The journey we will be on today will take us to Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, and California. Hang on! We’re going on a wild ride. The main character in today’s tale is August Karl Essmann, who was born on March 28, 1874, so today is a special birthday for him. If he was still alive, … More Christmas Eve Birthday – Christmas Day Anniversary
I found today’s tale because a wedding too place in East Perry County, Missouri on this day 130 years ago. Despite the couple’s beginning in Missouri, most of the story took place across the river in Illinois. The highlighted surname is Buchholz, and this Buchholz family is an isolated one in our German Family Tree. … More The Buchholz and Gentil Soap Opera
The post you will read today does not fit in the same mold with most other ones on this blog. Almost all of the characters who are discussed here begin their lives in this local area. Some remain here all their lives, and some relocate later. Today, the story is different. A couple begins their … More The Klepzig’s Arrive Late from Stewardson
Today’s birthday girl gets into our German Family Tree, not because she was baptized in a local Lutheran church, but because she married a Lutheran man who was. You will eventually learn about her, but I am going to begin this post by looking at the man who became her husband. Joseph Emanuel Brunkhorst was … More Joseph Brunkhorst – Storyteller and Historian
Arthur Martin Gerler would be celebrating a special birthday today if he was still alive. Because he was born on July 15, 1898, today would have been his 125th birthday. Arthur was the son of Christian John Friedrich and Susanna (Vogel) Gerler. He was the 3rd of 9 children born to that couple. The first … More Arthur and Eleanor – A Gerler-Zwosta Pair
Back in August, I wrote a post titled, Wolfe’s from Grand Tower. That story highlighted an Ahner from Altenburg that married a Wolfe from Grand Tower, Illinois. In that tale, I mentioned that there was another Ahner woman who married another Wolfe man, and I commented in that post that I might have to tell their … More The Other Wolfe’s from Grand Tower
This post was discovered by finding a wedding anniversary for August 31st. You will read about a wedding that involved a bride from Perry County, Missouri and a groom from Jackson County, Illinois. Many such stories have been told on this blog, but most of them involved members of Christ Lutheran Church in Jacob, Illinois. … More Wolfe’s from Grand Tower
Plenty of posts have been written on this blog about individuals who had the surname Oehlert (pronounced Ale-ert). I think only one previous story mentioned an Oehl (pronounced Ale), but you are about to read another one today. But before we get to an Oehl, though, let’s take a look at today’s birthday girl. She … More Friedheim Oehl’s
Yesterday, I told a story in which much of the information was found in the Arnsberg binder. Today, our story begins with a girl whose surname was Arensburg, which was sometimes spelled Arnsburg. Today’s birthday girl ends up marrying a Heise, and we are going to discover that the Heise name hops back and forth … More Heise Hopping
Friedriech Johann Wilhelm “Brooks” Arbeiter is today’s birthday boy. He was born on November 22, 1896, the son of Frederick and Magdalena (Heeszel) Arbeiter. John was the first child out of 9 that were born to Frederick and Magdalena. I don’t know where it originated, but our German Family Tree shows “Brooks” as his nickname. … More Mayor of Grand Tower
