A Family or A Drink

Does 21 days of family make you want a drink? What if the family is named the same as a drink? Does that call for a double? I'm not much of a drinker, but recent family research has me thinking a bit too much about alcohol.

Searching the web for members of the Martini family turns up a lot of lovely photos and recipes. Unfortunately, finding the people isn't quite as simple as finding the drink.

October 2020 brings us the 21-day Family Connections Experiment. It's encouragement to connect with family past and present. For me that includes blogging to connect the past and present and to toss out some cousin bait.

The Martini Connection

Katherine Vosseler Wittekind Martini is the ancestor of dozens of my cousins. She is a new DNA discovery that is the key to demolishing my long-standing Vosseler (Vossler) brick wall. I hope this brief sketch on her life will help me connect with some of her descendants, my cousins.

Katherina Vosseler was born on or about January 14, 1835, in Württemberg. I have found four different birthplaces for her, so will not speculate. The birthplace most often found in online trees is probably a misreading or misinterpretation of one of the other three records.

She immigrated to the United States, where the first confirmed record of her presence is the birth of a daughter, Mary Margaret Wittekind, in Kansas in September, 1858. There is a possible marriage to Mr. Wittekind in Ohio, but that is also speculative.

On August 16, 1860, Catherine Wittikind married John Martini in a civil ceremony in Leavenworth County, Kansas Territory. The Martinis soon moved to Missouri, where their oldest son was born in 1861. They were living in St. Louis by April, 1863, when their second son arrived. They moved to Centralia, Illinois, in 1873, where the last two of their children were born.

Katherine had at least one child that did not survive to adulthood; however, seven children did survive. They are:

1.  Margaret Mary Wittekind Brightfield, born September 18, 1858 in Kansas, died September 11, 1940 in St. Louis, Missouri
2.  John L Martini, born May 16, 1861 in Missouri, died January 08, 1936 in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois
3.  Henry Martini, born April 09, 1863 in St. Louis, Missouri, died April 01, 1936 in Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California
4.  Josephine Alphena Martini, born December 27, 1869 in St. Louis, Missouri, died January 07, 1937 in St. Louis, Missouri
5.  Anna J Martini, born December 17, 1871 in St. Louis, Missouri, died June 20, 1961 in Maplewood, St Louis County, Missouri
6.  Eugene Martini, born April 09, 1874 in Centralia, Marion County, Illinois, died August 30, 1963 in Springdale, Washington County, Arkansas
7.  Emma Martini, born April 28, 1878 in Centralia, Marion County, Illinois, died June 10, 1961 in Maplewood, St Louis County, Missouri

John Martini served the Union, from Missouri, during the Civil War. He operated saloons and boarding houses while living in St. Louis. After moving to Centralia, he opened a restaurant and bakery in the downtown business district. He was a sponsor of an 1881 county history book, which includes a few useful bits of information. 

1881 History of Marion and Clinton Counties

 

Katherine purchased three town lots in 1877, in Centralia, in her own name, as Illinois permitted a married woman to own property without her husband. This was unusual at the time. I speculate that, having been widowed young, she wanted to own property as a protection against a repeat occurrence.

By the time of the 1880 census, Katherine and John had taken into their household her much younger half-siblings, John and Mary Ellen Vosseler, who had been born in 1868 and 1870, respectively. The census taker spelled all the surnames incorrectly, leading to my years of difficulty in finding the Vosseler children and also hiding the census record from Martini researchers.

Katherine Martini died fairly young, in 1887, triggering probate in Marion County for her property. She was buried in the Martini family plot in New Picker's (Gatewood Gardens) Cemetery in St. Louis. John Jacob Martini died in the Soldier's Home in Leavenworth, Kansas, in 1909, and was buried in the same plot. 

Katherine's burial permit tells us her age, by which her birthdate can be calculated. It is an important clue in the search for Katherina Vosseler Martini. 

 

If you are a descendant of Katherine, please leave a reply or use the contact form on the right. I'd love to connect!