Back in 2017, I wrote a post about a man named Martin Bellmann titled, Pound the Hammer, Ring the Bell, Bang the Drum. That post mentioned that Martin got married 4 times. His 4 wives were named, in chronological order, Emma Heitmann, Martha Lohmann, Concordia Boehme, and Martha Grebing. Today’s birthday girl is Martin’s 4th wife, and not much was said about her in that previous post. Today, I am going to focus upon that 4th wife.

Martha Caroline Pauline Grebing was born on October 17, 1876, so today would be her very special 150th birthday. Martha was the daughter of Henry and Wilhelmine (Rabold) Grebing. She was baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg. An image of her baptism record from that congregation’s books is pictured here.

I quickly discovered that I had to be careful, especially when locating Martha in census entries, when researching a woman who became Martha Bellmann. That is because Martha was the second woman to become Martha Bellmann. Plus, the first Martha Bellmann was the one who gave birth to most of Martin’s children. Martha Grebing is found in the 1880 census at the age of 3. Her father was a farmer in the Brazeau Township.

Martha was confirmed at Trinity, Altenburg in 1890, but we cannot view a census from that year. When we look at the 1900 census, there were just 2 single daughters, both in their 20’s, still living with their parents. Martha was one of them. Her father was still farming.

Martha’s father died prior to the 1910 census, and her sisters had both gotten married. Martha, her mother, and her sister, Maria, and her Kasten family were all living in the Ernst Wachter household located south of Altenburg.

In the 1915 plat maps, we find a parcel of land owned by Wilhelmina Grebing, Martha’s mother, right beside the farm of Ernst Wachter.

Martha’s mother died in 1919, so when we find Martha in the 1920 census, she was living with her sister, Maria and her Kasten family. Maria’s husband, Benjamin Kasten, was farming. A young school teacher was also living in this household.

Martha was still single when the 1930 census was taken. At the age of 53, she was still living in the Kasten household, which had gotten quite large.

Martin Bellmann’s 3rd wife had died in 1926, so he had been a widower for about 4 years before he married Martha Grebing in 1930. These two were married on May 4, 1930 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg. We can view this couple’s church marriage record below. The witnesses for this wedding were Adolph and Gertrude Kuehnert. Gertrude was Martin’s daughter by his second wife, the other Martha Bellmann who had the maiden name of Lohmann. When this wedding took place, Martin was 57 years old, and Martha was 53.

In the 1940 census, we find Martin and Martha, along with Tabea Kuehnert, who was the daughter of Martha Lohmann by her first marriage to Ernst Kuehnert. So, she is called Martin’s stepdaughter. Martin was a carpenter in Altenburg. Tabea was a clerk in the post office.

The last census the public can view is the one taken in 1950. In that entry, Martin and Martha had an empty nest, and Martin, at the age of 77, was doing odd jobs.

Both Martin and Martha Bellmann died in the 1960’s. Martha died in 1964 at the age of 87. Her death certificate says she died of a cerebral hemorrhage. She died at the Perry County Memorial Hospital in Perryville.

Martin Bellmann died in 1968 at the age of 95. According to his death certificate below, he died at the Deal Nursing Home in Jackson.

Only Martin Bellmann’s first wife, Emma, is not buried in the Trinity Lutheran Cemetery in Altenburg. She is buried in the Christ Lutheran Cemetery in Jacob, Illinois.

Martin and his other 3 wives, two of them Martha’s, are buried in the Trinity Lutheran Cemetery in Altenburg.

Yesterday, I commented on how rare it was for Emanuel Fischer to marry 3 different wives over more than 3 decades who were all unmarried until they married Emanuel. In today’s story, Martin Bellmann managed to find 3 different wives who had previously been unmarried, but his 3rd wife, Concordia, had been married to Ernst Kuehnert before she married Martin. However, after Concordia, his 3rd wife, died, Martin managed to find a 53 year-old never-married woman…today’s birthday girl, Martha Grebing. She became the 2nd Martha Bellmann.