After researching the characters in today’s story, I finally looked at the baptism record of the man who I identified as today’s birthday boy, only to realize that today likely was not his birthday. Our German Family Tree says that Friedrich Wilhelm Oehlert was born on November 7, 1864, the son of Gottlieb and Wilhelmine … More The William Oehlert Saga
Have you ever heard of a Marmon automobile? I know that I did not until I was researching for this post. Getting to the Marmon automobiles begins with a special birthday for Olga Anna Zerbst, who was born on October 27, 1897. So, if Olga was still alive today, she would have to blow out … More Olga’s Marmon Auto Salesman
You will read another one of those stories today about the parents of children who have been the subjects of previous posts on this blog. However, the story of the mother and father has yet to be told. Also, among the other names that I would call Seelitz names like Schlimpert, Kuehnert, and Degenhardt, you … More Seelitz Sweethearts
Wilhelmina Marie Christine Hellwege was born 163 years ago. Her birthday was July 1, 1858. This girl would most often be called Mina or something similar on future documents. Mina’s parents were Heinrich and Friedericke (Winter) Hellwege. A previous post was written about Mina’s father and his four wives titled, The Fourth Marriage. Mina was … More Jake and Mina
On this date, May 7th, in 1893, Wilhelm Friedrich Bodenschatz, often called Fritz, was born. He was the son of Wilhelm F. and Maria (Degenhardt) Bodenschatz. I ran across a few places when Fritz was called Fred, Sr. which would be because he had a son by the name of Wilhelm Friedrich which would have … More Fritz and Lydia Bodenschatz
I will begin with a discussion of German words today. The word, grosse, in German can be translated to the word large in English. I also found evidence that the German surname, Pfeiffer, can be translated as fifer, one who plays the fife. When I think of a fife, I think of a fife and … More Grosse Pfeiffer
Dora Bertha Friederika Grossheider was born on December 8, 1892, so we will name her today’s birthday girl. Dora was the daughter of Henry and Friederika (Isenberg) Grossheider. I am going to backtrack into the Grossheider family before moving on. Dora’s grandparents were discussed in a previous post titled, Two Succumb to the Flu. In that … More The Degenhardts’ Grandma
Theodore Wachter was born on September 27, 1886 so today would have been his 133rd birthday. He was the son of Wilhelm and Ernestine (Bodenschatz) Wachter and baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg. Here is his baptism record. When Theodore was rather young, he was included in a Wachter family photo taken in front … More Ted and Thekla at Two Trinity’s
For one season, he was my coach. I was a scrawny little guy who loved to play soccer, and I thought that I could be a kicker for the Concordia Teachers College football team. I did just that. The football program listed me as being 125 pounds, tied for one of the lightest players on … More Congratulations, Coach Meyer
In a recent post, Mary and Joseph of the Oehlert Clan, we learned that Mary Gruenwald married Joseph Oehlert. One of today’s characters will be Mary’s sister, Mathilda Gruenwald. We tell her story today because she married today’s birthday boy, Henry Degenhardt. Mary (Gruenwald) Oehlert was married in 1894. It would be 11 years later … More Henry and Mary’s Sister, Tillie
lutheranmuseum.com 