I think I have already written three different posts that have highlighted a main character whose name was Clara Schmidt. Two of them were born as Clara Schmidt, and one became Clara Schmidt as a result of marriage. In addition to that, I have mentioned my great-aunt, Clara Schmidt, on several occasions, but she has not been a main character in a post yet. If you count all of these Clara Schmidt’s, then the Clara Schmidt who is a main character in this post would be the fifth Clara Schmidt. Today’s Clara is also today’s birthday girl.

Clara Elisabeth Marie Schmidt was born on January 22, 1876, thus making today her special 150th birthday. Clara was the daughter of John and Wilhelmine (Traupe) Schmidt. Her later death certificate says that she was born in Ironton, Missouri. If she was born in Ironton, she must not have lived there for very long. In the 1880 census, Clara and her family are found living in Gordonville. She was 4 years old, and her father was a blacksmith.

The next piece of evidence I located concerning Clara is her confirmation record. She was confirmed in 1889, and that event took place at Trinity Lutheran Church in Cape Girardeau. This document says that Clara was born in Gordonville.

We cannot view the 1890 census, and Clara would get married prior to 1900, so we will now switch our attention to the man who would become her husband. His name was Henry William Bangert, who was born on Febraury 8, 1874. I will point out that there have been two previous posts that mentioned different Henry Bangert’s, so today’s groom is the third Henry Bangert. Henry was the son of Friedrich and Mathilde (Kester) Bangert. He was baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Friedheim. We can take a look at his baptism record from that congregation’s books.

Another event took place very early in his life that explains what we find in the first census entry in which we find Henry. When Henry was just one year old, his father died in 1875. Then, his mother married William Niemann in 1877. So when we find Henry in the 1880 census, he is called a 5 year-old stepson in a Niemann household. His stepfather was a farmer in the Hubble Township. I suspect this family was living near Gordonville.

Henry Bangert married Clara Schmidt on October 24, 1895. This couple was married at Zion Lutheran Church in Gordonville. A record of their marriage that is found in a binder for Zion Lutheran Church in our research library is shown here. It says they were married on September 19th.

On the 2 civil marriage records shown below, it gives the date of this wedding as October 24th. The pastor listed on both of these forms was serving Zion, Gordonville at that time.

The Bangert’s had just one child, a daughter born in 1897. I was unable to locate the Bangert’s in the 1900 census, so the first one in which we find this married couple is the one taken in 1910. Henry was a retail merchant in Gordonville operating a dry goods store. Their daughter, Alma, had just became a teenager.

Next, we find the Bangert’s in the 1920 census. They had an empty nest because their daughter had gotten married in 1917. Henry was still a retail merchant.

In 1929, Henry became the postmaster for the city of Gordonville. We find evidence of this on the postmasters appointment list shown here.

The 1930 census once again lists Henry as being a retail merchant at a general store.

The last census in which we find Henry is the one taken in 1940. This time Henry was called a postmaster. Post offices were usually operated by storeowners inside their store building back in those days.

Henry Bangert died in 1941 at the age of 67. He died a tragic death which resulted from a car crash. We can view his death certificate below.

An article about his car crash was published in the Cash Book Journal. This article says that Henry was born on February 7th, not the 8th. You can click to enlarge these images.

Clara is found as a widow in the 1950 census. It looks like she was living by herself, but right above her, you see the household of Leo and Alma Schwab. Alma was Clara’s daughter. Leo was called a telegraph agent for the Northern Pacific Railroad. This entry is found in the pages of the Long Prairie Township of Mississippi County, Missouri.

Clara Bangert died in 1963 at the age of 87. Her death certificate gives her a Bertrand, Missouri address and states that she died at a nearby hospital in Sikeston.

Henry and Clara Bangert are each buried in the Cape Memorial Park Cemetery in Cape Girardeau.

Many of the Bangert’s that I have written about on this blog have lived around Friedheim. I figure that Henry Bangert ended up in the Gordonville area when his father died, and his mother married a man who lived near Gordonville. I think that was the key development that led to Henry Bangert ending up as the postmaster of Gordonville.