Matilda “Tillie” Dittrich

My great, great grandmother was Matilda “Tillie” Dittrich. She was the youngest child of Susanna Richter and August Dittrich, homesteaders in Winona County, Minnesota. Just across the county border lived Julius Gentzkow, whom she married on October 18, 1879.

Tillie’s Birthdate

Tillie was born over 150 years ago. Why am I less than specific with her birth anniversary?

There are conflicting dates for Tillie’s birth; dates range from 1862 to 1864.

When was Matilda Dittrich born?

Her birth is neither recorded in Winona County, nor in neighboring Wabasha County. The Dittrich homestead stood 19 miles from the Winona County Courthouse. Births were not required to be registered until the year 1900, so it is understandable that her parents did not register her birth, especially in the winter.

Because Tillie and Julius baptized their sons at an Evangelical (Lutheran) German-speaking church, it is possible that she was also baptized at a Lutheran or a German-speaking church. To date, I have not found a baptism record for Matilda Dittrich.

Census Records

The 1900 U.S. Census provides month and year of each person’s birth. On line 24 above, Matilda Gentzkow is listed as 37 years old, born in December of 1862, in Minnesota. Because she was alive at the time this record was produced and all the other family birthdates correlate with other established dates, I have faith in this record.¹U.S. Census, 1900. Minnesota, Wabasha County, Minneiska Township, SD 1, ED 151m Sheet 5, Family 89, Julius Gentzkow. June 1, 1900. The only piece of information on this 1900 Census that I question is Julius’ immigration date, which is short by 9 years.

Other census records point to a December 1862 birthdate:

• 1870 Census, she is 7, born in Minnesota [Dec 1862 is likely]²U. S. Census 1870. Minnesota, Winona County, Town of Mount Vernon, SD Page 12, line 32, family number 81: A. Dittrich. August 11, 1870.
• 1875 Census, she is 12, born in Minnesota [Dec 1862 is likely]³State Census 1875. Minnesota, Winona County, Mount Vernon Township, family 19, August Dittrict. May 4, 1875.
• 1895 Census, she is 32, born in Minnesota [Dec 1862 is likely]⁴State Census 1895. Minnesota, Wabasha County, Village of Minneiska, page 6, family 49: J. C. Gentzkow. June 14, 1895.

More Census Records

Some census records provide conflicting and/or inconclusive birthdate clues:

• 1865 census, she is a female check mark [so born before 1865 census]⁵State Census 1865. Minnesota, Winona County, Town of Mount Vernon, family number 21: August Dittrich. June 1, 1865.
• 1880 census, she is 19, born in Minnesota [calculated birth year of 1860]⁶U. S. Census 1880. Minnesota, Wabasha County, Village of Minneiska, SD Page 2, ED 188, Page 18, line 11, family number 131: Julius Gentzkow. August 11, 1870. The handwritten numerals 7 and 9 are difficult to differentiate, so look along the left margin where the census taker is writing numbers sequentially.
• 1885 census, she is 21, born in Minnesota [calculated birth year of 1863]⁷State Census 1895. Minnesota, Wabasha County, Town of Minneiska, page 378 handwritten at the top, family 84: Julius Gentzkow. May 1, 1885.
• 1905 census, she has no age or birth location listed⁸State Census 1905. Minnesota, Wabasha County, Village of Minneiska, family 54: J. C. Gentzkow. June 14-19, 1905. Scanned images on ancestry.com are cropped so that page numbers are not consistently visible.

1865 Minnesota State Census shows Matilda as a check mark in the female column

Death Records

According to Matilda’s obituary in a Winona newspaper,⁹Winona (MN) “Minneiska News.” Winona (MN) Republican Herald. February 3, 1908, page 3, column 1. she died in LaMoure, North Dakota. She made the trip north to attend the funeral of her 18 year-old grand nephew, Harvey Hartman. (Harvey’s mother, Emma Hauser was a maternal aunt to Matilda; Matilda was actually just a few years older than Emma. Matilda’s oldest son and her first grandchild lived in LaMoure. Therfore, she had multiple reasons to travel to North Dakota.)

The short newspaper article also stated that Mrs. Geuntzkow [sic] was the former Matilda Dedrick [sic], “born in the Town of Mt. Vernon, Winona county 44 years ago.”

Winona Republican-Herald, obituary

The State of North Dakota does not have a death registered for Matilda Gentzkow.¹⁰Letter. North Dakota Department of Health, Bismarck ND  to Karrie Blees, March 3, 1999. “We searched the state wide alphabetical index of deaths under variations of the surname for the years 1900 through 1913 as well as the LaMoure County death records for January of 1907, 1908 and 1909.  We did not find a death record for Matilda Gentzkow.”

However, the LaMoure County clerk¹¹Email. Billi Warcken to Karrie Blees. February 9, 2021. Subject: RE: LaMoure County assistance needed. sent this information to me:

All I have is an entry in a book for Matilda Gentzkow.
It states that she was 44 years old, married, she died in LaMoure City, she was born in Germany [sic].
Father’s name August Shultz.  [sic. Her father was August Dittrich. Her mother-in-law’s maiden name was Schultz]
I’m not allowed to photograph that information.

When I visited Minneiska in 1999, the Cemetery Sexton did not have original record books for Hillside Cemetery for the time when Matilda died. Her grave marker provides a birth year of 1864.

Matilda’s grave marker at Hillside Cemetery, Minneiska, Minnesota¹²Karrie Blees. Matilda Gentzkow Grave Marker Photograph. Hillside Cemetery, Minneiska, Wabasha County, MN. July 31, 2022.

Conclusions

The only month recorded for Tillie’s birthday is December (in the 1900 Census).

What about the year?

Matilda Dittrich and Julius Gentzkow married October 18, 1879. Civil marriage stipulations became law in Minnesota 1906.¹³Minnesota Law, Chapter 70 of the Revised Laws, March 1, 1906). “Every male person who has attained the full age of eighteen years, and every female who has attained the age of fifteen years, is capable in law of contracting marriage, if otherwise competent.” So, their marriage date does not provide an age-measure for us.

But we can do a little math.

The grave marker gives a birth year of 1864. If Matilda was born in December 1864, she would have been only 14 in October of 1879 when she married; that seems awfully young. We do not know when the grave marker was ordered, but 1908 minus 44 equals 1864. She died young. The grave marker could be wrong.

Both the obituary and the LaMoure County death record indicate that she was 44 years old; this information was likely provided by the same person. A calculated birthdate for Matilda would be December 1863, making her 44-years-old in January 1908 when she died. With an 1863 birthdate, she would have been a 15-year-old bride in 1879.

The majority of the census records indicate a birthyear of 1862. The 1900 Census provided both a birth month and year: December 1862. With that assumption, Matilda would have been a 16-year-old bride in 1879 (not uncommon for the 19th Century). The two census records taken during her childhood (1870, 1875) include an age which indicates that she was born in 1862.

What about the location?

Her obituary stated that she was born in Mount Vernon in Winona County, Minnesota.

Matilda Dittrich was born
December 1862 at
Mount Vernon, Winona County, MN

Gentzkow marker at Hillside Cemetery, Karrie, 1986

Will digitized newspapers help solve this mystery?
Perhaps we will find a snippet mentioning a birthday anniversary for Matilda.

So far, I do not have any photographs of Tillie … but I’ll keep looking!

SOURCES

• 1
  U.S. Census, 1900. Minnesota, Wabasha County, Minneiska Township, SD 1, ED 151m Sheet 5, Family 89, Julius Gentzkow. June 1, 1900. The only piece of information on this 1900 Census that I question is Julius’ immigration date, which is short by 9 years.
• 2
  U. S. Census 1870. Minnesota, Winona County, Town of Mount Vernon, SD Page 12, line 32, family number 81: A. Dittrich. August 11, 1870.
• 3
  State Census 1875. Minnesota, Winona County, Mount Vernon Township, family 19, August Dittrict. May 4, 1875.
• 4
  State Census 1895. Minnesota, Wabasha County, Village of Minneiska, page 6, family 49: J. C. Gentzkow. June 14, 1895.
• 5
  State Census 1865. Minnesota, Winona County, Town of Mount Vernon, family number 21: August Dittrich. June 1, 1865.
• 6
  U. S. Census 1880. Minnesota, Wabasha County, Village of Minneiska, SD Page 2, ED 188, Page 18, line 11, family number 131: Julius Gentzkow. August 11, 1870. The handwritten numerals 7 and 9 are difficult to differentiate, so look along the left margin where the census taker is writing numbers sequentially.
• 7
  State Census 1895. Minnesota, Wabasha County, Town of Minneiska, page 378 handwritten at the top, family 84: Julius Gentzkow. May 1, 1885.
• 8
  State Census 1905. Minnesota, Wabasha County, Village of Minneiska, family 54: J. C. Gentzkow. June 14-19, 1905. Scanned images on ancestry.com are cropped so that page numbers are not consistently visible.
• 9
  Winona (MN) “Minneiska News.” Winona (MN) Republican Herald. February 3, 1908, page 3, column 1.
• 10
  Letter. North Dakota Department of Health, Bismarck ND  to Karrie Blees, March 3, 1999. “We searched the state wide alphabetical index of deaths under variations of the surname for the years 1900 through 1913 as well as the LaMoure County death records for January of 1907, 1908 and 1909.  We did not find a death record for Matilda Gentzkow.”
• 11
  Email. Billi Warcken to Karrie Blees. February 9, 2021. Subject: RE: LaMoure County assistance needed.
• 12
  Karrie Blees. Matilda Gentzkow Grave Marker Photograph. Hillside Cemetery, Minneiska, Wabasha County, MN. July 31, 2022.
• 13
  Minnesota Law, Chapter 70 of the Revised Laws, March 1, 1906). “Every male person who has attained the full age of eighteen years, and every female who has attained the age of fifteen years, is capable in law of contracting marriage, if otherwise competent.”