On a number of occasions, I have told the stories of several children in the same family. Then I later tell the story of the parents of those children. That will be the case again today. I have previously written about children of August and Anna Ahner, and now you will be told the story of August and Anna. I ran across this story because today was the date of this couple’s wedding.

Friedrich August Ahner was born on July 3, 1848, the son of August and Maria (Grobe) Ahner. His parents were part of the Gesellschaft that arrived in Perry County in 1839. Today’s August Ahner was baptized at Concordia Lutheran Church in Frohna. An image of his baptism record is shown here. There are times when the Ahner name gets a “t” added to the end. This is one of those times.

I had trouble finding the Ahner family in the 1850 census. I think the image below shows them. It was transcribed as Arnot, which is what it looks like.

The 1860 census shows August at the age of 11. His father was a farmer. For some unknown reason, his wife is given the name Johanna.

In the 1870 census, we find August as the oldest child left in the Ahner household and working on his father’s farm. Later that year, he would get married.

August’s bride was going to be Anna Emilie Theresia Lungwitz, who was born on February 9, 1851. Anna was the daughter of Christian Gottfried and Emilie (Herchert) Lungwitz. Not long ago, a post was written about Anna’s younger sister, Maria, who married Henry Engert. That post was titled, Engert’s on the Move. Anna was the oldest child in this Lungwitz family. She was baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg. We can take a look at Anna’s baptism record below that has to be shown in two images.

Anna is first found in the 1860 census at the age of 9. Her father was a farmer. The 1860 census for the Brazeau Township is the one that first lists the sons, followed by the daughters. So, at first look, it doesn’t appear that Anna is the oldest.

Next, we find Anna in the 1870 census at the age of 18. This time she is at the top of the list of Lungwitz children.

August Ahner married Anna Lungwitz on October 6, 1870. Their marriage took place at the time when Rev. J.F. Koestering was serving both Concordia, Frohna and Trinity, Altenburg, and it was also during the years of the “Koestering Hole” when church marriage records are not found for either of those churches. So, we cannot say for sure which congregation in which this wedding took place, but most likely it was the church of the bride, Trinity, Altenburg. We can take a look at a civil record for that marriage. You can see Pastor Koestering’s name on this document.

Here is an early photo of August and Anna Ahner.

Our German Family Tree lists 10 children born to this Ahner couple. Seven of them were girls. The 1880 census shows this Ahner household. August’s father is called a retired farmer in this entry. Also included in this household was Anna’s younger sister Emilie. Both of Anna’s parents had died by this time, so Emilie needed a home.

We cannot look at another census until the one taken in 1900. August and Anna are left with several daughters and only one son, Paul, in this entry.

Next, we find the Ahner family in the 1910 census. They were down to two children living with them.

When the plat maps were produced for Perry County in 1915, we find the Ahner farm located south of Altenburg.

The last census in which we find Anna Ahner was the one taken in 1920. She and August had an empty nest.

I can show you two photos of August and Anna.

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Sometime along the line, the Ahner’s moved from the farm into the town of Altenburg. The house in which they lived is pictured below.

In 1920, August and Anna Ahner celebrated their 50th anniversary and had a family photo taken. Most of the children and their spouses were present.

I can also display an image of the grandchildren of this couple. I think it was taken at the same event. The same background is used in each photo. It is a rather poor image. It’s a photo I took of what was probably a copy of a copy of the original photograph.

Anna Ahner died in 1926 at the age of 75. I had trouble finding her death certificate, partly because her surname was transcribed as Abner, and also because she was called August. It isn’t often that you see a death certificate like this one that does not give the woman’s name and just calls her Mrs. August Ahner.

August is found living with his son-in-law, Martin Seibel, in the 1930 census. Martin had married August’s daughter, Hulda.

August Ahner died in 1932 at the age of 84. His death certificate lists ulcer of the stomach as the cause of death.

August and Anna Ahner are each buried in the Trinity Lutheran Cemetery in Altenburg.

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There were plenty of Ahner descendants from this couple. Recently, I’ve had the occasion to talk to a few of these descendants, so I know they are still around here.