Thomas Edwin Fogalsang was born in April 1871 in California to Thomas Coffey Fogalsang and Mary Fitzpatrick. He was the first of their three sons. He is first found in the 1880 Census with his parents and brothers in Colusa City, California.
Thomas was nine years old, followed by his brothers William A (age 8) & Frank M (age 5). His father, Thomas Coffey Fogalsang, was 49 and his mother, Mary (Fitzpatrick) was 27. They were married in 1870.
He first registered to vote in 1892. At the time, he was living in Colusa City. He is listed with his father.
Thomas was living in Sacramento in 1896...
...and in San Francisco in 1898.
In 1900 he was living in Shasta, California.
Now here's the surprise - Thomas was previously married to a lady named Bertha Windt (from what I've found, I'm pretty sure this is her last name). Bertha was born in 1864 in Switzerland and immigrated to the US in 1873. Her and Thomas married around 1895, according to the 1900 Census. Even though Thomas' birth information is May 1860, his occupation is correct - he's listed as an Electrician. The birth information for his parents is also correct; his father was born in Pennsylvania and his mother was born in Canada.
Thomas returned to San Francisco in the early 1900's. Here are the early directories for Thomas and Bertha from 1904, 1905, 1907 & 1908 (even though they only list Thomas).
Here is the 1910 Census. Thomas is 38 years old (which is now correct), but his wife is now only 35! According to this census, they were married for only 7 years! Again, however, the birth information for his parents and his occupation are consistent with what I have found over the years.
Here are the directories for 1910, 1912, 1914, 1915 & 1916. In 1910 and 1912, Thomas is listed twice, first under Fogelsang and second under Vogelsang. The 1914 directory is the first one where Thomas and Bertha are both listed. In 1915 & 1916 (the year he married Frances C. Dodge), Thomas is listed under Vogelsang only.
Now this is where it get's even more surprising. We know that Thomas married Frances C. Dodge in 1916. Here is a copy of their marriage record and their affidavit of marriage. On both records, Thomas states he is 37 years old (he is really 45)! Frances is the correct age of 27. On the marriage record, Thomas states that he is single and does not indicate which marriage this is for him (it is assumed it is his first).
They married in San Rafael, Marin County, California. We are left to wonder to happened with Thomas & Bertha, his first wife, whether they divorced (I haven't found any indication of divorce -yet- for them) or if he simply walked away from the marriage and left Bertha for Frances. This is something that I never had expected to come across or even consider being a possibility!
Thomas is listed twice in the 1917 San Francisco directory. The top directory is Thomas with his second wife Frances; the bottom is Thomas with his first wife Bertha (even though it says Petricia - sometimes directories would publish incorrect information)
Again, we are left to wonder if there was a divorce of if he just left; the SF directories for 1918, 1919 and 1920 list Bertha Fogalsang as a widow...
...even though Bertha is still married according to the 1920 Census.
Here's Thomas Fogalsang in the 1920 Census with his second wife Frances C. Dodge. They are living in San Francisco, he is 49 years old (his correct age) and working as an electrical engineer. Frances is 31 years old and is at home. Before their marriage, Frances worked as a nurse in San Francisco.
Thomas E. Fogalsang in the 1920's.
In the 1930 Census, Bertha is 66 years old and listed as a widow (Thomas Fogalsang passed away in 1928). According to this census, she first married when she was 19.
Bertha passed away December 17, 1934 in San Francisco. She was survived by a brother, Henry Windt. No mention is made in her obituary to her husband Thomas Fogalsang. Here is a copy of her mortuary record.
Thomas Edwin Fogalsang passed away on June 17, 1928 in Dunsmuir, Siskiyou County, California, at the age of 57. He was buried at Woodlawn Memorial Park in Colma, just south of San Francisco. Here is a copy of his mortuary record.
He and Frances had opened a candy story, Fogalsang's Pru-Nut Creams, in San Francisco in the mid 1920's. Frances continued to operate the candy store until the early 1940's. By this time, Frances had remarried to David Nemetzky. David passed away in 1947. Frances passed away in 1955 in Sacramento, California.
