Today’s tale begins on the Missouri side of the Mississippi River, but ends up on the Illinois side. Several stories told on this blog have followed that path, but almost all of them have ended up in Jackson County around Jacob, Illinois. Today, the highlighted couple will spend their lives in Chester, which is located in Randolph County.

We begin with a birthday girl born in Missouri and found in our German Family Tree. Sarah Kunigunda Bergmann was born on June 10, 1874, so today would be her 149th birthday. Sarah was the daughter of Valentine and Catherine (Lang) Bergmann. Below is a photo of Sarah’s parents that was displayed in a previous post about Sarah’s older brother, Christian, another person who ended up living in Chester for a portion of his life.

All of the Bergmann children, including Sarah, were baptized at Peace Lutheran Church in Friedenberg. Sarah is found in the 1880 census at the age of 5. Her father was a farmer in the Union Township.

The fact that some Bergmann children ended up in Chester, Illinois is explained by the fact that Sarah’s father, Valentine, died in 1885, and her mother then married Henry Sonnenberg, who was from Chester. The Bergmann children then moved with their new stepfather to Chester.

Since Sarah would get married before the 1900 census, let’s take a look at the man that would be her husband. His name was Heinrich Rudolph Welge, who was born on May 12, 1873. Rudolph was the son of Conrad and Anna (Wisker) Welge. He was born and raised in Chester. I found his baptism record in a binder we have for St. John’s Lutheran Church in Chester. Below is an image of what is found in that binder.

Rudolph is found in the 1880 census at the age of 7. He was the youngest child in his family. His father was a carpenter.

Rudolph Welge married Sarah Bergmann on September 16, 1897 in Chester. That wedding took place at St. John’s Lutheran Church when Rev. J.A.F.W. (Alphabet) Mueller was the pastor. Below is that church record. Wilhelm Welge was one of the witnesses. His name will be mentioned later in this post.

The photo below does not look like a wedding photo, but it must have been taken when Rudolph and Sarah were a young couple.

Rudolph and Sarah had 3 children. When the 1900 census was taken, they had yet to have any children. Ancestry.com says Rudolph’s occupation was soda manufacturer, but based on his future work, perhaps it says sofa manufacturer. In 1900, his older brother, Charles, operated a furniture store in that city.

The 1910 census shows the Welge family with one son. A child named Madeline, is not included in this entry, which really had me puzzled because she was born in 1904 and would later appear in the 1920 census. I have now solved this mystery. Madeline was actually Madeline Bergmann, the daughter of Sarah’s brother, Charles. Madeline’s mother died in 1904, shortly after Madeline was born, and the decision was apparently made to have the Welge’s raise her.

Rudolph had a World War I draft registration completed in 1918. This form gives evidence that he and his brother were in the furniture business together.

When the 1920 census was taken, we see all 3 of the Welge children. Rudolph was called the proprietor of a furniture store.

Next, we find the Welge’s in the 1930 census. Just the 2 sons were in the entry, and Rudolph had the same occupation.

The 1940 census includes their son, Paul’s young family. Paul had married Gertrude Buescher, and by this time, had a son. Rudolph’s occupation is difficult to read, but I think it may say he was a manufacturer of furniture. Interestingly, Paul’s occupation was an embalmer.

In the early days of undertaking, furniture businesses were often making caskets for funerals, and many undertakers were also in the furniture business. According to a book that we have telling the history of Chester, it says the Welge Brothers Furniture Store was right next to the Welge Funeral Home. In that book, the paragraph below made me laugh.

A whole page is included in another book that we have on the history of Chester that tells the story of the Welge Brothers. In the lower left, you will see Furniture Store next to the Funeral Home.

I have enlarged the photo of the two hearses shown at the upper right. Rudolph is on the right standing with the horse-and-buggy hearse while son, Paul stands with the more modern hearse.

This photo of the interior of the Welge Brothers Furniture Store includes both Charles on the left and Rudolph on the right.

For a time, there was a Welge-Pechacek Funeral Home in Chester. A short history of that business on the website of Pechacek Funeral Homes says that there was a Welge Funeral home established in 1882. You can read about it at this website…https://www.wpfh.net/history.

The last census we can view is the one taken in 1950. It says Rudolph was a clerk for the Welge Brothers Furniture Company. There was a Dora Welge living with Rudolph and Sarah who was working as a housekeeper. She was probably a relative of Rudolph, but not a sister.

Sarah Welge died in 1952 at the age of 77; Rudolph Welge died in 1957 at the age of 84. These two are buried together in the St. John’s Lutheran Cemetery in Chester.

The Welge name is rather prominent in Chester. Another brother of Rudolph and Charles, the furniture store operators, was named William Welge, and he married Clara Gilster. William had a son named Donald who eventually became the president of the Gilster Mary-Lee Corporation which has operations in both Chester and Perryville. Gilster Mary-Lee is one of the largest employer in this area.