Philip died while Charles was still quite young. At that time, the law stated that upon the death of a landholder, all of his property went to the eldest son. Along with the land came the responsibility of seeing that any younger sons were educated or taught a trade.
Evidently this arrangement was not satisfactory to all the members of the Bamberger family. A contributing factor might have been the real threat of military service for the boys. So, it was agreed that in lieu of the education, the eldest son Phillip, would provide funds needed by his younger brothers and sisters to reach America. That is how it came to be that Sophia and her children, Charlotte (Lotte), Sophia, Christina, Leopold, Martin, Rosie, and Young Charley set sail for the United States of America.The year was 1881.
The ship voyage took over a matter of weeks. The family's living quarters were in the lowest part of the ship. Charley remembered spotting some whales during the passage over.
They landed in Philadelphia. Charley would have been around ten years of age. In order to survive, those children in the family that were old enough went out and secured jobs. Evidently making pottery was a job held by several of the children.
After spending several years in Philadelphia, word was received there was land out west in Kansas to be homesteaded. This information was gladly publicised by the railroads. They were in need of the business and cargo resulting from Westward expansion. So, in 1883 the Bamberger family decided to take the train west!
Sophia and her family traveled as far west as the Mennonite settlement in Harvey County Kansas. Evidently the Mennonite farmers had payed the Bambergers' train fare. The farmers were eager to secure immigrants as workers for their fields. It took the family about two years to repay this train fare debt. It was during these years that Charley's job was to keep the wild geese out of the crop fields. He was given a pony to ride up and down the field rows and scare the geese away.
In 1885, the family once again decided to move west. They traveled by horse and buggy to Hanston, Kansas. They settled four miles east of the town.
They found the land receptive of their hard work but life was still very hard, and not always fair. Because they were immigrants, they had to fight fires that were deliberately set to discourage them from staying around Hanston. Young Charley felt the coldness of discrimination in yet another way. He had always had a great thirst for education and eagerly awaited the day he could attend a school in Kansas. However, when he actually started school, he was "sidelined" and help denied. He finally quit attending school. From a nearby hill, he would watch the school house, its activities, and weep at the loss of his dream.
Charley grew to manhood in Hanston, but he wasn't sure it was where he wanted to spend the rest of his life. Surely there must be greener pastures on the other side of the fence! It wasn't long before he was off to locate them.
He traveled to Missouri but rejected that state due to its abundance of trees. After traveling to Oklahoma and finding it to his liking, he purchased some land there. He traded, or sold, some of his machinery, his watch and his rifle for some cattle.
Things went well in Oklahoma until he became dissatisfied with what he felt was unfair taxing of his land. So, he sold his land, bought some more cattle, and with the help of his dog and saddle horse, headed the cattle north to Kansas.
Upon his return to Hodgeman County, he homesteaded section 26-21-23. He would often time work for Henry S. Mudge and the "famous" Mudge Ranch.
Charley was quite fond of his brother Martin and the brothers often lended each other a helping hand. An example of this was the time a tornado went through Hanston. It destroyed not only the Mennonite Church building but most of Martin's farm buildings as well. Charley was quick to respond to Martin's need for help to rebuild his farmstead. Martin always told Charley that when Charley married he (Martin) would come over and help in any way he could.
One story which was related about the brothers concerned the making of a will. Martin and Charley were working to construct a cellar on Martin's farm. Since he felt indebted to Charley for all the help he had received, Martin suggested they draw up a will. The will that was made probably stated that Charley would receive some material goods in repayment for all his help. The will was then put inside a rock that was then used in the cellar wall. If this paper actually did exsist, it was never found as the cellar was filled in and covered over by an unknown party years later.
Of the two brothers, it was Martin who died first. He married Susie Miller and had homesteaded Northwest of Hanston. In 1902 Martin attended a farm sale at a neighbors place. It is thought the mare, who had a colt at home was frightened by the clanking cream cans in the wagon. Whatever, Marting was thrown from the wagon and killed. He was only thirty-three years old.
In the following years, Charley's mother was to remain at Hanston, but his brother Lee and three of his sisters settled in Oklahoma. Sophia married William Voice, Charlotte married John Rupp and Christina married John Brubaker. His brother Lee married Margaret Ewy. Charley's sister Rosie had decided not to remain in America. She returned to Austria (time unknown) to raise her family there. However, she left two sons behind her in Kansas. It was intended these two boys be adopted by her brother Martin. But, due to his untimely death, this adoption never took place. It is said that while in Austria, Rosie and her family had to endure many hardships caused by the wars.
The Christian Hertel family had been neighbors of the Babmerger family when they first settled in Hodgeman County. The Hertel family had come from Wrightsville, Illinois to Western Kansas in 1885. They first settled on a farm near Brown's Grove (Burdett) then relocated and homesteaded six miles east of Hanston.
Christian and his wife Anna (maiden name Uhil or Uhll) were the parents of eleven children: Amelia Caroling (1880), John (1864), George (?), Mary (?), Henry (?), Ferdinand (1871), Frank Phillip (1878), Agnes (1882), Joseph (?), Antone (1885), and Charley (?). Joe Hertel would later recount how his family had weathered the four day blizzard of 1885. he said they had to resort to burning pieces of furniture to keep from freezing.
Charley developed and interest in young Agnes Hertel. They courted and on June 22, 1899 they were married.
At that time there was no water well on the place Charley was living. Since he was gifted with the power to divine water, he set out to "witch" a well. He located water about a mile away from h is present living quarters. He dug a well at this spot and then undertook to move a house to the site. A three room home was moved by horse and wagon from Jetmore to this new farmstead. It was here that Charley and Agnes would live and raise their family. Four boys and five girls were born into the Charles Bamberger family. Sophia Ann, born June 25, 1902 did not live but three months. Ida was born in 1904, Mamie in 1906, martin in 1908, Carl in 1910, Christie in 1912, Lloyd in 1914, Irene in 1917, and Sue in 1922. All the children, with the exception of Sue, the youngest were born at home.
Sue was born in Hanston at the house Agnes and the children occupied during the school term. Evidently there was a rain storm that January and the dirt roads were impassable. Agnes' brother, Joe Hertel, was a railroad worker so he went by hand-car to Jetmore to get the doctor. Dr. Wycoff returned by the hand-car with Joe and attended the birth. A Dr. Scott and a Dr. Tom Bowie assisted with several of the other children's births at home.
Charley, although never formally educated, had quite a head for figures. He could read the German Bible quite well. Every Sunday he would read Bible scripture to his family and then translate it into English for them. He spoke English fluently with little trace of an accent. He also delighted in singing the German songs he had learned as a child. His children would sing the songs while Charley accompanied them on his harmonica. This harmonica was the only musical instrument in the house. Charley signed his name "Chas." and a favorite saying of his was "By Jacks".
In 1927, with the help of Bill Heimer, a new home was contructed on the farmstead. Sam Horton quarried the rock that was used from a pit a mile south of the farm. The house, milk house, chicken house, and barn were all made in part with the rock. The rock was held together with a mortar called magnicia. It consisted of the clay-like powder found around the rocks in the quarry and was a great deal less expensive than cement. Jerry and Ralph Bradshaw helped lay the rock for the big barn which was west of the house. The roof of the barn was added several years after the barn was actually completed. This Bamberger barn was the site of many good ol' barn dances in the years to come.
The children attended Lakeview country school or the school in Hanston. During the school term, Agnes would move into Hanston and live there with the children. The house in town had been purchased from Henry Hubin for the price of twenty head of Charley's milk cows.
The Bamberger's daily life in the early nineteen hundreds was typical of the times. Cowchips and coal were used as fuel. Agnes always had a large garden and the resulting food was canned or dried.
In the fall, Charley would take the wagon to town and purchase supplies for the winter ahead. These might include - 1500 lbs. of potatoes, 200 lbs. of cabbage, 500 lbs. of flour, 200 lbs. of sugar, and 5-10 bushels of apples. He also purchased coffee, matches, kerosene, spices, soda and a personal supply of Prince Albert tobacco. The apples and potatoes were stored in the cellar. The cabbage was made up into sauerkraut and stored in 20 gal. crocks. The family usually butchered eight or so hogs.
A typical day started at sun up or before. There were eighteen or so cows to milk, calves to be fed, and separating to be done. The family then sat down to a large breakfast that might include any or all of the following - sausage, eggs, pancakes, biscuits, fried potatoes. Dinner was often a freshly dressed chilcken. Agnes' specialty was pie and she served it frequently! Supper was a large meal too. One of the boys remarked, "We worked like dogs, but ate like hogs!"
Charley did his farming with horses and the help of his children. He would bind most of the wheat, barley and oats. This work was often done at night when it was cooler for both man and beast. The family then shocked the bundles. Later in the fall a threshing machine came in and threshed the grain. A large straw pile was always kept for the cattle. However, a few days after the straw was threshed, and before i was turned over to the cattle, it was put to good use by Agnes and the children. By wagon they took their clean, empty straw matress ticks to the pile and filled them with the clean, fragrant straw. The ticks had been homemade and after being filled were used that coming winter.
From time to time traders would pass through selling yard goods. A goodly amount was always purchased by the Bambergers. The fabric was then made up, often times by Mary Wilson, into clothes for the family.
Charley often bought and sold horses. His sons would break them, and then they were sold to passing traders or sometimes to the Army. Charley truly loved a spirited horse and the speed it provided. One of his fastest and favorites was a mare named Dolly. At one time he owned a team which were named Bay Frank and Sorrel Frank. These two horses were not as spirited as Charley would have liked them to be. So, the team was kept on a very short rein while in town so they would be forced to act spirited and feisty!
Needless to say Charley was thrilled with the invention of the automobile. In 1916 he bought his first car, a new Studebaker. It was nice but in 1918 it was traded off for a faster eight cylinder model. He loved to speed along and pretend he didn't hear his wife's pleas to slow down.
An event remembered by several of his children started with a trip to the circus in Dodge City. Charley started passing all the cars on the road. However, due to his speed and unfamiliarity with the road, he failed to make a curve in the road. The Bamberger car ended up in the ditch minus one wheel!
Entertainment for the family consisted of school programs and box suppers. In August there was the annual "Woodmen" picnic. It was an all day affair. On Sundays the family could be found playing croquet, horseshoes, or involved in a card game.
Hard work and Christian morals were exemplified in the the family. Both Charley and Agnes had been raised Lutherans. Agnes' mother was Catholic but Agnes had followed her father's religious preferences.
Charley, at one time, owned twenty-one quarters of land. One of the children remembers their mother being upset with her husband over his frequent and often times sudden purchases of land. A familiar saying of Charley's was "Mom, don't buy anything you don't have to from now on because I just bought another piece of land!"
As Charley's and Agnes' roles changed to those of grandparents, they enjoyed their new roles to the fullest. Sundays then found the individual families gathered at the home place for a delicious pot luck meal. Charley delighted in gathering round his grandchildren and spinning a tale or two for their benefit. The tale was spun while Charley whittled. (Charley loved to whittle. When anyone came to sell cattle, horses, machinery, etc. he always began to whittle. He claimed it helped his powers of concentration. And it must have done just that, as Charley was known as having made few poor deals.)
On February 13, 1957, Karl H. Bamberger entered his Heavenly home. Agnes remained on the farm for the following two years. She visited in her childrens' homes for several days at a time but was always ready to return to her own home. In 1962 her sons built her a home in Hanston. She like the house but she never did consider it the home her farmhouse had been. On November 16, 1971, Agnes went to be with her beloved husband.
