Family members and others have been very generous in sharing information with me for which I am very grateful. These documents and other resources formed the basis of my family research and are acknowledged throughout the book. Many thanks to all who contributed  especially:

Martha Margaretha (Cordes) Kirmse – My Grandmother

This book includes many photographs from photo albums that my grandmother, Martha Margaretha (Cordes) Kirmse, prepared. And over the years as I was younger and particularly when I stayed with my Kirmse grandparents during the week for two years while I was in high school, my grandparents told me stories about themselves, their parents and other relatives. I did take some notes at the time. Now well over a half century later, I wish I had taken more detailed notes and asked many more questions for which I am now trying to find answers.

The “Three Cousins”

During the 1970-1990 time period Norma (Kirmse) Rauh teamed up with Julius Henry Kirmse (Norma’s brother) and their first cousin Helen Marie (Kirmse) Hacker to collect and document family history information.

Norma Martha (Kirmse) Rauh

Norma (Kirmse) Rauh analized and cataloged the information the “Three Cousins” gathered. In 2003 I visited Alva, Oklahoma and scanned the extensive files that Aunt Norma had collected.  Katherine (Rauh) Earnest, Norma’s daughter, had the files in her possession at that time.

Helen Marie (Kirmse) Hacker

Helen (Kirmse) Hacker owns and lives on the Julius Kirmse homestead in Farrar, Missouri. Helen has shared many more documents and photographs. In the fall of 2003, I visited Helen in Farrar, Missouri on my Great Grandfather Julius Kirmse’s family farm. And, while there also gathered documents and pictures from the Perry County Historical Society.

Julius Henry Kirmse

My father and stepmother independently researched family histories. They also visited relatives in Missouri to collect information.

Frederick “Fred” Eggers

About 20 years ago, Fred Eggers contacted me for information on my Great-Grandfather Julius Kirmse for the then upcoming 150 year celebration of the founding of Salem Lutheran Church in Farrar, Missouri for which my great-grandfather was one of the founding members. Since then I have communicated with Fred Eggers on many questions about family histories in Perry County, Missouri. He is a mentor at the Lutheran Heritage Center and Museum in Altenburg, Missouri and has looked up and transmitted historical documents and provided very useful family information.

Daniel Oetjen

Daniel emailed my as to why I had pictures of his relatives in my blog, “Grandma Kirmse’s Album”. At the time I had posted pictures from Grandmother Kirmse’s photo album but was still in the mode of determining who were in some of the portraits. Daniel helped identify his relatives and over the years has provided much information about the Parish Scheeßel where he was living at the time.