There was a period of time during my teaching career when I was teaching science to my students, that I would put on a white labcoat with a name on it that said, “Dr. Frankenschmidt”. I would take on the character of a “mad scientist” from Transylvania who happened to dislike Mr. Schmidt very much. It was a lot of fun. My wife helped me find the old labcoat, and I put on the mad scientist face for the photo below.

So, when I ran across the name you see in the title of this post, you can imagine that I got a bit of a chuckle out of it. The story will eventually make its way to the name of Frickenschmidt, but first, I have to tell you about today’s birthday boy who was born in Altenburg.

Otto Friedrich Engert was born on December 12, 1899, so today would be his special 125th birthday. Fred, as he was called, was the son of Adolph and Martha (Mueller) Engert. He was baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Altenburg. Two images below display his baptism record from that congregation’s books.

Fred is found as a baby in the 1900 census. His father was a farmer in the Brazeau Township.

In a later plat map for Perry County, we find the A.G. Engert farm located on the road that led from Altenburg to The Ridge north of town. Nowadays, it is called Highway Y. Also, the Martin Miller (Mueller) seen on this map very near the Engert land would have been Fred’s grandfather.

I wrote a post about Fred’s parents titled, Engert the Egger. In that story, it was mentioned that Fred’s father was a person who had several different occupations during his life. You will discover that Fred apparently followed in his father’s footsteps. The 1910 census turned out to be the last one in which Fred lived in Perry County. Fred was 10 years old, and this time,, his father was a saloon proprietor.

Fred had his World War I draft registration completed in 1918. It gives him a Venedy, Illinois address. It also gives him the fascinating job title…a student at the American Foreign Detective Agency. I tried to identify that agency, but I did not get far. When I did an internet search, I was usually directed to the Pinkerton Agency, but I usually do not associate that with any foreign operations. I would really like to know what Fred was involved with back in those days.

In the 1920 census, we find Fred living with his brother, Rudolph, and his family in Venedy, Illinois. Fred is described as a chauffeur who was driving a truck.

Now, we will turn our attention to the Frickenschmidt family from which Fred’s wife came. Bertha Emma Marie Bell was born on October 8, 1898. I actually do not know who the parents of Bertha were, but the evidence points to the fact that she was adopted by William and Emma (Wolf) Frickenschmidt in about 1903. I found Bertha’s baptism record in the books of Ebenezer Lutheran Church in Grand Prairie, Illinois. As near as I can tell, Ebenezer was located near Okawville and Venedy, Illinois. That congregation’s books are now available on Ancestry.com. Here is that baptism record for Bertha.

In the 1910 census, Bertha is still called Bertha Bell, and she is called an adopted daughter. It says she was born in Missouri. William Frickenschmidt was a farmer in Venedy.

Bertha appears to have taken the Frickenschmidt name prior to the 1920 census. We find her living with William, and she is called a servant.

Fred Engert married Bertha Frickenschmidt in May of 1922. I cannot narrow it down to a specific date, but I found this newspaper record that gives some info about this wedding. They were married in or near Okawville. I looked in the Ebenezer records for a marriage record, but I think that congregation closed prior to 1922.

Fred and Bertha had a child, Fred Otto, Jr., in 1923, and that baby was baptized at Zion Lutheran Church in St. Louis. That congregation’s books are also now found on Ancestry.com, and I can display that child’s baptism record here.

The Engert’s are found in the 1930 census with their only child. Fred was called a salesman for a sugar company.

Next, we find this family in the 1940 census. This time, Fred was the sales manager for a wholesale bakery.

Fred had his World War II draft card completed in 1942. His employer was the Yur Favorit Cake Company, which is likely the name of the wholesale bakery mentioned in the above census.

The 1950 census is the last one we can view. In it, we find Fred and Bertha with an empty nest. Fred was then a supervisor at the wholesale bakery.

Fred Engert died on the first day of 1959 at the age of 59. His death certificate says he died of a stroke.

I also discovered in the process of researching this story that there are a limited number of church records on Ancestry.com from Holy Cross Lutheran Church in St. Louis. Fred’s death and burial record is one of those records found in that collection.

Bertha Engert died in 1978 at the age of 79. She died too recently to view her death certificate. Fred and Bertha are buried together in the Our Redeemer Cemetery in Affton.

I would say that it is too bad that Bertha Frickenschmidt was not a student in the science classes with Dr. Frankenschmidt. That would have proved interesting.