Rebecca Martha Estel is today’s birthday girl. She was born on December 31, 1841 and baptized the next day on January 1, 1842. Martha was the sister of Elias Estel, whose story was told on this blog this past December 17th. That post was titled, Elias Estel’s Early End. When her brother died tragically in … More When Did Martha Estel Die?
The surnames Armbruster, Litsch, Behrle, and Killian show up in our German Family Tree in a very limited way. When they do show up, they are always included in marriage records, but you never find any of them being baptized in one of the Lutheran churches around here. That is because these surnames are what … More Catholic Wedding – Lutheran Pastor
I confess. I wrote the title of this post as click bait. However, there is method to my madness. There indeed were six Finger grandchildren, and there is a reason I state that they are “for free”. It all starts with a wedding in Germany. The marriage took place on April 20, 1881 in Lettin, … More Six Finger Grandchildren for Free
A typical Lutheran pastor works very hard during the Christmas season, especially on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. This year, it is even more challenging because the Fourth Sunday in Advent also occurs on Christmas Eve. Today I will tell the story of a pastor’s wife who had her own version of labor on two … More Pastor’s Wife Gives Birth on Two Christmas Eves
Yesterday, the main character was the tenth child in the Palisch family. His name was Moritz Palisch and his wife was Pauline. The first child in this family was another Moritz. His name was Moritz Oswald Petzoldt, but he went by the name Oswald. He was born on December 16, 1870, one day after his … More Palisch-Petzoldt Premier Pedigree
If Herman Walther was still alive, we would be wishing him a Happy 170th Birthday today. Herman was born on September 15, 1847 in Germany. As near as I can tell, he came to America with his family in 1851 at the age of four. He was the son of Gottlieb and Sophia (Matina) Walther. … More Merchant by the Mill
The Herman Weber family has reunions at the old family place outside Frohna on a fairly regular basis. At one of those gatherings, the family had a booklet printed which related the history of this Weber family. Yesterday I wrote about Teacher Brockmann at Grace Lutheran School in Uniontown who was from West Point, Nebraska. … More As For Me and My House….
A traditional song sung by many barbershop quartets over the years is Down by the Old Mill Stream”. The song was written by Tell Taylor in 1908. The lyrics go like this: (Verse 1) My darling I am dreaming of the days gone by, When you and I were sweethearts beneath the summer sky; Your … More Down by the Old Mill Stream
When I was much younger, there was a cartoon titled Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales. Today we have the tale of Tennessee Telle. Josephine Tennessee Telle was born in Uniontown, Missouri on July 11, 1869. The Telle family had arrived in America in 1849 and settled in Perry County. Ten days before her 29th birthday, … More Tennessee Telle and Her Tale
