Ernest is a late-comer to the Swiss
immigrant scene, arriving here in 1920
Ernest Bauman is a late-comer to the Swiss immigrant scene of Bluffton and Pandora. He left home in Corgemont, Canton Bern, Switzerland, and arrived in New York on Dec. 6, 1920.
The trip was from LeHavre, France, on the French ship La Lorraine. It came through Ellis Island, New York.
In talking with the Bauman family, Herb Probst, creator of this series, learned that the lack of finding work and being in a large family created hardships for the Ernest to remain in Switzerland.
The Pandora Times reported:
“Ernest Baumann (changed to Bauman), Louis and Sam Gerber, their sister, Ida Emma, Arthur Beiner and Ernest Staub came to Pandora last Friday, Dec. 10, 1920.
“They came to Pandora because the Gerber children already had a brother, Abel, living in Pandora.
“Arthur Beiner left Pandora to find his father, Paul, who was living in Ohio. Ernest Staub also left to find family living in Illinois. The Gerber family later left Pandora for eastern Ohio around 1924 and settled in Wayne County and the Dover, Ohio, area.”
When Ernest came to America he was 25 and was one of 15 children. His father, Friedrich, died at the age of 57 in 1912, and his mother, Adele, died in 1908 at age 46.
Ernest remained in the Pandora area and worked for Gilbert Suter who sponsored him to come to America.
He married Lona Welty, daughter of Solomon and Barbara Amstutz Welty, on Oct. 24, 1926.
The couple first lived on the Sam King farm on Riley Township Road Q. Ernest was a farmer his entire life and later purchased a farm northeast of Pandora. The couple had six children.
Ernest died in 1955 and Lona in 1984. Both are buried in St. John Mennonite Church cemetery, where they were members.
Ernest and Lona Bauman’s children:
Barbara
John Frederick
Carrie
Dorothy
Winford
Bonnie
Ernest’s father
Friedrich Baumann
Born: Dec. 31, 1855, Herbligen, Bern, Switzerland
Died: July 14, 1912, Corgemont, Canton Bern
Ernest’s paternal grandparents
Friedrich’s father: Jakob Baumann (1824-1876)
Friedrich’s mother: Catharine Wegmuller (1825-1898)
Jakob and Catharine’s marriage: Sept. 21, 1878
Ernest’s mother
Adele Steinman
Born: March 16, 1892, Gysenstein, Bern, Switzerland
Died: Nov. 15, 1908
Ernest’s material grandparents
Adele’s father: Johann Steinmann
Adele’s mother: Elizabeth Schwander
Friedrich and Adele had 15 children and except for *Ernest, each remained in Switzerland. The names of those children follow:
Emma Rosa Baumann, 1879-1884
Johann Frederick Baumann, 1880-1918
Marie Baumann Blaser, 1882-death date not recorded
Alfred Baumann, 1883-1963
Christian Baumann, 1884-1933
Emma Baumann Fuchs, 1888-death date not recorded
Rosa Baumann Binz, 1890-death date not recorded
Friedrich Baumann, 1891-1968
Frieda Baumann Hostettler, 1894-death date not recorded
*Ernest Bauman, Oct. 5, 1895-July 3, 1955
Gottfried Baumann, 1897-1937
Martha Baumann Eichenbarger, 1898-death date not recorded
Ida Baumann Binz, 1900- death date not recorded
Hermann Baumann, 1903-1942
Walter Baumann, 1904-1957
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