The birthday girl for today’s post is Anna Maria Charltotte Grossheider who was born on August 1, 1841. Charlotte’s parents, Casper and Maria (Sewing) Grossheider, arrived in the United States in 1839 or 1840 with two children. Charlotte was the first child in this Grossheider family who was born in America. I do not know where she was baptized, but the next 2 children have baptism records in the books of Grace Lutheran Church in Uniontown, and the remaining ones were baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Friedheim. The two with records in the Uniontown books were probably baptized when Pastor Gruber traveled to Friedheim to preach to some German Lutherans who had settled there prior to the establishment of Trinity in 1849. Charlotte is found in the 1850 census at the age of 10. Her father was farming in Cape Girardeau County, likely near Friedheim.

Charlotte was confirmed at Trinity Lutheran Church in Friedheim in 1856. Below, you will see a list of the confirmands who were in the same class with Charlotte, who is highlighted in this image.

When she was just 16 years old, Charlotte got married, so we will now take a look at the man who would become her husband. His name was Phillip Ludwig Siemers, who was born in Germany on February 13, 1833. Louis, as he was mostly called, was the son of Conrad and Dorothea (Greten) Siemers. Louis was one of 4 Siemers children who came to America with his parents in 1845 aboard the ship, Friedrich Leo. We can see this family on the passenger list from that ship shown below. Louis is called Phillip on this list.

Louis is found in the 1850 census at the age of 16. He and 2 older brothers were doing the farming. The Siemers family lived in Cape Girardeau County.

Louis Siemers married Charlotte Grossheider on May 20, 1858 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Friedheim. The church record for this couple is displayed here. It says that Louis was from Jackson.

We can also view this civil marriage record from Cape Girardeau Coounty.

The Family Search information for this Siemers couple says they had 6 children, but there are two more children of this couple who died fairly young who are buried in the Zion Lutheran Cemetery in Gordonville, so it looks like they had 8 children. I do not know where the first 4 children were baptized, but starting with the 5th child, we find their baptism records in the books of Zion Lutheran Church in Gordonville, which was established in 1865. In the 1860 census, Louis and Charlotte had one baby in their household. Louis was a farmer in the Hubble Township. There was a 65 year-old male in this entry, and it looks like the census taker just called this person Siemers. I think this may actually be Louis’s mother. His father had died in 1854, so his mother was a widow at this time. There was also a young farm laborer, Julius Elman, living with the Siemers family.

When the 1870 census was taken, the Siemers’s had 3 children. Also found in the household were 2 young men who were farm hands.

Next, the Siemers family is found in the 1880 census. In addition to 6 children, we find 2 young hired hands and Charlotte’s widowed mother.

In a Grossheider family binder that we have, I found this photo that includes Louis, Charlotte and some other family members, including a farm hand.

Since we cannot view the 1890 census, the next one we can look at is the one taken in 1900. At the age of 67, Louis was still farming with the help of 2 sons and a boarder.

I think the 2 photos shown below were taken around 1900.

Louis Siemers died in 1902 at the age of 69. His death record is found in the books of Christ Lutheran Church in Gordonville, a congregation that had been established in 1899. We can read a short article published in the Weekly Standard about Louis’s death.

We find Charlotte as a widow in the 1910 census. She is called the mother in this household, but all of the members are 20 years old and younger, so it is more likely that she is the grandmother. I also failed to figure out how these individuals were tied to Charlotte.

Charlotte Siemers died in 1916 at the age of 74. Her death certificate below says that she died of acute bronchitis.

An obituary for Charlotte was published in the Weekly Standard. I have to show it in 3 clickable images.

Louis and Charlotte Siemers are each buried in the Christ Lutheran Cemetery in Gordonville.

There are plenty of records in the books of both Zion and Christ Lutheran Churches in Gordonville for the surnames, Siemers and Grossheider. Several posts have been told about those with the surname, Grossheider, on this blog. I think this is only the second post mentioning the surname, Siemers.