I must admit, I did not know I would end up where I did when I began looking at Sarah Magdalena Hartung, who was born on this date in 1846. However, the trip through history I ended up taking is a fascinating one. Here is her baptism record as it appears in the Concordia Lutheran, Frohna church books.
Sarah was the first child born to Michael and Sarah (Stephan) Hartung in Perry County, but they had three other children before they moved here. The story of them moving here contains many unanswered questions, but also leads us to a very interesting place: Muddy Creek Lutheran Church in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
The Hartungs must have come to Perry County not long before Sarah was born in 1846 because her sister was born elsewhere in 1844. Before coming here, we find the Hartungs family with a rich history at Muddy Creek Lutheran Church. This congregation had its beginning in 1732 before the American Revolution.
Sarah’s father, Michael Hartung, was born and baptized at this church in 1787. We see a transcript of that baptism here:
If we go back farther, we can also find the birth and baptism record of Michael’s father, Nicholas Hartung.
Family histories tell the story that Nicholas’s father, Christian Hartung, immigrated to Pennsylvania through Philadelphia in 1750 on the ship Priscilla. One year after arriving, Christian married Margaretha Weinhold at Muddy Creek Lutheran. Weinhold!!! Now there’s a Perry County name.
Back to Sarah. She would marry Ludwig Boehme in 1865. One of Sarah’s older sisters, Elizabeth, married Ehregott Richter. You can find more information on that marriage in this blog post: The 3R’s…Richter, Remembrance, Reunion
The Muddy Creek Lutheran Church has a fascinating history. Throughout many years of its history, it was part of a “union” church. The Lutheran congregation and a Reformed congregation shared the same building. Below is a photo of their building which was constructed in 1847.
The congregation bought their land from two sons of William Penn. Another name associated with the early history of this church was Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, a famous early Lutheran pastor in America.
If you are interested in reading more about the history of Muddy Creek Lutheran Church you can find information HERE
or HERE
As for why the Hartung family moved to Perry County, we may never know. However, the fact that Mrs. Hartung was a Stephan is rather curious. And even more interesting is the fact that Weinholds were plentiful at the Pennsylvania church and within the Hartung family.
I was reviewing my ancestry information on Michael Hartung and his wife Sarah Stephen and I noticed that there was quite a big age difference (28 years) between them. Michael was 46 when he married Sarah who was 19. Their son Wilhelm was born in 1836, I assume in Pennsylvania. Then I have another son Michael born in 1840, but I have no record of his life or death, do you have information on him? Elizabeth was born in 1844 in Cape Girardeau before the family moved to Frohna. Elizabeth married Ehregott Richter and lived on a farm in Wittenberg. But apparently after Ehregott died she moved to Cape Girardeau, it’s intriguing that she moved to the city after living so long in a rural community. I also found that Michael had purchased property in Frohna in 1853, apparently the home of Dr. Palish was on a portion of the property. Michael was 66 yrs when he bought that land, that seems a bit old to be starting a farm. His son Wilhelm died the following year at age 18. Do you know where the land is that Michael Hartung purchased? and do you know where he is buried?
Hello…do you know the parents of Sarah Stephen
and where she was born?
Thank you for this article and great information. My great great grandmother was Elizabeth Hartung. I had done research on the family several years ago and had contacted D. Ernest Weinhold who was a descendent of Weinhold family that was Sarah and Elizabeth’s great grandmother. Ernest was a genealogist and had done much research on the family, he passed away in 2015. The family in Pennsylvania had known that Michael Hartung (Sarah’s father) had left Pennsylvania but didn’t know where they had settled, and it is still a mystery why they moved from PA to MO. The Hartung’s lived in Cape Girardeau for a time before moving to Frohna after Elizabeth was born in 1844.
Thanks again for the info, genealogy is so fascinating.