Son of Heinrich Joseph Mertens & Maria Magdalena Loethen
Husband of Mary Christina Scheulen, married feb 15, 1858 Westphalia
This marriage is noted in the St. Thomas Parish History Book - Page 343 in 1889. Witnesses to this marriage were William Schulte and Maria Mertens.
Cletus Hoer's Book on Births and Baptisms in or near Westphalia, Mo. list birth as Dec 27, 1837 and baptism on Dec 27, 1837 with sponsors Joannes Kern and Elisabeth Brockerhoff.
INFORMATION FROM THE HISTORY OF HENRY JOSEPH MERTENS and his wife MARIA MAGDALENA LOETHEN - PAGE 97
AUTHOR: QUENTIN VIET
JOHANN (JOSEPH) MERTENS (SON OF HENRY JOSEPH)
John (Joseph) Mertens was born to Henry Joseph Mertens and his wife Maria Magdalena Loethen on Dec. 27, 1837, according to the Westphalia Church book. Taos, Missouri church records give his baptismal date as Dec 27, 1837 but do not give a birth date. The Taos records are the original and Wesphalia's were copied from them so I would believe that the church records cannot tell us the date when he was born. His gravestone at St. Thomas, Missouri gives his birth as October 25, 1836, so I would believe that his descendants knew his birth day and month, but not by year. Therefore, my guess is that he was born on October 25, 1837. His birth occurred less than one year after his parents had first set foot in America. He was the couple's only child to be born in this country.
When John was born, his mother was 41 years old and his father was 46. John was baptized at New Westphalia, (Osage County) MO, a small town founded by the German immigrant, Doctor Bernard Bruns, just two years earlier. The baptismal record shows him to have been given only one name, John. His baptism is the third recorded in the church book of St. Joseph's Catholic church at Westphalia.
The church record doesn't say so, but John must have been baptized by Father Meinkman, the first resident priest at Westphalia, who had sailed from Germany on the same ship as the Mertens and arrived at Westphalia at the same time. Father Meinkman had a log church built, which he named St. John, and started a school for the immigrants at at Westphalia. He became involved in a minor jurisdictional dispute with the then Bishop Rosati of the St. Louis diocese and was not allowed to function as a priest until November of 1837 shortly before John Mertens was born. Father Meinkman did not get to see the fruits of his labor, because he was soon replaced by Jesuit missionaries from St. Louis and was transferred to Washington, MO. The writer was told by a Westphalia, MO history buff that Father Meinkman ultimately moved on to Ferdinand, Indiana where he spent the remainder of his life as a parish priest.
Exactly where John Mertens parents were living when he was born is not known. They may have been renting or living with friends while Henry Joseph built a home for his family, since the family were relative newcomers. They had arrived at Westphalia only the previous April as was noted in a letter sent back to Germany by Henrietta Bruns, the wife of Dr. Bernard Bruns. However, I have the feeling that Henry Joseph did not own a home because I can find no land records in Osage County to support such a claim. I believe the first home they owned was on the land grand land Henry Joseph got from the U.S. Government. I may be wrong, however, because the Westphalia area was in Gasconade County until 1841 and I didn't search those land records.
After his baptismal record, the next record we find of John is his listing along with his parents, his two brothers Lorenz Mertens and Stephan Mertens, and their sister, Anna Christina Mertens, in an 1839 census taken by the Jesuit priest, Father Ferdinand Helias. John shows up again, this time as a mere statistic, in the 1840 Federal Census of Gasconade county where he is listed as a male under 5 years of age in his father's household. We have no school records to prove it, but we can assume that, when he was of an appropriate age, John attended the school started by Father Meinkman where the classes no doubt were conducted in the German language. The first school was a log structure which was used until 1848 when the present rock church at Westphalia was constructed. At that time the old log church was converted into a school. John probably also attended school in this building.
Other than St. Joseph church records of his First Communion at Westphalia on May 11, 1851, and his confirmation, we find the next record of John Mertens in the Federal Census of 1850. Here he is listed as having attended school in the previous year at the age of twelve and living at home with his parents, and his two older brothers in Washington township of Osage county on a farm valued at $400. There is some confusion here. By this time John's dad had got his land grand and would have been living on his farm which should have been in Jackson township according to today's township arrangement. Perhaps the census taker made a mistake or else the township boundaries have changed. By the time of the 1850 census, John's older sister had been married to Francis Xavier Poepping for 4 years and was living in Linn township of Osage county with her husband. This leads me to believe that there was a township boundary change because Francis Xavier Poepping had already gotten his land grant and that land is in today's Jackson township instead of Linn township.
Church records of St. Joseph Catholic church in New Westphalia, MO show that (John) Joseph Mertens was married to Maria Christina Scheulen on Tuesday, Feb 15, 1859 with the Reverend Henry Von Merlo, S.J. presiding. The church records incorrectly give John's name as Joseph. The couple's first child, named Maria Magdalena Catharina Mertens after her two grandmothers, was born in the Westphalia area on the 18th of April, in 1860. The child was baptized at St. Joseph's Catholic church in Westphalia on the 6th of May in the same year. Her godparents were her step-grandfather, Henry Joseph Bescheinen, and her grandmother, Maria Magdalena (Loethen) Mertens.
******CORRECTION CAME FROM BEN BACKES - Her godparents were her step-grandfather, Henry Joseph Bescheinen, and her grandmother, Maria Magdalena (Loethen) Mertens. Henry Joseph Bescheinen is wrong. His real name is Matthias Heinrich Bescheinen.
Husband of Mary Christina Scheulen, married feb 15, 1858 Westphalia
This marriage is noted in the St. Thomas Parish History Book - Page 343 in 1889. Witnesses to this marriage were William Schulte and Maria Mertens.
Cletus Hoer's Book on Births and Baptisms in or near Westphalia, Mo. list birth as Dec 27, 1837 and baptism on Dec 27, 1837 with sponsors Joannes Kern and Elisabeth Brockerhoff.
INFORMATION FROM THE HISTORY OF HENRY JOSEPH MERTENS and his wife MARIA MAGDALENA LOETHEN - PAGE 97
AUTHOR: QUENTIN VIET
JOHANN (JOSEPH) MERTENS (SON OF HENRY JOSEPH)
John (Joseph) Mertens was born to Henry Joseph Mertens and his wife Maria Magdalena Loethen on Dec. 27, 1837, according to the Westphalia Church book. Taos, Missouri church records give his baptismal date as Dec 27, 1837 but do not give a birth date. The Taos records are the original and Wesphalia's were copied from them so I would believe that the church records cannot tell us the date when he was born. His gravestone at St. Thomas, Missouri gives his birth as October 25, 1836, so I would believe that his descendants knew his birth day and month, but not by year. Therefore, my guess is that he was born on October 25, 1837. His birth occurred less than one year after his parents had first set foot in America. He was the couple's only child to be born in this country.
When John was born, his mother was 41 years old and his father was 46. John was baptized at New Westphalia, (Osage County) MO, a small town founded by the German immigrant, Doctor Bernard Bruns, just two years earlier. The baptismal record shows him to have been given only one name, John. His baptism is the third recorded in the church book of St. Joseph's Catholic church at Westphalia.
The church record doesn't say so, but John must have been baptized by Father Meinkman, the first resident priest at Westphalia, who had sailed from Germany on the same ship as the Mertens and arrived at Westphalia at the same time. Father Meinkman had a log church built, which he named St. John, and started a school for the immigrants at at Westphalia. He became involved in a minor jurisdictional dispute with the then Bishop Rosati of the St. Louis diocese and was not allowed to function as a priest until November of 1837 shortly before John Mertens was born. Father Meinkman did not get to see the fruits of his labor, because he was soon replaced by Jesuit missionaries from St. Louis and was transferred to Washington, MO. The writer was told by a Westphalia, MO history buff that Father Meinkman ultimately moved on to Ferdinand, Indiana where he spent the remainder of his life as a parish priest.
Exactly where John Mertens parents were living when he was born is not known. They may have been renting or living with friends while Henry Joseph built a home for his family, since the family were relative newcomers. They had arrived at Westphalia only the previous April as was noted in a letter sent back to Germany by Henrietta Bruns, the wife of Dr. Bernard Bruns. However, I have the feeling that Henry Joseph did not own a home because I can find no land records in Osage County to support such a claim. I believe the first home they owned was on the land grand land Henry Joseph got from the U.S. Government. I may be wrong, however, because the Westphalia area was in Gasconade County until 1841 and I didn't search those land records.
After his baptismal record, the next record we find of John is his listing along with his parents, his two brothers Lorenz Mertens and Stephan Mertens, and their sister, Anna Christina Mertens, in an 1839 census taken by the Jesuit priest, Father Ferdinand Helias. John shows up again, this time as a mere statistic, in the 1840 Federal Census of Gasconade county where he is listed as a male under 5 years of age in his father's household. We have no school records to prove it, but we can assume that, when he was of an appropriate age, John attended the school started by Father Meinkman where the classes no doubt were conducted in the German language. The first school was a log structure which was used until 1848 when the present rock church at Westphalia was constructed. At that time the old log church was converted into a school. John probably also attended school in this building.
Other than St. Joseph church records of his First Communion at Westphalia on May 11, 1851, and his confirmation, we find the next record of John Mertens in the Federal Census of 1850. Here he is listed as having attended school in the previous year at the age of twelve and living at home with his parents, and his two older brothers in Washington township of Osage county on a farm valued at $400. There is some confusion here. By this time John's dad had got his land grand and would have been living on his farm which should have been in Jackson township according to today's township arrangement. Perhaps the census taker made a mistake or else the township boundaries have changed. By the time of the 1850 census, John's older sister had been married to Francis Xavier Poepping for 4 years and was living in Linn township of Osage county with her husband. This leads me to believe that there was a township boundary change because Francis Xavier Poepping had already gotten his land grant and that land is in today's Jackson township instead of Linn township.
Church records of St. Joseph Catholic church in New Westphalia, MO show that (John) Joseph Mertens was married to Maria Christina Scheulen on Tuesday, Feb 15, 1859 with the Reverend Henry Von Merlo, S.J. presiding. The church records incorrectly give John's name as Joseph. The couple's first child, named Maria Magdalena Catharina Mertens after her two grandmothers, was born in the Westphalia area on the 18th of April, in 1860. The child was baptized at St. Joseph's Catholic church in Westphalia on the 6th of May in the same year. Her godparents were her step-grandfather, Henry Joseph Bescheinen, and her grandmother, Maria Magdalena (Loethen) Mertens.
******CORRECTION CAME FROM BEN BACKES - Her godparents were her step-grandfather, Henry Joseph Bescheinen, and her grandmother, Maria Magdalena (Loethen) Mertens. Henry Joseph Bescheinen is wrong. His real name is Matthias Heinrich Bescheinen.
Son of Heinrich Joseph Mertens & Maria Magdalena Loethen
Husband of Mary Christina Scheulen, married feb 15, 1858 Westphalia
This marriage is noted in the St. Thomas Parish History Book - Page 343 in 1889. Witnesses to this marriage were William Schulte and Maria Mertens.
Cletus Hoer's Book on Births and Baptisms in or near Westphalia, Mo. list birth as Dec 27, 1837 and baptism on Dec 27, 1837 with sponsors Joannes Kern and Elisabeth Brockerhoff.
INFORMATION FROM THE HISTORY OF HENRY JOSEPH MERTENS and his wife MARIA MAGDALENA LOETHEN - PAGE 97
AUTHOR: QUENTIN VIET
JOHANN (JOSEPH) MERTENS (SON OF HENRY JOSEPH)
John (Joseph) Mertens was born to Henry Joseph Mertens and his wife Maria Magdalena Loethen on Dec. 27, 1837, according to the Westphalia Church book. Taos, Missouri church records give his baptismal date as Dec 27, 1837 but do not give a birth date. The Taos records are the original and Wesphalia's were copied from them so I would believe that the church records cannot tell us the date when he was born. His gravestone at St. Thomas, Missouri gives his birth as October 25, 1836, so I would believe that his descendants knew his birth day and month, but not by year. Therefore, my guess is that he was born on October 25, 1837. His birth occurred less than one year after his parents had first set foot in America. He was the couple's only child to be born in this country.
When John was born, his mother was 41 years old and his father was 46. John was baptized at New Westphalia, (Osage County) MO, a small town founded by the German immigrant, Doctor Bernard Bruns, just two years earlier. The baptismal record shows him to have been given only one name, John. His baptism is the third recorded in the church book of St. Joseph's Catholic church at Westphalia.
The church record doesn't say so, but John must have been baptized by Father Meinkman, the first resident priest at Westphalia, who had sailed from Germany on the same ship as the Mertens and arrived at Westphalia at the same time. Father Meinkman had a log church built, which he named St. John, and started a school for the immigrants at at Westphalia. He became involved in a minor jurisdictional dispute with the then Bishop Rosati of the St. Louis diocese and was not allowed to function as a priest until November of 1837 shortly before John Mertens was born. Father Meinkman did not get to see the fruits of his labor, because he was soon replaced by Jesuit missionaries from St. Louis and was transferred to Washington, MO. The writer was told by a Westphalia, MO history buff that Father Meinkman ultimately moved on to Ferdinand, Indiana where he spent the remainder of his life as a parish priest.
Exactly where John Mertens parents were living when he was born is not known. They may have been renting or living with friends while Henry Joseph built a home for his family, since the family were relative newcomers. They had arrived at Westphalia only the previous April as was noted in a letter sent back to Germany by Henrietta Bruns, the wife of Dr. Bernard Bruns. However, I have the feeling that Henry Joseph did not own a home because I can find no land records in Osage County to support such a claim. I believe the first home they owned was on the land grand land Henry Joseph got from the U.S. Government. I may be wrong, however, because the Westphalia area was in Gasconade County until 1841 and I didn't search those land records.
After his baptismal record, the next record we find of John is his listing along with his parents, his two brothers Lorenz Mertens and Stephan Mertens, and their sister, Anna Christina Mertens, in an 1839 census taken by the Jesuit priest, Father Ferdinand Helias. John shows up again, this time as a mere statistic, in the 1840 Federal Census of Gasconade county where he is listed as a male under 5 years of age in his father's household. We have no school records to prove it, but we can assume that, when he was of an appropriate age, John attended the school started by Father Meinkman where the classes no doubt were conducted in the German language. The first school was a log structure which was used until 1848 when the present rock church at Westphalia was constructed. At that time the old log church was converted into a school. John probably also attended school in this building.
Other than St. Joseph church records of his First Communion at Westphalia on May 11, 1851, and his confirmation, we find the next record of John Mertens in the Federal Census of 1850. Here he is listed as having attended school in the previous year at the age of twelve and living at home with his parents, and his two older brothers in Washington township of Osage county on a farm valued at $400. There is some confusion here. By this time John's dad had got his land grand and would have been living on his farm which should have been in Jackson township according to today's township arrangement. Perhaps the census taker made a mistake or else the township boundaries have changed. By the time of the 1850 census, John's older sister had been married to Francis Xavier Poepping for 4 years and was living in Linn township of Osage county with her husband. This leads me to believe that there was a township boundary change because Francis Xavier Poepping had already gotten his land grant and that land is in today's Jackson township instead of Linn township.
Church records of St. Joseph Catholic church in New Westphalia, MO show that (John) Joseph Mertens was married to Maria Christina Scheulen on Tuesday, Feb 15, 1859 with the Reverend Henry Von Merlo, S.J. presiding. The church records incorrectly give John's name as Joseph. The couple's first child, named Maria Magdalena Catharina Mertens after her two grandmothers, was born in the Westphalia area on the 18th of April, in 1860. The child was baptized at St. Joseph's Catholic church in Westphalia on the 6th of May in the same year. Her godparents were her step-grandfather, Henry Joseph Bescheinen, and her grandmother, Maria Magdalena (Loethen) Mertens.
******CORRECTION CAME FROM BEN BACKES - Her godparents were her step-grandfather, Henry Joseph Bescheinen, and her grandmother, Maria Magdalena (Loethen) Mertens. Henry Joseph Bescheinen is wrong. His real name is Matthias Heinrich Bescheinen.
Husband of Mary Christina Scheulen, married feb 15, 1858 Westphalia
This marriage is noted in the St. Thomas Parish History Book - Page 343 in 1889. Witnesses to this marriage were William Schulte and Maria Mertens.
Cletus Hoer's Book on Births and Baptisms in or near Westphalia, Mo. list birth as Dec 27, 1837 and baptism on Dec 27, 1837 with sponsors Joannes Kern and Elisabeth Brockerhoff.
INFORMATION FROM THE HISTORY OF HENRY JOSEPH MERTENS and his wife MARIA MAGDALENA LOETHEN - PAGE 97
AUTHOR: QUENTIN VIET
JOHANN (JOSEPH) MERTENS (SON OF HENRY JOSEPH)
John (Joseph) Mertens was born to Henry Joseph Mertens and his wife Maria Magdalena Loethen on Dec. 27, 1837, according to the Westphalia Church book. Taos, Missouri church records give his baptismal date as Dec 27, 1837 but do not give a birth date. The Taos records are the original and Wesphalia's were copied from them so I would believe that the church records cannot tell us the date when he was born. His gravestone at St. Thomas, Missouri gives his birth as October 25, 1836, so I would believe that his descendants knew his birth day and month, but not by year. Therefore, my guess is that he was born on October 25, 1837. His birth occurred less than one year after his parents had first set foot in America. He was the couple's only child to be born in this country.
When John was born, his mother was 41 years old and his father was 46. John was baptized at New Westphalia, (Osage County) MO, a small town founded by the German immigrant, Doctor Bernard Bruns, just two years earlier. The baptismal record shows him to have been given only one name, John. His baptism is the third recorded in the church book of St. Joseph's Catholic church at Westphalia.
The church record doesn't say so, but John must have been baptized by Father Meinkman, the first resident priest at Westphalia, who had sailed from Germany on the same ship as the Mertens and arrived at Westphalia at the same time. Father Meinkman had a log church built, which he named St. John, and started a school for the immigrants at at Westphalia. He became involved in a minor jurisdictional dispute with the then Bishop Rosati of the St. Louis diocese and was not allowed to function as a priest until November of 1837 shortly before John Mertens was born. Father Meinkman did not get to see the fruits of his labor, because he was soon replaced by Jesuit missionaries from St. Louis and was transferred to Washington, MO. The writer was told by a Westphalia, MO history buff that Father Meinkman ultimately moved on to Ferdinand, Indiana where he spent the remainder of his life as a parish priest.
Exactly where John Mertens parents were living when he was born is not known. They may have been renting or living with friends while Henry Joseph built a home for his family, since the family were relative newcomers. They had arrived at Westphalia only the previous April as was noted in a letter sent back to Germany by Henrietta Bruns, the wife of Dr. Bernard Bruns. However, I have the feeling that Henry Joseph did not own a home because I can find no land records in Osage County to support such a claim. I believe the first home they owned was on the land grand land Henry Joseph got from the U.S. Government. I may be wrong, however, because the Westphalia area was in Gasconade County until 1841 and I didn't search those land records.
After his baptismal record, the next record we find of John is his listing along with his parents, his two brothers Lorenz Mertens and Stephan Mertens, and their sister, Anna Christina Mertens, in an 1839 census taken by the Jesuit priest, Father Ferdinand Helias. John shows up again, this time as a mere statistic, in the 1840 Federal Census of Gasconade county where he is listed as a male under 5 years of age in his father's household. We have no school records to prove it, but we can assume that, when he was of an appropriate age, John attended the school started by Father Meinkman where the classes no doubt were conducted in the German language. The first school was a log structure which was used until 1848 when the present rock church at Westphalia was constructed. At that time the old log church was converted into a school. John probably also attended school in this building.
Other than St. Joseph church records of his First Communion at Westphalia on May 11, 1851, and his confirmation, we find the next record of John Mertens in the Federal Census of 1850. Here he is listed as having attended school in the previous year at the age of twelve and living at home with his parents, and his two older brothers in Washington township of Osage county on a farm valued at $400. There is some confusion here. By this time John's dad had got his land grand and would have been living on his farm which should have been in Jackson township according to today's township arrangement. Perhaps the census taker made a mistake or else the township boundaries have changed. By the time of the 1850 census, John's older sister had been married to Francis Xavier Poepping for 4 years and was living in Linn township of Osage county with her husband. This leads me to believe that there was a township boundary change because Francis Xavier Poepping had already gotten his land grant and that land is in today's Jackson township instead of Linn township.
Church records of St. Joseph Catholic church in New Westphalia, MO show that (John) Joseph Mertens was married to Maria Christina Scheulen on Tuesday, Feb 15, 1859 with the Reverend Henry Von Merlo, S.J. presiding. The church records incorrectly give John's name as Joseph. The couple's first child, named Maria Magdalena Catharina Mertens after her two grandmothers, was born in the Westphalia area on the 18th of April, in 1860. The child was baptized at St. Joseph's Catholic church in Westphalia on the 6th of May in the same year. Her godparents were her step-grandfather, Henry Joseph Bescheinen, and her grandmother, Maria Magdalena (Loethen) Mertens.
******CORRECTION CAME FROM BEN BACKES - Her godparents were her step-grandfather, Henry Joseph Bescheinen, and her grandmother, Maria Magdalena (Loethen) Mertens. Henry Joseph Bescheinen is wrong. His real name is Matthias Heinrich Bescheinen.
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