52 Ancestors: Week 27 "Independent": Augusta Marie "Gussie" Gersbacher

My great-grandmother's sister Augusta Marie "Gussie" Gersbacher strikes me as an independent woman. My aunt Joan said that Gussie was something of a career woman and always had a job, unlike many women of her generation. Her marriages were brief, she never had children, and she moved halfway across the country. There is also an interesting family story about her!

Gussie was born on 29 January 1881 in Niederwihl (now part of Görwihl), Waldshut, Baden, Germany. She was the daughter of Johann/John Gersbacher and Kunigunde Dreier. When she was only two years old, she and her mother and siblings left Germany to join her father in St. Louis, Missouri. They sailed from Bremen, Germany on the Braunschweig and arrived in Baltimore, Maryland on 26 July 1883.

Gerspacher family, Braunschweig passenger list. Baltimore, Maryland. Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at Baltimore, Maryland, 1820-1891. Microfilm Publication M255. RG 36. 50 rolls. National Archives, Washington, D.C. Available from Ancestry.com. Baltimore, Passenger Lists, 1820-1964 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006. 

After her mother died in 1893, her father abandoned the family. Gussie went to work as a laundress. Although the feminine form of her occupation was used in her 1900 United States census enumeration, she was incorrectly enumerated as a male!

1900 United States census, St. Louis City, Missouri, Ward 6, population schedule, enumeration district 88, sheet no. 5A. Available from Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004. 

Gussie married Emil Glaser, the son of immigrants from Baden, in 1903.

Marriage license, Emil H. Glaser and Gusta Gersbacker, 9 May 1903, St. Louis County, Missouri. Available from Ancestry.com. Missouri, Marriage Records, 1805-2002 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2007.Original data: Missouri Marriage Records. Jefferson City, MO, USA: Missouri State Archives. Microfilm.

Gussie and Emil separated by 1908, when Gussie was listed on the St. Louis city directory at a different address than Emil.

Gould's St. Louis Directory for 1908. St. Louis, MO: Gould Directory Co. Available from Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.

In 1910, Gussie ran a rooming house and lived with her younger sister Annie.

1910 United States census, St. Louis City, Missouri, Ward 7, population schedule, enumeration district 111, sheet no. 5A. Available from Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006. 

Emil Glaser died on 12 August 1912. Although they were separated, his obituary stated that he was the "beloved husband of Gussie Glaser." (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 14 August 1912, page 12.) Gussie remained in St. Louis until at least 1913.

Gould's St. Louis Directory for 1913. St. Louis, MO: Gould Directory Co. Available from Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. 

On 1 June 1916, Gussie married Roy Lee Parker in Santa Ana, Orange County, California. Her marriage record stated that she was a resident of San Francisco, California and that Roy was a resident of Denver, Colorado.

Marriage license and return, Roy L. Parker and Augusta D. Glaser, 1 June 1916. California, County Marriages, 1850-1952, database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K8DJ-XRB);  citing Orange, California, United States, county courthouses, California; FHL microfilm 1,290,107.

By 1918, Roy was living in Salt Lake City, Utah, and on his World War I draft registration card, he listed his mother as his nearest relative. Gussie remained in California. In 1920, she was working as a seamstress in Los Angeles.

1920 United States census, Los Angeles precinct 175, population schedule, enumeration district 433, sheet no. 15A. Available from Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010.

In 1921, Gussie was a clerk in the Argonaut Hotel.

Los Angeles Directory Co.'s Los Angeles City Directory, Including San Pedro, Wilmington, Palms, Van Nuys and Owensmouth. Los Angeles, CA: Los Angeles Directory Company, 1921. Available from Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. 

By 1927, Gussie lived in Pasadena and was working as a hotel waiter. She worked at the Hotel Vista Del Arroyo at that time, but later worked for the Huntington Hotel and the Maryland Hotel. She worked as a waiter at least through 1949.

Thurston's Pasadena (California) City Directory 1927, Including Altadena and Lamanda Park. Los Angeles, CA: Los Angeles Directory Co. Available from Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. 

 Thurston's Pasadena (California) City Directory 1934, Including Altadena, Lamanda Park, and San Marino. Los Angeles, CA: Los Angeles Directory Co. Available from Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.

Augusta Marie Gersbacher Parker, SS no. 552-10-1611, 27 November 1936, Application for Account Number (Form SS-5), Social Security Administration, Baltimore, Maryland.

1940 United States census, Pasadena, Los Angeles, California, population schedule, Assembly District 47, enumeration district 19-472, sheet 2B. Available from Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.

Gussie died on  22 February 1969 at the Palm Grove Sanitarium in Duarte, Los Angeles County, California.

Augusta M. Parker death certificate. State of California, Department of Public Health. 22 February 1969.

Pasadena Star-News, 28 February 1969, page B-6.

Gussie was entombed at the Pasadena Mausoleum. However, that was not her final resting place. Her body was brought back to St. Louis, Missouri, and she was buried in the Gersbacher family plot (section 010K, lot 0024E) in Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Cemetery on 22 December 1972. Her grave is unmarked.

Gussie Gersbacher