The three names in the title of today’s post are included in ones that I refer to as “Friedenberg Names”. Two of these names appeared in the title of another post recently titled, Rauh-Bergmann-Thorp-Fassold. The story you are about to read begins with the birth of a Bergmann baby.

Margareta Barbara Bergmann was born on September 7, 1852, making today her 170th birthday. Barbara was the daughter of Ferdinand and Barbara (Billhorn) Bergmann. She was baptized at Peace Lutheran Church in Friedenberg. When Barbara was just one year old, her father died. Her mother, now a widow, was left to raise a rather large family by herself. I am able to display a photo of Mama Barbara Bergmann that is found in the Friedenberg Remembrances book.

Today’s birthday girl is found in her first census in 1860 at the age of 7. Her mother is said to be farming, but she had a few older sons who likely did a lot of the work.

Next, we find the two Barbara Bergmann’s in the 1870 census. Her older brother, Michael is listed as the head of the household and a farmer. Michael had been married to Anna Popp, and that couple had 2 children, but Anna died in 1870 before this census was taken. The two young children in this entry are Michael’s.

Barbara’s first marriage would take place in 1872, so let’s take a look at the man she would marry. His name was Peter Fassold, who was born on March 28, 1849. He was the son of Michael and Kunigunda (Amschler) Fassold and also baptized at Peace, Friedenberg. Peter is found in the 1850 census as a baby. His father was a farmer in the Cinque Hommes Township.

Next, we find Peter at the age of 10 in the 1850 census that displays quite a large Fassold family.

Peter is found in the 1870 census when he was 20 years old. The census taker wrote his name as Beda, not Peter.

Peter Fassold married Barbara Bergmann on June 8, 1872 at Peace Lutheran Church in Friedenberg. We can view two civil records for that occasion, but the first one is quite difficult to read. Ancestry.com does not come close to transposing either Peter’s name correctly. Peter’s surname doesn’t look at all like Fassold.

We can also view a more readable image that was recorded for this event.

Peter and Barbara had 2 children, but this married couple never appears in a census together because Peter died in 1875 at the age of 26, leaving Barbara as a widow. Barbara married again in 1877, so we will now take a look at her second husband. His name was John F. Hoehn, who was born on February 17, 1848. John was the son of Michael and Margaretha (Bergmann) Hoehn. Yes, this will be another case where a man whose mother was a Bergmann then marries a woman with the maiden name of Bergmann. John is yet another baby who was baptized at Peace, Friedenberg. I find an interesting situation when we look at the first census in which John appears in 1850. We find both of Barbara Bergmann’s husbands listed right next to each other in this entry.

In the 1860 census, John was 12 years old.

The 1870 census is the last one in which we see John as a single man. He was no longer living with his family. He was living in Perryville with a Buettner family, and he is called a blacksmith apprentice.

John Hoehn married Barbara (Bergmann) Fassold on November 6, 1877 at Peace, Friedenberg. We can view a civil marriage record for this pair.

John and Barbara Hoehn had 7 children, all baptized at Peace, Friedenberg. One amazing fact about these children is that the first 4 of them all married Boxdorfer’s. We find the Hoehn couple in the 1880 census. They had one child by then, and another daughter from Barbara’s first marriage is included.

Twenty years passed before we can view another census taken in 1900, and in that year’s entry, we see a considerably larger household. John was a farmer in the Cinque Hommes Township.

Barbara lost her second husband in 1901 when he was just 52 years old. The 1910 census shows Arthur Hoehn, the only male left in the family, as the farmer.

Barbara shows up again in several more census entries. Below is the one taken in 1920 in which we find her living with her son, Arthur, who had married Dora Boxdorfer in 1913.

Next, we find Barbara in the 1930 census when she was 77 years old.

Barbara is still found in the Arthur Hoehn household when the 1940 census was taken.

Barbara Hoehn died later in 1940 at the age of 88. We can take a look at her death certificate.

Barbara is buried in the Peace Lutheran Cemetery in Friedenberg, which is also where we find the grave sites of her two husbands.

Barbara is one of several women found in our German Family Tree that carried the Barbara Bergmann name. Some were Barbara’s that married Bergmann’s. I think the name, Barbara, is a common Bavarian name. It is not found that often among the Saxons or ones from Hanover. Barbara, as a result of 2 of her daughters marrying Boxdorfer’s, ended up with plenty of Boxdorfer grandchildren. Perhaps I should call her family a hive of “B’s” in which she is the queen “B”.