Way back in 2017, I wrote the story of twin Seibel brothers, Martin and Otto, in the post, Selfsame Seibels. Today, I will return to that story to tell a bit more about Otto and the two women who he married. It begins with a birthday girl.

Bertha Anna Louise Ziegler was born on October 24, 1899, thus making today her 125th birthday. Bertha was the daughter of Adam and Louise (Sauerbrunn) Ziegler. She was baptized at Christ Lutheran Church in Jacob, Illinois. We can view Bertha’s baptism record in the two images below.

Bertha is found in the 1900 census as an infant. Her father was a farmer in the Sand Ridge Township in Jackson County, Illinois.

When the 1910 census was taken, we find the Ziegler’s living in the Somerset Township. Bertha was 10 years old, and her father was still farming.

The map below shows the locations of the Sand Ridge and Somerset Townships. You can see that they are both rather close to the larger city of Murphysboro.

The 1920 census is the last one in which we find Bertha unmarried. She was 20 years old at the time.

Now, we need to return to the Seibel twin who would become Bertha’s husband. His name was Otto Jacob Seibel, who, along with his twin brother, Martin, was born on November 3, 1897. The twins were the sons of George and Anna (Vogel) Seibel. They were baptized at Christ Lutheran Church in Jacob. We can view their baptism records in the 2 images here.

Otto and Martin are found in the 1900 census at the age of 2. The Seibel’s were living in the Fountain Bluff Township, where the twins’ father was a blacksmith.

When the 1910 census was taken, a few changes had been made in this Seibel family. This time, George Seibel was a farmer, and his household is found living in the Somerset Township. The twins were 12 years old.

An atlas of plat maps for Jackson County, Illinois was produced in 1907. In that atlas, on the page showing the Somerset Township, we find that the Ziegler and Seibel farms are found rather close to one another. It is not hard to figure out how Otto Seibel got to know Bertha Ziegler.

In this photo, you will see that these boys were not only twins, but identical twins.

I displayed both of the twins’ World War I draft registration forms in the previous post. Each of them did go off to serve in the military during that war. The photo below shows that these two served in two different branches of the military.

In the 1920 census, the twins were 22 years old and both helping their father on his farm.

Otto Seibel married Bertha Ziegler on May 21, 1922. I failed to find an official document for this wedding, but it is stated in Otto’s later obituary. I suspect that this wedding took place at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Murphysboro, but we are unable to view that congregation’s records.

Otto and Bertha never appeared together in a census entry. Sadly, Bertha died in 1924 at the age of 24. I was unable to discover any kind of cause of death for her. She and Otto had no children together. Bertha Seibel is buried in the Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery in Murphysboro.

In the 1930 census, we find Otto as a widower. He was back living with his mother and father and was helping on that farm.

Otto married again in the next decade, so let’s take a look at his second bride. Her name was Marie Wilhelmina Fuehler, who was born on October 8, 1900. Marie was the daughter of Paul and Mathilda (Schmidt) Fuehler. She was baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in New Wells. We can take a look at her baptism record from that congregation’s books below.

Marie is found in the 1910 census at the age of 9. Her father was a farmer in the Shawnee Township.

Marie was no longer living with her parents when the 1920 census was taken. She had found work in St. Louis. She was a servant in the household of Louis Rothgiesser at the age of 19.

I failed to find Marie in the 1930 census. Then, on August 21, 1932, Otto Seibel married Marie Fuehler at Trinity Lutheran Church in Shawneetown. The church record for this event is displayed below.

We can also view this couple’s Missouri marriage license.

It appears that Otto and Marie had 2 children. In the 1940 census, we find the Seibel’s living in the Somerset Township, and Otto was still farming. Both of their children, a boy and a girl, are included in this entry.

We find an interesting entry for Otto and Marie in the 1950 census. Right above their entry, we see that of Arthur Seibel, another of Otto’s brothers. The Seibel brothers were both farmers in the Somerset Township.

Otto Seibel died in 1986 at the age of 88; Marie Seibel died in 2002 at the age of 101. Otto and Marie are buried together in the Murdale Garden of Memories in Murphysboro.

I located this obituary for Otto. That is where we find the date for his first wedding.

I encourage you to read the blog post about the Seibel twins. It contains several photos of the twins that I did not include today. Also, an article printed in a newspaper was included in that post that tells other details about the Seibel identical twins.