Bernard Joseph Martin

Following is the record of the first Bernard Martin in the second-generation line of Martins in America. Four of hte Martin brothers who came to America named a son Bernard, which bespeaks the affection they held for their own father, Bernhard Martin, who lived and died in Bavaria. The subject of this record is Bernard Joseph Martin, second son and fifth child of John Martin and Elizabeth Bildheimer Martin.

Bernard Joseph Martin was born in Unterhaching, Bavaria Jan. 29, 1853 and died in Pilot Grove, Mo. Feb. 11, 1943. He came to America with his parents and grandparents when he was two years of age and the remainder of his life was spent in Cooper County, MO. Until his retirement, he followed in the footsteps of his father and grandfather as a tiller of the soil. The latter years of his life were spent in Pilot Grove, MO, where he was known, loved, and respected by all and "Uncle Barney" to a great number of the residents. His patriarchal visage was familiar to all and members of the Martin family, who do not possess a photograph of the original Bernhard Martin, like to muse that looking at the picture of "Uncle Barney" Martin, they are seeing the patriarch of the Martin family.

On Oct. 13, 1874 Bernard Joseph Martin married Anna Margaret Esser, daughter of Bertram Esser and Agnes Felten Esser, and they were the parents of three children, all of whom dies in infancy.

Bernard J. and Anna Margaret Esser Martin also adopted a daughter: Mamie, b. Apr. 17, 1882, who married Otto Stoecklein Sr. and lived in Pilot Grove, MO.

Anna Margaret Esser died July 3, 1893 and Bernard Joseph Martin married 2nd Mary Twenter on Oct. 23, 1894. She was born July 25, 1860 and died in Pilot Grove, Mo. Nov. 26, 1927. They were the parents of three children, who, for the purposes of genealogical sequence, will be number 4, 5, and 6.

Bernard Joseph Martin and Anna Margaret Esser were the parents of: 1. Anna Margaret (1887), 2. Leo J.A. (1890), 3. Martha Martin (1893), Adopted. Mamie (1882)

Bernard Joseph Martin and Mary Twenter were the parents of: 4. Urban Joseph (1895), 5. Geneva Elizabeth (1897), 6. Bernardine Margaret (1902)

(Taken from "Bernhard Martin and His Descendants" by Agnes Immele Meriwether, 1962)