Our starting point for today’s story is a person who I thought was today’s birthday girl by the name of Anna Marie Grossheider. Our German Family Tree says that Anna Marie was born on August 12, 1852, but I now am almost certain that she was born on August 13th. I suppose I could have waited until tomorrow to write this post, but I would have had to start all over with new research, and I do not think I could have succeeded at getting another story finished for today. Anna Marie would be celebrating her 174th birthday tomorrow. She was the daughter of Casper and Mary (Sewing) Grossheider. Anna Marie’s baptism record is found in the books of Trinity Lutheran Church in Friedheim. That baptism record is displayed here.

Anna Marie is found in the 1860 census at the age of 7. Her father was a farmer in the Apple Creek Township.

Anna Marie would get married just prior to when the 1870 census was taken, so we will now look at the man who would become her husband. His name was Frederick Carl Bertling, who was born on October 23, 1846. Fred was the son of Daniel and Hannah (Probst) Bertling. The Grossheider family binder we have includes an interesting story about how Fred’s parents met. They had both just arrived in New Orleans and Hannah’s hat blew off. Daniel came to her rescue, picked up the hat, and returned it to her. The rest is history.

Another interesting event took place in 1846. According to the paragraph below, a new church was begun just north of Cape Girardeau that became known as Hanover Lutheran Church. That congregation had their first log cabin church built on property that was donated by Daniel Bertling. He is considered a founder of that church, and that congregation’s first cemetery is sometimes called the Bertling Old Hanover Lutheran Cemetery.

Fred is found in the 1850 census at the age of 6. He is just called F. in this entry. His father was a cabinet maker in Cape Girardeau County.

Next, we find Fred in the 1860 census. Fred was 14 years old, and this time his father was called a farmer and cabinet maker.

Fred Bertling married Anna Marie Grossheider on Epiphany Day, January 6, 1870. I will show 2 different civil records for this wedding. The second one says this couple was married by a pastor, but I was unable to identify which church that minister served. I started by looking at the obvious choices…Hanover Lutheran, Cape Girardeau, Trinity Lutheran, Friedheim, and Zion Lutheran, Gordonville. This pastor was not serving at any of those congregations in 1870. By the way, in the 2nd image, it says Anna Marie was 19 years old. I think she was still 17 years old when she was married.

In the 1870 census, we find these newlyweds living with a farm hand named George Clickhart. Fred was a farmer in the Cape Girardeau Township. Anna Marie was said to be 17 years old at the time.

According to Family Search, this couple had 7 children, 3 of which died as infants. By the time of the 1880 census, there were 3 children in the Bertling family.

Anna Marie Bertling died in 1884 at the age of 32. In the Grossheider binder, we see two possible causes for her death. First, it says she may have died of pneumonia after getting overheated while fighting a fire on her farm. It also says she may have died of tuberculosis. Perhaps it was a combination of both. Anna Marie is buried in the Old Hanover Cemetery, the one that is sometimes called the Bertling Hanover Cemetery. You might be able to see that her birth date on this stone is August 13th.

Fred would get married again in 1885, so we will take an abbreviated look at the woman who would become his second wife. Her name was Louise Wilhelmina Schlue, who was born on September 14, 1858. Louise was the daughter of Christian and Carolina (Henze) Schlue. She is found in the 1870 census at the age of 12. Her father was a farmer in the Hubble Township.

Louise got married to August Blumenberg in 1877. In the 1880 census, Louise and August had one child and were living in the Hubble Township. They were living in the same household with Louise’s parents. August was farming.

August Blumenberg died in 1881, leaving Louise as a widow. Then, on June 4, 1885, Fred Bertling married Louise Blumenberg. According to the 2 civil marriage records shown below, these 2 were married by Rev. Birkner, who was the pastor at Zion Lutheran Church in Gordonville.

Family Search says this couple had 5 more children. One of them died as an infant, and another was only a teenager when he died. In the 1900 census, there were 5 children in the Bertling household. Fred was still farming in the Cape Girardeau Township.

Two photographs including Fred and Louise Bertling can be found in the Grossheider family binder.

In the 1910 census, there were 3 children in the Bertling household.

The last census entry in which we find Fred was the one taken in 1920. Just one child was still living with Fred and Louise.

Fred Bertling died in 1923 at the age of 76. We can take a look at his death certificate below.

Louise is found as a widow in the 1930 census. After her husband died, she had moved to the city of Cape Girardeau. She was living with her single daughter, Clara, who was working at a laundry.

The last census in which we find Louise was the one taken in 1940. She was still living with her daughter, Clara, who never married.

Louise Bertling died in 1942 at the age of 83. On her death certificate below, we can see that her daughter, Clara, was the informant. This document says that Louise was born in Dutchtown.

Fred and Louise Bertling are buried in the Hanover Lutheran Cemetery in Cape Girardeau.

Now that you have read the story of Anna Marie, whose birthday is tomorrow, I realize perhaps I should have told you to read this post tomorrow. But, now that you’ve read it today, I guess I have to come up with another story for tomorrow. Or I should write one tomorrow that should have been written today.