Our Seven Children

Step back in time to the 1800s with the stories from Our Seven Children. From the German immigration of John Phillip Bohnenkamp in 1853 to the trials of the St. Louis cholera epidemic and homesteading in Franklin County, these posts explore the faith, resilience, and daily life of a Missouri minister’s family. Follow the journeys of the seven children and their descendants across the Midwest.

The Koch Family & 1849 St. Louis Cholera | Our Seven Children

The Koch Family & 1849 St. Louis Cholera | Our Seven Children

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In Chapter II of Our Seven Children, we shift to Reverend Sam’s maternal line: the Koch family. It is a story that begins with German immigrants, coffin makers navigating the catastrophic 1849 St. Louis cholera epidemic, and the fragile nature of family memory. Join me as I open a door to a branch of my family that had gone quiet, exploring how inherited trauma, lost stories, and rural Missouri history are preserved through a grandfather’s stubborn dedication to writing it all down.

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Personal Prologue: Bringing Our Seven Children Back Into the Light

Personal Prologue: Bringing Our Seven Children Back Into the Light

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Old things do not preserve themselves.” In this series opener, I’m bringing Reverend Sam D. Bohnenkamp’s 1962 family memoir back into the light. Step inside a narrative that stretches from 1850s Germany to the brickyards of St. Louis and the rocky farms of Bourbon, Missouri. Chapter I follows the Bohnenkamp family through the heartbreak of a cholera epidemic and the grit of homesteading 120 acres in Franklin County. It’s not just a list of names—it’s a memory dump of barefoot summers, lost graves, and the stubborn survival of a Missouri family.

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A woman in a WAC uniform reading a newspaper during WWII.

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