I almost always cannot resist the story of a person who is celebrating a 200th birthday, and today is no different. However, I did not expect to end up with the number of questions I had by the end of this story. So, here we go.

Johann Heinrich Stuebinger was born on December 21, 1823, thus making today his bicentennial birthday. A church record states that his father’s name was Johann Adam Stuebinger. Here is where we confront the first puzzle in this post. Our German Family Tree includes 4 men named Stuebinger who were all born in the 1820’s and 1830’s. Three of the four men are said to be from Hoerlinruth, Germany. The names of these 4 men are listed here with the year of their birth.

• Johann Heinrich Stuebinger – 1823
• Johann Eberhardt Stuebinger – 1828
• Johann George Stuebinger – 1831
• Andreas Stuebinger – 1831

This inspires me to ask a few more questions. Were these 4 men brothers? It does seem likely. Andreas Stuebinger is reportedly the son of John and Magdalena Stuebinger, so perhaps all of these men had a mother named Magdalena. How could 2 of the Stuebinger’s be born in 1831 if they were not twins. Our GFT gives them birthdays that are 6 months apart. Is one of their birth years incorrect. I can tell you that much of the information about these 4 men comes from the book, Friedenberg Remembrances, which is a reconstruction of the books of Peace Lutheran Church in Friedenberg which were destroyed in a fire. So, I think there may have been some mistakes made. Another question: Three of the 4 men have the first name of Johann. Did Andreas have a first name of Johann also?

Now, we will be presented with another difficulty. A ship by the name of Albert arrived in Baltimore in January of 1854. The passenger list contains a number of names that are of interest in this post. Let’s take a look.

The person listed as #24 is named Joh. Stuebinger. He is said to be from Hoerlinruth, Germany. On many Ancestry.com family trees, this passenger list is attached to today’s birthday boy, who is called Henry on American census entries. I can tell you that this is likely because the person listed right below the Joh. Stuebinger in the above passenger list named Anna Kisberdt would get married to Henry Stuebinger. I’ll get back to her. Also on the passenger list are two folks named Graf. Both of the Graf’s and Anna Kisberdt were from the same city….possibly Hundsdorf…in Germany. Two of the other Stuebinger’s who settled in Perry County would marry women with the surname, Graf (or Graff). Those 2 Graf brides were likely sisters. Were the 2 Graf’s on the above passenger list females who ended up in Perry County? 

Now, on to the next question. Was the Joh. Stuebinger on the above passenger list Johann Heinrich Stuebinger. Normally, I would say he was. I have already written about several other couples who made the voyage across the Atlantic on the same ship, only to get married once in this country. It was easier, and less expensive, to get married in the United States than in Germany. However, in this case, I have my questions. If this is Henry Stuebinger on the above passenger list with Anna, who is actually named Anna Barbara Kisberdt, and they arrived in 1854, why did they end up getting married in 1857. What took them so long? Could it be that Anna came to this country with one of the other Stuebinger’s with the name, Johann? Perhaps that Joh. Stuebinger on this passenger list is one that married a Graf. 

Here is what we do know. Henry Stuebinger married Barbara Kisberdt on April 14, 1857 at Grace Lutheran Church in Uniontown. We can take a look at this couple’s church marriage record below.

I have another mystery for you. Several days ago, I located a baptism record on Ancestry.com that came from a collection of Missouri Synod church records that can now be found there. I do not know how long that collection has been on Ancestry.com, but I only discovered it a few days ago Now, in the case of Henry Stuebinger marrying Barbara Kisberdt, I also found the church record shown above on this Ancestry collection of Lutheran church records. That collection just says the record comes from Grace Lutheran Church, but does not identify it as being in Uniontown. Here is the image I found on Ancestry.

We at the museum think we have a pretty good handle on what has happened with local church records. We have been entrusted to be caretakers of records such as the ones from Grace, Uniontown. I have to ask another question. How did Ancestry.com get access to the church books of Grace, Uniontown? The above images look like they are photographed differently. I know there was a time when our museum was selling thumb drives with certain church records on them, so I thought maybe someone who had purchased one with the Grace, Uniontown records made it available to Ancestry. However, the images do not look alike. I guess I am just going to have to keep wondering. I do know that I am happy to see that I might find other interesting records in the future on Ancestry.com using their collection of Missouri Synod church records.

I also located a Perry County record for this wedding which is shown here. Barbara’s surname is spelled in many different ways on the documentation I found for her. This one just spells it Kist.

According to our German Family Tree, Henry and Barbara had 6 children. In the 1860 census, we see a household with just one child. However, we find two other Stuebinger’s as well, Andrew and John, which I think adds more credence to the possibility that the Stuebinger men listed earlier were brothers.

In the mid-1860’s, during the Civil War, there was a draft registration. Henry is found in a list of draft registrations for young men in Perry County.

The only other census entry in which we find Henry was the one taken in 1870. There were 5 children in the Stuebinger family. Henry was a farmer in the Cinque Hommes Township.

Henry Stuebinger died in 1872 at the age of 48. He is buried in the Peace Lutheran Cemetery in Friedenberg, but he does not have a gravestone photo on the Findagrave.com site.

Barbara is found in the 1880 census as a widow. She was living in the Salem Township. Right below her household was that of Andreas Stuebinger. Barbara was called a farmer, but two of her sons were working on her farm.

Barbara Stuebinger died in 1893 at the age of 60. Her death record can be found in the records of Cross Lutheran Church near Longtown. 

Barbara is buried in the Cross Lutheran Cemetery, also known as the Dry Fork Cemetery and the Stumpf Cemetery.

I think this post may have set a record for posts on this blog. I don’t think I have ever written an article containing as many question marks as you find in this one. I’ll just bring it to an end by saying Happy Bicentennial Birthday to Henry Stuebinger.