The birthday boy for today’s post was named Karl Immanuel Degenhardt on his baptism record. Early on, it appears that he was called Emanuel (with this spelling), but as time went by, his documents used the name Charles. Charles was born on October 29, 1874, so today would be his special 150th birthday. He was the son of August and Bertha (Engert) Degenhardt. His baptism record is found in the books of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Altenburg. An image of that record is pictured here.
In the 1880 census, today’s birthday boy is called Emanuel, and he is listed as being 5 years old. His father was a farmer in the Brazeau Township, likely in the Seelitz community.
I must admit that Charles’s story has some holes in it. There are a few census entries that I failed to find. I do know that Charles was confirmed at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Altenburg in 1888. That confirmation record calls him Carl (no longer using the Karl spelling) Immanuel Degenhardt. I was not successful at finding him in the 1900 census. He was no longer included in the household of his parents. However, even though I could not find him in that years’ census, we do know that he was married that year, and that wedding took place in St. Louis. Let us now look at the woman who would become his bride.
Florence May Flowers was born on March 31, 1875. Her later death certificate says that she was born in Columbus, Ohio. Florence was the daughter of Philip and Anna (Hartman) Flowers. By the time of the 1880 census, the Flowers family was no longer living in Ohio. They are found living in Little Rock, Arkansas, where Florence’s father was a cabinet maker with his own shop. I was first a little skeptical about this being the correct entry for the Flowers family, but you can see that several of the children were born in Ohio, thus giving credence to this being the correct entry for Florence.
That is basically all I can tell you about Florence’s early life. The next document we can view is one that is associated with her marriage. Charles Degenhardt married Florence Flowers sometime around January 24, 1900. I have to say “sometime around” because all I am able to display is an application for a marriage license for this couple that includes that date. They applied for the license on that date, but may have actually been married shortly after that. Charles is still called Emanuel on this document.
I think the Degenhardt couple moved to Detroit soon after they got married. I located this listing for an Emmanuel Degenhardt in a 1901 Detroit city directory. He is called a machinist.
In a 1903 Detroit city directory, we find a man named Charles E. Degenhardt. After this, we see him called Charles in documents I located for him.
In the 1910 census, we find Charles and Florence living in Detroit. Charles is called a machinist at a tool shop. Our German Family Tree contains a note accredited to Wilmar Degenhardt that says Charles worked for a typewriter company in Michigan. Wilmar, who died about a year ago, was a local man who we consider to be an expert on the Degenhardt family tree.
Charles had his World War I draft registration completed in 1918. This form says he was a foreman at a machine shop. His employer was the Ford Motor Company. Florence’s name is on this form, and it says her middle name was Gertrude. A family history on Ancestry.com gave me the middle name of May for her.
It looks as if Charles and Florence had no children. In the next census taken in 1920, we once again see Charles called a machinist in Detroit.
The last census entries I located for Charles and Florence are found in the 1930 census. However, they were not listed in the same census entry. The one for Charles shows him living alone and the marriage column contains a “D” indicating divorced. He was said to be a tool maker for an automobile factory.
Florence is also shown living by herself in Detroit. She is called a widow, but we know that Charles was still living.
Florence Degenhardt died in 1935 at the age of 62. We are able to view a Michigan death certificate for her. On the line for “Single, Married, or Divorced”, it says separated. Interestingly, the informant on this document was Charles Degenhardt, and I think the address for both Florence and Charles was the same, although Florence’s address is given as 1511 Tyler, and Charles’s address is 1151 Tyler.
Charles was still alive in 1940, but I failed to find him in that year’s census. Charles Degenhardt died in 1943 at the age of 68. His Michigan death certificate below says he was a tool and die maker. It also says he was employed by the Burroughs Company.
The company he probably worked at was the Burroughs Adding Machine Company that was located in Detroit. That business started making typewriters in 1931. One of its early typewriters is shown in the photo below.
Both Charles and Florence’s death certificates say they were buried in the Holy Sepulcher Cemetery in Detroit. That is a Catholic cemetery. On Findagrave.com, that cemetery has a site for Florence which has no gravestone photo, but it does not have a site for Charles.
The story of Charles Degenhardt, the Detroit machinist, is one that has some missing pieces. It also contains evidence that his marriage had some rocky moments. Yet, I told this story anyway. After all, how can I not write the story of a Degenhardt who is celebrating a 150th birthday?