Archives for Spencer County
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 to the internet and the vast amount of published diaries and documents, I have been able to reconstruct a likely account of the hell he…
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 nightmares. Their stories are filled with indians, locusts, droughts, and buffalo hunts. The Freyhofers immigrated from Switzerland through New Orleans in 1834 and the Hannings…
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 helped named the town. 1852 The Freyhofers settled there at the invitation of the Hannings 1854 Theo Hanning cofounded the Santa Claus United Methodist Church…