The Wallner Family from Halbenrain to New Bedford

This book explores the genealogy and stories of the ancestors and descendants of Peter Wallner and Juliana Lamprecht who lived in Halbenrain, Styria, Austria where they ran a farm and bakery and raised a family in the latter half of the 19th century. One of their sons, Anton Wallner, moved to New Bedford, Massachusetts where he opened a successful bakery business. There he married Anna Sirk from Radkersburg in Austria and together they raised a family of nine children. Franz Wallner, a brother of Anton, stayed in Halbenrain where he opened a store in the center of town and had two children. Descendants of Anton and Franz have been traced forward through seven generations to the families of the current latest generations. Descendants of the Sirk and Lamprecht families are also included in the book. Ancestors of the Wallner, Sirk and Lamprecht families have been traced back as far as five generations to the 17th century. There is a brief history of the places where the families lived in both Austria and New Bedford. The history of various settlements, towns and villages in Styria, Austria reaches back to ancient times. The book is illustrated with over 750 photos of family members, artifacts, maps and homes. In addition to the Wallner, Lamprecht and Sirk families, other ancestral surnames in the family history include Kaefer, Kerngast, Kurzman, Mueller, Prieschnigg, Puntigam, Schwarz, Sirk, Sundl and von Preu. Family names of descendent marriages include Snell, Ferris, Enos, Palme, Powell, Myers, Mayer, Losert, Delp, Rice, Weldon, Woodward, Hogan, Sabel, Dannenberg, Bolt, Case, Chambers, Schwarz, Neuhold, Fasching, Fischer. This is an in depth history with its share of fascinating characters including the struggles and successes of accomplished bakers, musicians, athletes, artists, teachers, soldiers, sailors, air corps men and woman, homemakers, entrepreneurs, one mysterious arms dealer and some really nice people and great parents.

Peter Wallner was born in 1836 in the village of Rosenberg, Sankt Peter am Ottersbach diocese, in the Radkersburg (now Südoststeiermark) district of the state of Styria, Austria. Peter grew up on a farm there, but when he was about 20 years old, he moved to the town of Halbenrain a few miles to the east where he apprenticed with a master baker and innkeeper named Michael Lamprecht. Juliana Lamprecht was Michael Lamprecht's niece. The Lamprecht family was from the village of Risola, Sankt Anna am Aigen diocese, in the Feldbach (now also Südoststeiermark) district of Styria. Juliana was born in Risola in 1831 and was raised at the Lamprecht homestead at Risola 5. Around 1855, when she was about 24 years old, Juliana moved to Halbenrain to live with her uncle and help with his business. Of course, this was around the same time that Peter Wallner showed up there and a romance developed. Within a year Peter and Juliana were married and started a family, eventually having six children. In 1873 Peter and Juliana inherited the inn and bakery from Uncle Michael. In addition, they had farmland in Halbenrain that included a substantial vineyard. One of their sons was Anton Wallner who was born in 1856. Anton developed a wanderlust, wanting to go out into the world on an adventure to live in America. Anton worked diligently to learn all he could about baking and the business of running a bakery, with plans to open a bakery when he got to America. Meanwhile, in the town of Radkersburg a few miles to the south of Halbenrain and on the Mur River where it borders Slovenia, Franziska Sirk, daughter of Sophia von Preu, had a ceramic business at Tabor 11. An artist named Josef worked at the ceramic studio painting decorations on the ceramics. Franziska and Josef never married but had an ongoing intimate relationship that ended up yielding five daughters. The eldest daughter was Anna Sirk who was born in 1862. When Franziska died in 1874, the girls were orphaned, leaving Anna, who was just 15 at the time, to look after her younger sisters. Anna eventually got work as a domestic for the Wallner family in Halbenrain. Working there, of course, Anna got to know Anton. As he had planned, Anton left Halbenrain and sailed to America in 1882 with intentions of opening a bakery. He settled in the city of New Bedford, at the time one of the wealthiest cities due to its status as the largest whaling port in the world. Six years later, after he had established himself and unable to forget his feelings for Anna, he sent a letter home to Halbenrain asking her to come to join him in New Bedford, which she did. They were married within a week of her arrival and together raised a family of nine children. The descendants of Anton and Anna are now spread all over the United States. Another son of Peter and Juliana, Franz Xavier Wallner, stayed in Halbenrain where he opened a store in the center of town. Franz married Theresia Kaefer who was from Gersdorf, Sankt Viet am Vongau diocese in Styria. Together they had two children. Their son Franz eventually inherited the store. Some of his descendants still run the Wallner store that continues to be a fixture in the Halbenrain community. This book explores the genealogy and stories of the ancestors and descendants of Peter Wallner and Juliana Lamprecht. Ancestors have been traced back five generations to the 17th century. Descendants have been traced forward through seven generations to the families of the current latest generations. There is a brief history of the places where the families lived going back to ancient times. The book is illustrated with over 750 photos of family members, artifacts, maps and homes. In addition to the Wallner, Lamprecht, Sirk and Kaefer families, other ancestral surnames in the family history include Kerngast, Kurzman, Mueller, Prieschnigg, Puntigam, Schwarz, Sirk, Sundl and von Preu.

Joseph Palme Myers (Joe) was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on January 6, 1949, the second of three children of Winifred Palme Myers and Joseph Nash Myers. He grew up in North Wales, Pennsylvania, Dedham, Mass. and Atlanta, Georgia, and then back to Massachusetts, graduating from Duxbury High School in 1966. Joe graduated from Georgia Tech in 1970 with a BS in Applied Math. He taught High School Math and Science for two years before embarking on a career in computer software. Throughout it all he made time for painting, drawing and writing. In 1969 while still in college, Joe married Valerie Ann Walker of Atlanta Georgia. They are currently living in Marietta, Georgia. They have two children and two grandchildren. Joe attended art classes at the Architecture Department while at Georgia Tech, studied watercolor painting under Marshall Joyce of Marshfield Mass in 1976 and studied etching at the Atlanta College of Art in 1978-1979. In 2016 he wrote and illustrated the children's book "Joseph and the Bumble Bee or Be Bee Careful", his first published work. He has been doing genealogical research since 1995 and has written "The Nash Family of Upper Dublin Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania - A Study of the Ancestors and Descendants of Daniel Nash and Maria Shaffer" and "The Love Letters of Otto Palme to Eleanora Wallner 1915-1920". He is continuing to work on several other books.