I looked it up just to make sure. Today’s birthday girl is classified as my great grandaunt. Another way to put it is that this woman was my Grandma Mueller’s, Aunt Anna. I found several places that said the term “Great” should not be used when referring to siblings of your grandparents, but if you go back another generation, you have to put a “Great” in front of the term, “Grand”. Great Grandaunt Anna’s husband has been part of a previous post titled, A Shared Birthday. That post told the story of Anna’s husband, who shared a birthday with my great grandfather, even though he and his brother were not twins.

Anna Maria Hartung was born on March 13, 1848, making today her 175th birthday. She was the daughter of Michael and Sarah (Stephan) Hartung. The fascinating story about how Anna’s parents came here from Muddy Creek, Pennsylvania to Perry County was told in the post, From Muddy Creek to Brazeau Creek. I suggested in that post that perhaps the reason the Hartung’s chose Perry County as a new home may have been because her great grandmother had the maiden name, Weinhold, which is a prominent Perry County name. The Perry County Weinhold’s settled in Frohna, and that is where we find Anna’s baptism record. Her baptism record from the books of Concordia Lutheran Church in Frohna is displayed below.

The Hartung’s must have moved to this area around 1845 because a daughter who was born in 1844 was not baptized here, but their next daughter, born in 1846, was. Anna shows up in the 1850 census at the age of 2. Her father was a farmer in the Brazeau Township.

Anna was 12 years old when we find her in the 1860 census. As you can see, her parents were born in Pennsylvania.

Anna’s family must have still been members of Concordia, Frohna in 1862 because that is where Anna was confirmed. By the way, I did find a Michael Hartung who was part of the Union Army during the Civil War, but that is almost certainly Anna’s brother, Michael, not her father. I was unable to find the Hartung family in the 1870 census. That was the year that she got married, but I did find her husband still single in that year’s census, so I figured I should have found Anna as a single woman also, but I failed.

Let’s take a look at Anna’s husband. His name was Johann Jacob Mueller, who was born on December 8, 1850. Jacob was the son of John and Christine (Theilig) Mueller. Both of Jacob’s parents came to America as part of the Gruber Group that arrived in November of 1839 aboard the Johann Georg. Jacob was baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg. We can take a look his baptism record below.

Jacob was born too late in 1850 to be included in that year’s census, so we find him in his first census in 1860. Jacob was 9 years old, and his father was a farmer in the Brazeau Township.

I will add here that a 19 year-old, Ehregott Richter, was living in this Mueller household. Ehregott would get married in 1863 to Anna Hartung’s older sister, Elizabeth. Ehregott was also the son of Jacob’s mother, Christine, from a previous marriage, so he was a Jacob’s half brother. Next, we find Jacob in the 1870 census at the age of 19. Jacob’s father had died before this census was taken, but his death record cannot be found because it was during the time period of the “Koestering Hole”.

Jacob Mueller married Anna Hartung on November 10, 1870. This marriage also took place during the time of the “Koestering Hole”, when Rev. Koestering was the pastor at both Trinity, Altenburg and Concordia, Frohna. This couple, since one was from Frohna and one was from Altenburg, could have been married in either church. I suppose they may have chosen Trinity because it had a new church sanctuary dedicated in 1867, and the Frohna church was probably still in the talking stages of building a new and bigger church. We are able to view a civil marriage record for this wedding. This document does mention Altenburg, and not Frohna.

This marriage would be the starting point for a very large family. Our German Family Tree lists 11 children born to this couple. All of them have baptism records in the books of Trinity, Altenburg, but I suspect some of them may have been baptized at the church/school building located in Wittenberg. We find the Mueller’s in the 1880 census with 4 children. Jacob was a farmer in the Brazeau Township. Based on the names of his neighbors, I think these Mueller’s were living near Wittenberg.

Since we cannot view the 1890 census, we have to wait to see the one taken in 1900 to find the Mueller’s in their next official enumeration. The Mueller household had grown in size, even with the loss of a few children to marriage. Their last child, Theodore, was born in 1892.

Next, we find the Mueller household in the 1910 census. Only their youngest son, Theodore, was living with them.

When the plat maps for Perry County were published in 1915, we find the J.J. Mueller farm located just north of the town of Wittenberg. The E. Richter farm on this map was that of Ehregott Richter, who was mentioned earlier.

Anna Mueller died in 1918 at the age of 79. Her death certificate says an obstruction in her small intestines was the cause of death. Anna’s death record can be found in the books of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Wittenberg, which had been established in 1903. Rev. Bartz, the pastor of St. Paul’s in 1918, is the informant on this death certificate.

Jacob is found in the 1920 census at the age of 69. He and his son were doing the farming. Jacob’s daughter, Agnes, whose husband Paul Moeckel, had died in 1909, was also living in this household and no doubt helping with the housework for the two farmers, her brother and her father.

Jacob Mueller died in 1921 at the age of 70. His death certificate is shown below.

Jacob and Anna Mueller are buried together in the St. Paul’s Lutheran Cemetery in Wittenberg.

Today, I especially want to say, “Happy 175th Birthday” to Great Grandaunt Anna Mueller.