I will go all the way back to the arrival of the ships that were part of the Gesellschaft back in 1839 and follow a family branch until we find a mail carrier in Benton, Missouri. The family was named Tirmenstein, and I have done several stories about individuals in that family before. Here is … More Benjamin Franklin, Son of Thomas Jefferson
Elda Hemmann is today’s birthday girl. She was born on December 17, 1890, the daughter of Benjamin and Emma (Sachman) Hemmann. For many years, her father was a teacher in East Perry County. He taught at the Lutheran school in Wittenberg from 1892-1902. Then from 1903-1925, he was the teacher at Trinity Lutheran School in … More Eldest Girl Elda
Arthur Friedrich Pott was born on November 18, 1886 in St. Louis. He was the son of William and Elizabeth (Roth) Pott. His father was a Lutheran school teacher in St. Louis when he was born. If he was called Art Pott, then you could say he would be another person who could claim to … More Pott Heads
Gerard Fiehler likes to call me the “Mayor of Dresden” (there is no such position), and I like to call him the “Mayor of Altenburg” even though he isn’t. Today, I plan to tell the story of a man who I will call the “Mayor of Birmingham”. This Birmingham is not the one in England … More Mayor of Birmingham
John Arthur Vogel was born on August 18, 1883 in Pocahontas, Missouri. That would make today his 136th birthday. He was the son of Theodore and Emilie (Happel) Vogel. He was sometimes called John on records, sometimes Arthur, and sometimes J.A. I will use Arthur. He was baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in New Wells, … More Give Me Livery or Give Me Life (Insurance)
I had the privilege of speaking at a Hemmann Reunion in Shawneetown, Missouri yesterday. It was a gathering of 72 folks who could all trace their ancestry back to one of J.G. Hemmann’s grandsons, Gustav Hemmann, who was born in 1850. I happened to run across another record in our German Family Tree that comes … More Hemmann Herd Member Marries Saddlemaker’s Son
The story today begins with some names that might be considered celebrities in early Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod history. Those surnames were Graebner and Schaller. I am going to use some entries from the Lutheran Cyclopedia to describe the careers of a few of these men. First, we start with Rev. Johann Heinrich Philip Graebner. Here is … More DD’s Daughter Marries Dede
Until I find out differently, I am declaring the Roth/Roth marriage that took place on May 19, 1859 to be the first Roth/Roth marriage involving a personality from East Perry County. I have already written about others, most notably the one involving two Roth/Roth marriages that took place at the same time in the same … More The First Roth/Roth Couple
I will begin today with a family photo that has shown up on this blog in several earlier posts. It shows the Traugott Kaempfe family. Let me quickly summarize the history of this Kaempfe family and its connection to the Gesellschaft. Johann Samuel Gottfried Kaempfe came to America aboard the Johann Georg in 1839. Below … More Carl from Millstadt
The wedding day for August Theodore Lichtenegger and Ottilie Meyr was March 28, 1910. Their wedding photo is shown here. Before I get any farther, let me describe the beginnings of the bride and the groom. Ottilie Meyr was the first to be born. She was born on March 7, 1888 in the New Wells … More Lichtenegger Market
