Our story for today begins in the Scheeβel region of Lower Saxony, Germany. Both the bride and groom in today’s couple were born there, and the bride was born on this day. However, I will begin this article by discussing the groom. Johann Oetjen was born on February 13, 1849 in Ostervesede, Germany. His parents … More Land for a Church
The Christmas season is the time of year when we hear of angels most often. That’s one of the reasons that I could not resist today’s story. You will read about a couple in which both the bride and groom were the children of angels. Of course, you must understand that in German, the word … More Angels’ Children
There is a remote connection between yesterday’s story which took place in the Shawnee Township of Cape Girardeau County, Missouri and today’s story which has its beginning in the Fountain Bluff Township of Jackson County, Illinois. The connection can be found if you backtrack to the beginning of the Vogel family in Perry County. There … More Mrs. Reinkensmeyer
A while back, I wrote a story about a Darnstaedt who did some moving around during his lifetime. That post was titled, Joseph and Anna – To Illinois and Back. After you read today’s tale, you may come to the conclusion that Joseph Darnstaedt had nothing on his son, Ernst, when it came to moving around … More Drifting Darnstaedt
Friedriech Johann Wilhelm “Brooks” Arbeiter is today’s birthday boy. He was born on November 22, 1896, the son of Frederick and Magdalena (Heeszel) Arbeiter. John was the first child out of 9 that were born to Frederick and Magdalena. I don’t know where it originated, but our German Family Tree shows “Brooks” as his nickname. … More Mayor of Grand Tower
The story of Arthur Richter had me snookered for a little while. His wife, Emma, died in 1919, and then Arthur shows up as a widower in the 1920 census. However, in the 1930 and 1940 censuses, he is once again married to Emma. How could this be? There really is only one explanation. Arthur … More Arthur and His Two Emma’s
Several days ago, I wrote the post, The Kasten-Ludwig Couple. Today I will share a story with a similar title. However, the setting for today’s tale is different. The post written recently was set in Shawnee Township of northern Cape Girardeau County. Today, the story will be set in Union Township of Perry County. The … More The Kasten-Telle Couple
I found one of those bicentennial birthdays today. Christian Gottfried Moeckel was born on September 23, 1820 in Germany. In the Jacob Family Book, it states that Gottfried was born in Kreis Ziegenrueck Regierungsbezirk Erfurt. A location known as Ziegenruck can be found on this map of present-day Germany. It is only about 20 miles … More Gottfried’s 200th Birthday
Martin and Dora Brunkhorst would be celebrating their 105th wedding anniversary today if they were still alive. I will be attempting to tell their story today. In the case of Dora, I have already attempted to tell part of her story in a previous post, Seelitz to Jacob. However, I may not have gotten her … More Martin and Dora
I found a special anniversary for today’s post. It tells of a marriage that took place on this day 150 years ago. However, I will confess right away that I was quite unsuccessful at finding a lot of documentation for the lives of the two individuals who were married that day. We will begin with … More Ehlers – Christ’s Charter Members
