A few factors contributed to me re-publishing an old post today.
- I am in a different location and had some difficulty finding a suitable place to set up my computer. It was made more difficult by some annoying felines that were making it almost impossible to get anything done.
- I had some challenges making my morning coffee using an unfamiliar coffee maker, which led to even more frustration.
- I need some additional time the next couple of days to work on the presentations I will make in a few weeks at our Immigration History Conference.
- The biggest reason, however, is the fact that I found a man who was born on October 12, 1823, making today his bicentennial birthday. I have a hard time resisting such a story. Heinrich Wilhelm Conrad Brandes is that birthday boy, and I wrote this post about Wilhelm and his two wives back in 2019.
If I was attempting to write this story today, I would not have the opportunity to make a trip to Trinity’s cemetery in Altenburg because I am in Minnesota for the next couple days. However, because I was able to stomp through the cemetery back in July of 2019, I was able to solve some mysteries. And if I went to the cemetery today, I know I would not find a sunflower blooming.
I mentioned in that previous post that Diane Anderson was welcome to use some photos I took of a gravestone that had previously not been found on Fiindagrave.com for Wilhelm and his wife. Diane has since made entries for a few additional Brandes names in the Trinity Lutheran Cemetery on Findagrave.com using those photos. We affectionately call Diane, “Miss Findagrave” at our museum. I can always count on her.