Wedding Anniversary

The idea for today’s blog post comes from a second great granddaughter of this couple. She is doing a family tree for a school project and asked her grandmother, who then asked me, for this photo.

Her timing was absolutely, very, astoundingly perfect!

Katherine Müller married Albert Blees in Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minnesota in February 1921. That’s 101 years ago!

Albert was born into a German-speaking family in Kansas in 1889. With his parents, he moved to St. Paul, Minnesota sometime between the 1895 Kansas census and the 1900 U.S. census. [He is the oldest son in the photo in this post.]

Katherine was born in Temmels (in what is now the Rhineland-Palatinate state of Germany) in 1889. Two of her older brothers immigrated to America when she was a teenager.

The Müller brothers, Adam (aged 22) and Michael (aged 18), sailed from Cherbourg, France to New York, arriving October 3, 1903.¹New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 [online database]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc. 2006. Original data: Year 1903; Microfilm serial: 15; Microfilm roll: T715_400; Adam and Michael Muller, lines 8-9. Their passage was paid by their Uncle Bernard Beck. Each of them possessed a train ticket to meet Uncle Beck in St. Paul, Minnesota.

In this story, Bernard Beck is an important member of the genealogy FAN (Family, Associates and Neighbors) Club. Uncle Beck is Adam, Michael and Katherine’s mother’s brother. As a single man, Bernard immigrated to the United States in 1882. By 1885, he was married²“Minnesota, County Marriages, 1860-1949”, database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2Z5-9H6N : 9 March 2021), Bernhard Beck and Francis Schmidt, 1885. and living in at St. Paul.

After immigrating, Katherine’s brothers soon got married. First Adam: he married Martha Materne in Blue Earth County in 1906.³“Minnesota Marriages, 1849-1950”, database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FDF3-6J5 : 20 January 2020), Adam Miller, 1906. A couple of years later, Michael married Mary Katherine Rennenberg in Le Seuer County.⁴Le Seuer County MN Marriages, Certificate Number I-207 A. By 1913, both brothers lived in Mankato. Together they operated Miller Brothers, a general contracting and cabinet-making company.

Did you catch that?

The brothers use the name Miller.

When it came time for Katherine to make the journey to America, her older brother and his wife were generous sponsors. Adam and Martha Miller had no children of their own, so they had ample time to travel to Germany, to visit family and to bring Katherine back to Mankato.

For the return voyage, the ship records⁵Year: 1913; Arrival: New York, New York, USA; Microfilm Serial: T715, 1897-1957; Line: 11; Page Number: 26. indicate that the three of them traveled in a Second-class cabin. When they arrived in New York, they were not processed with the hundreds of immigrants traveling in the Steerage section. Both First- and Second-class passengers were “inspected” onboard the ship before being transferred to New York; only Steerage passengers were processed at Ellis Island.

Situated in Mankato, Katherine worked as a clerk⁶2023 Edit: The Katherine Miller listed as a clerk in the 1916-17 R.L. Polk’s Mankato City Directory (page 118) was not our Katherine. This other Katherine lived with William and Margaret Miller at 504 N. Willow. This is an example assuming that someone with the same name is the same person; I made this rookie mistake years ago and finally double-checked my work. and eventually as a housekeeper for George Palmer. Mr. Palmer opened the Mankato Mill in 1879 and was the president of Hubbard and Palmer Milling when Katherine lived at his house in 1920.⁷U. S. Census: 1920; Mankato Ward 5, Blue Earth County, Minnesota; Roll: T625_825; Page: 6A; District: 23; George Palmer household.

How did a live-in housekeeper in Mankato meet her future husband from St. Paul?

We go back to the FAN club.
Back to Uncle Bernard Beck.

Uncle Bernard’s son, Bernard Thomas Beck, was a first cousin to the Miller/Müller siblings. This cousin married Catherine Agatha Blees⁸Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/119692732/bernard-thomas-beck : accessed 17 January 2022), memorial page for Bernard Thomas Beck (17 Nov 1892–4 Dec 1950), Find a Grave Memorial ID 119692732, citing Calvary Cemetery, Saint Paul, Ramsey County, Minnesota, USA ; Maintained by KWH (contributor 48123018)., the younger sister of Albert Blees.

Aha! Katherine Müller and Albert Blees must have met through their mutual family relationships.

One last question:

When did Katherine and Albert marry?

Family Tradition gives the marriage date as February 1, 1921. This photograph was labeled by daughter-in-law Katherine Fleischhacker Blees.

However, the Marriage Certificate from Blue Earth County gives the marriage date as February 2nd, 1921.

After preparing/scheduling this blog post, and posing my end-of-post engagement question: “Where else could we search for confirmation of the marriage date?” I questioned my own methods. Why didn’t I ever contact Saints Peter and Paul Church in Mankato? When I knew that there was a discrepancy, why didn’t I ask? So, I asked.

On January 20, 2022, the Church Secretary replied to my email request. Good news: the Church has the record of the marriage and will mail a copy to me!

There is our confirmation! When did Katherine and Albert marry?

February 1, 1921

Why is the date wrong on the County Record?
Could be a simple clerical error.

Let’s celebrate this Wedding Anniversary!

Where else could we search for confirmation of the wedding date?

Newspapers? [Edit: check out this post for newspaper research.]
Other labeled photos?
Church records? DONE

Don’t forget to double-check your sources!

SOURCES

• 1
  New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 [online database]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc. 2006. Original data: Year 1903; Microfilm serial: 15; Microfilm roll: T715_400; Adam and Michael Muller, lines 8-9.
• 2
  “Minnesota, County Marriages, 1860-1949”, database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2Z5-9H6N : 9 March 2021), Bernhard Beck and Francis Schmidt, 1885.
• 3
  “Minnesota Marriages, 1849-1950”, database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FDF3-6J5 : 20 January 2020), Adam Miller, 1906.
• 4
  Le Seuer County MN Marriages, Certificate Number I-207 A.
• 5
  Year: 1913; Arrival: New York, New York, USA; Microfilm Serial: T715, 1897-1957; Line: 11; Page Number: 26.
• 6
  2023 Edit: The Katherine Miller listed as a clerk in the 1916-17 R.L. Polk’s Mankato City Directory (page 118) was not our Katherine. This other Katherine lived with William and Margaret Miller at 504 N. Willow. This is an example assuming that someone with the same name is the same person; I made this rookie mistake years ago and finally double-checked my work.
• 7
  U. S. Census: 1920; Mankato Ward 5, Blue Earth County, Minnesota; Roll: T625_825; Page: 6A; District: 23; George Palmer household.
• 8
  Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/119692732/bernard-thomas-beck : accessed 17 January 2022), memorial page for Bernard Thomas Beck (17 Nov 1892–4 Dec 1950), Find a Grave Memorial ID 119692732, citing Calvary Cemetery, Saint Paul, Ramsey County, Minnesota, USA ; Maintained by KWH (contributor 48123018).