Today’s birthday girl is going to take us all the way to Washington state. It is another one of those Perry County natives who would only spend a short time here before living most of her life in another state. The big puzzle in this story is whether she is really today’s birthday girl.

According to her baptism record, Emma Anna Carolina Bergmann was born on June 22, 1888. If that is the case, then Emma would be celebrating her 138th birthday today. She was the daughter of George and Katherina (Boettner) Bergmann. Her baptism record is found in the books of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Perryville. That record is pictured here.

Emma was born during the years when Perry County kept birth records. On Emma’s birth record shown below, her date of birth is given as June 13, 1888.

To make matters worse, Emma’s death certificate ,which will be displayed later, gives her date of birth as June 20, 1888. Emma’s father died in 1897, so, since we cannot view the 1890 census, in her first census entry in 1900, her mother was a widow and the head of the Bergmann household. Emma was 11 years old, and her mother is called a farmer. Two of Emma’s older brothers were called farm laborers. The Bergmann’s resided in the Central Township.

Emma’s mother died in 1908 when Emma was 20 years old. If Emma was still living with her mother when she died, then Emma’s life would have been thrown into a tizzy. I did some searching for Emma in the 1910 census, but I failed to definitively find her. I located plenty of Emma Bergmann’s who were born in about 1888 all over the country. Many of them were already married and carried their husband’s Bergmann name. I did locate an Emma Bergmann living in St. Louis who was single and at the right age, but it said she was born in Illinois, so I will not display it because I have doubts that it was the correct Emma Bergmann. Since Emma would get married in the state of Washington in 1917, I specifically searched for her there, but failed. I also have no idea how or when Emma made her way all the way out to the West Coast and the state of Washington.

Let’s now take a look at the man who would become Emma’s husband. His name was Frederick Norman Giles, who was born on November 21, 1881. Fred was born in Pleasant Mount, Pennsylvania. He was the son of Christopher Columbus and Mary (Fowler) Giles. We find Fred at the age of 18 in the 1900 census. Fred was helping his father on his farm in Pleasant Mount.

Like was the case with Emma, I failed to locate Fred when the 1910 census was taken. I suspect that he may have already made his way to the state of Washington. I did locate this photo of Fred when I think he was quite young.

Fred was part of a very large Giles family. There were at least 12 children. The photo below was taken of 12 Giles siblings. Fred was child #9 in that family. I will let you pick out the one that would be Fred.

Fred Giles married Emma Bergmann on October 13, 1917 according to this marriage record from Benton County in Washington. It says they were married by a minister in Kennewick, Washington.

Fred had his World War I draft registration completed in 1918. It gives him a rural Kennewick address and calls him a fruit rancher.

According to Family Search, this couple had 5 children. When the 1920 census was taken, there was just one daughter in their household. Fred was called a fruit farmer. From what I could determine, the Kennewick area was known for apples, cherries, and grapes.

In the 1930 census, all 5 of the Giles children are found in the household. Fred had the same occupation. Their oldest son had the name, Bergman.

The Giles household is found in the 1940 census with just their 4 sons. Fred is called an agriculture farmer.

A question arises when we view the 1950 census for Fred Giles. Just Fred and a son named Howard are found in this Giles household. In the marriage status column, it says that Fred was widowed. I know that was not the case. Emma was still living in 1950, although I was unable to locate her in the 1950 census. We will soon look at Fred’s death certificate, and it says he was divorced at the time of his death.

Fred Giles died in 1951 at the age of 69. We can view his Washington death certificate below. You can see that it says that he was divorced.

Emma Giles did not die until 1991 at the age of 103. Her death certificate below says she died at the Hillcrest Convalescent Center in Pasco, Washington. In the marital status box, it says she was widowed. This is also the document that gives Emma the birth date of June 20th.

Even though I see evidence of a divorce in this story, Fred and Emma Giles are buried together in the Riverview Heights Cemetery in Kennewick.

It’s not every day that I get to tell a story that begins in Perry County and ends up in the state of Washington. It’s a story with some questionable facts, and perhaps if someone from this couple’s family tree knows some answers, they will inform us.