Moritz Petzoldt married Emilie Schwindt on May 21, 1871. This marriage record is not to be found in any church records in Perry County. That is because by the time Moritz was getting married, he had moved away from here to live in Madison County, Illinois near Collinsville. He was probably married at St. Paul’s … More A Petzoldt Harnesses Los Angeles
When you study the early years of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, you cannot help but notice that many of the personalities involved in that history have names which are given with initials. The first president of the Synod, Rev. C.F.W. Walther is a prime example. The second president of the Synod was Rev. F.C.D. Wyneken. … More Another Initial Pastor
My career as a Lutheran educator put me in several different locations. I lived in several different cities and towns over the years. I also consider myself to be somewhat of a birdwatcher. I want you to know that of all the places that I have lived or visited for a long enough time to … More Bluebird Housing Project
Today’s story is almost too sad to be written, but I feel I must. The story centers around the family of John Michael and Caroline (Lang) Sandler of the Perryville area. Both John Michael and Caroline arrived in America in 1840 by coming through Baltimore, Maryland. Yet they both arrived on different ships on different … More Watching So Many Children Die
May 17, 1839 was the day that about 100 immigrants from New York arrived at what would later be called Wittenberg, Missouri. Today we will discuss the route that these German Lutherans traveled to get here and what they found when they arrived. The group of immigrants that were part of the Stephanite immigration in … More The Arrival of the New Yorkers
Today would have been the 145th anniversary of Ehregott and Clara Poppitz from Altenburg. The two were married on May 16, 1872 at Trinity Lutheran Church. The ceremony was conducted by Rev. Koestering. Here is their marriage certificate. Rev. Koestering got most of the English correct on this form, but he used the German spelling … More Another Sire from Seelitz
We will focus on another wedding anniversary today. On May 15, 1883, Victor Frentzel married Pauline Telle at Grace Lutheran Church in Uniontown. After getting married, this couple had six straight daughters before they had their first son. All in all, Pauline gave birth to eleven children, eight of them girls. One unusual thing about … More A Flock of Female Frentzels
Yesterday’s blog post pointed out that Gerhardt Thurm had two wives….Johanna Kutscher and Anna Jungclaus. Well, Johanna had a sister named Emma, and Anna had a brother named Johann, and those two were married on May 14th in 1894. They were married at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Altenburg. Here is an image of their marriage … More The Jungclauses – They Died Young
I never know what I am going to encounter when I travel to The Ridge to do a story. Today’s account is no exception to that. I find myself just shaking my head in disbelief. In fact, today’s post will probably be just the first installment on what I discovered this time around. It is … More That Thurm Throng
Immanuel Lutheran Church was the location of a wedding on May 12, 1912. The bride was Ida Thurm; the groom was Reinhold Fritsche. Here is their marriage license. Ida was the daughter of Herman and Anna (Jungclaus) Thurm. The church record states that Ida was from Friedland, which is a name used for The Ridge. … More Another Merchant of Main Street
