It is a travel day for me, so you will get the chance to read an old post that I really enjoyed writing. It told the story of a wedding that took place the day after the birth of August Carl Vogel which was told in yesterday’s story. This old post describes a type of marriage that probably happens more often than you might think. It certainly happened quite often back in the early days of Lutheranism in America. A son of a pastor marries the daughter of another pastor. Similarly, there are quite a few marriages even today that consist of a pair of full-time Lutheran church workers who get married. My marriage is one of those.
In addition to reading or re-reading this old blog post, I will add that in recent years, we have had some special visitors at our museum that are good friends of mine. Three years ago, on this exact date, I had the opportunity to photograph Dave and Diane (Schuppan) Guelzow inside the 1845 Trinity church here in Altenburg (which is now part of our museum). I positioned these two right where Theodore Ernst Buenger and Martha Loeber must have stood back in 1848. Dave and Diane were teaching in Fort Lauderdale back when I was also a teacher in that city. These two are another example of a marriage of two full-time Lutheran church workers. In addition, Dave Guelzow can trace his lineage back to the Buenger/Loeber wedding that is described in the attached post.
Dave’s wife, Diane, can also claim to be part of the Schuppan family tree that once resided in the New Wells area. I am sure that she could also include yesterday’s character, August Vogel, in that family tree. Just a few weeks ago, there was a Schuppan family reunion that took place in Red Bud, Illinois, and several members from that family managed to make their way to Altenburg and Frohna for a visit. Once again, Dave and Diane Guelzow were here. Diane has a twin sister, Deb, who also taught in Fort Lauderdale for a while and met her husband, Rick Herman, there. Rick was also a Lutheran educator. Rick and Deb were also part of that Schuppan group that came to town. This group of friends that became acquainted in South Florida had this photo taken in our museum.
When I consider the Buenger/Loeber wedding that took place back in 1848, I come up with so many images in my mind, along with many questions. I picture Martha’s father, Rev. Gotthold Loeber, along with the bride and groom standing in front of the altar in the fairly new Trinity Lutheran Church building which had just a dirt floor. I wonder who was in attendance. Most of the Buenger family had moved to St. Louis, so they would have had to make the trip, probably on a steamboat, to attend this wedding. I know that Christiane Buenger (who I call Mama Buenger) was at that time helping to care for a newborn granddaughter whose mother had died in childbirth. That must have made her trip, if she dared make it, quite challenging. I figure the Loeber family members would all be in Altenburg at the time, with both Christoph and Gotthilf Loeber attending Concordia Seminary, which was still located in Altenburg and situated fairly close to the Loeber parsonage at that time. But would Rev. C.F.W. Walther have been in attendance with his wife, who was the sister of the groom? The wedding took place on a Tuesday, so i guess it would have been possible for Rev. Walther, who at that time was not only the pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in St. Louis, but also was the fairly newly-elected President of the Lutheran synod that had been established in 1847, to make the trip and get back to St. Louis without missing a Sunday. I also wonder if there was any singing going on during this wedding ceremony. After all, the groom is called a choirmaster in his marriage record found in the Trinity church books. Was there any type of musical instrument to accompany singing in this new church? I could go on and on with questions such as these, but I should stop
For the next few days, I may or may not find the time to write new posts. I’ve got some grandchildren and a grand puppy who need some attention.