On March 29, 1839, Johann Christoph Weber died at the young age of 44 and was buried in St. Louis, Missouri. He had brought his wife and six children to America as part of the 1838-1839 immigration. They had traveled aboard the Republic to New Orleans and then were transported up the Mississippi River on … More He Almost Made It
Very soon, a group of folks will be visiting Altenburg who call themselves the Wittenberg Cousins. Several years ago, this group officially declared me to be one of the Wittenberg Cousins. The photo above gives visual proof of my qualifications. My father, Richard Schmidt, is shown in the front row, second person from the … More The Wittenberg Cousins Are Coming
Put yourself in the shoes of Pauline Poppitz who is looking forward to seeing seven candles burning on her birthday cake on March 23, 1884. She has been looking forward to this day for a long time. It is even a Sunday, so there should be plenty of time for the family to give her … More An Un-Happy Birthday
I think one of the great things about looking at old photographs like the one above is how many stories and questions arise by simply taking a good look at them. Yesterday, I asked one of our researchers, Gerard Fiehler, if he could find a photo containing Teacher Hemmann along with his students. If Gerard … More Reflections on a Photograph
The research crew at Lutheran Heritage Center & Museum recently identified a new answer to the above question. According to an old article found in the Perryville paper, Gottwerth Schmidt who died on April 14, 1926, was the last of the original immigrants to die. He also happens to be my great grandfather. We have … More Which of the Original Immigrants Was the Last to Die?
On March 10, 1820, Wilhelm Hemmann was born in Paitzdorf, Germany. He was the first child born to Johann Gottfried and Marie (Bachmann) Hemmann. He would not be the last child born to this man. When the German immigrants sailed to the United States in the fall of 1839 as part of the Gruber group, … More The Beginning of the Hemmann Herd
In the course of my research on the members of the first students at the Log Cabin College, I sometimes refer to the children of those first students as their second generation. On March 8, 1984, the last of the second generation, Marie Brackman, died in Puyallup, Washington. Her story is an amazing one. Here … More Last of the Second Generation: A Story of Two Maries
Rev. Paul Gotthilf Loeber, pictured lower middle) died on March 7, 1960. His father and grandfather were Lutheran pastors. His grandfather, Gotthold, was the first pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg. His father, Christoph Heinrich, was the second pastor of Concordia Lutheran Church in Frohna. His son, Paul Edward Loeber was a chaplain during … More Perpetual Pastors
On March 1, 1916, one hundred years ago, Rev. Ernst Gustav Hermann Miessler (pictured above) died in Chicago, Illinois. He is known for his missionary work among the Chippewa Indians in central Michigan. His first wife, Johanna Pinkepank Miessler, is buried in the Bethany Lutheran Indian Cemetery. She died in 1857. Rev. Miessler changed professions … More Missionary in Michigan
It is difficult to find historical events that took place on February 29th. So today, I am going to relate an event that took place on February 28 and go from there. Wilhelm Boehme had brought his family, including a wife and four children, to America in the immigration of 1838-1839. They traveled across the … More Through the Valley of the Shadow of Death
