History of St. John's German Evangelical Church of Newport
By Jim Reis-reprinted here with his
permission from
Pieces of the Past-Volume 2
St. John's Evangelical Church in Newport, now St. John's United Church of Christ, was formed by a determined group of 31 German families because there was no place in Newport where the German Protestant immigrants could worship in their own language and traditions. Their only option was to attend service at one of three German churches in Cincinnati's Over-the-Rhine area. Today a trip to Cincinnati from Newport is a five minuet car ride, but in 1847, it was a journey. It meant walking or riding a horse or driving a wagon to the Ohio River, crossing on a ferry or skiff, and then walking or hitching a ride to Over-the-Rhine.
While that might not have been so bad once a week, chances are many of those same people already were making that trip six days a week. William Schraer, a longtime member and St. John's historian, said many of Newport's early German immigrants worked in Cincinnati's pork slaughterhouses and shoe factories.
To accommodate the immigrants' worship needs, the First German Protestant Evangelical Church was organized on April 26, 1847. John George Neidle was elected president and John Kuhn became secretary; a nine-man committee was appointed to draft a church constitution. They met on May 1 to begin the search for a church site.
The site selected was on Dayton Street in Newport. A 40 foot by 18 foot church was constructed on two lots. One of the lots was donated to the immigrants by James Taylor, founder of Newport. Among the names of those early church families were:
Ahlering,
Bindhammer, Boss, Buning
Constanz
Dilling
Ehlers, Emier, Erer
Gaus, Griefe
Heim, Heniz, Hufnagel
Kamping, Keithor, Kuhn
Lohr
Meyer, Mussman
Neidle
Purschel
Weber
In its first year the congregation was served by visiting ministers. Rev Frederick Boettcher was hired in June 1848. Rev Frederick Boettcher was hired in June 1848. He died a year later, and the church began looking for a new minister. The congregation grew steadily and on June 7, 1857, a decision was made to build a larger building. A lot at Columbia and Mayo streets was chosen. Mayo Street later was renamed Seventh Street.
More than $4000 was raised for the church and the lot was purchased for $1400. The cornerstone was laid May 30, 1858 and the church dedicated January 30, 1859. Services were held in German; a school where students were taught in German, was added later. Among the teachers was Professor H Appel, who had taught at several German language schools, including one in Paducah. Church records indicate in 1863 the school had 200 pupils-120 boys and 80 girls. The school operated until 1873.
Appel later started a German language school at St. John's Lutheran Church in Newport. A story in the Newport Local on November 11, 1876, said the school offered a variety of subjects, including German, English, mathematics and needlework. The writer said Appel charged students 50 cents a month-paid in advance.
St. John's German Protestant Evangelical Church experienced a setback on December 21, 1862 when Rev Carl Ernest Clausen resigned as pastor. His election a year earlier had divided the church council. When Rev Clausen left, he took part of the congregation with him and established St. Paul's Evangelical Church on East Eighth Street in Newport. In 1892 a similar dispute involved Rev Gotlieb Brandstettner when he resigned at left with part of the congregation. He had been pastor of St. John's for 11 years.
The new congregation met initially down the block at the German Baptist Church at Seventh and Orchard. That congregation became St. Mark's German Lutheran Church. In 1874, the name of St. John's was officially changed to the First Evangelical Protestant Church of Newport. The dropping of "German" from the church name marked the beginning of the use of English in some church services, a change that did not please all members.
A parsonage was built next to the church in 1888 and the church building was renovated. The latter led to a rededication on October 11, 1896 and a golden jubilee celebration in April of the next year. A Kentucky Post account on April 26, 1897 called the 50th anniversary celebration "impressive". The church also had a strong commitment to social issues such as the Campbell County Protestant Children's Home in the old Clifton section of Newport. It was the forerunner of Holly Hill Children's Home.
Rev Harold W Barkau was pastor of St. John's from April 2, 1933 until his death June 25, 1972. He was the past president of both the Newport and Greater Cincinnati Ministerial Associations. He was the chairman of the Social Action Committee of the Northern Kentucky Association of Protestant Churches and one of the leaders in the campaign against organized crime in Newport in the 1950s and 1960s. During his ministry, a Girl Scout Troop was organized in 1934 and a nursery opened in 1936. Rev Barkau preached only in English.
On January 10, 1939, smoke was spotted coming from the church roof. Firemen, hampered by low water pressure, could do little to stop the spread of the flames. The 50 foot steeple fell inside the church and no one was hurt. It took four hours to put out the flames. Only Newport fireman Edward Young was injured; a brick fell on his foot. Newport Fire Chief Edward Miles said sparks from a flue may have ignited bird nests built by pigeons under the church roof.
The site of Park Avenue and Nelson Place was chosen for a new church, where the old Nelson family estate stood, including a stately mansion. The Nelsons were descendants of James Taylor. Groundbreaking was April 21, 1940, the cornerstone laid July 28, and the dedication on January 26, 1941. St. John's celebrated 100 years in 1947 and three years later started an education building. In 1957, the church affiliated with the United Church of Christ.