Berger Ancestors
 
  The descendancy information presented here only follows my direct family line.  I do not show all the descendants
 of siblings of my parents, grandparents, great grandparents, etc.  However, these desendants, where known,
 are all included in my Family Tree Maker genealogial database and all will appear in Family Trees and Descendancy Reports.

Use these links to skip ahead to specific Berger generations:
 

My thanks to my uncle John W. J. Berger who gathered the early genealogical imformation of the Berger ancestors.  My thanks also to my mother, aunts, uncles, and cousins who contributed to this genealogy.

Michael Berger (? - ?) and Christine Schubbert (? - ?) are my Great Great Great Grandparents.  They both were born and died in Germany.  Since the only child that I have any information on, Gottfried Berger, was born in 1798, it is estimated that these parents were born about 1773.  I have no other information pertaining to siblings of Gottfried Berger.

Gottfried Berger (1798 - ?) was born in Alt Lietze-Gericke, Germany.  I have no record of the name of his wife.

The children of Gottfried Berger and his unknown wife:

 
Child Spouse Their Children
Karl Friedrich Wilhelm (1837 - 1913) Dorothea Luise Braatz (1836 - 1910) See Below.  These are my Great Grandparents
Friedrich (? - ?) No Record No Record
Ludwig (? - ?) No Record No Record
Marie (? - ?) No Record No Record
Dora (? - ?) No Record No Record
Auguste (? - ?) No Record No Record
Unknown son/daughter (? - ?) No Record No Record
Karl Friedrich Wilhelm Berger is my Great Grandfather.  He was born in Alt Lietze-Gericke, Germany.  He married Dorothea Luise Braatz, who was born in Carlshof im Oderbruch in Brandenburg, Germany in 1863.  Their marriage took place in Carlshof.  Karl Friedrich Wilhelm served in the German Army during the Franco-Prussian War of 1871.  He was commended for his loyal service.  Following the war, he emigrated to the United States, settling in Ashippun, Wisconsin.  He worked there as a bricklayer/stonemason.  To my knowledge, he is the only child of Gottfried Berger who emigrated to the United States.   It is presumed that all his brothers and sisters remained in Germany.  Otherwise my Uncle John Berger may have known of these siblings, since they would have been his father Gustav Herman Berger's aunts and  uncles.  In fact, Gustav Herman Berger, in a letter to his father and sisters, asked if his father (Karl), in a letter he had written to his family in Germany, knew anything about the reported disappearance of his (Karl's) brother Ludwig.

The children of Karl Friedrich Wilhelm Berger and Dorothea Luise Bratz Berger:
 

Child Spouse Their Children
Augusta Luise Emilie (1863 - 1944) William Hafemeister (1864 - 1908) William, Emil, Emma, Gustav, Reinhard, Henry, Herbert, Elsie, Irene
Friedrich Wilhelm (? - ?) Auguste Krueger Martha, Esther, Arthur, Walter, Paul
Gustav Herman (1872 - 1928) Ida Amelia Henrietta Oetjen (1873 - 1948) See Below.  These are my Grandparents
Marie (1874 - 1933) Franz (Frank) Welles (1865 - 1937) Ernst, Arthur, William, Louise
Emma E. (1875 - 1965) John M. Drews (1874 - 1959) John M. Jr., Raymond
Herman (1879 - 1921) Martha Runge (? - ?) Ronald William, Leona Margaret, Margaret Lora, William Herman, Victor Louis, Rosalie Louise, Norbert Herold, Ruth Martha
Martha (1881 - 1924) Emil Werth (1880 - 1958) Frieda, Fred, Ewald, Martin, Leona, Elmer, Leonard, Erna




Karl Wilhelm Berger Family
The Karl Friedrich Wilhelm Berger Family.  Top row (left to right) Emma E., Gustav Herman, Marie, Herman, and Martha.  Bottom row (left to right) Friedrich Wilhelm, Dorothea Luise Braatz Berger, Karl Friedrich Wilhelm Berger, and Augusta Luise Emilie.


Great Grandparents Tombstone
Church Cemetery at Ashippun
Grandparents Tombstone
The headstone of Karl Friedrich Wilhelm and Dorothea Luise Braatz Berger. The inscription identifies those buried as "Wilhelm" and "Louise."
The St. John's Lutheran Church cemetery at Ashippun, Wisconsin where my Great Grandparents and Grandparents lie buried, along with my Uncle Waldemar Berger and Aunt Gertrude Berger.  Wilhelm and Luise Berger's headstone is above and slightly left of the two flat markers seen on the right side of the road.  This picture was taken in October 1994.
The headstone of Gustav Herman and Ida Oetjen Berger, along with Gertrude Berger and Waldemar Berger.





Gustav Herman Berger is my Grandfather.  He was born in Carlshof im Oderbruch in Brandenburg, Germany.  He was the third of seven children.  His family emigrated to the United States when he was two years old.  He grew up in Ashippun, Wisconsin and attended the Lutheran Seminary at Springfield, Illinois, becoming a Lutheran pastor.  H e served congregations in Riley, Michigan, Forestville, Wisconsin, and Budsin, Wisconsin.  Gustav Berger died in Budsin, Wisconsin at the young age of 56 years old.  He died 11 years before I was born.

The children of Gustav Herman Berger and Ida Amelia Henrietta Oetjen Berger:

 
Child Spouse Their Children
John William Julius (1897 - 1957) Laura Florintine Maack (1897 - 1974) Lois Annette (Deceased), Robert John (Deceased) , Thomas William (Deceased), Charles Edward (Deceased)
Gerhardt (Jerry) Adolph (1898 - 1978) Eloise Margaret Dickens (1902 - 1993) Margaret Eloise, Mary Catherine, Susan Elizabeth
Ernest Herman (1900 - 1981) Esther Goetter (1896 - 1983) Clifford (Died at Birth), Rodney Owen, Clyde Lawrence, Daniel David (Deceased)
Theodora (Dorothy) Augusta (1903 - 1956) Theodore Edward Hinck (1899 - 1975) Ruth Marie (Deceased), Cordula Margaret (Deceased), Paul John (Deceased), Joel Eugene (Deceased), John Henry (Deceased), Victoria Louise
Waldemar Ferdinand (1904 - 1967) Did Not Marry  
Gertrude Ida (1907 -  2001) Did Not Marry  
Paula Marie (1908 - 2000) Elmer Carl Hilgendorf (1911 - 1998) My Parents: Don William, Dan Edward (Deceased), Jane Alyce (Deceased), Judith Mae
Otto Gustav (1910 - 1969) Esther Knuth (1912 - 2001) Beth Ann, David Otto
Margaret Martha (1912 - 2000) Gerhardt August Zurstadt (1913 - 1979) Paula Marie, Helen Luise, Mary Margaret
Clara Sophia (1916 - 2005) Harvey A. Birnschein (1913 - 2010) Alan James, Mark Richard

Ida and Gus Berger
 Gertrude and Paula - 1911
Ida and Gus Berger - June 18, 1921
(Their 25th Wedding Anniversary)
 Sisters Paula and Gertrude Berger - 1911

Berger Family - Forestville, 1916
 Gust Berger and His Boys
The Gustav Berger Family - Forestville - 1916.  Top row (left to right) Gerhard, John, Gustav, Ernest, and Dorothy.  Bottom row (left to right) Otto, Gertrude, Waldemar, Ida with Clara in her lap, Margaret, and Paula.
 Gustav Berger and His Boys (1926):  Top row (left to right) Gustav, Son-in-Law Ted Hinck, John, Gerhard, and Ernest.  Bottom row (left to right) Waldemar and Otto.

Berger Family Reunion
This photo was taken at a Berger Family reunion held at North Lake, Wisconsin in 1935. 
Pictured are top row (left to right) Ernie, Paula (my Mother), Otto, Ida, John, and Dorothy
and bottom row (left to right) Gert, Clara, Jerry, Waldemar, and Marge.

My Mother, Paula Marie Berger Hilgendorf grew up in the small Wisconsin towns of Forestville (Door County), where she was born and Budsin (Marquette County).  She always considered Forestville and Door County as about as close as one could get to Paradise.  She had a very strong allegience to her home state.  She treasured her relatives.  Her aunts, uncles, and cousins on both sides of her family were very important to her.  She remembered them all with birthday cards and anniversary cards.  She wrote numerous letters, using an ink pen for many years before ballpoint pens were invented.

I have included some recollections and memories of Forestville and Budsin.   This includes a letter written by my Grandfather Gustav Berger to his father and sisters, and several narratives written by my Mother, Paula Marie Berger Hilgendorf, of life in Forestville and Budsin.  Nieces and nephews of Paula will find these interesting.


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