To California from Frohna by Way of Colorado and Minnesota

Marie Fredericke Blanken was born on January 19, 1888, so she is today’s birthday girl. She would have to blow out 135 candles on her birthday cake if she was still alive. Marie was the daughter of Dietrich and Maria (Eisenberg) Blanken. Marie was the 4th of 10 children born to her mother and the … More To California from Frohna by Way of Colorado and Minnesota

Acts of God – Part 2

Miriam Brauer married Rev. Roy Guelzow on April 12, 1942. As described in yesterday’s post, Rev. Guelzow was an associate pastor at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Columbus, Indiana. The senior pastor at that congregation was Miriam’s father, August Ernst Brauer. A transcription of an Indiana marriage record for Roy and Miriam is shown here. … More Acts of God – Part 2

Rev. Professor Schmidt

Today’s tale does not spend much time in Perry County, Missouri, but it has its beginning here. You will be viewing only one church record and two census records for the main character in today’s story that come from Missouri. This tale gives me the opportunity to discuss two themes that come out of the … More Rev. Professor Schmidt

The Hoeh Ride

The first thing I must do today is discuss the pronunciation of the surname Hoeh that you see in the title. Folks around here would pronounce this name as “hay”. We will be looking at the “ride” made by Carl Edward Hoeh as he made his journey through life. The homes he had throughout his … More The Hoeh Ride

Iben “Ahner”ed

I have been honored to write for this blog.  However, that is not why I have composed the above title.  Instead, there was once a Lutheran pastor who could have said after his wedding, “I have been “Ahner”ed.”  (The surname Ahner is pronounced the same as the word “honor”.)  And since his surname was Iben, … More Iben “Ahner”ed