Theresia Mary Roth
Theresia was the 3rd born of my great grandfather Peter Roth. I have been researching my paternal lines and I’ve always spent a lot of research time on Peter and his 20 plus children. I did not have any information on Theresa other then birthday and I had searched many times and I thought why not lets do a Ancestry.com search today and I found her. It is great that more and more records are being digitized and are available on line. I was excited.
Theresa Mary Roth was born in 1881 the 3rd child of Peter Roth and wife Anna Barbara Bach. It was said by my grandmother, Edith Matilda Roth, who was Theresa’s younger half sister and the 18th child of Peter Roth and wife Louisa Fuchs, that everyone spoke of her beauty and how striking she was. I am still trying to locate a photograph of her. My grandmother was born the year Theresa died and was not aware of what happened to her. Since she was born in 1881 she misses the 1880 Federal Census and the 1890 Federal Census is destroyed by fire and not available.
The first record is St Mary’s Catholic Church birth and Baptismal record. This information is provided by Father Joseph B Sheets of St Mary’s Catholic Church, Lanesville Indiana to our cousin Florence Roth Edmonds (Emmett Roth’s Daughter) and shared with her nephew Robert. Robert shared a copy of the original letter with me. I had the pleasure of meeting Florence in April of 2016 in Marietta Georgia when she was 90 years old. Florence and her daughter Liz accompanied Mary and I to lunch at a French Cafe and it was delightful visiting with them. She lived alone in an assisted living apartment and it was very fashionable, Florence was truly a special person. I’m glad I had the pleasure of meeting her. Unfortunately we lost her two years later.
Recently I found the Record Books of St. Mary’s Catholic Church Lanesville on World Cat and then at Family Search and they were digitized and not indexed. You have to access them at an affiliate library of the Mormon Church’s Family History Centers. Our local library is an affiliate so I was able to find several records of our Roth family by browsing the records on line.
Theresa Roth Born January 21st 1881 and baptized February 20Th 1881.
Transcription of St Mary’s Catholic Church Registrar written in Latin
Maria Theresia Roth On this day of 20 February 1881 Baptism Maria Theresia daughter of Peter Roth and Barbara Bach born on 21st day January 1881 sponsors Luicvius Ringle and Theresia Bach.
I believe Theresia Bach is Barbara Bach’s sister.
The following is a picture of Florence Roth Edmonds, our cousin when I met her and in earlier years..
Florence Edmonds in April 2016
Florence Roth Edmonds
My next search led me to the 1900 Federal Census which found her living in Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky, 8th Magisterial District as a domestic in the home of Albert Struby, his wife Lulie and son Chester. Albert is a Druggist and I have found two addresses associated with his drug store and home 2531 and 2524 Portland Ave. I later found Theresa in a Louisville City Directory and her oldest brother Thomas Peter, who was already living at 1119 W Oak in Louisville. Their half Uncle Adam Michaels (Nichols) also lived in Louisville at 1663 Portland Ave.
Theresia Roth. Year: 1900; Census Place: Louisville Ward 12, Jefferson, Kentucky; Page: 6; Enumeration District: 0126; FHL microfilm: 1240532.
Louisville, Ky; Map data ©2019 Google (https://www.google.com/maps/: accessed 19 August 2019).”
//Peter and Theresa in 1901 Louisville Directory. The 1900 Federal Census shows the address 1119 W Oak Street as a boarding house and Peter lived there with several others. It is a vacant lot now between a church and a Commercial Business. Theresia was residing at the Struby Residence in this directory. I searched Sanborn Fire insurance Maps and Google Maps for addresses of our Roth Relatives and some of the homes and neighborhoods were razed by highway construction, urban renewal and have become commercial areas.
The next record is In December 27th 1903 Theresa’s Marriage Certificate which shows her marriage to Edward J Theobald and her father Peter Roth and Henry Theobald as witnessing and present with others.
“Kentucky, U.S., County Marriage Records, 1783-1965,” database with images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/61372 : downloaded 20 August 2019) Marriage Records, Jefferson 1903-1904 > Film 000826077 > image 1025, Edward J Theobald and Teresa M Roth married Jefferson County, 27 December 1903; citing “Marriage Records. Kentucky Marriages. Madison County Courthouse, Richmond, Kentucky.”
“Kentucky, U.S., County Marriage Records, 1783-1965,” database with images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/61372 : downloaded 20 August 2019) Marriage Records, Jefferson 1903-1904 > Film 000482721 > image 206, Edward J Theobald and Theresia M Roth married Jefferson County, 27 December 1903; citing “Marriage Records. Kentucky Marriages. Madison County Courthouse, Richmond, Kentucky.”
I was so excited when I found her and I was thinking about how her life turned out. The next records I came across are newspaper articles not in the social pages announcing baby showers and birth announcements instead it is regarding her illness and death. Theresa is 26 and she dies from Tuberculosis. It saddens me that she died so young.
I felt her and Edward’s grief of a life that was not going to be as they had planned and my heart felt heavy. It seemed she was loved and cherished by her husband and had such a full life ahead of her. I read the clipping regarding their trip to Denver Colorado in hopes of the altitude improving or healing her Tuberculosis. I was able to locate her grave now and she is with her husbands parents at St Louis Cemetery in Louisville. Edward went on to marry and have children and recently I met one of his granddaughters through our mutual interest in family history and we keep in contact by email. It was interesting in that she had only just found out that her grandfather was a widower before he married her grandmother.
“There are three deaths. The first is when the body ceases to function. The second is when the body is consigned to the grave. The third is that moment, sometime in the future, when your name is spoken for the last time.”― David M. Eagleman, from:
Eagleman, David. Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives. Pantheon Books, 2009.
Let us keep our loved ones alive by speaking their names, remembering and sharing their life’s journey. May we remember Maria Theresia Roth Theobald by speaking her name and sharing her story today.