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Jim, my background includes six years studying history at the University of Munich in Germany, and I might be able to give you some suggestions if you supply a bit more information:
Roughly when was Anna Catherina Pfeffer born? You say she came to Philadelphia around 1851, but you gave no indication whatsoever as to old she was at the time. You say you have no date of birth, but would you have at least a rough idea of how old she was in 1851?
Did she come to America by herself or with other family members?
Who did she marry, and when?
Which censuses exactly did you find her in, and under what name?
Just like the U.S., Germany, too, has always been made up of STATES. So you're not talking about a "land"; you're talking about a state, just like when you talk about Pennsylvania, you're talking about a state.
From what you say at least, Anna Catharina Pfeffer was born in what was until 1866 the German state of ELECTORAL HESSE (in German: KURHESSEN), the capital of which was the city of KASSEL (old spelling: CASSEL). From its capital city, Electoral Hesse (Kurhessen) was often referred to as HESSE-KASSEL (old spelling: HESSE-CASSEL; in German: HESSEN-KASSEL, or old spelling: HESSEN-CASSEL). To give you an idea of size: Pre-1866 Electoral Hesse (Kurhessen) or Hesse-Kassel covered an area about twice that covered by the U.S. state of Delaware. There were about 1,670 cities, towns, and villages in pre-1866 Electoral Hesse (Kurhessen) or Hesse-Kassel! In 1866, Electoral Hesse (Kurhessen) or Hesse-Kassel had a population of about 750,000 people.
As did most of the German states, Electoral Hesse (Kurhessen) or Hesse-Kassel sided with Austria (at that time, a German state like any of the others) against Prussia in the Austro-Prussian War, or Seven Weeks War, of 1866. Austria and her allies were defeated. What was until 1945 Germany's largest state by far, PRUSSIA (in German: PREUSSEN, capital: BERLIN), thereupon annexed Electoral Hesse (Kurhessen) or Hesse-Kassel, as well as the neighboring state of NASSAU (capital: WIESBADEN), and what was up to that time the Free City of FRANKFURT, and combined the three territories into what was until 1945 to remain the Prussian province of HESSE-NASSAU (in German: HESSEN-NASSAU), with the city of KASSEL as its capital.
The former Electoral Hesse (Kurhessen) or Hesse-Kassel is one of the five components of today's new post-World War II German state of HESSE (in German: HESSEN), the former Electoral Hesse (Kurhessen) or Hesse-Kassel forming the northern and eastern portions of today's new state of Hesse (Hessen).
It really surprises me that the Lutheran church records in Philadelphia do not name the town where Anna Catharina Pfeffer was born, because German churches in the U.S. tended to keep rather detailed records. Which records exactly have you found so far?
Robert
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