A few days ago, I wrote a post titled, Frohna Fischers. That story highlighted the lives of Ferdinand and Martha (Weinhold) Fischer. One of the main characters of today’s story will be one of their daughters, Susanna Fischer. She was married on July 14, 1887. As the previous post’s title indicates, she was a Frohna … More Koesterings and Their Fischers
Today’s story begins with a puzzle and has puzzles all along the way. I will attempt to find my way through this maze, but I am the first to admit that I may not get everything right. It starts with the birthday of Herman Haertling somewhere in Germany. According to the German Family Tree, his … More Navigating the Haertling-Koenig Labyrinth
Right now, Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg, Concordia Lutheran Church in Frohna, and Grace Lutheran Church in Uniontown are all being served by pastors who first had been Lutheran teachers before entering the ministry. This is not a new phenomenon in the Lutheran church. Back when the Log Cabin College was built, its three main … More Teacher to Pastor
On this day in 1876, Josephine Weinhold was born. That child’s life would be a long one. She lived to be 103 years old, and people in her family have blessed us with her life story. They have even given it a title…..”Two for the Lord”. We have it in a binder in our Research … More Josie and Her Dinner Guest
Today’s story begins with a photograph. As you can see, Anna B. Hafner was born on October 27, 1893, so this makes her today’s birthday girl. But who is this Anna Hafner? You have a big clue on her gravestone. It refers to her as “wife of Rev. Gustav W.” She indeed was the spouse … More Farmer and Clergyman’s Wife
Two brothers, both shoemakers, were part of the Gesellschaft that came to America in 1838-1839. They were the Richter brothers from Kolkau, Germany. They came to America aboard the Copernicus. Here we see these two brothers shown on the passenger list of that ship. You can find Kolkau on the map below. It is one of the … More A Capital Wedding
I have written a book titled Mama Buenger: Mother of a Synod, which tells the story of Christiane Buenger, a widow who brought eight of her children to America in the 1839 immigration. [Note: Buenger is pronouced Binger] Christiane also happens to be the first owner of the property that I now own here in … More Another Christiane Buenger
A pastor was born on this day in 1889. It may have taken some time before he discovered that calling, but he had his start in Wittenberg, Missouri. After his birth on October 8th, he was baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg. The Trinity books say that he was baptized by Rev. Zschoche, who … More The Travels of Adolph and Amanda
In our museum, we have this wonderful account of the family history of John Christian Mueller, a tiler who brought his family to America as part of the Gesellschaft in 1838-1839. Much of the information in today’s post comes from this binder. On Saturday, September 7, 1839, during the first year that the German Lutheran … More Tailor, Tiler, Teacher, Preachers
I had to change boats in midstream today. I was leaning toward doing a story on a girl who was born on this day whose surname was Dietzfeldinger. Now how can you resist a story about a name like that? But I am going to. Instead, other local events have caused me to do a … More Charles Weber x 2
