Ernst Peter Bergman is today’s birthday boy. If he was still alive, he would be celebrating his 130th birthday because he was born on August 8, 1893. Ernst was the son of Henry and Anna (Fassold) Bergman. If you want additional information about Ernst’s parents, you can read the post, Another Bergmann/Fassold Couple. In that story, I did not make a big deal of it, but the gravestone of Ernst’s parents has the name, Bergman, on it, not Bergmann with two “n’s”. So, in today’s story, I will use the Bergman spelling, not the spelling you usually see on this blog. Ernst was baptized at Peace Lutheran Church in Friedenberg, so unfortunately, we cannot view his baptism record to see how his surname is spelled on it. Ernst is found in the 1900 census at the age of 6. His father was a farmer in the Cinque Hommes Township.

In that previous post, the 1915 plat map showed the location of the Henry Bergmann farm. It was not far from the village of Longtown.

According to some biographical information found in the Friedenberg Remembrances book, it says that Ernst was confirmed at that congregation in 1907.

Next, we find Ernst Bergman in the 1910 census. Ernst was a teenager and working on his father’s farm.

Ernst Bergman had his World War I draft registration completed in 1918. This is a document that spells Bergman with 2 “n’s”, and Ernst even signs the form that way.

Because Ernst would get married before the next census, we will turn our attention to discuss the woman who would become his bride. Her name was Emma Marie Knoll, who was born on February 23, 1901. Before I proceed any further with her story, let me say that it was not long ago that I wrote the story of another Emma Knoll in the post, Adlai, the St. Louis Transit Driver. That Emma Knoll was born in 1898 and even had the middle initial of M. As near as I can tell, these two Anna M. Knoll’s were cousins, and they were both baptized at Peace, Friedenberg. Emma Marie Knoll was the daughter of Andrew and Emeline (Ochs) Knoll. She is found in her first census in 1910 at the age of 9. Her father was a farmer in the Central Township.

That would be the only census in which we find her as a single person because Ernst Bergman married Emma Knoll on October 26, 1919. Their wedding took place at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Perryville. We can take a look at a transcription of this couple’s marriage record from that congregation’s books. This transcription spells the groom’s name as Bergman.

We can also look at the Missouri marriage license for this pair. It is yet another document that uses the Bergman spelling.

In the 1920 census we find just Ernst and his new bride. Ernst was farming in the Cinque Hommes Township.

This couple’s only child, Geraldine, was born in 1922. Our German Family Tree does not indicate where Geraldine was baptized, which makes me think that she was baptized at Peace, Friedenberg. However, later, she was confirmed at Zion Lutheran Church in Longtown. We find this small family in the 1930 census.

The 1940 census shows the Bergman household with an additional hired man by the name of Adolph Stueve.

The last census we can view for the Bergman’s is the one taken in 1950. Geraldine had married Wilbert Weibrecht. Wilbert, Geraldine, and their son, Ronald were included in the Bergman household.

Emma Bergman died in 1963 at the age of 62. I don’t often place church death records in my posts, but I will do so today. I was curious to see how Bergman was spelled. Emma’s death record is in the books of Zion Lutheran Church in Longtown. The usual spelling, Bergmann, was used on her death record. It says she died of a heart attack.

Emma’s death certificate can also be viewed. This document uses the one “n” spelling of Bergman.

Ernst Bergman died in 1968 at the age of 74. Below is his church death record from Zion, Longtown’s books. It uses the single “n” spelling of his surname. I might add that there were two different pastors at Zion when Emma died and when Ernst died. No cause of death is included on this death record.

The death certificate for Ernst indicates that he died from a brain injury sustained from falling out of a barn hay loft.

Ernst and Emma Bergman are buried together in the Zion Lutheran Cemetery in Longtown. Like the gravestone of Ernst’s parents which is also found in that cemetery, this gravestone uses the Bergman spelling.

I found it actually difficult for my fingers to type the name Bergman in this post because they always want to automatically put a double “n” on the end of names like Bergmann that have a -mann ending. It is the usual way that German Lutherans spell names that end that way…like Bachmann, Hemmann, Lohmann, etc.