The 1900 Census of Saline County, Nebraska tells that Ferdinand immigrated to the United States in 1885, the same year Ferdinand and Henrietta Köhler were married.
Henrietta immigrated in 1887.
The 1900 Census also indicates an unusual situation that Bertha, born in March 1885 in Germany, immigrated in 1886. If this information is correct, she would have been approximately one year old and would have come to the United States one year before her mother.
A column of the census further notes that they declared in 1900 that Ferdinand had been in the U.S. for 15 years, his wife Henrietta for 13 years, and the daughter Bertha for 14 years. This repetition of information would seem to minimize error in the census information.
To date, there is no documentation as to who would have brought Bertha to the United States. Bertha does not appear with the family on the 1910 census. Her age at that time would have been 25 years old.
As per Ferdinand’s obituary, as a young man he served in the cavalry in the German army and after serving his allotted time came to Nebraska, going back a few years later and returning with his bride. They first farmed near David City, later moving to the vicinity of Crete and then lived a number of years on his farm southwest of Crete.