One of the great sources that we have for the stories that we tell on this blog can be found on Ancestry.com. On that site, you can find a family history with the title, “Fritsche-Miesner Family Tree”. The author of that tree is Lori Adams. I have never met Lori, but I do know that … More A Fritsche-Miesner Connection
The story starts with Joseph Ferdinand Poppitz being born on February 15, 1893. His life story led me to another story with a broader reach. First, let’s take a look at a map of the Seelitz area in Perry County from about 1915. It shows who owned land in that area. Joseph Ferdinand Poppitz was … More Seelitz Soldiers
I am going to get a little personal with our story today. When I was a boy growing up in St. Louis, we would regularly visit Perry County because my father was born and raised in Wittenberg, and we had plenty of family here. One of the families we would visit when we were here … More Serving Her Family Faithfully
While walls were rising on a new building at Trinity Lutheran Church, just down the road at Immanuel Lutheran Church, a marriage was taking place on this day, January 29, 1867. Eighteen year old Bertha Engert, whose parents had arrived in 1839 with the Gruber group, was united in marriage with August Degenhardt, a thirty … More The Original Degenhardt Duo
A Schuricht family history book includes the following paragraph which includes an account of the death of Johann Gottlob Schuricht on January 8, 1839. Based on evidence that we have at our museum, here is what I think happened. Johann Gottlob Schuricht (who appears to already be a Junior in the Schuricht family history) brought … More Buried on the Bank
First of all, today I have a confession to make. I have found it very difficult the past couple of days to come up with blog posts There are several reasons for this. One is that I simply have found it difficult to locate a story that excites me. Also, teaching and museum responsibilities have … More Born at Sea
I was blessed with the opportunity to listen in on a fascinating discussion at the Lutheran Heritage Center & Museum today. We had a visit from Dr. Stan Sides and his wife, Kay. Dr. Sides apparently has a passion for studying geology and participating in the study of caves. He came to us with a … More Seelitz Springs
Heinrich Jacob Schlimpert would have been celebrating his 158th birthday today. He was born on July 10, 1858 in Seelitz, Missouri. His parents were August Julius and Bertha (Boehme) Schlimpert. When Jacob was five years old, he went through a very traumatic experience. Two events took place that impacted his life. I cannot tell for … More The Lonely Porch
I am presently traveling in Minnesota and am away from our trusty museum research library. I decided to see if I could find a connection between Perry County and Minnesota. I had heard that Rev. Ernst Moritz Buerger, one of the original pastors who was part of the 1838-1839 immigration ended his career in Minnesota, … More A Minnesota Connection to the Saxon Immigration
Not long ago, we did a few blog posts concerning J.G. Hemman who fathered so many children. J.G. came to America with the Gruber group in December of 1839. There was another fertile father in the Gruber group. His name was August Friedrich Wilhelm Engert. I ran across his name today because his first wife, … More Another Fertile Father
