Charles Bohnert was one of the most faithful attenders of my Tuesday morning men’s Bible class until his death a few years back. I will be telling the story of another Charles Bohnert today. My friend, Charles, would have called today’s character his great uncle. However, before I get around to Charles Bohnert, I will begin by describing the early life of his first wife who is also today’s birthday girl.

Mathilde Margaret Fassold was born on August 18, 1881, making today her 142nd birthday. Mathilde was the daughter of John and Eva (Schroeder) Fassold. She was baptized at Peace Lutheran Church in Friedenberg, so I cannot display an image of her baptism record. We also cannot view the first census in which she would have been included. The 1890 census records, as well as the Friedenberg church records were both destroyed by fires. When I find people that were born right after the 1880 census, I also find that by the time of the 1900 census, those individuals are often no longer living with their parents because they are in their late teens. Quite often, such people were “working out” in other households. That is the case with Mathilde. We never see her in a census living with her parents. In the 1900 census, we find Mathilde living in the Ferdinand Bergmann household and working as a servant.

Ferdinand Bergmann’s first wife had died earlier in 1900, and as you can see, he had 2 young daughters when she died. He needed help. I do not know how he found Mathilde, but she moved into his household to help with that situation. What is interesting is that Ferdinand would later marry Louise Fassold, who was likely related to Mathilde somehow, but she was not one of Mathilde’s sisters.

Mathilde would also get married not long after the 1900 census, so we will now take a look at her husband. Charles George Bohnert was born on March 17th, but there is a bit of a debate about what year he was born. I will display some documents in this post that say he was born in 1881, and a few others that say he was born in 1878. I think that he was born in 1881. Charles was the son of Louis and Mary (Amschler) Bohnert. Charles had a brother named August, and a while back, I wrote a post, August, Edward, Charles, and a Few Martha’s, that gives more details about Charles’s family. Here is a photo that was included in that post which shows Charles’s parents.

That post stated that when Mary Amschler, a Lutheran, married Louis Bohnert, a Catholic, she became a Catholic. However, several of their children would later marry Lutherans. That was also the case with Charles, who was raised a Catholic, but then married Mathilde, a Lutheran.

If Charles was born in 1878, then he would have been included in his parents’ 1880 census entry, but he is not. Then, when the 1900 census came out, we find the 19 year-old Charles, and his birth information says he was born in March of 1881. His father was a farmer in the Cinque Hommes Township.

The Bohnert farm was located not far from Crosstown as illustrated in the plat map below.

Charles Bohnert married Mathilde Fassold on February 10, 1903. This was not a church wedding. On the marriage license below, we see that the marriage was conducted by the probate judge, Charles Weber, who has shown up on this blog on several occasions. This may not have been a church wedding because of it being a Catholic marrying a Lutheran.

I think this pair had 5 children. Two of them are listed in our German Family Tree, but not because of baptism records. I think they were likely baptized at the Catholic church in Crosstown. When the 1910 census was compiled, we find the Bohnert’s with 2 young children, Herman and Liddie. Charles was a farmer in the Salem Township.

During the next decade, 3 more children were born in this family, but there was also some tragedy. Their 2 older children died. Herman died in 1912 at the age of 8, and Liddie died a year later in 1913 at the age of 7. In 1918, Charles had his World War I draft registration completed. This form gives him a Perryville address and calls him a carpenter working for Alfred Guyott. It also mentions that Charles had “one leg afflicted”. This document says his year of birth was 1881.

The 1920 census shows the Bohnert household living in Perryville where Charles is called a laborer. There were 3 children in the family, but Mathilde is not included. There was a servant named Kunigunde Wagner living with them.

Another daughter, Aileen, died in 1921 at the age of 6. Once again, in the 1930 census, we do not find Mathilde. Charles was back to being a farmer in the Salem Township. A boarder by the name of Mildred Murrell was living with Charles and his son, Ernst.

Mathilde Bohnert died in 1936. It is her death certificate that explains why she had disappeared from the census records. She died as a patient at the state hospital in Farmington, Missouri. Her main cause of death was liver cancer.

Mathilde is buried in the Peace Lutheran Cemetery in Friedenberg.

In 1937, Charles married again. His second wife was Elizabeth Kienovsky, who was born on April 7, 1879 in Winona, Minnesota. The only place I found that date was in this Minnesota birth and christening index.

I am not going to go into detail about Elizabeth’s life other than to say that she spent most of her younger years in Winona. Then, she managed to eventually make her way to Perry County where she was married. I found no evidence that she had been previously married and she still carried the name, Kienovsky. Charles Bohnert married Elizabeth Kienovsky on March 31, 1937. This is another marriage that was conducted by a judge, not a pastor, according to their marriage license below.

An article was published in the Perry County Republican about this marriage. It says both Charles and Elizabeth were from Menfro.

In 1938, Charles sold his farm and moved to Minnesota. A short article appeared in the Perry County Republican about this move.

In the 1940 census, we find Charles, Elizabeth, and Ernst living in Zimmerman, Minnesota, just north of the Twin Cities. Charles was a farmer.

Charles’s World War II draft card also states that he was living in Zimmerman. There is a note at the top of this form mentioning Oscar Lintner in Perryvile, Missouri. Oscar had married Charles’s daughter, Zita. This is yet another document that says Charles was born on March 17, 1881.

I believe that Elizabeth died before 1950, but I could find no documentation for it. I suspect that she died in Minnesota. Then, by the time of the the next census, we find Charles back in Perry County. He was called a widower, and he was living with a widow named Sadie Otto. Charles is back to being called a carpenter.

Charles Bohnert died in 1954. If he was born in 1878, then he was 75 years old at the time of his death. If he was born in 1881, he would have been only 72. His death certificate says he was 75 years old when he died, but it lists his birthday as March 17, 1878.

Charles Bohnert is buried in the Home Cemetery in Perryville. His gravestone and his death certificate are the only places where it is said that Charles was born in 1878. The date on the gravestone may have been obtained by looking at his death certificate.

My buddy, Charles Bohnert, was well-known in my Bible class for never letting us forget that Jesus did not just die, but rose again. Although I am not the judge, in my heart I know that Charles’s soul resides in heaven right now, looking forward to the resurrection of his body. I wish I had a better feeling about the eternal future of the Charles in this story. I would feel better if I saw evidence of him being involved in a church during his later life, but I don’t. I desire for all the readers of this blog to have confidence of their eternal futures in heaven as the result of their faith in Jesus.