The first date that I had with my wife consisted of an evening of watching TV. Yes, I am a miserly old German. That evening included my wife making me dinner. I’ve been in love with her ever since. Believe me, there are countless reasons that I love my wife, not just her culinary skills, … More Winning His Heart through His Stomach?
I think today is the birthday of my great great grandmother, Maria (Saalfeld) Schmidt. Why would I just think it is her birthday? It is because there is just one record that I can find that indicates when she was born, and ironically, that is on her death record in the books of Trinity Lutheran … More Great Great Grandma Maria and Her Friends
The surnames, Lochner and Loeber, have found their place in several posts on this blog in the past. Notably, a recent post told the story of a painting done by Rev. Friedrich Lochner on the occasion of the marriage of Theodore Ernst Buenger and Martha Loeber. That post was titled, Stories in a Painting. Today, … More Lochner-Loeber
An old painting that is part of Lutheran history in America fascinates me. This painting is definitely connected to the history that we attempt to preserve at our museum. It is a painting that has been displayed in at least one previous post, but I am going to spend more time with it today. That … More Stories in a Painting
An sad, but interesting, death took place on this date in 1851 in Altenburg, Missouri. This event caused me to do quite a bit of thinking and searching, and the end result is that this post will take quite a few side trips. The death involved a very young boy by the name of Elias … More Elias Estel’s Early End
As the Civil War was winding down, two of my great grandparents were married at Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg, Missouri. The two who were married were Gottwerth Schmidt and Wilhelmine Seibel. The pastor of Trinity at the time was Rev. J.F. Koestering, and the marriage must have taken place in the 1845 church which … More My Greats’ Anniversary
In the German language, the word kühn means “bold” or “daring”. There were two surnames in the Gesellschaft that contained kühn, Kühn and Kühnert. As time went by, many German names containing an umlaut had that umlaut eliminated and replaced by putting an “e” after the vowel with the umlaut. So these two surnames became … More The Bold Immigrants
Mary and Joseph had a baby around Christmas time. But it’s not the one you may think. This one was a daughter, and her name was Martha. Her parents were Joseph and Mary (Bretscher) Weinhold of Wittenberg. Mary and Joseph not only had this daughter, but all eight of their children were girls. I have … More Mary and Joseph’s Daughter
During the fall of 1839, not long after the original group of immigrants first arrived in Perry County, another group of German Lutherans were boarding a ship in Germany to join them. In fact, this new group was boarding one of the same ships that had brought a load of passengers to America in late … More Gruber Group Getaway
The first pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg was Rev. Gotthold Heinrich Löber. Like so many other German names that included the umlaut, the spelling of this name was changed by removing the umlaut and putting an “e” behind the letter that had the umlaut, thus making this name, Loeber. Most folks who live … More A Löber Day Story *** Updated
