In the winter of 1967, the Journal of the Illinois Historical Society published an article titled, The Artist Gustav Pfau. This article included several drawings which were made by Gustav Pfau, one of the original members of the Gesellschaft. You can find a way to access this article at this link: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40190168?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents Today’s date, January … More Wow! It’s Pfau
January 30th marks the first anniversary of our very initial blog post. It has been a remarkable year. About a day before we reached this anniversary, we passed the 60,000 mark in number of views. A “view” is counted every time a person arrives at our website. Another “view” is counted every time a person … More Yoo Hoo! A Slew of Views
Today, I will use the fact that the steamboat, Knickerbocker, arrived in St. Louis, Missouri, on January 30, 1839, carrying a load of Saxon immigrants who were part of the Gesellschaft, as a springboard for another story. On the PBS website, there is a page which includes a timeline corresponding to one of their productions … More Mud Clerk on the Knickerbocker
He’s a researcher, author, teacher, husband, a “Grumps” to a pretty special crew, a proud Lutheran, our President, a woodworker, a gardner, and our friend. Happy Birthday, Warren!
While walls were rising on a new building at Trinity Lutheran Church, just down the road at Immanuel Lutheran Church, a marriage was taking place on this day, January 29, 1867. Eighteen year old Bertha Engert, whose parents had arrived in 1839 with the Gruber group, was united in marriage with August Degenhardt, a thirty … More The Original Degenhardt Duo
It was a time for building. East Perry County was booming. Its population was growing. And with growth came the need for the supplies necessary for building. The area was rich with timber, so wood would be the product of choice for most of the buildings in the area. There were sawmills around to provide … More Supplying a Building Boom
The following passage is included in the book, Zion on the Mississippi. I find it very interesting. It tells of a seemingly insignificant event taking place during the trip up the Mississippi aboard the steamboat Knickerbocker. “The last day of the week, January 26, found the immigrants at New Madrid, Missouri, and one more day … More Intersecting Exoduses
The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod has declared this week to be National Lutheran Schools Week. This celebration until fairly recently has been celebrated during one of the first weeks in March. As a result, a lot of Lutheran schools are celebrating this week, while still others continue to celebrate this event in March. Regardless, around here … More A Tribute to Lutheran Schools
In the early 1900’s in Wittenberg, Missouri, William and Esther (Mueller) Kieninger had four children, all boys. One of these boys, Nelson Kieninger, was born on January 25, 1909. He was the second born son. William started out as a farm laborer in Pocahontas, Missouri, but after he married Esther Mueller, in 1906, he became … More This Pitcher Had 4 K’s
There seems to be some dispute about when the steamboat Clyde arrived in St. Louis with the immigrants that had voyaged across the Atlantic aboard the Johann Georg. However, an article in a St. Louis newspaper said that the Clyde had arrived on January 24, 1839, so that is the date that is agreeable to … More And Then There Were Two
