Despite the fact that today’s main characters never made their way into East Perry County, I will still write their story. After all, both the bride and groom in this tale were members of the Stephanite immigration that took place in 1838-1839. Add to that the fact that the groom would be celebrating his bicentennial birthday today, and I just have to tell this story.
Wilhelm Bruno Leonhardt was born on December 5, 1824, thus making today his 200th birthday. Wilhelm was born in Wiederau, Germany. Wiederau is a very small village located south of Leipzig as shown on the map below.
Wilhelm was the son of Johann Christian Ehrenfried and Johanna Christiana Amalie Leonhardt. I was unable to determine his mother’s maiden name. When the Gesellschaft formed in the 1830’s, the Leonhardt’s decided to join this group whose intention was to migrate to America. Wilhelm was the only child who joined his parents to make the voyage to this country. They made the voyage aboard the ship, Copernicus, which was the first ship to arrive in America on New Year’s Eve in 1838. The passenger list shown below indicates that Wilhelm’s father was a saddler from Wiederau. Wilhelm was 15 years old at the time.
We also find the Leonhardt family listed in the book, Zion on the Mississippi. This list gives Wilhelm an age of 14.
After their arrival in America, the Leonhardt family made the decision to remain in St. Louis instead of joining the majority of the Gesellschaft which moved to East Perry County in May of 1839. Likely, Wilhelm’s father found a job in St. Louis as a saddler. Wilhelm would get married in the 1840’s before we find him in a census entry, so we will now look at the woman who would become his bride.
Bertha Amalia Schneider was born on March 10, 1829, the daughter of Ehregott and Fredericke Schneider. I also was unable to determine Bertha’s mother’s maiden name. Bertha, like Wilhelm, was born in Wiederau. A later passenger list indicates that Bertha’s father was a physician. Since Wiederau was such a small village, and especially if Eheregott was a doctor, the Schneider’s and the Leonhardt’s must have been very familiar with one another even prior to making plans to move to the United States. The Schneider family also chose to join the Gesellschaft. Like the Leonhardt’s, the Schneider’s made the voyage to America aboard the Copernicus. We can see them on the passenger list for that ship below. Bertha was 11 years old at the time.
The Schneider’s are also listed in the book, Zion on the Mississippi. It puzzles me just a bit that Bertha is called 11 years old on both of these passenger lists. If she was born in 1829, she would have only been 10 years old. The only place where I found the birth date of March 10, 1829 is on her death certificate.
There are asterisks behind the names of the Schneider’s on the above image. The book explains that these asterisks were placed behind the names of people who chose to sever their connections with the Gesellschaft prior to 1844. Except, in the case of Bertha, she did not sever her relationship with a certain other member of the Gesellschaft because she married Wilhelm Leonhardt whose family continued to be associated with the Gesellschaft.
Wilhelm Leonhardt married Bertha Schneider on July 30, 1848. These two were married at Immanuel Lutheran Church in St. Louis, a congregation which was established in 1844 with Rev. J.F. Buenger as their first pastor. Pastor Buenger was also one of the original immigrants who was one of the builders of the Log Cabin College in Altenburg. When the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod collection of church records were placed on Ancestry.com, the records of Immanuel, St. Louis were included. Below is the church marriage record for Wilhelm and Bertha. I have to display it in 2 images. You can see Pastor Buenger’s name in the last column.
We can also view this St. Louis marriage record for this pair.
A family tree on Ancestry.com lists 8 children born to this couple. It was probably a good thing that they did not have their first child until early in 1850 because of the devastating cholera epidemic that occurred in the summer of 1849. I located the baptism record for their first child, Clara, in the books of Immanuel, St. Louis.
When the 1850 census was taken, we find the Leonhardt’s with just their daughter, Clara, in their entry. Wilhelm followed in his father’s footsteps and became a saddler.
In the process of researching this story and searching the Lutheran records collection on Ancestry.com, I discovered that Wilhelm’s father died in August of 1850. That fact is not found in our German Family Tree.
In the 1860 census, we find the Leonhardt’s with 4 children. Wilhelm had the same occupation, but this time he was called a harness maker.
Next, we find the Leonhardt family in the 1870 census with 6 children in their household.
Wilhelm Leonhardt died in 1878 at the age of 53. So, when Bertha is found in the 1880 census, she was a widow. She was the head of her household which included 5 children. You should note that one son was named after his father, William, and like his father, he had become a harness maker. If you read the story I wrote yesterday, you will know that this is the 2nd day in a row that I have found a person who is called a cigar stripper. That is the occupation given in this entry for the son named Julius Leonhardt.
Bertha was still alive when the 1900 census was taken. She was living by herself at the age of 72.
The last census in which we find Bertha was the one taken in 1910. She was living with Clara Soellner. It says Clara was her sister in this entry, but she was actually her daughter. Clara had married Anton Soellner, but he died in 1909, so she was also a widow.
Bertha Leonhardt died later in 1910 at the age of 82. Her death certificate below is the form that gives Bertha’s birthday as March 10, 1829.
Wilhelm and Bertha Leonhardt are buried together in the St. Peter’s Cemetery in Normandy, a municipality in the St. Louis area. The gravestone says Bertha was born in 1828, which makes more sense.
Today’s bicentennial birthday boy was the son of a saddler who became a saddler himself. He then passed his saddler skills on to his son. That made 3 straight generations of saddlers in the Leonhardt family. Even if the youngest saddler had sons, he likely did not have any that became saddlers because that occupation became more or less extinct.