Bergers in a Flash

My grandmother (living), was the daughter of Gideon Gottlieb Berger and Georgiana Wellons.  Gideon and Georgiana were married in 1919 in Yreka, Siskiyou, California.[1]  At the time, Gideon was a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Sisson; Georgiana was a school teacher in nearby Edgewood.[2]

Gideon's father, John W. Berger, was also a minister.  He preached for the Evangelical Association in German and was the son of Rhineland-Palatinate immigrants.[2, 3]  Gideon was born in Wabash County, Indiana on 11 Oct 1885 and came to Oakland, Alameda, California in 1891.[2, 4, 5]  He was one of nine children.[3]  Gideon lived in California throughout his life and died in 1965.[2, 6]


Gideon's father, John, was born in Marshall County, Indiana on 17 August 1841.[3]  His father, Heinrich Michael Berger, was a farmer who had arrived in the US around 1832.[6]  When the Civil War broke out, John enlisted in Company K of the 29th Indiana Infantry Regiment.  He fought at Shiloh before becoming ill and being discharged.[3]  In 1866 John married the daughter of Swiss immigrants, Susanna vonAllmen in Evansville, Vanderburgh, Indiana.[7, 8]  John, through his church work, lived in Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana and lastly California in addition to the several years he spent doing missionary work in Germany.[3]  He died in Oakland, Alameda, California in 1891.[9]

John’s father, (Heinrich) Michael Berger, was born in 1788 in Annweiler, Germany.[10]  He and his wife, Friederika Matz, had their first known child in 1814 in this same area.[11] 

Coats of Arms of the Südwestpfalz and Südliche Weinstraße, present-day districts in the
Rhineland-Palatinate which encompass the Berger family's ancestral homeland.

Total word count (excluding sources): 267; written for the 115th Carnival of Genealogy.

Associated Berger surnames: Wellons, vonAllmen, Matz, Kupperin, Ringgenberg, Beyler, Zimmer, Walmer, Parker, Lawrence, Jory, Tretheway, Fisher, Nemitz, Grimshaw, Miller.

Sources:
1. Siskiyou County, California, marriage license and certificate, Siskiyou County Marriage Register book 13, page 75, Gideon Berger to Georgiana Wellons, 26 September 1919; Siskiyou County Recorder's Office, Yreka.


2. "Pastor of Grace Methodist Church Retires," undated clipping, circa 1957, from unidentified newspaper; Berger family papers; likely from the Stockton [California] Record newspaper; privately held by Leah Allen, [address for private use].


3.S. H. Baumgartner, compiler, Historical Data and Life Sketches of the Deceased Ministers of the Indiana Conference of the Evangelical Association, 1835-1915, E. W. Praetorius, editor, volume 1 (Cleveland, Ohio: Publishing House of the Evangelical Association, 1915), pgs. 116-119.


4. "World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918," digital image, Ancestry.com (ancestry.com : accessed 28 February 2012), card for Gideon Berger, Oakland Draft Board #4, Draft Card B, database image 192; citing World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918, NARA microfilm publication M1509. Imaged from Family History Library microfilm roll 1531211.


5. "U.S. World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942," index and images, FamilySearch (familysearch.com : accessed 28 February 2012), card for Gideon Gotlieb Berger, born 1885; citing Selective Service Registration Cards, World War II: Fourth Registration., Family History Library film number 1784583, image number 02312; National Archives and Records Administration, Washington D.C., United States.


6.  Social Security Administration, "U.S. Social Security Death Index," database, Ancestry.com (ancestry.com : accessed 28 February 2012), Gideon Berger, 556-48-9940, California (1953).


7.  1880 US Census, Saint Joseph County, Indiana, population schedule, South Bend, enumeration district (ED) 163, p. 470D, dwelling 746, family 867, John Berger (Head); digital images, Ancestry.com (ancestry.com : accessed 13 August 2011); NARA microfilm publication T9, roll 309.


8. Vanderburgh County, Indiana, Book 5: page 481, Berger-vonAllmen, 9 December 1866; Index to Marriage Records 1846-1920 Inclusive Volume VIII, WPA, Original record located in County Clerk's Office.


9. "Berger," obituary, The San Francisco (California) Daily Call, 14 December 1891; online images, The Library of Congress (http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/  : accessed 15 January 2012),  Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers.


10. Germany Births and Baptisms, 1559-1898." index, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org: accessed January 15,  2012). entry for Henrich Michael Berger, born 15 May 1788; citing Church Records, FHL microfilm  193772 ; Index entries derived from digital copies of original and compiled records.


11. Germany Births and Baptisms, 1559-1898." index, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org: accessed January 15,  2012). entry for Heinrich Berger, baptized 5 July 1814; citing Church Records, FHL microfilm 193230; Index entries derived from digital copies of original and compiled records.

Comments

  1. Wow, nicely done, Leah! Great writing and sourcing!

    Thanks for participating in the COG!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Beautiful sourcing, and a very interesting flash history.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Complete with footnotes! Wonderfully done.

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  4. Your post was interesting to me on a number of levels -- the conciseness of writing, the great sourcing --- and most of all the fact that Gideon and Georgianna were married in Yreka --- which is just a hop, skip and a jump over (45 miles) the Siskiyou Pass from where I live.

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  5. Leah,

    Great overview of your Berger family, with some tantalizing glimpses into their lives. And footnotes too!

    ReplyDelete

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