Having been a Lutheran teacher during my career, I am especially partial to writing stories that involve individuals who also entered that profession. The churches in East Perry County have provided plenty of fodder for writing such stories because this area has sent so many people into full time church work. You will be reading … More Teacher Meyr
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
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
Erna Leonora Roth has a special birthday today. She was born on November 16, 1897, so if she was still alive today, she would have to blow out 125 candles on her cake. Erna was the daughter of Martin and Marie (Rudert) Roth. As near as I can tell, Erna was their only child. She … More Murphysboro Saupe’s
The story for today begins with the birthday of a girl who was born in Illinois. Her later death certificate simply says she was born in that state without giving a particular city. Since her parents are buried in Chester, I think that is likely her place of birth. Elizabeth Lohmeier was born on November … More Art and Lizzie – The Hoff’s
After researching the characters in today’s story, I finally looked at the baptism record of the man who I identified as today’s birthday boy, only to realize that today likely was not his birthday. Our German Family Tree says that Friedrich Wilhelm Oehlert was born on November 7, 1864, the son of Gottlieb and Wilhelmine … More The William Oehlert Saga
Have you ever heard of a Marmon automobile? I know that I did not until I was researching for this post. Getting to the Marmon automobiles begins with a special birthday for Olga Anna Zerbst, who was born on October 27, 1897. So, if Olga was still alive today, she would have to blow out … More Olga’s Marmon Auto Salesman
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
Back in 2019, I wrote a post titled, Gottfried’s Angels. The story was told about the 3 daughters of Gottfried and Amalie Darnstaedt. Gottfried and Amalie had 6 children who lived to adulthood. The oldest 3 were boys, and the youngest 3 were girls. Gottfried and Amalia’s family is shown in the photo below which … More Gottfried’s Single Trio
I have discovered that several natives of this area migrated to settle in the vicinity of Coffeyville, Kansas, which is right on the border between Kansas and Oklahoma. Many of those folks had connections to Christ Lutheran Church in Jacob, Illinois. I will be writing another one of those stories today. We begin with a … More Brunkhorst and Dietrich in Coffeyville
lutheranmuseum.com 