Bertha Gehrmanns parents
were August F. Gehrmann
(1868-1913). Pictured
on the left. August
came over from Prussia
in 1875 onthe ship
Marko Polo with his
parents.
August was 7 years
old at the time and
his parents sent him
to a Lutheran school
because their religion
was very important to
them.
When he became an adult learned the trade of being a tinner,
now known as a sheetmetal worker.
Anna Kasier, pictured on the right, (1865-1924) came with her parents from Wittenberg, Germany in 1885 on the ship General Werder. Her family was Catholic's. Anna was already a young lady on her arrival on these shores. Within a short time she met August and they fell in love. There was one problem; that was their religious differences. In 1889, they decided to run away to Salk Center, Mn and get married in the Catholic Church. The result was that Augusts family disowned him and refused to acknowledge their marriage.The couple continued to life in Salk Center for the next 5 or 6 years where they
had three children, including Paul Anton ((1890-1955), Bertha Catherine (1891-1971),
Walter John (1894-1942). Then they moved back to St. Paul to find more work. The Gehrmann side of the family did not forgive the couple and severed all ties. During the next years they had 2 more chldren. Arthur Charles (1896-1963)and Theodore Joseph (1899-1966).
August died under unusual circumstances and was found in the basement of his home.
Anna, who never learned English, and unable to support herself, became extremely depressed and died of heart failure.
