The Auguste Charle mystery

This is an ongoing project.
Please let me know if something is incorrect, or you have new information.

My great-great-great grandfather was Auguste Charle. And everything regarding him and his family, prior to arriving to the United States in 1867, is a mystery.

The earliest record available of him, and his family is their arrival on November 15th, 1867 to the United States. He was traveling with his wife, and three children on the SS City of Cork which sailed out of Antwerp, Belgium.

The family is recorded as:

Auguste Charle – 43 – male – mechanic – birthplace France
Auguste Charle – 44 – female – wife – France
Auguste Charle – 9 – male – child – France
Auguste Charle – 8 – female – child – France
Hugo Charle – 6 – male – child – France (this is my great-great grandfather).

Not super helpful names for research purposes. August/Auguste/Augusta were very common names, usually used in combination with other names.

In the United States Census for 1870, they were living in Illinois. And their family is recorded as:

August Charle – 46 – male – school teacher – birthplace Prussia
Augusta Charle – 47 – female – “keep. house” – Prussia
August Charle – 11 – male – no occupation – Prussia
Augusta Charle – 10 – female – no occupation – Prussia
Hugo Charle – 8 – male – no occupation – Prussia

This helps clarify their names a little better.

10 years later, in the United States Census for 1880, they were living in Williams Township, Benton county, Missouri. Their family is recorded as:

August Charle – 56 – school teacher – birthplace Germany
Bergham Charle – 58 – wife – Germany
August Charle – 21 – Germany
Augusta Charle – 19 – Germany
Hugo Charle – 17 – Germany

What we know about each individual:

Auguste, father

In the 1900 Census, his date of birth is recorded as August, 1824, when he was 75 and living in Quincy, Illinois. This is the last record that I was able to find for him.

Augusta, mother

In the 1900 Census, she was 78, and her date of birth is recorded as January, 1822. The 1900 Census is the last record that I was able to find for her.

In the 1880 US Census, her name is recorded as Bergham Charle. On Hugo Charle’s death certificate, her name is recorded as Augusta Bergman.

I’d assume that her maiden name was either Bergham or Bergman.

August, son

August, married Anna Henrietta Meyerand in Adams county, Illinois in 1884. His name is recorded as August G M Charle. I haven’t been able to figure out what the G or M stand for.

August and Anna Charle (or Annie Charle) had three children.

• Freida Charle (later Freida Beckglad), born November 8th, 1884, died January 24th, 1937. She married William H. Beckglad.
• Herbert Herman August Charle, born January 11th, 1889, died August 7th, 1944. He married Helen G Kewney and they had three children, Herbert Charle, Virginia Charle, and Evelyn Charle.
• Erwin or Irvin Charle, born June 15th, 1892, died May 29th, 1917 at the age of 24.

Augusta, daughter

In the 1900 Census, she was living with her parents in Quincy, Illinois. Her name is recorded as Augusta C.T. Charley. So she had other names although it is unknown what the initials stand for. Her date of birth is recorded as March 1860.

Augusta Charle should not be confused with Hugo Charle’s wife, whose name also became Augusta Charle after marrying Hugo. Her original name was Augusta Fredericka Johanna Menke. She was born in Illinois in 1864.

There are no indications that Augusta Charle was ever married, or had any children.

There is an Illinois death record for an Auguste Charle in Cook county, white female, age 90 who died March 3rd, 1950. This would match her age.

Hugo Robert, son

Hugo Robert Charle’s date of birth is the only one known definitively, based on his death certificate from Missouri. He was born on February 13, 1862, and died on November 8th, 1930.

Hugo Robert married Augusta Fredericka Johanna Menke in Adams County, Illinois, in 1884. Their marriage was recorded as Robert H Charle and Johanna F A Menke. Based on census information, she later went by Augusta Charle.

In the 1920 US Census, Hugo’s name is reported as Robert Charle, birthplace Germany, married to Augusta Charle.

His son Edwin G. Charle provided Hugo’s birthplace in his World War I draft registration form as Remscheid-Rheinprovinz, Germany.

Hugo and Augusta Charle had six children:

• Paul William Charle, born April 6th, 1886, died February 6th, 1952. He married Edith Anna Borgmann. They had two children, William Walter Paul Charle and Virginia A Charle.
• Harry Fred Charle, born February 8th, 1893, died July 7th, 1970. He married Genevieve Ardelle Walter.
• Myra Charle, born 1902. She married William O. Saunders.
• Flora Charle, born December 1889.
• Elenora Charle, born January 1888. She married August J Herbert. They had a daughter, Dorothy Herbert who married Edwin A Bescherer.
• Edwin George Charle, born September 17th, 1896, died February 1978. He married Mary Hazel Waller, and they had three children, Marie, Edwin George Jr, and Jeanne Muriel.
  

  ---

Some questions

• Auguste Charle and Augusta Charle/Bergman/Bergham
  It is clear that they changed their last name when leaving to America, because there is no record of them before departing. Did he have any other first names, along with August/Auguste?  Was Bergman/Bergham her original last name?
• August G M Charle and Augusta C T Charle
  What do G. and M. stand for? What does C. and T. stand for? Learning more about their initials might help find other records of them, and possibly provide clues about their parents, or ancestors.

This is an ongoing project.
Please let me know if something is incorrect, or you have new information