Bethlehem Baptist Blog

I haven't totally neglected this blog, but I did want to finish posting photos and documents for this blog.  This lovely country church in Jefferson County, Missouri has been the worship place for many of my ancestors.  Although the early records are lost, I feel very deeply that I have ancestors buried here going back to my g-g-g-g grandmother Margaret McCarroll Graham.  Someday, I hope to find some evidence of this. 

Her husband William Graham died in the St. Louis area---we can't find any evidence of his burial either, but click here for a really good possibility.  He died near here, Carondolet,  in 1835.

William Edward Reiter

 My great-grandmother's brother William Edward Reiter has been whispered about for years.  He was Mary Celecia Reiter Long's youngest brother born in 1883.  In the 1900 census he was living at home with his widowed mother Eliza Tyrey Reiter and his sister Annie. His father Louis Reiter had already died.

 He joined Bethlehem Baptist Church around 1909 according to the record above.  He registered from the draft in 1918 naming my great-grandmother Mary Reiter Long as his nearest relative.  It's here that we find that he was tall, slender, blond and blue-eyed---taking after the Tyrey side of the family.
 
We also know that by 1920 he was living in DeSoto, Mo with his sister Annie and her husband Vincent Phenty.  Ed had married Bertha in 1920 but were in the process of a divorce when he died.  He had worked as a blacksmith's helper for the Missouri Pacific Railroad.  But, the whispers were, "Grandma had a brother that committed suicide."  I wasn't sure which Grandma nor which brother, but I was finally able to locate his death certificate. . .

He had been in the mental hospital in Farmington, Mo when he died in May 1925 "By strangulation caused by wrapping a sheet around his neck by his own hands."  How he died didn't surprise me but where he died did---I had never heard that he'd been in the mental hospital.  Oddly enough, my great-grandmother Martha Silas Watson Tuttleton on the other side of the family had been in that same hospital at the same time.  The other surprise on the death certificate was that he had been married although her name is "Unknown".

I wish we had a photo of "Ed", and we may in one of those Baptist group photos, but for now I will just think of him as looking like his handsome brothers and sisters. Click here for the photo that has Ed's brother Fred, and sisters Annie, Amanda and Mary.  If he's on this photo, I suspect he is between Annie and Fred, but we may never know.

Amanda Reiter

June 1904 "Sister Amanda Ingalls called for letter from Bethlehem Church which was granted.  Also Ada Robinson called for letter which was granted.  The Clerk was ordered to write same.  Meeting then elected delegates to attend Jefferson County Baptist Association as follows:  Bro. James G. McCulloch, J.P. McKay and George W. Harrison. . ." Bro. E.J. Hemrick, Moderator; George W. Harrison, Church Clerk.

Amanda Reiter Ingalls is one of the women right above the fence post in the group photo.  She was also one of my great-grandmother's sisters.  I am not sure why they left Bethlehem Baptist Church where my great grandmother, one sister and two brothers and her parents are buried.  But, she did leave an infant daughter behind in Bethlehem Cemetery--Rowena.  For more information on the Ingalls' Family and photos of their children, click here. Amanda's granddaughter has since contacted me and sent this photo of Amanda and her daughter Gertrude from about the 1920's.  For the information Marge sent me, click here.

Annie Reiter

 Annie Reiter Phenty (1876-1935)

Annie Reiter Phenty was one of my great-grandmother's (Mary Celecy Reiter Long) sisters.  Annie married rather late in life at 35 (1911) to Vincenty Phenty and had no children. Her sister Elizabeth (Betty) Reiter had held an office at Bethlehem Baptist as had her brother Louis H. Reiter (Clerk and Collector) before he left for Montana (see below)

 July 1903 ". . .Historical Committee not ready to report. 4th L. H. Reiter and wife called from letters for our Bethlehem Church which was granted. . . ."

But, I was a little surprised to see that Annie Josephine Reiter had also been elected to an office.   By all accounts "she was wierd" "she was odd".  Although her nieces and nephew might not have appreciated all of her qualities, I was very pleased to see that she was recognized and appreciated by her church.

 Aug. 1903 ". . .1st Church proceeded to elect pastor for ensuing year which resulted in re-electing E. J. Hemrick. 2nd. by motion Sister Annie Reiter [photo at the top of the page] and Bro. W.W. Powers was appointed Solicitors. . ." E.J. Hemrick mod. Geo. W. Harrison CC

Bethlehem Baptist

I was able to photograph all of these wonderful documents from Bethlehem Baptist Church near Grubville, Mo. BUT, they were taking over my family blog.  Pictured below are cousins Rick and  Ada who had located the documents.  The pages were all in a box with some pages missing and disintegrated and some written in pencil so very hard to read.  But, we feel fortunate to have located documents from about 80 years of the church's history.

Granted, I was related to someone on all of the posts, but I've now created a whole new blog just for the Bethlehem Baptist Church.   I will still have some information here, but they will have information on one of my ancestors or their siblings.

Double click on this if you want to enlarge it.

p. 28
Nov. 1900 Sat before second Sunday in Nov. Church was in regular session after sermon by Pastor.  Door of church was opened for membership.  None rec'd.  L. H. Reiter appointed Clerk Protem.  Minutes of October read and approved on motion church agree to pay Pastor $75 for ensuing year.  L. H. Reiter and Anna McKay appointed to collector.  Church adjorned to meet on Sat. before second Sun in Dec.
N. M. Pierce, Mod; L. H. Reiter Clerk Protem.

L. H. Reiter was probably Louis H. Reiter, my great-grandmother's (Mary Reiter Long) brother and not her father who was also Louis (Lewis, Ludwig) Reiter.

Sometime between 1900 and 1920, Louis and his family relocated to Montana. For more information about his family, click here.