This post will be one of those that begins with a lonely record found in our German Family Tree. The entry pictured here is for Franziska Starzinger.

As you can see, this entry shows a marriage that took place in 1855 on April 12th, making today this couple’s 167th anniversary. Franziska is listed as child #5 in this Starzinger family, but we have no date of birth given. The surname of the groom in this wedding is also misspelled. When we look at the marriage record in the books of Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg, you can see that the surname looks like Junget.

This marriage took place at a time when Rev. Georg Schieferdecker was the pastor at Trinity. The split between Trinity and Immanuel took place in 1857. During this time, several Austrian immigrants were settling in the Shawnee Township of northern Cape Girardeau County. Rev. Schieferdecker and Rev. Christoph Loeber from Frohna would travel down there to conduct services and perform baptisms, weddings, and funerals. The above record says this wedding took place at the Litzenfelner house on the Apple Creek. I was having trouble finding Franziska Starzinger on Ancestry.com, but that was remedied when I located a civil marriage record for this event.

This record was easier to read, especially since it was in English. I discovered that the surname for the groom was Jungck, and that helped me find plenty more on Ancestry.com. There are much more detailed histories on the Jungck family than the Starzinger family on that site. There is some doubt about whether Franziska is part of the Starzinger family in which she is called the 5th child. We have a Starzinger family binder in our research library that says the following about the Gottlieb Starzinger, Sr. family in which our GFT places Franziska.

Franziska, whose gravestone says she was born in 1833, is not listed as a child. In fact, I did not find her name in this family binder at all.

Franziska’s groom was Rev. Friedrich Jacob Theodore Jungck, who was the pastor at Eisleben Lutheran Church in Scott City, Missouri. This is another case when I say that there must be a story about how a pastor from Scott City meets his bride from the Shawnee Township of Cape Girardeau County, but I do not know it. The church in Scott City was established in 1851, so Rev. Jungck may have been their first pastor. Below is a photo of what Eisleben Lutheran Church looks like today.

Let me take a moment to discuss pronunciation. In German, a “J” is pronounced like a “Y”, so Jungck is not pronounced like “junk”, but “yunk”.

Friedrich Jacob Theodore Jungck was born on June 18, 1821 in Germany. He was the son of Friedrich Jacob and Karolina Philippina (Hollstein) Jungck. He came to America in 1831. Although Friedrich was no longer in the household, I found his parents in the 1850 census living near Cincinnati.

After Rev. Jungck married Franziska, I am not sure where they headed next. It was not until the 1870 census that we find this couple living in the Pusheta Township of Auglaize County, Ohio. Rev. Jungck was the pastor at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Wapakoneta, Ohio. That congregation was established in 1848, one year after the Missouri Synod was established. That also means that church will be celebrating their 175th anniversary next year because this year the Synod is celebrating that anniversary. Here is the 1870 census entry for the Jungck’s. Five children were in the household. It says 2 of them were born in Missouri, one in Illinois, one in Indiana, and the last one in Ohio. That means Rev. Jungck had been on the move often.

The photo below shows St. John’s Lutheran Church as it appears now.

The next census in which we find this Jungck family has them back near where they were married. They are found in the 1876 Missouri state census living in Cape Girardeau County.

According to what looks like a reliable family history on Ancestry, Frederick and Franziska had 8 children altogether. One of them died early. The next move the Jungck’s made is an interesting one. We find the following story that is part of the history of St. John’s Lutheran Church in Linn, Kansas.

So, Rev. Jungck became both a pastor and a farmer in Linn. That is where we find the Jungck household in the 1880 census. Frederick is called a farmer.

Before I move on, let me show another excerpt from the history of St. John’s, Linn, Kansas for you to read. It lists a sizable number of Lutheran pastors and teachers that came from that congregation.

One more census was taken before Pastor Jungck’s death. It was a Kansas state census taken in 1895. This time, Fred was called a minister.

Frederick Jungck died later in 1895 at the age of 74. Franziska is found living with her son, Gustav, and his family in Washington, Missouri in the 1900 census.

Franziska was still living with the same family in 1910, but this time, they were living near Wentzville, Missouri. Gustav was a harness maker. This entry says Franziska came to America in 1848.

Franziska died in 1911 at the age of 83. Because she died in Missouri after 1910, we can view her death certificate.

Rev. Fred and Franziska Jungck are each buried in the St. John’s Lutheran Cemetery in Linn, Kansas.

Some photos can be found on Ancestry.com showing people from this story. I will put them in a gallery. You can click the photos to enlarge them.

I enjoy discovering stories like this one that start out with very little information found in our German Family Tree, yet it turns out to be fascinating.