Back in 2017, I wrote a post about a man named Martin Bellmann titled, Pound the Hammer, Ring the Bell, Bang the Drum. That post mentioned that Martin got married 4 times. His 4 wives were named, in chronological order, Emma Heitmann, Martha Lohmann, Concordia Boehme, and Martha Grebing. Today’s birthday girl is Martin’s 4th … More Martin Bellmann’s 4th Wife – and 2nd Martha
Two previous posts, Hometown Preacher, and Another Mahnken Marries an Eckert, have told the stories of an Eckert from St. Clair County in Illinois marrying a Mahnken from Perry County in Missouri. There is one Eckert/Mahnken wedding story that has yet to be written, and it happens to be the first one. You will read … More The First Eckert to Marry a Mahnken in Farrar
Today’s birthday boy is Ludwig Herman Koenig, who was born on March 29, 1897. That makes today his 129th birthday. Throughout his life, documents called him Ludwig or Louis or even L.W. I will use Ludwig, mainly because that is what is on his gravestone. He was the son of Theodore and Louise (Popp) Koenig. … More Ludwig and Bertha – Koenig’s Go to St. Louis and Come Back
You will read another story that describes a man from across the river in Jackson County, Illinois who finds a bride from this side of the river in Perry County, Missouri. Then, once this couple gets married, they make their way to Kansas. This tale begins with a birthday boy. Hans Joachim Johannes Heitmann was … More The Heitmann’s near Wichita
Back in 1913, a man named Peter Eckert from Lenzburg, Illinois married Anna Mahnken at Salem Lutheran Church in Farrar. That couple ended up remaining in Perry County for a number of years. It is a mystery to me how Peter and Anna got to know one another. However, I do know that Peter Eckert’s … More Another Mahnken Marries an Eckert
Today’s tale will bear a certain resemblance to the one I told yesterday about Jake Holcumbrink. A man by the name of Gustav Wiebusch entered our German Family Tree by marrying a girl who was a member of Christ Lutheran Church in Jacob, Illinois. That is the same thing that happened with Jake Holcumbrink. This story is another … More Wagner’s Landing Merchant
Today, you will be reading another one of those stories in which the two people getting married come from opposite sides of the Mississippi River. The two surnames that are united in this marriage are ones that over the years had been found both in Altenburg, Missouri and Jacob, Illinois. The starting point for this … More Granite City Steel Worker
The surname, Oswald, takes up 7 pages in our German Family Tree. Today, you will read about the original couple to settle in Perry County with that surname. The patriarch of that Oswald clan happens to be today’s birthday boy. Christian Oswald was born December 19, 1832, so today would be his 190th birthday. He … More Original Oswald’s
Johann Heinrich Ehlers was born on October 10, 1873, so today would have been his 149th birthday. Every census record in which we find John says that he was born in Illinois. However, his baptism record is found in the books of Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg, Missouri. That record is pictured below. There is … More John Ehlers – Broom Maker with Boehme Bride
I will share another 150th birthday story today, and it just so happens to be related to a post that was written just two days ago about another man who was celebrating such a special birthday. That post was titled, Henry and Meta – The Zerbst Pair from Jacob. That birthday boy, Henry Zerbst, married Meta … More The Guetersloh’s – Herman and Marie
