Carl V. and Caroline "Lena" S. (Spoetter) Marenholtz
These photos must be the sons of Carl V. Marenholtz
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Carl V. Marenholtz - also known as Charles. B. Mar. 30, 1858 - Hildesheim, Hannover, Prussia D. Feb. 10, 1931 - Barry Co., MO Family has birth year 1857. His stone has 1858. Full name was Carl Georg Friedrich Eduard Theodore von Marenholtz. He married Caroline "Lena" Sophie Frederike Spoetter, daughter of Heinrich Wilhelm Spoetter and Christina Maria Frederike Feuerhake. Carl was the eldest son and heir of Moritz von Marenholtz, lord of Dieckhorst, Gerstenbuttel, Flettmar, and Marenholtz in Hannover Province, Prussia. He attended school in Goslar and was educated at the University of Heidelberg. In 1883, he went against his father's wishes and ran off with the maid, Lena Spoetter. Their son George was most likely born in Hamburg or Hannover. 1900 Missouri Census records indicated that they had married in Germany about this time; however, no record has been found. There is a possibility that they may have married but it was not a recognized marriage due to the disapproval of Carl's father. When son George was 3 months old, Carl and Lena emigrated to America on the Ship Jan Breydel out of Antwerp, Belgium for New York. His father had given him substantial monies to start life in America. He purchased a farm in Wise County, Texas and had daughter Charlotte there. Tilla was born in Henrietta. This farming venture failed due to lack of water. When the drought came, Carl left it all and went west. Somehow he and his family ended up in southern Missouri in Joplin. From 1890 to 1893, three children were born there. By 1892, Carl was mentioned in his father's will as living in Wichita (maybe Kansas or Northern Texas). Family lore has it that Carl may have been the owner of a hotel there. About 1893, Carl had heard about a store in Viola and liked it so much that he traded his Joplin business for the store. He was not known for his business sense and never was lacking for money as he was still receiving monies from Germany. He was known to purchase anything and everything that was offered for sale by traveling salesmen. The items he did not resell were packed all through the two story home he and Lena lived in. Jim Cox of Cassville has his great-grandfather's turn-of-the century store ledgers, which show Carl's long-hand fine script entries. Of interest is that Carl and Lena went over to Eureka Springs in Stone County, Arkansas to get married on 17 February 1893. This was two weeks after the birth of their sixth son, Charles, and about the time of his father, Moritz's final illness. Although the family history relates that he was disinherited, Carl's father provided for his financial needs during his entire lifetime. Actually, Carl was denied primogeniture (the exclusive right of the eldest son to inherit his father's estate). Carl's younger brother, Emil, became manager of the estates upon their father's death. Only if his brother had died before his father would Carl have been allowed to return to Germany to inherit three of the four estates. When his brother died in 1924, the German courts opted to select Carl's youngest son, Walter, to inherit the estates and title of Freiherr (Baron). There are family stories that Carl was unhappy regarding the selection process conducted by a German court of which of his four sons would inherit. Carl died in 1931, the year that Walter took his wife and three children back to Dieckhorst to live. A letter to the Galena newspaper years after his death recounted that Carl (also known as Charles) was a fine gentleman who spoke English very well. He is buried in Viola, Missouri with numerous family members. Most records show Carl's last name as Marenholtz; with von as his middle name. He is listed in the 1900 White River census as Charles Marenholtz. His children did not use the 'von' as part of their last name until Walter returned to Germany and inherited the title and estates. The only studio portraits of Carl "Charles" are when he was in Germany. Descendants of the daughters have shared the only photos of he as an adult.  Caroline "Lena" S. (Spoetter) Marenholtz Caroline "Lena" S. (Spoetter) Marenholtz B. July 11, 1859 - Dieckhorst, Hannover, Prussia D. Feb. 12, 1958 - Viola, Barry Co., MO Buried in Viola Cemetery next to her husband, Carl Marenholtz. Lena was the oldest child of Heinrich Wilhelm Spoetter and Christina Maria Frederike Feuerhake, houseman and maid at Dieckhorst. She was baptized at Mueden when she was almost two weeks old. Witnesses were Wilhelm Koeneke, houseman at Langlingen; Dorotheee Dornholtz, wife in Dieckhorst; and Sophia Widenroth, unmarried at Mueden who probably was a great aunt. Lena captured the heart of a Prussian nobleman, Carl August Friedrich Eduard Theodore von Marenholtz, heir to the baroncy at Dieckhorst. He chose her over his father's objections and lost it all, estates and title. Lena had been the upstairs maid. They went to Hamburg for awhile, for that is where George was supposedly born. Then they immigrated to America, landing in New York. A daughter was born in Texas before they moved on to Missouri. Two more daughters and three more sons were born to them. Her granddaughter-in-law, Ruby Hale, remembers Lena as being a hard worker. The family farmed a little and Lena would go into the fields to cut down the corn. Lena requested a widow's pension when in her 70's. She attained the age of 98 before her death in 1957. She lived to see her youngest son, Walter P. von Marenholtz, inherit the estates and title denied her husband. One photo of Lena survives. She is extremely old (possibly already into her 90's). She is remembered by grandchildren as disagreeable in temperament. Only her grandson Pete, whom she referred to as Little Emil, remembers her as being pleasant. He also remembers that she would still try to serve meals at the dinner table even though in her 90's. She spoke English with a very thick German accent.  Submitted by Margie von Marenholtz |