I have mentioned in a few previous posts that have included individuals with the surname, Tanz, that their name means “dance” in German. Thus, the title of today’s post. This story will enable me to introduce you to a surname that has not shown up on this blog before. That name is Villhardt…sometimes spelled Villhard. … More Conrad and Katie – Dance Partners
Heinrich Mecker would be celebrating his 161st birthday today if he was still alive. I will attempt to give you an account of his life. I am going to begin with his parents, Jacob and Nettie (Arnold) Mecker. There is a story in the Mecker family that says Jacob Mecker was a stowaway on the … More Mecker Mates
If you read yesterday’s blog post, you know that one of the major characters was named Theodore Ernst. Today, I happened to run across a birthday boy who was also named Theodore Ernst. In fact, I had better call him Theodore Ernst Wachter because I have already written a post about another Theodore Wachter that … More Another Theodore Ernst
I began to look into a girl who was reported to be born on May 27th. I was excited to do her story for a variety of reasons. However, after gathering all sorts of information for this post, I discovered the day of birth was incorrect. I decided to write the story anyway, mainly because … More Born May 27th…Or Was It March 27th?
You are about to take a trip back in time, starting in St. Louis, and proceeding to New Wells, Frohna, and Seelitz in Missouri and Horse Prairie in Illinois. The Missouri and Illinois settings have the common thread of Rev. Martin Stephan. All of those places are connected to Diane Guelzow, whose husband’s family roots … More Acts of God – Part 3
I have no time to write our normal post today, but I did take some photos of our ongoing construction of our museum addition. We are excited as we await this building’s completion. We look forward to welcoming future visitors to our expanded museum. I should be back into the family research again tomorrow. Perhaps … More Museum Addition Update
Miriam Brauer married Rev. Roy Guelzow on April 12, 1942. As described in yesterday’s post, Rev. Guelzow was an associate pastor at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Columbus, Indiana. The senior pastor at that congregation was Miriam’s father, August Ernst Brauer. A transcription of an Indiana marriage record for Roy and Miriam is shown here. … More Acts of God – Part 2
There have been quite a few occasions during my time volunteering at the Lutheran Heritage Center & Museum when events transpire that I cannot explain in any other way than calling them “Acts of God”. The circumstances of my last few days have led me to plan more than one post telling the stories that … More Acts of God – Part 1
The Lutheran Heritage Center and Museum serves the East Perry County community and a much larger community in many ways. We are a museum dedicated to the Lutheran Immigration of the 1800s and our community’s history. Our research library serves as a reference for many families from the original immigration and beyond. We offer a … More This week at the Museum!
Many of the stories I tell on this blog have described large families. That is not the case today. Today’s family consists of just a father, a mother, and a son. To add to that, the son was not a biological son. It makes for quite an tantalizing tale. I found this story because May … More Weber-Beckmann-Stuebner Hardware
