Tombstone Tuesday–Wilhilmine Christine (Reinking) Bienz

Wilhilmine Christine (Reinking) Bienz, Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery, Adams County, Indiana. (2019 photo by Karen)

This is the tombstone of Wilhilmine Christine (Reinking) Bienz, located in row 6 of Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery, Decatur, Adams County, Indiana. The marker is inscribed:

Heir ruhet [?]
Wilhilmine
Christine Bienz
Geboren
Reinking
Geb. Den 20 Apr
1861
Gestorben 26 Jan
1897

Here rests [?] Wilhilmine Christine Bienz, born Reinking, born the 20 April 1861, died 26 January 1897.

Wilhilmine “Christine” Reinking was the second wife of Adam Bienz (1858-1949). She also went by the nickname of Lena. Last week’s Tombstone Tuesday featured Adam’s first wife, Pauline C. (Germann) Bienz (1862-1891), who is buried in Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Schumm. Adam and Pauline were married for almost four years when she died, leaving two children behind.

Widower Adam Bienz married Christine Reinking in Adams County, Indiana, on 9 April 1893. [1]

Christine Reinking was born 20 April 1861, the daughter of Ferdinand and Mary E. Reinking. The Ferdinand Reinking family, living in Union Township, Adams County, Indiana, as enumerated in the 1880 census: Ferdinand, 53; Mary, 46; Mary, 20; William, 24; Christena, 18; Bettie E, 16; Halana, 15; Fredrick, 13; Martin, 11; Henry, 9; Martha, 7; Ferdinand, 5; and Clara, 2. The parents were born in Germany and all the children were born in Indiana. Ferdinand was a farmer. [2]  

Adam Bienz probably moved to Adams County, Indiana, about the time he married Christine Reinking. There they attended Immanuel Lutheran Church, also a Missouri Synod Lutheran church.   

Adam and Christine (Reinking) Bienz had one child, Paula M. Bienz (1894-1987), who married Walter Henry F. Thieme.

Christine (Reinking) Bienz died in Adams County on 26 January 1897. [3]

Wilhilmine Christine (Reinking) Bienz, Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery, Adams County, Indiana. (2019 photo by Karen)

Adam Bienz married a third time, to Christina Mathilda “Matilda” Bleeke, on 14 May 1899 in Adams County. [4] Matilda died 22 April 1944 [5] and Adam Bienz died 16 January 1949. Adam shares a tombstone with his third wife in Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery. [6]

Immanuel Lutheran Church, Adams County, Indiana. (2019 photo by Karen)

Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery, Adams County, Indiana. (2019 photo by Karen)

When we were at Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery last week we noticed that name plaques had been placed on the back side of most of the older tombstones. This made it easy to see who was buried there, especially if the tombstone is weathered and illegible.  

Immanuel Lutheran Church & Cemetery, Adams County, Indiana. (2019 photo by Karen)

Back side of Wilhilmine Christine (Reinking) Bienz tombstone, Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery, Adams County, Indiana. (2019 photo by Karen)

Name plate on back side of Wilhilmine Christine (Reinking) Bienz tombstone. (2019 photo by Karen)

[1] “Indiana Marriages, 1811-2007,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-6GTH-1XV?i=240&cc=1410397 : viewed 10 Mar 2019), Adam J Bienz & Christiana W. Reinking, 8 Apr 1893; Adams County Marriages, Vol. F:478.

[2] 1880 U.S. Census, Union, Adams, Indiana, ED 131, p.31C (stamped), p.15 {penned), dwelling 115, family 120, Ferdinand Reinking; digital image by subscription, Ancestry.com (https://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?htx=List&dbid=6742&offerid=0%3a7858%3a0 : viewed 18 Apr 2019).

[3] Find a Grave memorial no. 106418617, Wilhelmine Christine “Lena” (Reinking) Bienz, Immanuel Lutheran Church Cemetery, Decatur, Adams County, Indiana.

[4] “Indiana Marriages, 1811-2007,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-DRS9-DQ8?i=49&cc=1410397 : viewed 10 Mary 2019), Adam J. Bienz & Christena Mathilda Blakey, 14 May 1899; Adams County Marriages, Vol. G:492.

[5] Find a Grave memorial no. 98917043, Christina Mathilda Bleeke Bienz, Immanuel Lutheran Church Cemetery, Decatur, Adams County, Indiana.

[6] Find a Grave memorial no. 98917041, Adam Jacob Bienz, Immanuel Lutheran Church Cemetery, Decatur, Adams County, Indiana.

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