Today’s tale will eventually get around to our birthday girl. I am going to begin with the man who is highlighted in this story because he ended up getting married twice, and it was his second wife who is the birthday girl. This man is yet another one of those characters that can be described as being connected to our German Family Tree by a thread. The only church record from the GFT is his confirmation record, although he has siblings who have baptism records at Friedheim and Uniontown.

Christian Gross was born on September 3, 1861, the son of Henry and Christine (Kraft) Gross. Christian’s older brother who was born in 1860 was baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Friedheim, and the fourth child in the family who was born in 1865 was baptized at Grace Lutheran Church in Uniontown. However, Christian and the third child have no baptism record included in our GFT. Christian is found in the 1870 census at the age of 8. His father was a farmer in the Apple Creek Township.

Christian’s confirmation record is found in the books of Grace Lutheran Church in Uniontown. He is listed with the other confirmands from that congregation.

When the 1880 census was taken, Christian was 18 years old and helping his father on his farm.

Now, we are going to take a look at the woman who would become Christian’s first wife. Her name was Bertha Poe, who was born on October 20, 1868. Bertha was the daughter of Isaiah and Charlotte (Hayden) Poe. Bertha is found in the 1870 census at the age of 1. Her father was a farmer in the Hubble Township, probably near the town of Gordonville. You might notice that her father was considerably older than her mother.

Bertha’s father died in 1875. Then, in the 1880 census, Bertha’s mother was the head of the household. Bertha was 12 years old at the time.

Christian Gross married Bertha Poe on December 17, 1888. That means yesterday would have been this couple’s 137th wedding anniversary. I can display 2 civil marriage records for this occasion. They were married by a justice of the peace.

Christian and Bertha had one child, a boy born in 1890. He was born in January of that year, but Bertha died several months later in July at the age of 21. I am not sure whether we would find 2 or 3 people in the Gross household if we were able to view the 1890 census entry for them. Bertha is buried in the Hayden Cemetery in Gordonville. Below is the photo of that cemetery found on Findagrave.com. That cemetery has just 8 grave sites listed on that website. I figure that Bertha was buried there because her mother was a Hayden.

Here is a gravestone photo for Bertha.

Christian would get married again, so let’s take a look at the woman who would become his second wife. Her name was Emma Emilie Gerichs, who was born on December 18, 1870. That means today would be Emma’s 155th birthday. Emma was the daughter of Fred and Wilhelmine (Wagner) Gerichs. She was also born and raised in the Gordonville area. Emma is found in the 1880 census at the age of 9. Her father was a butcher in the Hubble Township.

That would be the only census in which we find Emma prior to her getting married. Christian Gross married Emma Gerichs on January 21, 1893. Their Missouri marriage license shown below is a bit hard to read. They were married by a probate judge.

Five more children were born to Christian and Emma. Their first child died right away. In the 1900 census, we find the Gross’s with 2 children. Christian’s son from his first marriage was not living with him. I do not know where that child was in 1900. In addition to the Gross’s in this entry were a boarder and two members of Emma’s Gerichs family. Christian was a farmer in Gordonville.

A new congregation in Gordonville named Christ Lutheran Church was established in 1899. It appears that this Gross family become members of this church. Another one of their children died in 1906. The Gross’s are found in the 1910 census with 3 children.

The 1920 census shows just 2 children living with Christian and Emma.

Emma and Christian are found in the 1930 census with just their single daughter, Erma. Christian was still farming at the age of 68.

Emma Gross died in 1937 at the age of 66. Her death certificate says she died of pneumonia.

A death record for Emma is found in the books of Christ Lutheran Church in Gordonville.

An obituary for Emma was published in a local newspaper.

Christian is found in the 1940 census as a widower. Two single children were living with him. Christian is no longer given an occupation.

Christian Gross died in 1942 at the age of 80. We can also take a look at Christian’s death certificate.

Christian’s death record from the books of Christ, Gordonville is pictured here.

We can also read Christian’s obituary that was published. I find it interesting that one part of Gordonville was named after him.

Christian and Emma Gross are each buried in the Christ Lutheran Cemetery in Gordonville.

I want to point out a trivial fact that I discovered about the several Gross individuals that have been characters on this blog. The image folder for the surname, Gross, now includes 47 images. The last one of those images in alphabetical order is a Gross/Wallman marriage record. That means that all of those images are found in the first half of the alphabet. In fact, they all begin with words that begin with the first 7 letters of the alphabet. I guess the “Math teacher” in me finds that to be statistically fascinating.