On several occasions on this blog, I have referred to a “neighborhood”… a rural neighborhood … near New Wells as the Koch-Koenig-Haertling Neighborhood. We will be heading back to that neighborhood today. After all, today’s couple was made up of a Koenig and a Haertling. And it just so happens that the husband would be celebrating his 200th birthday today.
Andreas Koenig was born on July 12, 1825 in Korbussen, Germany. Andrew, as he would later be called, was the son of Christian and Marie (Kirmse) Koenig. I wrote a previous post about a list of passengers that came to America aboard the ship, Ella, in 1853 that was titled, Ella’s Passengers. Andrew was mentioned in that post, and his baptism record from Korbussen was displayed. It is shown here again.
Also included in that previous post was an image of a portion of the passenger list from the ship, Ella. I am displaying it again with two names highlighted. One is today’s bicentennial birthday boy, Andrew Koenig, and the other is the woman he would later marry. The surnames on this list are Koch, Koenig, and Haertling, so we can see how the Koch-Koenig-Haertling Neighborhood had its beginnings on the voyage across the Atlantic in 1853.
One could argue that Andrew and his future wife made the decision to not get married in Germany, but to come to America to get married. On several other occasions, we have mentioned on this blog that it was easier and more financially sound to get married in this country than in Germany. It was not long after this couple arrived that they got married. Now, we will take a look at the Haertling bride.
Christina Augusta Haertling was born on September 13, 1832. Christine was the daughter of Andreas and Maria (Albrecht) Haertling. She was also baptized at the parish in Korbussen, and her baptism record was also displayed in the previous post.
As shown on the Ella passenger list above, Christine was 22 years old when she came to this country. Then, on March 21, 1854, Andrew Koenig married Christine Haertling. This couple’s church marriage record is found in the books of Grace Lutheran Church in Uniontown. That record is shown here. A translation of this document includes a note that this wedding was done privately because it occurred during the season of Lent.
We can also view this Perry County record of this marriage. The Koenig/Haertling wedding is one of many that was included in this document.
Our German Family Tree lists 8 children born to this couple. A few of them were stillborn. The first 3 children have their baptism records in the books of Grace, Uniontown. Then next 3 have their baptism records in the books of Concordia Lutheran Church in Frohna, and beginning in 1868, the other children have records in the books of Immanuel Lutheran Church in New Wells.
When the Koenig’s are found in the 1860 census, they were living in the Brazeau Township. There was one Koenig child in their household, along with an 11 year-old girl named Anna Sander. Andrew was a farmer.
Andrew did spend some time as a soldier during the Civil War. An image of his military record is shown below. He was still living in Perry County at the time.
Prior to the next census taken in 1870, the Koenig’s made a move to the Shawnee Township which is where the Koch-Koenig-Haertling Neighborhood was located. The census taker wrote their surname as Kanesh, not Koenig. By that time, there were 5 children in the Koenig household, and Andrew was still farming. There was a 21 year-old farm hand whose name is difficult to read in this list as well.
As it turns out, the only other census in which we find Andrew and Christine was the one taken in 1880. There were 4 of their own children listed, along with a daughter-in-law. In addition, there was a 10 year-old adopted daughter named Susanna Felway and a farm laborer named Henry Heise.
Andrew Koenig died in 1886 at the age of 60; Christine Koenig died in 1890 at the age of 57. They each died before Missouri began keeping death certificates. They are each buried in the Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery in New Wells.
I do not know if the Koenig’s were the first ones to settle in the Koch-Koenig-Haertling Neighborhood or if someone in the Koch or Haertling families were there first. However, we do know that this group of families that came to America aboard the ship, Ella, managed to be located near enough to each other near New Wells to find themselves and their descendants show up on the same census pages for a lot of years. And today we recognize the fact that Andrew was born on this day 200 years ago.