Rev. J.F. Koestering often gets mentioned in this blog because of the missing marriage and death records in the church books of Trinity, Altenburg and Concordia, Frohna that we call the “Koestering Hole”. Here’s just a little background information about what was happening at the time when Rev. Koestering arrived on the scene in East … More Pastor’s Daughter Marries Teacher Wachholz
You will be reading the story of a pair of sisters who were born and raised in Altenburg and would go on to live pretty much the rest of their lives together. Unlike other stories that I have written about siblings that lived together all during their lives, this story does include a marriage. I … More Sarah and Dora – Altenburg Winter Sisters
Today’s birthday girl is Elma Elizabeth Klemp, who was born on June 30, 1899, so today would be her 125th birthday. Elma was the firstborn child of Ruben and Caroline (Deimund) Klemp. A previous post titled, Ruben Finds a Deimund, was written about Elma’s parents. Elma was baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Perryville. A … More Elma (Klemp) Rhodes’s 125th Birthday
Martin Wilhelm Landgraf was born 130 years ago on this date, May 26, 1894. William was the son of Bernhard and Mary (Litzelfelner) Landgraf. He was the 3rd of 4 children in his family. William was baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in New Wells, but I am not able to display his baptism record today … More The Landgraf’s – Sylvan Grove to Downers Grove
I seem to be running across a lot of stories lately that take us on trips all over the country. This one is a real doozy. It begins in Perry County, but certainly does not remain here long. Johann Edward Hugo Hemmann was born on May 6, 1854, making today his 170th birthday. When he … More J E H Hemmann – Produce Merchant
Every once in a while, I run across a story about a Lutheran teacher who comes from some other state to serve at one of our local Lutheran schools, and then while here, he finds himself a Perry County bride. I found another one of those stories today. Henry August Krahn was born on October … More Teacher Krahn and His Farrar Frau
Herman Carl Heinrich Feig was born on July 29, 1857, qualifying him to be today’s birthday boy. He would be 166 years old today if he was still alive. Like so many others with the name, Carl, he would later mostly be called Charles. He was the 6th of 7 children born to Christoph and … More Charles Feig – Cabinet Maker
I am a day late with this story, but I could not ignore it. It’s a bicentennial birthday story. Rev. Martin Stephan is rather famous (and infamous) for leading the German Lutheran immigration to America in 1839 known as the Gesellschaft. When Rev. Stephan came to this country, he left most of his family in … More The Junior Martin Stephan’s 200th
About two months ago, I wrote a story that introduced the readers of this blog to a new name…Thorp. That post was titled, Rauh-Bergmann-Thorp-Fassold. Today, I will tell the story of a Thorp that comes in the next generation. That baby boy was born on this day 125 years ago, so today would be a … More Dayton and Victoria – The Thorp’s
The first pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg was Rev. G.H. Loeber. The second pastor of that congregation was Rev. Georg Schieferdecker. Today, I will compose a post about Pastor #3, who also happens to be our birthday boy. Johann Paul Beyer was born on June 26, 1832 in Reinwarzhofen, Germany, which is a … More Trinity’s Pastor #3
