Eberwein Family

Have you been to the City of Chesterfield’s new Eberwein Dog Park? It is at the site of the former Eberwein Farm on Old Baxter Road, south of Clarkson. You can still see the original red farm barn at the dog park. As of 1878 that farm once covered 427 acres south of present I-64 between Schoettler and Baxter Road.

In 1835 the Theodor Korner, a 300 ton vessel from Gottingen Prewsen, Germany, arrived at the Port of New Orleans with Henry Zacharias Eberwein on board.  His descendants included Ernst Eberwein (b. 2/16/1852, d. 2/23/1939) and Edward Eberwein (b. 1874, d. 1904).  Edward married Anna Kleinsorge (b. 1876, d. 1904).  They had a son, Elmer Ernst August Eberwein (b. 3/12/1889, d. 2/22/1960) who was baptized at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Ellisville, Missouri and attended the Ballwin School and Bellefontaine School on Conway Road in Chesterfield, Missouri.  Elmer and his wife, Estella Kummer (b. 12/15/1897, d. 12/17/1994), were farmers who purchased their groceries at Rinkel’s in Chesterfield and ordered other necessities from Sears & Roebuck or Montgomery Ward catalogs.  They raised four of their five children on the farm:  Orland (b. 10/14/1922) who married Melba Wehlewald, Nolene (b. 8/27/1924) who married Fredrick Bernard Arthur Mertz, Frances (b. 12/17/1926) who married Walter Hellwig, and Glen (b. 3/17/1931, d. 5/27/2000) who married Jan Duenke.  Their youngest child, Elmer Lee died at birth in July 1934. On October 16, 1948 Nolene and Frances had a double wedding at the Trinity Lutheran Church on Clayton Road in Manchester, Missouri.  Nolene and Fredrick Mertz had three children:  Steven (b. 7/6/1950), Barbara (b. 7/8/1953), and Brian (b. 19/15/1956).

In the 1840s Heinrich Wilhelm Kummer arrived in the Chesterfield area from Hanover, Germany.  He purchased a farm from the brother of Governor Bates of Missouri.  Heinrich’s descendant, Henry (b. 1872, d. 1958) married Rosa Sahm (b. 1875, d. 1968).  They baptized their daughter, Estella Johanna Wilhelmina Kummer, at St. John’s Lutheran Church and sent her to Lake School on Olive Street Road in Chesterfield.  On September 3, 1921 Estella married Elmer Eberwein at Trinity Lutheran Church in Alton, Illinois.  She is buried at St. John’s Church on Olive Street Road in Chesterfield.

L-R: Henry Z. Eberwein ( b. 1884), Julia (b. 1871), Catherine (b. 1882), Frederick (b. 1877), Julius (b. 1880).  Seated Henry Z. Eberwein (b. 1835) and Wilhemina Schwenck Eberwein (b. 1842).  Picture was taken in 1890s in front of home on Baxter Road. Courtesy of CHLPC							Henry Zaccarius Eberwein , b. 1805. He was educated at the University Of Goettinger in Germany. He was the organist at Old Bonhomme Church. Picture was taken in 1864. Courtesy of CHLPC

Sources
Eberwein, Nolene interviewed by Marcella Mertz on 25 January 2001.