Emma Maria Magdalena Bergt was born on July 19, 1891 in Frohna, Missouri. That makes today her 130th birthday. Emma was the daughter of Julius and Emma (Noennig) Bergt. Emma was born during a short time when Perry County was keeping birth records. Below is such a record for Emma. It needs to be displayed in two images.

Emma was baptized at Concordia Lutheran Church in Frohna. Her baptism record from that congregation’s books is shown here. Emma appears to have been named after her mother, and her two middle names were the names of her female sponsors.

A previous post was written about Emma’s parents. That post was titled, A Notable Frohna-Altenburg Couple.

We find Emma in the 1900 census for Brazeau Township at the age of 8. Since her mother was also named Emma, there are two Emma Bergt’s in this entry. Emma’s father was a farmer.

Emma was not living with her parents in the next census. When the 1910 census was taken, we find Emma living with a family in St. Louis and described as a servant. She was 18 years old at the time.

Now, we will take a look at Emma’s future husband. His name was Carl Adolph Vogel, who was born on September 5, 1888. Carl’s parents were August and Maria (Gerharter) Vogel. Carl was part of a very large family. He was child #7 out of 12 that were born to August and Maria. We can also view a Perry County birth record for Carl.

Like Emma Bergt, Carl was baptized at Concordia Lutheran Church in Frohna. We can take a look at his baptism record. I find it interesting that one of his sponsors, Adolph Bergt, was his future wife’s grandfather.

The first census in which we find Carl was the one taken in 1900. Carl was 11 years old at the time.

In another previous post, Vogel (Bird) Migrations, some stories were told about several members of this Vogel family that moved to other parts of the country. One of those stories told how Carl’s older brother, Joseph Vogel, moved to Niagara Township in North Dakota. That helps explain why we find Carl Vogel living in that township in the 1910 census where he was a 21 year-old farm laborer.

Both Carl and Emma managed to get back to Frohna in 1914 because that is where they got married. These two were married on May 3, 1914 at Concordia, Frohna. Here is the church record for that occasion.

We can also view this couple’s marriage license.

In 1917, Carl had his World War I draft registration completed. This form says Carl had a wife, a child, and 2 adopted children.

According to records found in our German Family Tree, there were 5 children born to this Vogel/Bergt couple. Their youngest child did not live to adulthood. We find this couple’s family in the 1920 census. Carl’s mother had died not long after his marriage in 1914. This household is a bit confusing. Let me just tell you that it includes Carl, Emma, and their first two children. The other daughter is actually Carl’s sister, and the bottom two with the surname, Mangels, were August Vogel’s grandchildren through another of his daughter’s marriage. Those were the 2 who were said to be adopted children on Carl’s WWI draft registration.

Next, we find the Vogel family in the 1930 census. Once again, you see Meta Mangels, only this time, she is called a niece. Also, their youngest son, Donald, would die not long after this census in 1931.

The last census in which we can view the Vogel family was the one taken in 1940. Carl was still a farmer.

Carl was required to have a World War II draft card filled out in 1942 at the age of 53.

You might think that this story would be wrapping up about now, but that is not the case. Carl and Emma still had a dramatic move to make. They would end their lives in the state of California. Here is why that happened. A few of their chldren would head to the Los Angeles area to find work at the Alta-Dena Dairy, which was established by the Stueve family originally from Frohna. In fact, by the time of the 1940 census, Carl and Emma’s oldest daughter, Vera, had married Edgar Stueve in 1940, and those two found living in Monrovia, California. This entry says that Edgar was a milker for a dairy farm.

If you want to read more about the Stueve family and their move to California to establish a dairy, place the term, “California milk” in the search box. It took several posts to tell that story.

We find Carl and Emma, as well as that of their son, Marvin, and his wife, Lillian (Petzoldt), on a California voters registration list in 1958. Marvin was another worker at the Alta-Dena Dairy.

I can tell you that Carl Vogel died in 1963, and Emma Vogel died in 1966, but I cannot give any other information about their burials. They both died in California.

Carl and Emma lived most of their lives in Perry County. However, prior to their marriage, they each spent some time living elsewhere. Then, as they entered their later years, they followed some of their children to California. I can also tell you that two of Carl and Emma’s grandchildren, Tony Vogel and Brenda Musser, have managed to make their way back to Frohna and live here now.

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In closing, let me tell you something that has nothing to do with the Vogel’s. This post is late getting published today because I attended my oldest cousin’s funeral. Myrtle Kuehnert died last week at the age of 94. In her obituary, I noticed that Myrtle got married on Easter Sunday. Not long ago, I wrote about how church policy was once quite strict about not having marriages during Lent or Advent. Myrtle didn’t waste any time getting married back in her day. She didn’t even wait till the day after Easter to get married. Judging by the very large family that showed up at her funeral, that Easter marriage was very blessed.