In 1866, Johann Schlichting arrived in America, married Marie Stueve, and proceeded to have 10 children. You will read the story of child #9 in this post. Alma Margaretha Schlichting was born on December 18, 1894, so she is today’s birthday girl. Alma would be celebrating her 129th birthday today. Like all of her siblings, Alma was baptized at Salem Lutheran Church in Farrar. An image of her baptism record from that congregation’s books is displayed below.

Alma shows up in her first census in those pages of the Salem Township that are so difficult to read. The 1900 census entry for the Schliching family is shown here. Alma’s father was a farmer. She was 5 years old at the time.

Next, we find Alma in the 1910 census at the age of 15. She had been confirmed at Salem, Farrar in 1908. 

Alma’s confirmation record is the last church record for her that is included in our German Family Tree. Her entire confirmation class is shown in the image below with Alma’s name highlighted.

I think it is pretty safe to assume that not long after the 1910 census, Alma moved to St. Louis to find work. She found her husband there. Let’s now take a look at the man who would become her husband. His name was Wilhelm Baierschmitt, who was born on October 22, 1888. He was the son of William and Eleonore (Stockhausen) Baierschmitt, who had arrived in this country not long before their son, William, was born. I located this photo of William’s parents.

The first census we can view that includes William is the one taken in 1900. The Baierschmitt’s were living in St. Louis where William, Sr. was a stonemason. William, Jr. was 11 years old at the time.

William was confirmed in 1905 at Emmaus Lutheran Church in St. Louis. I ran across a set of records that I had not previously found on Ancestry.com that gives church records for selected congregations in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. William’s confirmation record is found in that collection.

In the 1910 census, William was still living with his parents at the age of 21. William, Jr. was called a pipe fitter at a brewery.

I found no documentation for the marriage of William Baierschmitt and Alma Schlichting, but a family tree on Ancestry.com says that it took place on August 28, 1915, likely in St. Louis. What I was able to find was a wedding photograph for this pair.

 In 1917, William had his World War I draft registration completed. He was called a beer bottler for the Anheuser Busch Company. I found no evidence that William participated in the military during that war.

Two children were born to this couple, both being born prior to the 1920 census. Not only were their 2 children in their household, but also Alma’s parents were included. William was called a packer at a coffee company.

This couple’s oldest child, a daughter named Florence, died in 1921 at the age of 4. Her death certificate lists pneumonia as her cause of death.

The 1930 census shows just their son, also named William, in the Baierschmitt household. This time, William is called an electrician.

A photo was taken of the small Baierschmitt family that is displayed here.

The Baierschmitt’s are then found in the 1940 census. William was back to being a bottler at the Busch brewery.

William had his World War II draft card completed in 1942.

The last census we can view is the one taken in 1950. William continued in the same occupation. He and Alma had an empty nest.

William Baierschmitt died in 1967 at the age of 78. He is called a retired bottler on his death certificate below.

Alma Baierschmitt died in 1983 at the age of 88, too recently to view her death certificate. William and Alma are buried together in the Concordia Lutheran Cemetery in St. Louis.

The fact that early in his life, William was a bottler at the Anheuser Busch brewery, but later had other occupations, only to return to being a bottler can be explained in one word….Prohibition. Prohibition was instituted in 1919 and continued until 1933. Before Prohibition and after Prohibition, William worked at Anheuser Busch bottling beer. Anheuser Busch survived during Prohibition by engaging in the production of other things, but the beer bottlers were probably put out of work during that time.