Emma Margaretha Weis was born on December 28, 1875. That makes today her special 150th birthday. The names of her parents is somewhat debatable. Her entry on Family Search lists two different possiblities. One is that she was the daughter of August and Eva Katharina (Massengarb) Weis. The other is that she was the daughter … More Weseloh-Weis Wedding – St. Louis to Jacob and Back
On my schedule yesterday was working at the museum on the day our friends in Frohna, Saxon Lutheran Memorial, had their annual Fall Festival. That occasion brings lots of Lutheran visitors to East Perry County, and each year, several of those visitors also come over to Altenburg to visit our museum. It was a truly … More Clara’s Two Husbands on Both Sides of the River
I am going to begin today’s post with a sort-of debate. Here is the question. When does an old century end and a new one begin? Technically, the answer is that a century ends when a year that ends with a double-zero, like 1900, reaches its last day on December 31st. And the new century … More End-of-Century Births – Early Deaths
Today’s main character is part of our German Family Tree for just one reason. That is because his baptism record is found in the books of Christ Lutheran Church in Jacob, Illinois. He did not remain there long. This post will tell where this birthday boy would spend almost all his life. Herman Heinrich Johannes … More Herman Kistenmacher – Brown Shoe Company Foreman
I am going to attempt to settle this. Our German Family Tree says the following about a pair of girls in the Luedemann family. As you can see, there is a question mark behind the word, twin, for these two girls. There is documentation for the date of birth of Engel Luedemann in her marriage … More Twin Sisters? Or Not?
A new surname will appear in today’s story…Hassebrock. It is a tale that takes place in Illinois, but it certainly does not take place in the same location from beginning to end. There are plenty of moves from place to place, but almost all of those places are found in just that one state. We … More August and Ida – The Hassebrock’s
St. John’s Lutheran Church in Ruma, Illinois is celebrating their 175th anniversary this year. It is not often that a story on this blog takes us to that little church in Randolph County, Illinois. Today will be one of those posts. The baptism record for today’s birthday girl is likely to be found in the … More A Rathjen-Rowold Romance
I consider the highlight of today’s post will be noted at the very end of this article. I made one of those occasional trips to the Trinity Lutheran Cemetery here in Altenburg this morning in hopes of locating a gravestone that is not included on the Findagrave.com site for this cemetery. Often on such excursions, … More A Walther and Weseloh Wedding
In a previous post, Double Stepmother – Never a Birth Mother, the story was told of a woman who was the stepmother of William Schuessler. William was briefly mentioned in that post. Today, I will spend some time focusing on William, who is today’s birthday boy. William is the grandfather of one of our museum’s docents, … More William and Mathilda – The Schuessler’s
In the past, I have written the story of the “Fake Mirly”, who became August Mirly after being adopted. That August Mirly was born as August Steenbock, and his story was described in the post, Angeline Pi. That Fake Mirly was born on September 25, 1877 in Germany. Today, you will read the story of … More The Real August Mirly
