As I have done research on the Gemeinhardt family tree, I have noticed that probably the most repeated name in that family is Charles (or Karl). In fact, I happen to know a Charlie Gemeinhardt who lives in Memphis. He is a living descendant from another branch of this Gemeinhardt family tree. I will attempt to tell the story of another Charles Gemeinhardt today.

Karl Joseph Gemeinhardt was born on August 3, 1883, making today his 140th birthday. Like so many others with the name, Karl or Carl, he later went by the name, Charles. He was the son of Friedrich “Fritz” and Selma (Nennert) Gemeinhardt. Charles is one of those babies whose baptism record is found in the books of Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg, but he likely was baptized in the church/school building in Wittenberg. Below is an image of Charles’s baptism record from Trinity’s books.

Charles was the firstborn of 13 children born into this Gemeinhardt family. One died in infancy. The photo below of the Fritz Gemeinhardt family has appeared before on this blog. It shows all 12 of the Gemeinhardt children on the porch of their home. I’ll let you pick out which one of the boys would be the oldest son.

Even before we can see him in a Federal census, Charles was confirmed in 1897 at Trinity, Altenburg. His confirmation record is pictured here.

Charles was already a teenager when the 1900 census was taken. There were 10 children in the household at that time. His father was a cooper in Wittenberg. I have assumed that Fritz was a cooper at the Weinhold Flour Mill in Wittenberg. That is how I describe him in my book, Wittenberg ’03. Charles is called a salesman in this entry. There were two general stores in Wittenberg at that time, the Lueders Store and the Mueller Store. Perhaps young Charles was working in one of them.

In 1903, the last of the Gemeinhardt children was born on August 15th. In Wittenberg ’03, I mentioned Charles Gemeinhardt in the excerpt from that book shown here. Of course, this is a fictional description.

Wittenberg was a river town, located on the banks of the Mississippi River. It was a town of much commerce that resulted from riverboat traffic up and down the river. Then, in 1904, when Charles was 21 years old, the railroad began running through Wittenberg. Both the river and the railroad became influential in Charles’s life. When the 1910 census was taken, we find Charles living in St. Louis. He was a 26 year-old signal repairman for a railroad.

Prior to Charles filling out his World War I draft registration, there is evidence that his service was used for purposes of transporting soldiers during that war. We find his name on a list of workers aboard the U.S. transport ship, the Eastern Star, in May of 1918. He is called an oiler.

Charles had his World War I draft registration completed in September of 1918. His address is given as St. Louis, but his employer had a New Orleans address. Charles’s occupation was marine engineer. I conclude that he was working on a riverboat operating between St. Louis and New Orleans.

Also in September of 1918, Charles completed what was called an Application for Seaman’s Protection. It states that Charles was an engineer on a river steamer. The boat on which he was an oiler was the U.S. Dredge Fort Gage. I think that this boat may have been the Fort Cage.

I located some photos of the Fort Cage dredge.

I was unable to locate Charles in the 1920 census. So, now we will take a look at the woman who would become his bride. Her name was Vera Rebecca Kearney, who was born on March 26, 1900 in Louisiana. Vera was the daughter of Milledge and Davena (Mackenzie) Kearney. I found a baptism list that included Vera from the First Presbyterian Church in Lake Charles, Louisiana. She is already included in the 1900 census for Lake Charles when she was just a baby. Her father was a druggist.

Vera’s father died later in 1900, so in the 1910 census, her mother was the head of the household. Davena Kearney was a high school teacher when Vera, called Rebecca in this entry, was 10 years old.

In 1917, Vera was a student at Tulane University in New Orleans. Her yearbook entry with a photo of her is shown below. It appears that she had quite an interest in music.

In the 1920 census, we once again find her called Rebecca. She was living in New Orleans and working as a bookkeeper for an insurance company.

Charles Gemeinhardt married Vera Kearney in June of 1922. I was not able to determine the exact date of the wedding. All I found was a Louisiana marriage record for them.

Based on census entries, this couple had 3 children. When the 1930 census was taken, there were 2 children in the Gemeinhardt houshold. Charles had gotten off the river by this time and had quite a different occupation. He was an inspector for an insurance company. Perhaps Charles and Vera became acquainted because they were both involved in the insurance business.

The 1940 census shows an additional son added to the Gemainhardt family, a Charles, Jr. It looks like Charles, Sr. is called a mechanic for an insurance company.

In 1942, Charles had a World War II draft card completed. It said his employer was the Maryland Casualty Company.

Charles Gemeinhardt died in 1947 at the age of 63. He is buried in the Orange Grove Cemetery in Lake Charles, Louisiana. His gravestone has the interesting engraving of “Daddy” on it.

Vera Gemeinhardt was still alive in 1950, but I was unable to find her in that year’s census. She died in 1985 at the age of 85. She is buried in the Lake Lawn Park Cemetery in New Orleans.

I suppose I could have emphasized Charles’s occupation as an insurance man when I composed the title for this post, but I figured that his experience working on a riverboat might be a bit more exciting.