Bertha C. Benkelman

1883 - 1929  (45 years)

• Name	Bertha C. Benkelman  [1, 2, 3, 4]
  Birth	1 Aug 1883	Cass City, Tuscola County, Michigan   [1, 2]
  Gender	Female
  Death	16 May 1929	Almena, Norton County, Kansas   [1, 2, 3]
  Notes	Cass City Chronicle Friday, July 21, 1911 Local Happenings Page 4 Misses Bertha Benkelman of this place and Lottie Benkelman of St. Francis, Kansas, left Saturday morning on a trip to Detroit and Buffalo. Cass City Chronicle Friday, May 24, 1929 Obituaries Mrs. Bruce Williams The remains of Mrs. Bruce Williams were brought from her home in Almena, Kansas to Cass City, arriving heer Sunday morning. Funeral services were conducted in the home of her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Samuel G. Benkelman, on Third street, by Rev. Geo. Hill, pastor of the M.E. church on Monday afternoon. Interment was made in Elkland cemetery. Bertha Benkelman was born in Cass City on August 1, 1883, and graduated from Cass City High School with the class of 1900. She was employed as a compositor in the plant of the Cass City Chronicle for several years and later entered the employ of the Herald at St. Francis, Kansas. On her return to Cass City from Kansas, she was employed as bookkeeper in the implement store of J. A. Caldwell. On December 11, 1912, Miss Bertha Williams was united in marriage with Bruce Williams. While Mr.Williams was employed as a railway mail clerk on the Rock Island R.R. they made their home at Republic and Omaha, Nebraska. About seven years ago, they moved to Almena, Kansas, where they devoted their attention to the interests on their large farm there. Mrs. Williams had been ill about eight months previous to her death on Thursday, May 16. Death was due to cancer. Funeral services at Almena were held at the M.E. church Friday afternoon. Besides her parents she is survived by two brothers, Joseph and Ward Benkelman, both of Cass City. Mrs. Williams was a member of the M.E. church at Almena and was affiliated with the Order of the Eastern Star and the Rebekahs. Her cheerful helpful life will linger long as a fragrant memory with the large number she won as friends. (Research): Census Information At the time of the 1910 Michigan Census, she was living with Benjamin Benkelman, Sr, her Uncle, in Tuscola County. 1920 Census Nebraska, Douglas County, Omaha, Ward 10 Enumerated 10 Jan 1920 SD 2, ED 113, Sheet 5A 620-87-105 Williams, Edwin B Hd M W 41 M Pa Pa Mo Mail Clerk Railway Williams, Bertha C Wf F W 36 M Mich NY Mich 1930 Census Edwin B. Williams, 51 and widowed, was shown as being born in Pennsylvania, with his father also being born in that state and his mother in Missouri. He was living alone, in Almena, Norton County, Kansas (ED 69-3, SD 1, Sheet 8A, stamped 15).
  Person ID	I12009	Strong Family Tree
  Last Modified	18 Dec 2022

  
  

  Father	Samuel G. Benkelman,   b. 26 Aug 1857, Bowmansville, Town of Lancaster, Erie County, New York d. 22 Dec 1940, Cass City, Tuscola County, Michigan (Age 83 years)
  Mother	Lydia Striffler,   b. Jan 1859, Sturgis, St. Joseph County, Michigan d. 16 May 1887, Cass City, Tuscola County, Michigan (Age ~ 28 years)
  Marriage	17 Oct 1882	Cass City, Tuscola County, Michigan   [1, 3, 5, 6]
  Family ID	F618	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Edwin Bruce Williams,   b. 29 Jul 1878, Jefferson County, Pennsylvania d. 11 Jan 1963 (Age 84 years)
  Marriage	11 Dec 1912	Cass City, Tuscola County, Michigan   [2, 4, 7]
  	Cass City Chronicle December 13, 1912 Benkelman-Williams Miss Bertha Benkelman Married to Young Man from the West The house of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel G. Benkelman, decorated with carnations and yellow chrysanthemums, was the scene of a pretty wedding Wednesday noon, Dec. 11, when their daughter, Bertha, was united in marriage with Edwin B. Williams of Orleans, Nebraska. Rev. J.A. Schweitzer of the Cass City Evangelical church performed the ceremony after which a delicious wedding dinner was served. The bride was attired in a pretty gown of beaded netting over white silk. Her travelling suit was of gray and the hat of red velvet trimmed with a large black plume. The couple was unattended. In Miss Benkelman Cass City loses an accomplished and popular young lady. For the past three years she has filled the position as bookkeeper for J.A. Caldwell and formerly, for several years, was employed as a compositor for the Chronicle. It was while filling a similar position on a newspaper in St. Francis, Kansas, that she met Mr. Williams, her future husband. Mr. and Mrs. Williams left on the afternoon train for Orleans, Nebraska, where they will make their home. Mr. Williams has a position as mail clerk on trains running from Orleans to St. Francis, Kansas, and from Orleans to Oberlin, Kansas. Besides the family residing at home, Mrs. Louisa Schwegler and daughter, Miss Kate, and Rev. and Mrs. J.A. Schweitzer were guests at the wedding. (Transcribed by Melinda McLemore Strong, Spring 2007) Name Edwin B Williams Race (Original): Age (Expanded) 34 years Birth Year 1878 Birthplace Jefferson Co., P Spouse's Name Bertha C Benkelman Spouse's Race (Original): Spouse's Age (Expanded) 29 years Spouse's Birth Year 1883 Spouse's Birthplace Cass City, Mich Event Date 11 Dec 1912 Event Place Cass City, Tuscola, Michigan Father's Name David K William... Mother's Name Frances E. Mitchell Spouse's Father's Name Samuel Benkelman Spouse's Mother's Name Lydia Streffler Marital Status: Previous Wife's Name: Spouse's Marital Status: Spouse's Previous Husband's Name: GS Film number 2342698 Frame Number: Digital Folder Number 4209169 Image Number 619 Reference ID v 5 p 24 rn 290 Citing this Record: "Michigan, Marriages, 1868-1925," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/N32R-RJL : accessed 17 Oct 2013), Edwin B Williams and Bertha C Benkelman, 11 Dec 1912.
  Family ID	F5031	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	18 Dec 2022

  
  

• Event Map		Birth - 1 Aug 1883 - Cass City, Tuscola County, Michigan Marriage - 11 Dec 1912 - Cass City, Tuscola County, Michigan Death - 16 May 1929 - Almena, Norton County, Kansas  = Link to Google Earth
  Pin Legend	: Address       : Location       : City/Town       : County/Shire       : State/Province       : Country       : Not Set

  
  

• Photos		Benkelman, Adam and Anna Catherine (Schaufele) Descendants ca 1912 Family Reunion Back, Standing, l to r: Mae Benkelman, Kate Schwegler, John Benkelman Sr., Ester Ackerman Benkelman, Minnie Jesse Benkelman, Joe Benkelman, Augusta Krehl Benkelman, Dorus Benkelman, Will Schwegler, Ward Benkelman, Ben Schwegler, Sam Benkelman Middle Row, kneeling, l to r: Alvin Benkelman, Harold Benkelman, Ruth Benkelman, Marie Benkelman (standing), Lena Benkelman Schwegler, Barbara Rommel Benkelman, Louisa Benkelman Schwegler Bottom Row, seated, l to r: Bertha Benkelman, Glen Benkelman, Ida Benkelman, Lottie Benkelman, Ben Benkelman Sr. behind his nephew John Donald Benkelman, Lois Benkelman, Ben Benkelman Jr., Alice Ross Schwegler with her baby Edward William Schwegler, and ,facing left, Mary Striffler Benkelman (Mrs. Sam) (Legend Courtesy of Bonnie-Margaret Benkelman Jacobs)
  		Benkelman, Samuel G with daughter Bertha and wife Mary This photo of Sam with his daughter, Bertha, appears to have been shortly after he married his second wife, Mary Striffler, ca 1888, Cass City, Michigan.

  
  

  Headstones

  Williams, Bertha C. (Benkelman)

  
  

• Sources

  [S492] Peck, Edward Arthur THE TEN BENKELMANS WHO EMIGRATED TO AMERICA Ca. 1850s AND CERTAIN OF THEIR DESCENDANTS, 1982. [S653] Cass City Chronicle, P.O. Box 115, Cass City, Michigan 48726, Published continously since 1899, archived from 1899 through 2005 at http://newspapers.rawson.lib.mi.us/chronicle/, Friday, May 24, 1929 (Reliability: 3). [S653] Cass City Chronicle, P.O. Box 115, Cass City, Michigan 48726, Published continously since 1899, archived from 1899 through 2005 at http://newspapers.rawson.lib.mi.us/chronicle/, Friday, December 27, 1940 (Reliability: 3). [S783] FamilySearch.org, Michigan, Marriages, 1868-1925. [S577] Dibean, Jack & Marianne "Michigan Marriage Index" http://www.mifamilyhistory.org/dibeanindex/. [S1610] Jacobs, BonnieMargaret McDonald "The Family Benkelman" Unpublished Manuscript, 276 pages, October 1981 Version, (Copy owned by Barney Benkelman, Helena, Montana; which he xeroxed and sent to Melinda McLemore Strong in San Antonio, Texas), p. 133 (Reliability: 3). [S653] Cass City Chronicle, P.O. Box 115, Cass City, Michigan 48726, Published continously since 1899, archived from 1899 through 2005 at http://newspapers.rawson.lib.mi.us/chronicle/, December 13, 1912 (Reliability: 3).