the Mississippi, says the Sittner’s were made up of a father, his wife, and 4 children.

We can also view the Sittner family as it appears on the actual passenger list for that ship.

There were eventually 10 children in this Sittner family after several more children were born in America. Today, you will read the story of one of those Sittner children born in America. His name was Joseph Edward Sittner, who was born on June 23, 1848. His parents were Johann and Johanne (Wagner) Sittner. The first 3 Sittner children born in the USA were baptized at Grace Lutheran Church in Uniontown. However, our German Family Tree does not indicate where the last 3 children were baptized, starting with Joseph’s birth. The Sittner parents are buried in the Trinity Lutheran Cemetery in Friedheim, and in 1848, Trinity was in its early stages of being organized. Perhaps that contributed to us not having a record for Joseph’s baptism. Joseph is found in the 1850 census at the age of 2. His father, who had been called a mason on the earlier passenger list, was now a farmer in the Cinque Hommes Township.

When the 1860 census was taken, we find Joseph at the age of 12.

The last census entry in which we find Joseph prior to his marriage is the one taken in 1870. At the age of 21, Joseph was working on his father’s farm.

Now, we will turn our attention to the woman who would become Joseph’s bride. Her name was Martha Anne Wills, who was born on May 9, 1851, so she would be celebrating her special 175th birthday today. Martha was the firstborn child of Jacob and Catherine (Welker) Wills. I located these photos of Martha’s parents.

If you look back in the Wills family tree, you can trace that family back to North Carolina prior to them moving to Missouri. It is almost certain that the Wills’s were not Lutherans, so I am not able to display Martha’s baptism record, nor do I know where it took place. We find Martha in her first census entry in 1860. Martha’s mother had died in 1859, and later that year, her father married Elizabeth Smith. Martha was 9 years old, and her father was a farmer in the Apple Creek Township. You can see that Martha’s father was born in North Carolina.

In the 1870 census, Martha was not living with her parents, but she was living with some others who were named Wills. Martha, at the age of 19, was called a domestic servant.

The wedding of Joseph Sittner and Martha Wills is a bit of a mystery. Our German Family Tree says this pair was married on February 15, 1876, but there is no document to verify that date. There is no church record for this event, and I also failed to locate any civil marriage records for it. That has not happened on too many occasions as I research a story. I think the only place any researcher of this bride and groom has found a marriage date is in Martha Sittner’s obituary which I will display later. According to our German Family Tree, this couple had 7 children, 6 of them boys. All of them were baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Friedheim. In the 1880 census, there were 2 children in their household. Joseph was a farmer in the Cinques Hommes Township.

Twenty years passed before we can view another census, and a lot of unexplained events likely took place. In the 1900 census, there were 6 children in the Sittner family. Joseph was still farming, but this time the Sittner’s were living in the Cape Girardeau Township.

It must have been about this time when the Sittner’s had a family photo taken that included all 7 children.

Next we find Joseph and Martha and their family in the 1910 census. This time, they were living in Jackson where Joseph was still farming. Just 3 sons remained in their household. Two sons were helping with the farming.

When the 1920 census was taken, we find this couple once again living in the Cape Girardeau Township. Joseph and Martha had an empty nest. Joseph, at the age of 71, had no occupation.

Joseph and Martha are found living with their son, August, and his family in the 1930 census. They were living in the Como Township in New Madrid County. August was a farmer.

Not long after the above census was taken, Joseph Sittner died in 1930 at the age of 81. His death certificate below says he died of a cerebral hemorrhage.

Martha Sittner is found as a widow in the 1940 census. She was still living with her son in New Madrid County.

Martha Sittner died in 1942 at the age of 91. We can view her death certificate here.

We can read Martha’s obituary below. She is called Mrs. Martha Ann Wills in the headline, not Martha Sittner.

Joseph’s death certificate says he was buried in the City Cemetery in Cape Girardeau. Findagrave.com does not include a cemetery by that name. Martha’s death certificate simply says that she was buried in Cape Girardeau. I was unable to find out where these two are buried.

One might think that this Sittner couple would have had plenty of grandchildren carrying the Sittner name since they had all those boy. However, I could only find evidence that two of those boys got married and had children.