Kuffenkam Family – Old St. Joseph Cemetery – Bellefont, Ford County, Kansas

Three early burials at Old St. Joseph’s were Louisa and her 7-year-old daughter, Mathilda. Maria Louisa Kohlen was born August 8, 1854 in Suechteln, Rheinland, Germany. Her parents were Carl Theodor & Heinriette Maria Schubertz Kohlen.

Louisa became the 2nd wife of Charles Kuffenkam (b. 1849) in 1875 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The 1885 Kansas census has recorded the names of Louisa, Charles, daughters, Clara, Mathilda, and Ida living in Spearville, Ford County. The occupation of Mr. Kuffenkam is listed as painter.

The 1895 Kansas census reveals the names of the Kuffenkam family as Charles, Louisa, Ida, and Minnie. Mathilda had died on the 2nd of March 1888 and Minnie was born in 1891. Eight years later in 1899, Maria “Louise” passed away and is buried with her daughter in Old St. Joseph’s. While taking pictures of their head stones, I noticed some writing on the north side of Louisa’s headstone. It reads: Frankie M. son of C. & L.M. Kuffenkam Mar 8, 1888 Age 2 Y. 1 M.

In his declining years, Charles lived with his daughter Minnie. He died in 1936 and is buried at Maple Grove Cemetery in Wichita, Sedgwick, Kansas. Daughters, Minnie and Ida did marry and moved out of the area. Minnie died in 1960 and is buried in the Great Bend Cemetery in Barton County, Kansas. Ida passed away in 1973 and his buried in Floral Hills Cemetery located in the state of Washington.