The parents of Martha Margaretha Cordes were Heinrich Cordes[1] and Margaretha Meier.

Marriage Documents

Heinrich Cordes To Margareta Meier State of Missouri, County of Perry. I certify, that on the 23rd day of February 1971, I joined in marriage Heinrich Cordes and Margreta Meier. FW Bergt Minister. Recorded Apr 12th 1871. Attest John Eibel Recorder.

Date: February 16. 1871. Groom: Heinrich Cordes, Farmer, Salem. Bride: Margaretha Meier

Notes

1. Hinrich, Heinrich, Henry – Hinrich is his birth name, Heinrich appears in many records, and Henry was also commonly used.
2. Source: Ancestry.com. Missouri, Marriage Records, 1805-2002 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2007. Original data: Missouri Marriage Records. Jefferson City, MO, USA: Missouri State Archives. Microfilm.
3. Source: Marriage Records. Salem Lutheran Church, Farrar, Missouri. Copied September, 2003.
4. The State of Missouri marriage record has their marriage date as being 23 Feb 1871 while the Salem Lutheran Church (of which Rev. Bergt was pastor) marriage record has the date of their marriage as being one week earlier, 16 Feb 1871. Note also that the date that the marriage was recorded in Perry County (Perryville) on Apr 12th 1871 nearly two months after it occurred. Family records have used the February 16 date as the wedding anniversary.

Heinrich Cordes

When Hinrich Cordes was born on May 1, 1849, in Scheeßel, Lower Saxony, Germany, his father, Johann, was 38 and his mother, Margaretha, was 40. He married Margaretha Meier on February 16, 1871, in Farrar, Missouri. They had five children during their marriage. He died on March 28, 1899, in Farrar, Missouri, at the age of 49, and was buried there.

A genealogy researcher in Germany searched the Scheeßel Church records for Heinrich Cordes and found the following record that corresponds to the known birth date of Henry Cordes. This has been confirmed in later chapters by the birth records for Heinrich’s siblings having the same birth parents.

Birth/Baptism Record

Heinrich Cordes was born on May 1, 1849, in Scheeßel, Lower Saxony, Germany, to Margaretha Lüdemann, age 40, and Johann Christoph Ludwig Cordes, age 38.

Translation[2]

The Ancestry.com Elbe-Weser Triangle, Germany, Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1574-1945 database, provides the following transcribed birth record:

DEATH 28 MAR 1899 • Farrar, Perry, Missouri, USA

Margaretha Meier

When Margaretha Meier was born on September 21, 1847, her father, Peter, was 33, and her mother, Anna, was 27. She married Heinrich Cordes on February 16, 1871, in Farrar, Missouri. They had five children during their marriage. She died on August 30, 1929, in Alva, Oklahoma, at the age of 81, and was buried there.

Birth/Baptism Records

Norma (Kirmse) Rauh found the following birth certificate record of Margaretha Meÿer (Meier[1]) among family memorabilia/records and had it translated.

Note the date this certificate of birth and baptism was prepared 6 May 1869. This was a few months before the Peter Meÿer family departed 15 September 1869 from Bremerhaven on the S.S. Frankfurt. (See chapter, Peter Meÿer Family Arrived in New Orleans). Probably this document certifying the birth date of Margaretha Meÿer was necessary to obtain permission to emigrate.

Church Record

The church record from which the birth certificate information was extracted is shown below:

The Ancestry.com Elbe-Weser Triangle, Germany, Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1574-1945 database, provides the following transcribed birth record:

Notes

1. The Peter Meÿer family changed the spelling of their last name to Meier after they arrived in America. German surnames have undergone many spelling changes, especially for Germans who immigrated to the United States. Meÿer, Mayer, Maier, Meier all have the same meaning – a tenant farmer.
2. The following people are mentioned in Margaretha Meier’s birth/baptism documents:
   • Margaretha Meÿer, daughter of Anna (Gerken) and Peter Meÿer,
   • Peter Meÿer, father of Margaretha Meÿer
   • Anna (Gerken) Meÿer, mother of Margaretha Meÿer
   • Maria, daughter of Friedrich Gerken – godparent
   • Anna, daughter of Hinrich Meÿer – godparent

Children of Heinrich Cordes and Margaretha Meier

John Peter August Cordes

When John Peter August Cordes was born on August 20, 1873, in Farrar, Missouri, his father, Heinrich, was 24 and his mother, Margaretha, was 25. He had one brother and three sisters. He died on April 21, 1874, in his hometown within a year of his birth, and was buried there.

BIRTH 20 AUG 1873 • Farrar, Perry, Missouri, USA

DEATH 21 APR 1874 • Farrar, Perry, Missouri, USA

Anna Marie Cordes

When Anna Marie Cordes was born on February 3, 1876, in Farrar, Missouri, her father, Heinrich, was 26, and her mother, Margaretha, was 28. She married Richard Bruno Fritsche on October 28, 1900, in her hometown. They had four children during their marriage. She died as a young mother on December 14, 1907, in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, at the age of 31, and was buried in Farrar, Missouri.

BIRTH 3 FEB 1876 • Farrar, Perry, Missouri, USA

DEATH 14 DEC 1907 • Cape Girardeau, Cape Girardeau, Missouri, USA

Martha Margaretha Cordes

When Martha Margaretha Cordes was born on March 20, 1879, in Farrar, Missouri, her father, Heinrich, was 29, and her mother, Margaretha, was 31. She married Wilhelm Kirmse on February 11, 1904, in her hometown. They had six children in 19 years. She died on December 9, 1967, in Alva, Oklahoma, at the age of 88, and was buried there.

BIRTH 20 MAR 1879 • Farrar, Perry, Missouri, USA

DEATH 09 DEC 1967 • Alva, Woods, Oklahoma, USA

See chapter: Generation 1:  Martha Margaretha (Cordes) and Wilhelm “William” Kirmse

Heinrich Cordes

Heinrich Cordes was born on April 18, 1878, in Farrar, Missouri, and died the same day. He had one brother and three sisters.

BIRTH 18 APR 1878 • Farrar, Perry, Missouri, USA

DEATH 18 APR 1878 • Farrar, Perry, Missouri, USA

Marie Christina Cordes

When Marie Christina Cordes was born on September 22, 1881, in Farrar, Missouri, her father, Heinrich, was 32, and her mother, Margaretha, was 34. She married Joachim Johann Heinrich Lohmann on November 22, 1906, in her hometown. They had two children during their marriage. She died as a young mother on March 12, 1915, in Alva, Oklahoma, at the age of 33, and was buried in Alva, Oklahoma.

BIRTH 22 SEP 1881 • Farrar, Perry, Missouri, USA

DEATH 12 MAR 1915 • Alva, Woods, Oklahoma, USA

Family Photograph