Our story today starts with a birthday on April 4, 1885. The birthday girl was Magdalena (Lena) Grosse of Altenburg. She was the daughter of John and Lina (Petzoldt) Grosse. She was baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church. Here is her baptism record in two images. The John Grosse house was located in Altenburg where … More Art and Lena’s Assorted Children
An sad, but interesting, death took place on this date in 1851 in Altenburg, Missouri. This event caused me to do quite a bit of thinking and searching, and the end result is that this post will take quite a few side trips. The death involved a very young boy by the name of Elias … More Elias Estel’s Early End
May 30th and May 31st are infamous days in the history of the German immigration to Perry County which took place in 1838-1839. These are the days when the leader of the Gesellschaft, Rev. Martin Stephan, was found guilty of several charges and then sent into exile in Illinois. It is a story that is … More Exiled to the Devil’s Bake Oven
Johann Gottlieb and Johanna Christiana Palisch came to America with six children in 1839. In addition, Johanna was quite pregnant with her seventh child when she sailed on the Johann Georg. That child, Martin Stephan Palisch, who was named after the leader of the immigration, was born on April 3, 1839 in St. Louis, only … More Palisch #10
Some folks might think of December 9th as the day on which Charlie Brown’s Christmas first aired in 1965. I prefer to think that the first airing of Charlie Brown’s Christmas took place on the 126th anniversary of the opening of the Log Cabin College in Altenburg in 1839. That makes today the 178th anniversary … More Happy Birthday, Concordia Seminary
Johanne Christiana Ahner is today’s birthday girl. Known by friends and family as Jane, she was born on September 22, 1882 in Altenburg, Missouri. Jane was baptized, confirmed, and married at Trinity Lutheran Church. She was the daughter of August and Anna (Lungwitz) Ahner. When Jane was 20 years old, she married Joseph Hoehne. Their … More Getting ‘Em Where They Need to Go
This record very early in the Trinity, Altenburg church books tells of one of the earliest births and baptisms to take place in Perry County after the original immigrants arrived. The baby being baptized was Traugott Gotthilf Kaempfe who was born on this day, August 10, in 1840. It is the name in the red … More Prof. Godfather
One of the reasons I decided to write today’s story is because I found a baptism record for today’s character from the church where this event took place in Germany. Here is an image of that record. I find this kind of record fascinating. The handwriting is beautiful, despite the fact that there is very … More Estel in a China Shop
An event took place on this day that had a great impact on the immigrants here in Perry County, but also had results which are evidenced today throughout the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. And that event occurred here in Altenburg (although I still argue that it took place in Dresden, Missouri and should be called the … More The Altenburg Debate: Who Won?
In the winter of 1967, the Journal of the Illinois Historical Society published an article titled, The Artist Gustav Pfau. This article included several drawings which were made by Gustav Pfau, one of the original members of the Gesellschaft. You can find a way to access this article at this link: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40190168?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents Today’s date, January … More Wow! It’s Pfau
