Site of the Papsdorf Windmill - home of Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Gerlach

Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Gerlach and his family were residents of the farm and mill that used to stand just northwest of the village of Papsdorf. 

Here is a map of the area from around 1839. The yellow square indicates where the Papsdorf Windmill once stood. 

Below is an old photograph of the farm and windmill.

The farm house still stands today, however the windmill is gone.  Google maps has aerial views that show the property today. 

Here is a description of the Papsdorf Windmill, in German. 

Zschoppach Church - place of marriage for JFW Gerlach and Christiane Wilhelmine Stuhr

Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Gerlach and Christiane Wilhelmine Stuhr were married on 18 Jan 1863 at the Zschoppach church.  The Stuhr family lived nearby in Draschwitz.

The famous theologian and Augustinian Vicar, Johann von Staupitz, was born nearby in Motterwitz.  He was baptized in the Zschoppach church in 1465.  Staupitz is known for his influence on Martin Luther regarding Grace and Salavtion through the Blood of Christ, while Luther struggled with forgiveness while serving at the Augustinian Monastery in Erfurt.

Collmen Church, place of worship for the Albert and Fischer families

Collmen is a village just east of the castle town of Colditz, Saxony.  The Collmen church was the place of worship for the Albert and Fischer families at least back to the 1770s.  Both families lived in Skoplau, a smaller village further east.  Johann Gottlob Albert was an elder of the church around the 1830s. 

The church was built upon much older ruins from the 1190s, where a monastery chapel once stood. 

In November 1735, Johann Sebastian Bach visited the church to attend a wedding between the Kriegel and Wendt families. 

The Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Gerlach Family

Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Gerlach & Christiane Wilhelmine Stuhr had the following children:
(The parentage of these children is proven by Missouri Death Certificates)

1. Friedrich Ernst Gerlach, b. 1 Oct 1864, Sachsen; d. 13 Jun 1950, Moniteau County, MO; married Annie Fischer

2. Ida Franziska Gerlach, b. 15 Nov 1866, Marschwitz, Sachsen; d. 10 Oct 1959, Alexandria, MN; married Gottlieb Beutler

3. Anna Hulda Gerlach, b. 3 Nov 1868; Marschwitz, Sachsen; d. 6 Sep 1948, Moniteau County, MO; married John G. Burger

4. Anna Martha "Annie" Gerlach, b. 18 Apr 1870, Germany; d. 29 Apr 1935, Moniteau County, MO; married Wilhelm F. Ziebold.

Gottlob Fleischer & Sophie Lippert had the following children:
1. Bertha Fleischer, b. 1874, married Dietrich Hofmockel. (She immigrated with mother in 1882)
2. female - stayed in Saxony; married A. Helwig, lived in Grimma in 1913.

JFW Gerlach and Sophie Lippert (widow Fleischer) remarried after their spouses died.  They married between Christiane Gerlach's death on 3 Nov 1879 and their emigration on 12 Jul 1882.  I am not aware of any children born to JFW Gerlach & Sophie Lippert Fleischer.

Sophie Lippert's sister, Wilhelmine Lippert, married Hermann Becher.

Friedrich Ernst Gerlach - immigration record

Friedrich Ernst Gerlach (Fredrick Ernest), the son of Johann Friedrich Wilhelm and Christiane Wilhelmine Gerlach also immigrated to the USA.   He came with Louis Jahn on 31 May 1882 through Baltimore, Maryland, on the ship Wieland.    

Sophie Gerlach

Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Gerlach's second wife was Johanna Sophie Lippert.  She married J.F. Wilhelm Gerlach between November 1879 and July 1882, possibly at Pöhsig, Saxony.  She was born 29 Dec 1833 in Saxony, Germany to Carl Lippert and Christina Radd. She died on 2 Jul 1926, in Cole County, Missouri. 

This was also her second marriage, her first was to Gottlob Fleischer.  They had the following children:

• Bertha came with her mother and step-father to Moniteau County, Missouri in 1882.  She was born about 1874. On February 2, 1898, she married Dietrich Hofmockel at Trinity Lutheran Church, Russellville, Cole County, Missouri. 
• In 1913, Bertha visited her sister, Mrs. A. Helwig, who lived at Weberstrasse 18, Grimma, Saxony. 

Sophie Gerlach had a sister, Wilhelmine Lippert, who also came to Missouri.  She was born on 11 Mar 1842, and died on 19 Apr 1908.  Wilhelmine married Hermann Becher.