Today’s featured character was born in Altenburg 150 years ago. But, why was he born in Altenburg? I do not know for sure. What I do know is that someone in this family thought it was important enough that he was born in Altenburg that it was inscribed on his gravestone.

Ernst Carl Michael Christian Stellhorn was born on August 13, 1874, the son of Professor Frederick William and Christiane (Buenger) Stellhorn. A previous post tells the story of Ernest’s (I’m using the spelling of his first name as it appears on his gravestone) parents titled, Another Christiane Buenger. Early in his life, Ernest’s father became connected to the Buenger family. In 1865-1867, Rev. Stellhorn was an assistant pastor at Immanuel Lutheran Church in St. Louis where Rev. J.F. Buenger was the head pastor.

Rev. F.W. Stellhorn married Christiane Buenger, the niece of Rev. J.F. Buenger in Altenburg in 1866. The first of the Stellhorn children was baptized at Immanuel, St. Louis.

Ernest’s father spent some time in DeKalb, Illinois and then became a professor at Northwestern University in Watertown, Wisconsin. I located a list of faculty members at that school in 1872. Another professor on that staff was Theodore Brohm, the son of another one of the Log Cabin College builders, Theodore Brohm, Sr.

Now, we are getting close to the time that Ernest was born in Altenburg. One guess that I have for why Ernest was born and baptized in Altenburg is connected to the life and death of another Stellhorn child. Henrietta Stellhorn was born in Watertown, Wisconsin in 1870. When that child was just 4 years old, she died in March of 1874. Christiane Stellhorn must have been pregnant with Ernest at that time, and she may have wanted to spend time with her family in Altenburg in her time of grief. Not only that, Christiane’s father, Ernst Eduard Buenger, was a doctor in Altenburg. She could count on her father to be there to assist in her upcoming childbirth. To add to that, perhaps Rev. Stellhorn was not teaching during the summer, and he might have been able to spend time with his pregnant wife in Altenburg.

I also have another theory. Christiane’s sister, Magdalena Buenger, got married on August 6, 1874, just one week before Ernest was born. The Stellhorn’s might have travelled to Altenburg to attend that wedding and decided to wait until after their baby was born to return to Wisconsin.

I am not able to display Ernest’s baptism record today because I am not in Altenburg. I do know that the baptismal sponsors for Ernest were Carl Weber, Christian Mueller, Teacher Beyer, and Mrs Bergt. Christian Mueller was the man who had just married Magdalena Beunger. That certainly is an interesting set of sponsors.

By the time of the 1880 census, Ernest’s father had taken a call to Fort Wayne, Indiana where he was a professor at Concordia College. There were 6 Stellhorn children in the household, and you can see that those children were born in several different states as their father served in a variety of locations.

One year after the above census, Rev. Stellhorn became a professor at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio. It would be in Ohio that Ernest would meet his future wife, so we will now turn our attention to her. She was Anna Attilia Dornbirer, who was born on September 29, 1875 in Loudenville, Ohio. Anna was the daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth (Trott) Dornbirer. In the 1880 census, we find Anna living in Sandusky, Ohio. Anna was just one of a dozen Dornbirer children in this household. Anna’s father was a Lutheran minister.

I suspect that Ernest became acquainted with Anna as a result of both their fathers being Lutheran pastors serving in Ohio. Ernest Stellhorn married Anna Dornbirer on July 7, 1897 in Erie County, Ohio where the city of Sandusky is located. Perhaps both Ernest’s father and Anna’s father participated in this wedding. An Ohio marriage license for this couple is displayed here.

I think this Stellhorn couple had 5 children. When the Stellhorn’s are found in the 1900 census, they were living in Fredonia, Pennsylvania. Ernest had followed in his father’s footsteps to become a Lutheran minister. There were 2 children in the household.

Next, we find the Stellhorn’s in the 1910 census with 4 children. Ernest was a Lutheran pastor in Union City, Indiana. Based on the fact that the 6 year-old daughter was born in Ohio, Pastor Stellhorn likely spent some time serving a church in that state for a while in the 1900’s.

One more child was born to this family in the 1910’s. In 1918, Ernest had his World War I draft registration completed. This form gives him an Ann Arbor, Michigan address and says he was a clergyman at Zion Lutheran Church.

Ernest would remain a Lutheran pastor in Ann Arbor, Michigan for the rest of his career. In the 1920 census, we see all 5 of the Stellhorn children. Their oldest daughter, Ruth, was a home economics teacher at an elementary school.

The 1930 census shows just 2 sons still living with their parents. Both Ernest and Anna were in their 50’s and still living in Ann Arbor.

In the 1940 census, Ernest and Anna had an empty nest. At the age of 65, Ernest was still a pastor at Zion Lutheran Church.

The 1950 census is the last one we can view. In it, we find Ernest and Anna still living alone with Ernest still called a Lutheran minister.

Ernest Stellhorn died in 1963 at the age of 88; Anna Stellhorn died in 1965 at the age of 90. Both Ernest and Anna are buried in the Forest Hill Cemetery in Ann Arbor. I find their two gravestones interesting. They each have a gravestone next to one another, and each of them make a point of mentioning where they were born, Loudenville, Ohio and Altenburg, Missouri. Here is a gallery of photos of their gravestones. You may have to click the image to enlarge it.

So, if you manage to get to this cemetery in Ann Arbor, Michigan, you will find the gravesite of a man who was born in Altenburg, Missouri. He was the only Stellhorn to be born here, and his baptism record is the only one to be found in any of the Lutheran church books that are included in our German Family Tree.