In the story published yesterday, and in several others in the past, a young man moved to another location, only to return shortly afterward back to his hometown. Today you will be reading another one of those stories.

Carl Friedrich Bronenkant was born on March 2, 1874, so today he would be celebrating his 150th birthday if he was still alive. Like many other men who were named Carl or Karl, he went by the more Americanized name, Charles, so that is what I will use. Charles was the son of Gabriel and Emma (Moeckel) Bronenkant. He was baptized at Concordia Lutheran Church in Frohna. An image of his baptism record is shown here. It appears that another baptism record was put in the books at a later time for a Stelling child that is shoved between Charles’s record and the next one.

Charles is found in his first census in 1880 at the age of 6. His father was a farmer in the Union Township.

Charles was still single when the 1900 census was taken. He was still living with his parents in the same location and working with his father on his farm.

Charles would get married during the next decade, so we will now take a look at the woman who would become his bride. Her name was Gertrude Lee Barber, who was born on December 21, 1880. Gertrude is not found in our German Family Tree because her parents, Robert and Emma (Cowan) Barber, were members of the Brazeau Presbyterian Church. So, even though she was born and raised in our local community, which was primarily made up of German Lutherans, she is not to be found in a document containing almost all people with Lutheran backgrounds. Her baptism record must be contained in the Brazeau Presbyterian church books. Perhaps someday, our museum will be blessed with images of those records, but that is not the case right now.

Gertrude is another person who went by a different name than the one that likely appeared on her baptism record. She went by the name Gertie. That name is even found on her gravestone. She was born too late in 1880 to appear in that year’s census, so the only census in which we find her before she got married is the one taken in 1900. It appears that the census taker first put down her age as 18, but changed it to 19, which would be more correct. Her father was a farmer in the Brazeau Township.

Charles Bronenkant married Gertie Barber on October 25, 1905. They were married at Brazeau Presbyterian Church, which is another reason Gertie does not appear in the GFT.

Yet another reason that Gertie does not appear in our GFT is because evidence points to Charlies becoming a member of Brazaeau Presbyterian after his marriage. We also do not find baptism records for their children in the GFT. I have to rely on Ancestry.com family trees for information about their children. I think they had 4 children, two of which died at very young ages and never show up in a census entry.

It is in the 1910 census that we find that this young couple had moved to another state. We find them living in Logan, New Mexico where Charles was a farmer. In their household were no children, although I think their first child was born in Missouri in 1906 and died right away. Gertie’s sister, Bertie, was living with them. That’s right, there was a Gertie and a Bertie in the Barber family.

A few previous posts have discussed the fact that a few Perry County men moved to this area of New Mexico at this time, one of them being Charles. In one of those posts, the image of the 1910 census shown below was displayed. It includes the Bronenkant’s, along with some Newberry’s and a Versemann, all from Missouri. There was also a Rodewald man who moved his family to that area. As it turned out, I think the only one who remained for long in New Mexico was the Rodewald family, whose story was told in the post, Trek to the Territory.

I consider this to be an Act of God. I was reading this story to Gerard this morning because I am working at the museum today. Gerard was here putting away some materials that were part of a recent donation. While reading this story, he showed me this photo, which includes both Charles and Gertie, along with a few others who were natives of Perry County. It includes a Luckey woman. Luckey is another Brazeau name. Had I not been at the museum today, you would not be seeing this picture.

The Bronenkant’s must not have been in New Mexico for very long. A child of theirs was born in 1911, and all of their children shown in subsequent census entries were said to be born in Missouri. We find the Bronenkant’s back in the Union Township of Perry County when the 1920 census was taken. Charles is called a laborer, and their 2 children who lived to adulthood are found in their household.

Next, we find the Bronenkant’s in the 1930 census. Based on his neighbors, which included William Sittner, who was said to be the operator of a general store, I think Charles lived in the village of Brazeau. He was called the manager of a feed store, which is another occupation more likely to be found in a town.

In the 1940 census, just their son, Lee, was living with his parents. Also, Gertie’s mother was included in their household. Charles had the same job, and Lee was said to be trucking for Charles’s feed store.

The 1950 census is the last one the public can view at this time, and in it, we find Charles as retired, and his son, Lee was a salesman for the feed store.

Charles Bronenkant died in 1954 at the age of 80. His death certificate below calls him a retired miller.

Gertie Bronenkant died in 1966 at the age of 85. We can also view her death certificate.

Charles and Gertie Bronenkant are buried together in the Brazeau Presbyterian Cemetery in Brazeau.

The story of Charles and Gertie includes some interesting characteristics. First, I have not located too many stories with a bride and groom from Brazeau Presbyterian and a local Lutheran church. It also is only one of a few stories in which a couple ends up in New Mexico. In addition, there are not many gravestones in the Brazeau Presbyterian Cemetery with a German Lutheran surname.