Thursday, November 03, 2011

To Continue...the Journey to Cedron

Of course I intended that many weeks ago, I would publish more about my Missouri adventures, and tell you what I saw over that rise.

Sigh.  real life intervenes.

Anyway, here's what was just over that rise, viewed though a rain-splattered windsheild:


This is Assumption Catholic Church, in Cedron, Missouri.  This lovely little church, built in 1838, is no longer an active parish.  But the church and its cemetery are being maintained through the efforts of a devoted local group.

Thanks to their efforts, I was able to visit the grave of Lorenz Weingartner, my great-great grandfather.  Part of the excitement of this discovery was the ability to confirm bits and pieces of information about him gathered from my family, and to correct some of our errors.


But most of all, I was grateful to see a place where my ancestors had gathered and sought the comforts of their faith together, a place where some of them probably met their future spouses, where they were wed, where their children were baptized, and where, as with Lorenz Weingartner, they were laid to rest.  I had the chance to think of their courage in leaving their own families Germany, crossing the Atlantic, and then half the U.S..  They settled in western Missouri and started farms there.



The area where my family lived is beautiful.  It's not far from the Missouri River, near the Lewis and Clark Trail.  My thanks again to the Cedron Church preservationists — without them, it is unlikely I would have ever had those peaceful moments in Cedron.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Perhaps Irene might want to make a similar journey to discover her roots. Whatever happened to her elderly friend Sr. Theresa at St. Ann's?

Brian

Jan Burke said...

Hi Brian!
You never know what Irene may do next. Sister Theresa is still around. Thanks for asking about her -- I have a soft spot for that character.

Have a happy new year!


Jan

Elizabeth Schwartz Schrader said...

I have great grandparents who were married at this church and had not ever heard of it or of Cedron. (and I was born and raised in Missouri!)

Thank you so much for taking the time to write about it. Genealogists everywhere appreciate your work!

Jan Burke said...

Elizabeth, I hope you get a chance to visit the church. The group that is restoring it holds events from time to time. You can contact them through their Website at http://cedronchurch.org/

If you have family from Moniteau County, I highly recommend this site for genealogy research -- http://cenmofamilies.us/wgnsurs.html

Jerry Haldiman is a great researcher who is careful about his sources, unlike some of the folks who randomly add branches to their family trees on Ancestry.com (which I also like and use, but with caution.) Here's his main page, which links to other central MO counties, too:

http://cenmofamilies.us/

Tell him I said hello!