Today’s post should be pretty short. The birthday boy does not live long, and he never was married, so that doesn’t make for a long story. In fact, when I’m looking for a story and see such a situation, I am more likely to skip over it and look for a different story. However, today, for a couple reasons, I choose to tell his story anyway. First, I have a limited time to write today, and secondly, the birthday boy is one who is tied to a family that was a prominent one in the Wittenberg books that I have written.

Albert Louis Gemeinhardt was born on May 21, 1899, so today would be his special 125th birthday. Albert was the son of Friedrich “Fritz” and Selma (Nennert) Gemeinhardt. His baptism record is found in the books of Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg, but he is one of the babies that might likely have been baptized in the church/school building in Wittenberg. We can view his baptism record below.

Albert was still very young when he appeared in his first census entry in 1900. As you can see, the Gemeinhardt family was already quite large, with 10 children listed in this entry. Two more children would be added to this family after 1900. The last one, born in 1903, has his birth described in my book, Wittenberg ’03. Albert’s father was a cooper in Wittenberg. We know that he was working at Joseph Weinhold’s flour mill in the small river town. I will point out that the oldest daughter in this family was a main character in my books who became involved in a romance with Richard Kalbfleisch, the teacher at the Lutheran school in Wittenberg. And another Gemeinhardt son named Walter, was one of Teacher Kalbfleisch’s students that is a minor character in those books.

I figure that this Gemeinhardt family photo was taken in about 1904. It includes all 12 of the Gemeinhardt children. Since he was the 3rd to the last child to be born into this family, I figure Albert is the young boy standing to the right in the front. He doesn’t appear to be too happy to be a part of this photo. Perhaps he was not thrilled to put on a suit and tie at that point in his life.

In the 1910 census, we find Albert at the age of 11. This time, his father was called an engineer at the flour mill.

Since St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Wittenberg was established in 1903, Albert’s confirmation record is found in that congregation’s books when he was confirmed in 1913. Then, when Albert had his World War I draft registration completed, we find that, although he is given a Wittenberg address, his registration form was completed in Coalburg, West Virginia. He was employed by the Coalburg Company as an bookkeeper.

Albert’s 1920 census entry was a bit hard to find, but it helped to know that he might be found in Coalburg, West Virginia. Ancestry.com lists his last name as Lemeinhardt, and gives his first name as Klaus. However, if you know that his name was Albert Gemeinhardt, you can see that this is the correct census entry for him. He was living in the Charles Knight household as a lodger. Charles was a coal miner. Albert was called a stenographer for a coal company.

An article published in the Perry County Republican in 1922 indicates that Albert had been home for a visit and was returning to his work near Charleston, West Virginia, which is where Coalburg was located.

Albert’s obituary, which will be displayed later, says he was also employed in other locations during his short lifetime. Then, in an article that appeared in the Perry County Republican in 1927, it says he was living in Pennsylvania. Mrs. Henson, who is also mentioned, was Albert’s older sister, Ophelia.

Next, we find Albert back living in Wittenberg when the 1930 census was taken. He and his older brother, Walter, were living with their parents. Albert was a secretary for a construction company.

Albert Gemeinhardt died in 1935 at the age of 36. Thrombosis is given as his cause of death on his death certificate below. His occupation is given as accountant on this form. It also says he was living in Cape Girardeau.

An obituary for Albert was published in the Perry County Sun. I will display it in 2 images that you may have to click to enlarge. Some other details about his life can be found in it, including information about his siblings and where they lived.

Albert’s death certificate indicates that he was buried in the Cape County Memorial Park in Cape Girardeau. He has an entry on Findagrave.com for that cemetery, but there is no gravestone photo.

Albert had a short, but interesting life. He certainly made his way to many different locations to work. Okay, I admit it. Another reason that I decided to write this short story was the fact that there is plenty of evidence that Albert knew his mathematics, and I spent a lot of years teaching math. I also just heard this past Sunday that one of my former math students has decided to become an accountant.