I am sure most people can point to some aspect of their own childhood that helped prepare them for their future livelihood. I think one of today’s main characters was such a person whose childhood prepared her for her future as a housekeeper. Here is why. Selma Nennert grew up in a hotel/boarding house. She … More Selma’s Own Boarding House
I will begin today by asking for forgiveness. I am going to get a little naughty today. I am going to talk about a family whose name was Heine, which would be pronounced “hiney”. Eventually I will get around to talking about clean hineys, which, as you might expect, refers to a person’s backside. Let’s … More Two Stories: A Heine and a Hiney
You might think that I would write the first post for 2020 about some sort of new beginning. To a certain extent, that is the case, because we will be looking at a man who was born on the first day of 1890, making him today’s birthday boy. However, when you look at his life, … More An Electrifying End
Married couples with an only child are rather common these days, but among the people about whom I write, they were rather unusual. Today, though, I will write such a story. It also just so happens that today’s highlighted couple would be celebrating their 125th wedding anniversary today. The bride and groom were Mary Gemeinhardt … More An Only Child
We have yet another new guest blogger today. One of our own East Perry County citizens, Eunice Schlichting, is the author of today’s post. Eunice was raised in Wittenberg, Missouri. She later worked at the Putnam Musuem in Davenport, Iowa for 22 years. She fairly recently moved back home and is now the librarian at … More Praise God for Potter Parish
Our birthday boy for this post would have turned 120 years old today. His name was Paul Alfred Gemeinhardt. A few days ago, in another story written about Gemeinhardts titled, Selma’s Last, this photo was included. There are two Gemeinhardt houses on this photo. Paul Gemeinhardt was born into the Martin Gemeinhardt family which lived … More Pastries for Preparing Pastors
Selma Gemeinhardt must have been a pretty amazing woman. During her life, she gave birth to 14 children. Two of them died as infants. Her home in Wittenberg must have been quite the active place, with the likelihood of having a dozen children all living in that house at the same time. She gave birth … More Selma’s Last
December 11, 1836 was the birthday of Carl Gemeinhardt. As near as I can tell, he was the first of the Gemeinhardts to show up in the church books of East Perry County, Missouri. A buddy of mine from Memphis, Tennessee is Charlie Gemeinhardt, and he would call Carl his great grandfather. There is some … More Those Gemeinhardt-Fiehler Connections
Today’s story starts with a boy being born, but I find a few later events in the life of this boy’s family more fascinating. The place of birth for this baby was also not a typical one for a Perry County resident. He was born in Millstadt, Illinois. If you are a loyal reader of … More All I Got for Christmas Was 5 Stepsons
Here is our birthday girl for today. Her name was Louise Wilhelmina Kaempfe, and she was born on February 8, 1866. She is just a starting point for a story that involves several other members of the Kaempfe family. In 1885, she married Claus Stueve, Jr. We will get back to her. Louise’s younger brother, … More Kaempfe Tragedy….and a Tornado Too
