Today’s birthday girl happens to be the missing person in a photograph that I have used on this blog before. It is a picture of the 5 Harnagel brothers. In addition to these brothers, there was also one sister by the name Concordia (or Cordie) in this family. She was the second born child of … More Concordia’s Cigar Maker
One of our museum’s most faithful out-of-town visitors is affectionately called “Junior” by his friends and family. His given name is Walter Doering, and since his father also carried the same name, that makes him “Junior”. Note: Around here this name is pronounced “Daring”. Today’s story is about Junior’s grandpa, whose name was Wilhelm Gustave … More Junior’s Grandpa
I have another sad story to tell today. It is one that illustrates the very difficult times that were so often experienced in the early days of the settlements in Perry County. The year was 1842. Dr. Ernst Eduard Buenger was about the only person living in the German Lutheran communities in East Perry County … More Urgent Trip with Deadly Consequences
We start with a wedding today, but as is often the case, that leads to other places. On May 8, 1904, Otto Immanuel Mueller married Marie Magdalena Poppitz. Otto was a member at Concordia Lutheran Church in Frohna, and Mary was a member of Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg. Around here, we jokingly refer to … More A Plethora of Poppitzes
August Wilhelm Poppitz came to the United States with the 1838-1839 immigrants. He was eighteen years old when he arrived. By the time that 1858 rolled around, August had married three times, fathered numerous children, and died. The Ernst Poppitz I wrote about recently was from August’s first wife, Justina Schmidt. The Martin Poppitz I … More A Poppitz from the Middle Wife
Martin Mangels and Emily Vogel were united in marriage on April 13, 1902 in Frohna, Missouri. This couple would have six children, one of which died in infancy. But the early lives of these children was not without its drama. Let me attempt to explain the Mangels saga. But first, here is their wedding photo. … More Montana Martin Mangels
I am going to backtrack to a post I wrote at the end of March titled, One of the Ridge Gerlers. In that post, I said I would have to tell the story of the Gerler family immigrating to America in another post. Today, I will tell that story. The family of Christian Frederich Gerler … More The Genesis of the Gerler Genealogy
Trinity’s Tischler told the story of Carl Groh, the Altenburg carpenter who was responsible for the construction of several items in Trinity Lutheran Church, such as their altar and baptismal font. These items are still very special to this church as they are used for the most important aspects of our Lutheran worship….Word and Sacraments. … More Groh-klahoma!
Matthias Wukasch died on March 19th in 1925 in St. Louis, Missouri. When he was buried in Frohna, they put a portion of Daniel 12:3 on his tombstone. Daniel 12:3 reads as follows: “And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like … More He Shines Like a Star
As we enter this new month, we get closer to the March Madness season for college basketball, I am going to share a story which shows how Perry County may have made a small contribution to a person’s basketball success. The connection with basketball comes from the story of a Lutheran educator who started his … More Indy Basketball Beginnings
