A while back,  I wrote the story of the The Pioneer Lichtenegger, which described the arrival of Joseph Lichtenegger to America.  That post also mentioned the several children that Joseph and his wife had in their family.  A few other posts have also been written about some of those children.  You can find other posts by placing the name, Lichtenegger, in the search box on this website.  Today, you will get the story of the firstborn child, a boy named Johann Herman Lichtenegger.  He happens to be the person responsible for getting the Lichtenegger surname into the Altenburg community.  Here is a collage showing the Lichtenegger siblings that were part of the Joseph Lichtenegger family.  Herman is at the upper left.

Herman Lichtenegger was born on November 7, 1875, making him today’s birthday boy.  He was the son of Joseph and Anna Maria (Pilz) Lichtenegger and baptized at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Pocahontas.  We do not have images of that congregation’s records.  We find Herman in his first census in 1880.

I think there was a mix-up on the children’s names here.  Herman should be the 5 year old.  He had a younger sibling named Johannes Alois Lichtenegger who was born in 1877.  I think he was misnamed here as Herman.  The next time we find Herman in a census was in the 1900 census for Apple Creek Township.  He was a farm laborer in the household of Annie Schoen, who was a widow.  Herman and Oscar Leimer must have been working her farm for her.

On April 4, 1904, Herman Lichtenegger married Alwine Palisch at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Altenburg.  My cynical mind thinks that Herman may have insisted on that day for the wedding (4/4/04) so he could easily remember his anniversary date.  The wedding was on a Monday.  I could not find a civil license for this marriage, but we do have the church record.  It is in two images.

Alwine Palisch was the daughter of Bernhardt and Amalia Louise (Seise) Palisch.  She was baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Altenburg.  Here is that baptism record.

We have what I think is the wedding photo for this couple.

I suspect it was this marriage that precipitated Herman’s moving to Altenburg.  The first census in which we find this couple finds them living in Brazeau Township in 1910.  Alwine’s father was living with them as well as two servants.  One name looks like Lydia Biltz, but I suspect it was Lydia Pilz.  The other is hard to read, but my guess it was John Stueve.  By this time, Herman and Alwine had two of their three children.

We find the Lichtenegger farm on the 1915 plat map for Perry County, although his name is badly misspelled.  It was located just north of the town of Altenburg.

I think it was about the time when the map above was produced that the Lichtenegger family photo was taken that is shown below.

In 1918, Herman had his World War I draft registration completed.

The 1920 census shows all three of the Lichtenegger children, Elmer, Ellis, and Louise.  There was also an Edwin Engert living in that household.

Next, we see the census taken in 1930.

Alwine died in the same year as the above census.  We have her death certificate.

Herman and Alwine can also be seen in this family photo that was taken before Alwine’s death.  This photo was taken at the P.J. Lueders studio in Frohna.

All three of the Lichtenegger children were baptized and confirmed at Immanuel Lutheran church.  The last of these confirmations occurred in 1926.  However, when Alwine was buried in 1930, she was buried in the Trinity Lutheran Cemetery in Altenburg.  Sometime toward the end of the 1920’s the Lichtenegger family must have transferred to Trinity.

On September 10, 1933, Herman married again.  His second wife was Martha (Ahner) Littge.  She was divorced from her first husband.  They were married at Trinity Lutheran Church.  We have their marriage license.

We have a photograph of Herman’s second wife, Martha, when she was much younger.

We see the following situation in the 1940 census.  The two children in this census were Herman’s stepsons.

Herman died in 1947.  It took me a while to find his death certificate because it was transcribed as Lightenegger on the Secretary of State website that houses these records.  I find that pretty hard to believe since this form was typed….and typed correctly.  Herman died at St. Francis Hospital.

We also have Herman’s obituary.

Martha Lichtenegger died in 1977.  Herman and both of his wives are buried in the Trinity Lutheran Cemetery in Altenburg.

One of Herman’s children who was named Ellis Lichtenegger had his name changed to Leo L. Ellis.  I assume he got tired of writing the name Lichtenegger or seeing how others butchered his last name.  An example of a butchering of the Lichtenegger name can be seen in the transcription of Herman’s 1940 census found on Ancestry.com.  They say Herman’s last name is Sicktlogegger.

In the most recent map made of the land in Perry County, we still find the Lichtenegger farm on the same property as Herman farmed in his early days.  Now it can be found in the name of Herman’s great grandson, Andrew and his wife, Cara.

These Altenburg Lichteneggers can all trace their history back to Herman.