A surname entered East Perry County back in the 1840’s that had its origins in Pennsylvania. That surname was Hartung. In a previous post about a character in this Hartung family, it documented the fact that this family had been in the United States as early as the 1700’s. That post was titled, From Muddy Creek to Brazeau Creek. I encourage you to read that article. There was a Lutheran church called Muddy Creek Lutheran Church near Denver, Pennsylvania that had its beginning back in the 1700’s which includes the influence by a rather famous character in American history, Rev. Henry Muhlenberg. Then, around 1840, one of the Hartung families from that area made their way to Missouri. A family history says this family would first settle somewhere near Cape Girardeau, but they would later find their way to East Perry County. The first record in our German Family Tree in this Hartung family was a baptism record for a child born in 1846. Those early records are to be found in the books of Concordia Lutheran Church in Frohna. However, today’s birthday boy was born prior to the time when those church records began appearing in Perry County.

Michael Washington Hartung was born on January 21, 1840. It is somewhat debatable whether Michael was born in Pennsylvania or Missouri because of evidence found in census records. One later census would state that he was born in Pennsylvania. Since he was born before the Hartung’s moved to this area, his baptism record is not found in our GFT. Michael was the son of Michael and Sarah (Stephan) Hartung. The first census I found for today’s birthday boy was the one taken in 1850. Michael was 10 years old, and his father was a farmer in the Brazeau Township. You can see that this census entry says Michael, and even his older brother, were born in Missouri.

The only church record found in our GFT for Michael was this confirmation record found in the books of Concordia Lutheran Church in Frohna. The German script is difficult to decipher, but I believe Michael is #2 in this list of confirmands for the year, 1853.

Next, we find Michael in the 1860 census at the age of 20. He was helping on his father’s farm.

I figure that it was not long after the above census was taken that Michael made a move. I think he migrated to a location in or near Jersey County, Illinois because that is where he would find his bride and get married. Let’s take a look at the woman who would become his wife.

Mary Hester was born on January 10, 1845 in Baden, Germany. We find her date of birth on her death certificate, which also states that she was born in Germany. However, even though death certificates are often a place to find the names of the parents of the deceased, Mary’s death certificate does not give any help with identifying her parents. There is not much I can tell you about Mary’s early life, and some of the information I found is confusing. She came to America, but the year that took place is about as uncertain as can be. In four different census entries, her immigration year is different. I did locate an entry for Mary in the census taken in 1860. The Hester family was living in Richwood, Illinois. Mary is 15 years old in this entry. It looks like the two individuals at the top of this household, who are most likely Mary’s parents, are named Jacob and Mary Hester. It appears that there is another younger family of Hester’s in this list, and the husband in that family was probably Mary’s brother.

The map below shows that both Richwood and Jersey County are located just north of St. Louis in Illinois.

On January 31, 1864, Michael Hartung married Mary Hester in Jersey County, Illinois. This transcription of his Illinois marriage record is the first place we find his surname spelled as Harting. All of his subsequent documents have an “ing” ending to his surname.

Based on later census entries, it appears that this Harting couple had 6 children. We find the Harting’s in the 1870 census with 4 children. Michael was a saloon keeper in Jersey County, Illinois. I am afraid that I cannot be more specific about which town in that county where they were living.

In the 1880 census, we still find the Harting’s in Jersey County. All 6 of their children are found in this entry. This time the occupation column for Michael says “grocery and farmer”.

Because we cannot view the 1890 census, the next entry we can look at is the one taken in 1900. At some time, the Harting’s had moved to St. Louis. Michael was called a landlord. Just one daughter, Frieda, was living with Michael and Mary. This is the census entry that states that Michael was born in Pennsylvania.

When the 1910 census was taken, the Harting’s had an empty nest. Michael’s occupation is called “own income”, which is a way of saying he was retired.

Michael Harting died in 1913 at the age of 73. His death certificate below says he was a retired merchant and was born in Missouri. It is also the place where we find a definitive date of birth for Michael.

Mary is found as a widow in the 1920 census. Included in this household were her daughter, Frieda, who had married Charles Manshardt, as well as a granddaughter named Estella Schaaf, who was called a straw operator for a wholesale millinary. Charles was a driver for a brewery.

The last census in which we find Mary is the one taken in 1930. Mary was living with her daughter, Frieda, who was also a widow. Neither one had an occupation.

Mary Harting died in 1937 at the age of 92. Her death certificate below is also a place where we find a definitive date of birth for her.

Both Michael and Mary Harting are buried in the New Marcus Cemetery in St. Louis, but neither of them has a gravestone photo on Findagrave.com.

I happen to think that Michael Hartung was born in Missouri. I think there is more evidence to support that place of birth. Michael is one of many people who have been characters on this blog to make subtle changes to the spelling of their surnames. Perhaps Michael’s name was pronounced in such a way that it sounded more like Harting than Hartung. Sometimes, I think some of these spelling alterations are just a matter of being more “American” than the German spelling.