Archives for Indiana
Santa Claus, Indiana connections and events
Santa Claus, Indiana was the site of the Hannings and Freyhofers, along with a church assignment for Rev. Weiler and his wife Addie Hanning, all on my mother's side. 1816-1830 Abraham Lincoln lived about four miles away as a boy on Pigeon Creek Farm. 1847 the Hannings settled there and…
Reverend William Weiler Autobiography
A fantastic taste of life in a small German peasant village in the late 1800's and the voyage to America, hand written by the flying parson himself. This is the autobiography of Reverend William Weiler, the father of my grandmother, Louise Adelaide Weiler Wagner. Rev. Weiler wrote it at the…
Henry Freyhofer, Civil War Soldier
The family history about Henry has always been brief – the record merely states he enlisted in the Union Army, went to Calhoun, Kentucky, contracted Typhoid Fever and died. But we had this wonderful and rare photo of him in uniform. It was assumed he never saw action, but thanks…
Hanning Freyhofer Story
One cannot tell the story of the Hannings without the Freyhofers. With scenes that could be straight out of a movie or an episode of Little House on the Prairie, our ancestors came looking for the American Dream and they found it in Indiana and Kansas, along with a few…
Christina Behringer Strebe
In 1891 my great grandfather William Weiler came to America from Germany at the age of 14. He went directly to Lafayette, Indiana to stay with his aunt Christina. This is excerpted from Reverend William Weiler's autobiography Photos found on Ancestry - originally shared by Jodi Austin Christina (maiden…
Santa Claus, Indiana founded by John and Dora Hanning
My 3rd great grandparents John and Dora Hanning helped found the town of Santa Claus, Indiana in 1854. Half a century later my great great grandfather Rev. Weiler returned to Santa Claus having married John and Dora's grandaughter Addie Hanning to preach in the church there between 1912 and 1917.…