Today would have been my Grandma Schmidt’s 142nd birthday.  On June 7th three years ago, I wrote a post about my grandmother titled, The Loebs-Schmidt Connection.  I will try to avoid repeating a lot of the information that was found in that story, but I have located a few more photos and documents relating to my Grandma Bertha, and I want to share them.  I admit that I want to get as much information on this blog about my ancestors so that my grandchildren and others in the Schmidt and Loebs families can have these facts and documents for their future research into their family history.

My Schmidt grandparents both died before I got to know them.  My Grandpa Schmidt died in 1928 when my father was just 15 years old, so I obviously never knew him.  Grandma Bertha died when I was just 4 years old, and I really have no lasting memory of her either.  Later this week, we will have most of our grandchildren visiting us here in Altenburg.  One of my sons-in-law has already lost both of his parents, so his children will not get to know one set of their grandparents.  So, it is up to my wife and I to provide the only “grandparent experience” for those grandchildren.

Bertha Mueller was born on June 7, 1878, the daughter of Johann Ferdinand and Amalia (Theiss) Mueller.  She was the product of the other Theiss/Mueller marriage that was mentioned in the post, One of Those Theiss-Mueller Pairs, that was written a few days ago.  Bertha was baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg.  Below is her baptism record.

Bertha can be found in her first census in 1880.  Her father was a farmer.  As you can see, Bertha was the firstborn child in this family.  She is the only child in this entry.  I find it also interesting that this 1880 census was compiled by Bertha’s future father-in-law, Gottwerth Schmidt.

Bertha is still single when the 1900 census was taken.  All of the children in this Mueller family were girls, except the youngest one, Edwin.  Poor Edwin.

There were two marriages for Bertha between the above census and the one taken in 1910.  She married in 1901, but after her first husband, Henry Loebs, died in 1905, Bertha married again in 1907 to Emanuel Schmidt.  So, there is no census record that includes Bertha along with Henry Loebs.  The accounts of the two marriages were included in the post referred to earlier, so I will let you read that post if you are interested in them.  I will, however, display the marriage photos for both of those weddings because they fascinate me.

There were two children born to the first marriage and those two can be seen in the photo below.  The children are George and Clara Loebs.

We find Bertha and Emanuel with their blended family in the 1910 census.  The first of the Schmidt children, Lorna, was born before this census was taken.  They were living near Wittenberg.  The Linda Mueller is the same girl that was shown living with the Theiss family which was pointed out in that post a few days ago.

Almost all the Loebs and Schmidt children can be seen in the 1920 census.  I am a little surprised that the youngest, Herb Schmidt, is not included here because he was born on February 17, 1920 and this census was submitted on March 2nd.  When the census taker visited the Schmidt household, Bertha must have been very pregnant.

Not long after this census was recorded, the photo of the Schmidt/Loebs family shown here must have been taken.

Clockwise starting with Emanuel Schmidt:  George Loebs, Bertha Schmidt, Clara Loebs, Lorna Schmidt, Hildegard Schmidt (with her hand in her face), Richard Schmidt, Herb Schmidt, Rudolph Schmidt, and Arnold Schmidt.

Emanuel Schmidt died in 1928, leaving Bertha once again as a widow.  We find a smaller household in the 1930 census.  There is a mystery in this entry.  There was no Fred Schmidt in this family.   I have asked a few family members about the Fred in this census, and none of them have been able to explain it.

We have another photo of Bertha’s family that I figure must have been taken around the time of the 1930 census.

We can find Bertha living by herself in the 1940 census.  She was living near Trinity Lutheran Church because her neighbors included Rev. Vogel and Teacher Fiehler.

Another photo circulating in our family is the one shown below.  I think this photo was taken on October 25, 1942.  I base my opinion on the fact that there were two important events that took place on that day.  First, Oliver Schlimpert was baptized.  That event likely took place at Trinity, Altenburg on that Sunday morning.  The second event to take place on that day was the marriage of Rudolph Schmidt and Dorothy Schaupert, who are both in this photo.  That marriage likely took place in the afternoon at Zion Lutheran Church in Longtown.

Another photo was taken when my father was in the military at the time of World War II.  He was standing in uniform with Bertha sitting.

We also have this photograph of Bertha Schmidt when she was older.

Bertha Schmidt died in 1954 at the age of 76.  We can view her death certificate.

Bertha is buried in the Trinity Lutheran Cemetery in Altenburg.

When I get to that heavenly reunion in heaven, I hope to sit down and get to know my Grandma Schmidt.