Christiane Margarethe Sommer was born on August 22, 1871, thus making today her 155th birthday. Christine was the daughter of Carl and Anna (Bienlein) Sommer. The first child in this Sommer family was baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg, but our German Family Tree does not list any baptism records for the rest of … More Christine Sommer – Mrs. Kramer and Mrs. Eicherman
Today’s birthday girl was born in Ohio. She would eventually spend most of her life in Nebraska. However, in between, she would spend 15 years of her early childhood and teenage years in Perry County. You will be reading her story today. Mathilde Emilie Bergt was born on May 30, 1859, so today would be … More Emil Pfeifer – Tecumseh, Nebraska Blacksmith
Our German Family Tree does not contain much information about today’s birthday boy, and what it does contain may be wrong. Gustav Adolph Bergt was born on February 18th. However, his year of birth is somewhat debatable. The GFT says he was born in 1860, which would mean today he would be 165 years old. … More Perry County to Nebraska to Dutch Corner, CA
The gravestone shown below can be found in the Concordia Cemetery in St. Louis, Missouri. I know when I first saw this gravestone, I concluded that it was for the married couple made up of Adolph and Marie Biltz. That is not the case. This is one of those tombstones that marks the graves of … More Two Stories from a St. Louis Gravestone
The couple highlighted in today’s post each began their lives in East Perry County and then moved to Nebraska. After the husband died, the wife went to live just down the road from the Golden Gate Bridge. So, strap yourself in for this wild ride. Christiane Karoline Rauss was born on September 18, 1884, thus … More From Farrar to Nebraska to the Golden Gate Bridge
Once again, one of those lonely baptism records found in our German Family Tree is going to take us on a trip elsewhere. As near as I can tell, today’s birthday boy spent less than 3 years living in Perry County. Gustav Otto Hemmann was born on July 20, 1882, so today would be his … More Hemmann’s in Nebraska and Minnesota
I am once again choosing to post a previously published story today. This one has several ties to my personal activities over the past few weeks. The main character of this story, Teacher William Hemmann, was once a teacher in Carver County, Minnesota. Last week, my wife and I spent time with our daughter and … More Hollywood Hemmann
I am going to tie today’s story of a baby born in Frohna on this day to the construction of the replica of the Log Cabin College which is found on the campus of Concordia Seminary in St. Louis. In addition, I will speculate how today’s main character may have contributed in some small way … More From Frohna Hardware to Concordia Custodian
In German, the word, Tante, means “aunt”, but from what I have been told, it often means more than that. It can refer to a single woman who takes on the role of caregiver for older or younger family members. It might be the case of a single woman assisting in the care of young … More Tante Bergt from Frohna
Yesterday, I was going to write a blog post even though I knew I had two museum meetings in the afternoon. Then, yesterday morning, Altenburg and its surrounding area lost power, making it impossible to write that post. Long story, short…you are going to read yesterday’s story today. Here we go. A young woman and … More A Voelker-Biltz-Lindner Trio – Add a Boehme
