On several occasions, I have mentioned a special “neighborhood” found in the rural area near the town of New Wells. That neighborhood was occupied over the time period of several censuses by families with the surnames, Haertling, Koenig, and Koch. Back in the 1850’s and 1860’s, there was a set of Haertling siblings that married … More New Wells Neighborhood Nuptials
Johanne Petzoldt was born on the last day of 1889, so today would have been her 133rd birthday. Three days ago, I highlighted the story of Otillie Petzoldt in the story, Tillie and Theo – Shawnee Scholl’s, and mentioned that Otillie was one of several grandchildren of the man who many call “The Face”. It has … More She Called “The Face”, Grandpa
Margaretha Emilie Hemmann was born on December 13, 1886, so she would be turning 136 years old if she was alive today. Her parents were Gustav and Margaretha (Streit) Hemmann. That qualifies Margaretha to be the great granddaughter of J.G. Hemmann, who has been mentioned in so many posts on this blog. She was not … More One of the Triple Twins from New Wells
One of the original immigrants arriving as part of the Gesellschaft in 1839 was Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Koch. I find his story to be interesting because he was a teacher. I suppose I am partial to teacher tales. As I proceed to tell this story, you will discover that it begs some interesting questions. They … More John Koch – Teacher and Organist
We have an excellent book in our museum’s research library telling the family history of the Sewing family. It is cleverly called The Sewing Circle. Before I proceed any further, let me point out that folks around here pronounce this name as “saving”, not “sewing”. Today’s story will tell the tale of one of the … More The Trinity, Friedheim Sewing Circle
The month of March is celebrated as Women’s History Month. In addition to that, some Lutheran schools in the United States still celebrate National Lutheran Schools Week during this week in March. I know our local Lutheran school is celebrating this week. I ran across a character today that may just fit into both of … More Granddaughter a Music Teacher in Chicago
I rarely do a story that originates with the date of a baptism, but that will be the case today. This baptism was one of the first to occur in the German Lutheran settlement in East Perry County, Missouri. This baptism piqued my interest for a couple of reasons, one being the fact that this … More A Baptism on Paar in Perry
Wilhelmina Marie Christine Hellwege was born 163 years ago. Her birthday was July 1, 1858. This girl would most often be called Mina or something similar on future documents. Mina’s parents were Heinrich and Friedericke (Winter) Hellwege. A previous post was written about Mina’s father and his four wives titled, The Fourth Marriage. Mina was … More Jake and Mina
A few days ago, in a post titled, Ed and Julie Koenig, it was pointed out that a passenger list included the surnames Koenig, Koch, and Haertling, and several folks with those surnames ended up forming a “neighborhood” of farms in the Shawnee Township. That neighborhood remained intact over at least 3 census records…30 years. Today, … More Lena Starzinger Joins the Neighborhood
Before I get to today’s characters, I have this urge to show you a portion of a passenger list for the ship, Ella, that arrived in New Orleans on November 7, 1853. Take a look at this group of immigrants. I find this list fascinating. At the top and bottom are 3 names whose destination … More Ed and Julie Koenig
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