Both the bride and the groom in today’s story spent brief times in the places of their birth, but spent almost all of their lives in St. Louis. The groom is tied into our German Family Tree. The bride is not, at least not until she gets married. I am going to begin with the … More Leo and Daisy – Lueders in St. Louis
Today’s tale begins in Perry County, but it makes a journey through Lafayette County in this state and then on to the state of Michigan. As it turns out, today’s birthday girl is only included in the early part of this story. Hulda Maria Julia Demetrio was born on February 7, 1880, so today would … More Mr. Martin Merz – Michigan Lutheran Teacher
A lonely confirmation record listed in our German Family Tree leads me to tell the story of yet another Lutheran pastor who spent some of his early years in Perry County. This man was also one of those Lutheran pastors who followed in his father’s footsteps. His father was the pastor of Salem Lutheran Church … More Rev. Walter Krueger – Gordonville, Knoxville, and Memphis Pastor
Our birthday boy for today’s post was born in Altenburg, but spent most of his life in Chicago. During my teaching career, and possibly still to this day, the children of educators in Lutheran schools were referred to as “teacher’s kids”. Today’s birthday boy was a teacher’s kid. Johannes Emanuel Abraham was born on July … More John Abraham – Chicago Cork Clerk
Today is the birthday of Johanne Amalie Bolz. She was born in St. Louis on April 26, 1847, so she would be celebrating her 178th birthday. Amalie was the daughter of Johann Traugott and Augusta (Wirth) Bolz. Each of Amalie’s parents were part of the Gesellschaft that arrived in Americia in 1839. Johann Traugott Bolz … More Another St. Louis Native Marries a Seminarian
Rev. Georg Schieferdecker was one of the early pastors to serve in Altenburg, Missouri. He was the 2nd pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg. He was part of the Gesellschaft in 1839, but soon after getting here, he was involved in forming a few new congregations in St. Clair County in Illinois. He returned … More Schieferdecker Gose to Grant Park, Illinois
Rev. J.F. Koestering often gets mentioned in this blog because of the missing marriage and death records in the church books of Trinity, Altenburg and Concordia, Frohna that we call the “Koestering Hole”. Here’s just a little background information about what was happening at the time when Rev. Koestering arrived on the scene in East … More Pastor’s Daughter Marries Teacher Wachholz
In recent months, I seem to be running into quite a few life stories in which a main character had their baptism record in our German Family Tree, but that turned out to be the only church record to be found there. That boy or girl, at a very young age, moved elsewhere. Just yesterday, … More Minnie Finds a Schell in Deepwater
Today’s featured character was born in Altenburg 150 years ago. But, why was he born in Altenburg? I do not know for sure. What I do know is that someone in this family thought it was important enough that he was born in Altenburg that it was inscribed on his gravestone. Ernst Carl Michael Christian … More Born in Altenburg
Pastor John Krueger served Salem Lutheran Church in Farrar from 1900-1924. It was the last congregation that he served, and he is buried in that congregation’s cemetery. Rev. Krueger and his wife had 6 children, all of whom had been born before this pastor arrived in Farrar. Their oldest son died right away, so the … More John Krueger, Farmer, Son of John Krueger, Pastor
