About a month ago, I wrote a post titled, Friedheim/Lixville Bangert’s. Today, you will read a post about one of the children of those Bangert’s. One of their sons is today’s birthday boy.

Robert Johann Bangert was born on July 14, 1895, so today would be his 130th birthday. Robert was the son of Frederick and Mathilda (Moeller) Bangert. He was baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Friedheim. We can take a look at his baptism record from that congregation’s books here. I am displaying Robert’s baptism record along with the one right above his which is the one for his future wife. More on her later.

Robert is found in the 1900 census at the age of 4. His father was a farmer in the Whitewater Township of Bollinger County. Robert was one of 4 sons in the Bangert family at that time.

Next, we find Robert in the 1910 census as a teenager. Robert was just one of 2 Bangert sons remaining in this household.

In 1917, Robert had his World War I draft registration form completed. It says he was working on his father’s farm in Lixville.

It was later in 1917 that Robert got married, so we will now take a look at the woman who would become his bride. Her name is Caroline Louise Pohlmann, who was born on June 29, 1895. Caroline was the daughter of Wilhelm and Caroline (Emde) Pohlmann. Caroline was born about 2 weeks before Robert was born. That is why we find her baptism record right above Robert’s in the Trinity, Friedheim books. Caroline is found in the 1900 census at the age of 4. Her father was also a farmer in the Whitewater Township of Bollinger County. The Pohlmann’s and the Bangert’s were just 3 census pages apart from each other in 1900.

I thought that Caroline and Robert would possibly be in the same confirmation class at Trinity, Friedheim, but when I looked in that congregation’s books, I only found a confirmation record for Caroline which says she was confirmed in 1909. I then thought there might be a chance that Robert’s confirmation record might be found in the books of the short-lived Lutheran congregation in Lixville. I hit paydirt. Robert was part of a small class from 1907 at that congregation. I find it a bit surprising that he would be confirmed before he turned just 12 years old. It appears that this was the last confirmation class for that church prior to its closing.

Caroline is next found in the 1910 census as a teenager. This time, the Pohlmann household was just 2 pages away from the Bangert household in this census.

Robert Bangert married Caroline Pohlmann on December 16, 1917. I must admit that I was a little surprised that the pastor of Trinity, Friedheim would marry this couple during Advent season. I thought maybe it was because Robert might have been required to be drafted for the war, but I found no evidence that he served in the military. There are two different marriage records for Robert and Caroline in the Trinity, Friedheim books. First, here is the standard marriage record.

Here is another document found in that congregation’s records called “Record of Marriages Solemnized”. This form says that Robert was from Lixville, and Caroline was from Hilderbrand.

Here is a map that includes the locations of Lixville, Hilderbrand, and Friedheim to show the proximity of these 3 places.

I can also display 2 civil marriage records for this wedding. Below is the standard Missouri marriage license.

Here is a document that looks more like a marriage certificate.

Our German Family Tree lists 6 children born to this pair. The first child just lived a few days. All of their children were baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Friedheim. When the 1920 census was taken, we find the Bangert’s with just one child. They were living with Robert’s parents.

The Bangert’s are found in the 1930 census still living with Robert’s parents. Robert and his father were farming together. There were 3 children of Robert and Caroline listed in this entry.

In the previous post about Robert’s parents, I displayed this plat map from an atlas of maps from Bollinger County that was produced in 1930 for the Bangert farm.

As it turns out, the last census in which we find Caroline Bangert is the one taken in 1940. Robert and Caroline’s family was still in the same household with Robert’s parents.

In 1942, Robert had his World War II draft card completed. Once again, he is given a Lixville address.

Caroline Bangert died in 1949 at the age of 54. Her death certificate says she died of a diabetic coma. She died the day before her wedding anniversary.

Caroline is buried in the Trinity Lutheran Cemetery in Friedheim.

Robert is found as a widower in the 1950 census. He was living in the same location with 2 sons and his mother. Robert and the 2 sons were doing the farming.

Robert would get married again in 1951. His second wife was Emma (Doggett) Statler. I am not going to go into much detail about her, but I will tell you that Emma was married to Harrison Statler, who had died in 1949. In the 1950 census, Emma is found just one page away from Robert’s entry. If you look at the plat map shown earlier, there is a parcel of land for H. Statler right next to the Bangert land. I believe that was Harrison Statler’s land. In other words, Robert and Emma were neighbors. These two were married at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Perryville on March 16, 1951. The church record for this event is shown here.

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

Robert Bangert died in 1984 at the age of 88; Emma Bangert died in 1992 at the age of 93. Robert and Emma Bangert are buried together in the Lixville Lutheran Cemetery.

The Lixville neighborhood, although it is found in Bollinger County, is also located very near to both Cape Girardeau County and Perry County. Today’s birthday boy ended up having church records in all 3 of those counties despite the fact that it appears that he lived on the same farm all of his life.