Paulina (Gersbacher) Schneider's 140th Birthday

Paulina Gersbacher, 1895

140 years ago today, on 13 August 1876, my great-grandmother Paulina (Gersbacher) Schneider was born in Niederwihl, Waldshut, Baden, Germany.

Wedding of John Schneider and Paulina Gersbacher

My great-grandparents John Schneider and Paulina Gersbacher were married 114 years ago today. When I was taking the National Institute for Genealogical Studies class Research: Social History, one of the assignments was to write an account of an event in the life of my ancestors, and to try to find out what the weather was like on the day of the event. I wrote about the wedding of John Schneider and Paulina Gersbacher.

 July 23, 1902

John Schneider and Paulina Gersbacher were united in marriage today at Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church in the Soulard neighborhood of St. Louis, Missouri. The church, which is the largest Roman Catholic church in the area, is made of Grafton limestone and has a spire that is more than 200 feet high. The stained glass windows provided a lovely backdrop for the wedding mass.

The weather was fair but humid. Thankfully the waters of the Mississippi River, which had been approaching flood stage, had receded by four inches. The bride and groom are natives of Germany, as is typical of the congregation of Sts. Peter and Paul, and of a large portion this ethnic neighborhood, which is home to many European immigrants.

Sources:
"Floods Threaten Missouri and Mississippi Valleys - Heavy Rains Continue in Tributary Territory." St. Louis Republic, 20 July 1902, page 1. Chronicling America. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84020274/1902-07-20/ed-1/seq-1.pdf
"No Danger from High Water." St. Louis Republic, 23 July 1902, page 5. Chronicling America. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84020274/1902-07-23/ed-1/seq-5.pdf
United States Department of the Interior. National Park Service. National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form. Soulard Neighborhood Historic District. http://dnr.mo.gov/shpo/nps-nr/72001559.pdf
Wayman, Norbury L. History of St. Louis Neighborhoods: Soulard: Churches. https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/archive/neighborhood-histories-norbury-wayman/soulard/churches23.htm
"The Weather." St. Louis Republic, 23 July 1902, page 14. Chronicling America. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84020274/1902-07-23/ed-1/seq-14.pdf
"The Weather." St. Louis Republic, 24 July 1902, page 12. Chronicling America. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84020274/1902-07-24/ed-1/seq-12.pdf

13 July 1809

On 13 July 1809, my 3rd-great-grandfather Fridolin Gerspacher (or Gersbacher) was born in Görwihl, Waldshut, Baden.

Faller, Helmut. Familiengeschichte der Gemeinde Görwihl. Bad Säckingen: H. Faller, 2000.

He was the last child of his parents Johann Gerspacher and Magdalena Bär. Magdalena died on the day of his birth.

Faller, Helmut. Familiengeschichte der Gemeinde Görwihl. Bad Säckingen: H. Faller, 2000.

Fridolin never knew his mother, but he knew her family. On 14 November 1839, he married his first cousin Maria Bär. Maria was the daughter of Jacob Bär, Magdalena's brother.

Staatsarchiv Freiburg L 10 Nr. 5712, Bild 88 Permalink: http://www.landesarchiv-bw.de/plink/?f=5-497911-88 Standesbücher / 1810-1870 > Waldshut; Amtsgericht > Görwihl WT; Katholische Gemeinde: Heiratsbuch 1810-1869 / 1810-1869.

Good Friday

St. Louis Republic, 6 April 1903, page 10 

My Schneider and Gersbacher ancestors lived in St. Louis and were Catholic. They probably attended the services described above at Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church. On Good Friday, they would have been at the Mass of the Presanctified and the Adoration of the Cross, and stopped at the Stations of the Cross.

Wordless Wednesday: John and Paulina (Gersbacher) Schneider

Surname Saturday: Gersbacher, Gerspacher, Gerspach

The maps below show the absolute distribution and relative distribution (considering population density) of the surname variants Gersbacher, Gerspacher, and Gerspach in Germany. They were created using Christoph Stöpel's Geogen 3.0 surname mapping site, which uses data from German telephone directories.Geogen 4.0 is the latest version.

Absolute distribution (Gersbacher)

©Christoph Stöpel. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 DE (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/de/deed.en). http://legacy.stoepel.net/de/MapGateway.aspx?name=Gersbacher&target=DE&renderer=EN_US&mode=abs

Relative distribution (Gersbacher)

©Christoph Stöpel. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 DE (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/de/deed.en). http://legacy.stoepel.net/de/MapGateway.aspx?name=Gersbacher&target=DE&renderer=EN_US&mode=rel

 The maps show the highest concentration of the surname in Landkreis Lörrach.

Absolute distribution (Gerspacher)

©Christoph Stöpel. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 DE (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/de/deed.en). http://legacy.stoepel.net/de/MapGateway.aspx?name=Gerspacher&target=DE&renderer=EN_US&mode=abs

Relative distribution (Gerspacher)

©Christoph Stöpel. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 DE (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/de/deed.en). http://legacy.stoepel.net/de/MapGateway.aspx?name=Gerspacher&target=DE&renderer=EN_US&mode=rel

The maps show the highest concentration of the surname in Landkreis Lörrach. The next highest concentration of the surname is in Landkreis Waldshut.

Absolute distribution (Gerspach)

©Christoph Stöpel. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 DE (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/de/deed.en). http://legacy.stoepel.net/de/MapGateway.aspx?name=Gerspach&target=DE&renderer=EN_US&mode=abs

Relative distribution (Gerspach)

©Christoph Stöpel. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 DE (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/de/deed.en). http://legacy.stoepel.net/de/MapGateway.aspx?name=Gerspach&target=DE&renderer=EN_US&mode=rel

The maps show the highest concentration of the surname in Landkreis Waldshut. The next highest concentration of the surname is in Landkreis Lörrach.

These maps helped me to pinpoint the area of Baden that my Gersbacher/Gerspacher ancestors came from. I suspected that they were from Landkreis Lörrach or Landkreis Waldshut. When I identified the location, it turned out to be in Landkreis Waldshut.

My known Gersbacher/Gerspacher/Gerspach ancestors are:

great-grandmother: Paulina Gersbacher/Pauline Gerspacher
born 13 August 1876, Niederwihl, Waldshut, Baden, Germany.
married John (Johann) Schneider  23 July 1902, St. Louis, Missouri
died 1 December 1966, St. Louis, Missouri

2nd-great-grandfather: John Gersbacher/Johann Gerspacher
born 2 September 1843, Görwihl, Waldshut, Baden, Germany
married Kunigunde Dreier (my 2nd-great-grandmother) 16 February 1871
married Theresa Vollmer 26 March 1900, Belleville, St. Clair County, Illinois
died 8 February 1914, St. Louis, Missouri

3rd-great-grandfather: Fridolin Gerspacher
born 13 July 1809, Görwihl, Waldshut, Baden, Germany
married Maria Bär 14 November 1839, Görwihl, Waldshut, Baden, Germany
died 23 February 1865, Görwihl, Waldshut, Baden, Germany

4th-great-grandfather: Johann Gerspacher
born 29 October 1766, Görwihl, Waldshut, Baden, Germany
married Magdelena Bär (my 4th-great-grandmother) 25 October 1796, Görwihl, Waldshut, Baden, Germany
married Theresia Wassmer 27 November 1809, Görwihl, Waldshut, Baden, Germany
died 10 January 1841, Görwihl, Waldshut, Baden, Germany

5th-great-grandfather: Fridolin Gerspacher
born 28 May 1739, Strittmatt, Waldshut, Baden, Germany
married  Catharina Adler 13 January 1766, Görwihl, Waldshut, Baden, Germany

6th-great-grandfather: Joseph Gerspach
born 21 June 1701, Strittmatt, Waldshut, Baden, Germany
married Clara Schlageter 15 August 1734

7th-great-grandfather: Fridolin Gerspach
married Anna Schupp
died 23 May 1744, Strittmatt, Waldshut, Baden, Germany

Mother-in-Law Day

Since 1981, when House Joint Resolution 331 was passed, the fourth Sunday in October has been designated as Mother-in-Law Day.

My great-grandmother Paulina (Gersbacher) Schneider is pictured here with her two daughters Margaret (my maternal grandmother) and Paula, and her mother-in-law Christina (Nagel) Schneider.

German-American Day and German-American Heritage Month

German-American Day is celebrated on October 6. It is a time to honor the contributions of German-Americans. Also, October is German-American Heritage Month. Many of my blog posts this month will be about my German and German-American family members. I am 1/4 German; my maternal grandmother Margaret Ann Schneider was the daughter of German immigrants. Her mother Paulina Gersbacher immigrated in 1883 when she was not quite seven years old, and her father John (Johann) Schneider immigrated in 1892, when he was in his early teens. They both came over with their families.

Wordless Wednesday: John and Paulina (Gersbacher) Schneider and Their Granddaughter Joan

Tombstone Tuesday: John and Paulina (Gersbacher) Schneider

My great-grandparents John and Paulina (Gersbacher) Schneider are buried in Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Cemetery in St; Louis, Missouri. They are in Section 35, Lot 0160. There is also a larger stone which marks the plot as the resting place of the families of C. J. (John's father Carl Joseph) and J. Schneider.

Amanuensis Monday: John Schneider's Letter to His Daughter Margaret

My great-grandparents John Schneider and Paulina Gersbacher celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on 23 July 1952. Their daughter Margaret (Schneider) Boe (my maternal grandmother) visited them on their anniversary, and not long afterward, on 10 August 1952, John wrote her a letter.

                                        MODERN WOODMEN OF AMERICA
                                       TRANSIT CAMP No. 11364
                                                   John Schneider, Secretary
                                                                    2024 Russell Boulevard
                                                                      ST. LOUIS 4, MO.
 
                                                             8/10/52.

Dear Margaret : -
              Just a few words. We are getting ready to leave to-morrow morning and I just had to write a few words to you. I doubt if you really know how much we appreciated your visit at our Anniversary; we will ever be grateful to you.
             You might have wondered that when you leave here, you probably do not see me when the train pulls out, or when you pull away from the house; well, I have a confession to make : - my heart hangs so much on you, that I just can't take it to see you go, and I do not want that you see me with a sad face and a tear in my eye. that's the reason I make myself a little scarce; enough said.
              will write you as we go along, our very best wishes to you, John, and the children, and of course, all our love goes with it.
                                                                    Pop & Mother
PS.
Got this clipping from the Royal Neighbor Paper. You are still a member of that, and I thought that maybe you will get to meet some of these people.
                                                                          Pop.

Wordless Wednesday: Paulina (Gersbacher) Schneider and John Schneider

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

Tombstone Tuesday: Olivia G. (Zieroff) Gersbacher

Olivia G. Zieroff was born in Missouri (probably in St. Louis) on 2 September 1899. She was the daughter of Joseph F. Zieroff and Marguerite Hartung. She married John Henry Gersbacher, the son of my great-grandmother's brother Joseph John Gersbacher. They had a daughter and a son, and eventually divorced. Olivia died on 4 August 1994. She is buried in Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Cemetery in St. Louis.

St. Louis County Library

I spent the day at the St. Louis County Library in St. Louis, Missouri. I had been there several times on my last trip to St. Louis, but there was still more for me to find there. I started the day off at the microfilm reader; I spent hours there. The biggest find on microfilm was the 1883 coroner's inquest record for my great-grandmother's baby brother Edward Gersbacher, who died shortly after the family arrived in the United States. My great-great-grandmother Kunigunde (Dreier) Gersbacher, the baby's mother, was the informant. She said that the baby had been sickly and weak ever since they left Germany.

After I finished looking at microfilm, I looked at the book collection. I made copies from several books, including Tennesseeans Before 1800: Davidson County by Marjorie Hood Fischer and History of Chippewa and Lac qui Parle Counties, Minnesota, vol. 1, by L. R. Moyer and O. G. Dale.

Finally, I spent a couple of hours searching the St. Louis Post-Dispatch online. I found many newspaper articles which mentioned my family, from the early 1900s to to the early 1920s. I found advertisements too; many were for automobiles. (My great-grandfather John Boe was president of the St. Louis Motor Car Co.) It was a long but very productive day!

Wordless Wednesday: My Aching Back (Paulina Gersbacher Schneider and John Schneider)

Matrilineal Monday: Haplogroup H2a

H2a. From Figure 3: Geographic maps of haplogroup frequencies for haplogroups H*, H1, H2a, H3, H4, H5a, H6a, H7, H8, H11. Álvarez-Iglesias V, Mosquera-Miguel A, Cerezo M, Quintáns B, Zarrabeitia MT, et al. (2009) New Population and Phylogenetic Features of the Internal Variation within Mitochondrial DNA Macro-Haplogroup R0. PLoS ONE 4(4): e5112. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0005112

My mitochondrial DNA haplogroup is H2a. It is a subclade of haplogroup H, which is the most common haplogroup in Europe.

Haplogroup H2a is most common in Eastern Europe. It is found at a low frequency in Western Europe. Its range extends to Central Asia. It is a branch of H2, which is most common in Germany and Scotland.

My known ancestors in my mitochondrial line are:
My mother
Margaret Ann Schneider
Paulina Gersbacher
Kunigunde Dreier
Franziska Schäuble (24 September 1821 - 21 May 1882)
Maria Anna Albiez (2 July 1796 - 20 March 1847)
Elisabeth Arzner (about 1758 - 26 September 1815)

Paulina Gersbacher, my most recent German-born ancestor in this line, was born in Niederwihl (now part of Görwihl), Waldshut, Baden, Germany. Her mother Kunigunde Dreier and grandmother Franziska Schäuble were also born in Niederwihl. Maria Anna Albiez was born in Oberwihl (also now part of Görwihl). Elisabeth Arzner may also have been born in Oberwihl; if not; she probably was born nearby.

References
All about haplotype H
Haplogroup H (mtDNA)

Wordless Wednesday: Paulina (Gersbacher) Schneider

Wednesday's Child: Emma Louisa Gersbacher

Register of Deaths in the City of St. Louis, August 1888. Ancestry.com. Missouri, Death Records, 1834-1910 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2008. 

Emma Louisa Gersbacher was born in St. Louis, Missouri on 15 May 1888.  She was the daughter of my great-great-grandparents John (Johann) Gersbacher and Kunigunde Dreier. She was baptized at Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church on 20 June 1888. She died of cerebral congestion on 1 August 1888 and was buried on 2 August 1888 in Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Cemetery in St. Louis, Section 009S, Lot 00PG, Row 30.

Wordless Wednesday: Paulina (Gersbacher) Schneider with son Carl