The characters who will be highlighted today, as far as I can tell, were never found in Perry County. However, the gentleman who has a special birthday today, is found in our German Family Tree because his parents were part of the New York Group that joined the Stephanite group of immigrants in Perry County … More Doc Kalbfleisch
I did not get married until I was 39 years old. Many thought I would never get married, including myself. As it turns out, it was the best thing that ever happened in my life, other than my baptism. I will tell the story of a woman today that also did not get married until … More Getting Married Later in Life
I have the privilege today to write the real story of a couple of individuals that are main characters in my two books, Wittenberg ’03: Coming of a Church and Wittenberg ’04: Coming of a Railroad. These two are Laura Gemeinhardt and Teacher Richard Kalbfleisch. The story of this couple is one that inspired me … More Wittenberg Characters
I am going to write a different kind of post today than I normally do. It comes from a lonely entry we have in our German Family Tree. That entry is one that caused me to think to myself, “There’s a story here, but I don’t know what it is.” In fact, once I’m done … More A Story Here – But I Don’t Know It
Today’s tale will include several marriages. The last one took place on February 13th, and that is the event that got me started. It is certainly not where the story begins. I will begin the story with the birth of Johann Heinrich Heins that took place in Lamstedt, Germany on July 18, 1839. He was … More The Heins-Mahnke-Wichern-Richter Maze
I found a story today that I am going to enjoy telling. It’s not one of my typical tales. The story only has one small connection to this area, but what I find interesting is what takes place before that connection and what takes place after. I found the story of Elise Eberhardt led me … More Bendel-Eberhardt-Langewisch
What are the chances? After yesterday’s story about a Hoffmann, I found another Hoffmann story for today. Not only that, but both yesterday’s and today’s posts include a Hoffmann who had a name that included Carl. And, if that is not enough, both stories include women who took on the name, Wilhelmine Hoffmann. If you … More A Hoffmann from Frankenberg
We begin today with an April 15th birthday in St. Louis, Missouri. Frederick Martin Grosse was born on April 15, 1845. Frederick was the son of Ernst Moritz and Wilhelmina (Hahn) Grosse and baptized at Old Trinity Lutheran Church in St. Louis. There were 5 children born to Ernst Moritz and Wilhelmina before Wilhelmina died … More Grosse Kirchen – Part 1
Back in October, when we were in the midst of preparations for our Immigration Conference, I ran across a story about Zion Lutheran Church in Prairie City, Missouri, celebrating their 150th anniversary as a congregation. Because of all the hubbub around here, I was unable to write a story on this blog about that anniversary. … More Prairie City Anniversary and Its Perry County Connection
Sophia Grass, if she were alive today, would be celebrating her 172nd birthday. She was born in 1846 in St. Louis, Missouri. Here is her baptism record from the Old Trinity Lutheran Church books. We do not have the originals of these records at our museum, but we do have an Excel spreadsheet that shows … More Emanuel Seibel’s Grass Roots
