St Paul Lutheran Church

About

The following information is available for St Paul Lutheran Church:

Celebrated 150 years in 2014

The founding of St Paul - In the mid 1850's settlement in Wilberton Township was mainly on the watercourses and at the edges of the forest land. The people were afraid of the prairie and many thought if the land wouldn't grow trees, well then, it wouldn't grow much of anything. Advertising a million acres of land for sale in the price range of $8 to $12 an acre, the railroad offered free passage for anyone who wanted to come look at it. Michael Sasse of Dodge Co, WI took them up on their offer and returned to WI with glowing accounts of the flat, well watered land. The Wisconsin families making the decision to move south included Sasse, Oertwig, Schukar, and Fellwock, all inter-related. They had migrated from Nahausen, Germany in 1846, seeking religious freedom. The families of Gottfried Stein, Robert Maske, Friedrich Malchow, Ferdinand Busse and Lidwig Lenz are also counted among the 12 WI families who followed Michael Sasse to the prairie lands of central Illinois. The first church service was held in Friedrich Malchow's log cabin. In the autumn of 1865, the group purchased the improvement of one of its members who had returned to Wisconsin. In this building both church services and school were held. Pastor Johann W Streckfuss of Lutheran Church of Grand Prairie near Okawville in Washington County, would occasionally preach and administer the sacraments. Several Washington Co families including Opfer, Naber, Boye, Schulte and Torbeck moved to the St Paul settlement before 1870. The church purchased 40 acres for church, school and cemetery purposes. In 1867, the St Paul congregation joined the Missouri Synod and on June 18, Pastor Endres was installed as the first resident pastor. 1872 John Boye started a mercantile. February 1, 1876 St Paul Post Office was established, closing in 1906. Bertram Landhold was the blacksmith. A 2 story hotel was built. 1901 the schoolhouse was built, later torn down in 2001. Dr Albert Greer had an office in St Paul saw to the needs of patients in the area. On June 29, 1879 the cornerstone was laid for a church. Lightning struck the steeple July 28, 1914 an the church burned to the ground. On May 9, 1915 the cornerstone of the current building was set in place and construction was begun. This church was dedicated four months later. Today you can still see the church that faith built. A parsonage and fellowship hall stands next door and the cemetery is the final resting place of the settlement's founders.

Address

St Paul Lutheran Church can be found at the following address:

1608 E 800th Ave

62885

Map

Check the map to see where you can find St Paul Lutheran Church.

Church guide