Chapter I
The Struggle to Start - 1843-1868
As with most of the Lutheran parishes in the Jefferson City area, the origin of St. John's may be traced back to the influx of German immigrants into this area in the early 1840's. On the occasion of the seventy-fifth anniversary of St. Paul's Church, Lohman, October 23, 1927, the Reverend A. Biedermann identified these people as mostly "Bavarians." "In the beginning of the fifties, they were joined by Austrians and Schwabians." Many households in the congregation spoke "Bayerish," the peculiar German dialect of people from Bavaria. While some of the immigrants probably came overland, many arrived via sailing ship at southern ports and then embarked on river boats up the Mississippi and the Missouri. In the words of Pastor Biedermann, "Those that came found a new home. But, they did not find their church here." Since they did not find their church here, they set about the task of establishing it. Few details of this early beginning are available. The earliest documentary evidence of an attempt to begin a church in this community consists of land purchase documents. On January 2, 1844, John Kerrel (Keri) and Henry Stanford, as trustees for "the Osage Point Church," purchased from Nicolas Taylor and his wife Catharine an eleven-acre tract of land approximately one-half mile east of the present church for a consideration of $5.00. On the same day, Thomas Bolton and his wife Susan sold a three-acre plot in the same section to these trustees for another $5.00. On January 5, Kerrel and Stanford obtained 7.87 acres of the adjoining property from Lawrence (Lorenz) Shubert (Schubert) and his wife Catherine for the use of the Osage Point Church, again for a consideration of $5.00. This combined purchase of almost twenty-two acres obtained a sizeable plot for the fledgling church for the nominal sum of $15.00. Unfortunately, little documentary evidence yet exists to show the precise use to which the Osage Point Church put all this property.
As of 1969
Part of the property was used for a cemetery, a portion of which is still evident. This cemetery is located on the first road east of the present property, about .3 of a mile off Highway 50. Neglect over the years has all but obscured the site, but a few stones remain and the remains of a few family plots still exist. Remnants of a wire fence surround the Doehia plot. Only the stones of George N. Doehia and his twenty-one year old son, Lorence, remain. The Hirsch family plot is outlined by the remains of a now fallen stone wall. Within the plot are the grave markers of two infant children, John and Margaret, and the lower portion of a third. Regrettably, only the birth and death dates remain on the latter. The upper portion containing the name is gone. A substantial portion of wooden, picket fence marks the location of a third plot, but no stones are in evidence. The latest stone is that of George Doehia, who died October 19, 1867.
As of 1994
The old cemetery has almost disappeared into the woods. However, it is should be noted that during July of 1991, the Junior Youth Group from Concordia, Kirkwood, joined our own Youth Group, and performed a service project which was to clean up the old cemetery. Joined by many adult members of the congregation, (armed with chain saws, shovels, and snacks), the cemetery was cleaned of brush and low timber. One previously hidden headstone was discovered, some headstones were repaired and many graves outlined with stone were uncovered. It is assumed that some graves were never marked, or that wood might have been used and is now long gone. Stones still in existence as of 1994 are George N. Doehia, Lorenz Doehia (son), John Hirsch, John & Margaret (children), and Johann A. Reuss.
Across the present road from this cemetery is a clearing which is believed to be the site of the log building used as the Osage Point Church. Although nothing remains there now to mark the spot, there is ample evidence that at one time a log structure used for church purposes did stand in the vicinity. The property on which it stood later was part of the Lorenz Schubert farm. In his will dated February 4, 1868, Lorenz Schubert bequeathed "the logs and timber in (the) house known as the old church house" to his son Henry. Several of the present members of St. John's remember being told of a log "church" at this old location. Oscar Bolting recalls his grandmother, Mrs. Jon Truetzel, who came to this community in 1854, speaking of such a building. Messrs. Otto Walther and William Schwab remember going to school in a log building, which had been used as a church, on the present property. They believe that this log structure had been moved from the old property to the present location of the parish house. The history of the congregation compiled for the 75th anniversary "with the aid of Mrs. Nick Wilferth, Simon Keri, and others" describes the activity of the period thus: "Pastors from neighboring congregations would from time to time visit Schubert, hold services in the homes, and instruct the children for confirmation."
To what extent services were held in homes or in "the old church house" it is impossible to say. Possibly, services were first held in homes and then later in the "old church house." Likewise, it is impossible to say exactly what this "old church house" looked like or when it was built. Conceivably, it was literally a house of the type often built at the time, two rooms with a hall or kitchen in between, that already stood on the property when it was acquired by Kerrel and Stanford for the Osage Point Church and later used for church purposes. Possibly it was built later as a first attempt at a church building. Definite conclusions are simply impossible. All that can be said with certainty is that there was some sort of log structure that was associated with church purposes on the property. The wording of Lorenz Schubert's will ("the old church house") may indicate that the building had been associated with church use for some time prior to 1868. Whatever "the old church house" was, it is certain the Gospel was being proclaimed and the Sacraments administered in this community during this period. The 75th anniversary history records Simon Kerfs recollection that "the sacrament of Holy Baptism was administered to his mother in early infancy while services were conducted on the farm now owned by Victor Schubert." This history places that baptism over 95 years ago. That dating would place Margaretha (Koehler) Kerl's baptism some time before 1849. A baptismal certificate for Anna Margaretha Kiesling dated 16 November 1851 still exists. This same 75th anniversary history records Mrs. Nick Wilferth's memory that "confirmation classes were held when young christians were instructed in the Law and Gospel." According to Mrs. Wilferth, her sister-in-law, Mrs. Barbara (Wilferth) Wendler, Mrs. Anna Sophie (Kiesling) Krause, and Mrs. Margaretha (Koehler) Keri, and others were confirmed before the organization of St. John's. Quite obviously a functioning congregation existed prior to 1869.
The question remains as to whom was serving this infant congregation. No answer that is beyond dispute has yet been found. The only written evidence is the baptismal certificate of Anna Margaretha Kiesling mentioned above. Unfortunately, to date it has not been possible to identify the signer, "Carol Hermann Schmid, Preacher of the Gospel." The histories of both Zion Church, Jefferson City, and St. Paul's Church, Lohman, indicate that various preachers visited their congregations in the early years, but their service was sometimes less than acceptable since some of these were sectarian preachers, not Lutheran pastors. Such may have been the case with the Osage Point Church. Note: Just recently discovered in the History of the German Church in America is a reference to a German Pastor H. Grote who served many small churches in the Osage and Gasconade area of East Central Missouri. It noted that in 1844-1845 he served with regularity congregations at Sugar Creek and Osage Point Missouri (obviously the Schubert congregation).
St. John's 75th anniversary history reports "pastors from neighboring congregations" visiting the community "from time to time." There is no evidence of a Lutheran pastor in the general vicinity of Jefferson City until the coming of Candidate John Paul Kalb in 1848. Candidate Kalb, from Markt Eribach in Mittelfranken, Bavaria, graduated from the theological seminary then maintained by the Missouri Synod in Fort Wayne, Indiana in 1847. The official notification of his assignment, published in the December 14, 1847 issue of "Der Lutheraner, the official church paper of the Missouri Synod at that time, says that he received "the call of the Evangelical Lutheran congregations on the Moreau Creek and on the Osage near Jefferson City." The history of St. Paul's, Lohman, says concerning Kalb" "He seemed to be a traveling missionary from the Missouri Synod who was active in Osage, in Zion Church and in Jefferson City." This description would seem to coincide with the call notification in "Der Lutheraner." The source of this description is given as Pastor Fikenscher, who is described as a pastor during the "forties to the seventies of the last century." Pastor G. Fikenscher was pastor of Immanuel Lutheran Church, Centertown from 1876 to 1892, and his name appears in the Parish Register of our St. John's in 1900. While neither the "Lutheraner" notice nor Pastor Fikenscher's description of Kalb's work are specific enough that one can say he definitely served the Osage Point Church, it is not unreasonable to assume that he did. That St. John's was served by Kalb is not a new idea. An old announcement book at St. John's dated 1928-1945 has written inside the cover, "For some early history of Osage City congregation, of' and "Der Lutheraner" references to Kalb's call. The 125th anniversary history of Zion Church, Jefferson City, in speaking of the call to Candidate Kalb, that it "would not only be for a pastor for Zion Lutheran Church but that this call would also take into consideration the ministering unto the other Lutherans found in this area." It goes on to mention the Honey Creek, Jefferson City, and Stringtown (Lohman) "bands of Lutherans." The Schubert community might very well be included in the list.
Pastor Kalb served in the Jefferson City area four years before returning to the Fort Wayne campus as an instructor. He died by drowning in an accident there at the age of thirty on June 8, 1858. Before Pastor Kalb left in 1852, he ordained and installed his successor, Pastor Carl William Reinhard Frederking. Born at Boerninghausen, Westphalia, Germany on November 27, 1827, Pastor Frederking graduated from the Fort Wayne Seminary in 1852 and was ordained at the newly formed St. Paul's Church (Lohman) on April 28 of the same year. His ordination at St. Paul's many not be without importance since it may be indication that all Lutherans in the area were considered part of the same charge. The 125th anniversary history of Zion Church states that "Pastor Frederking served the same other Lutheran groups a Pastor Kalb (sic)." Pastor Frederking served the area Lutherans until the middle of 1855 when he accepted a call to Hollowayville, Illinois.
For almost one year there was no Lutheran pastor resident in the Jefferson City area. The Zion history states that students of theology from St. Louis served the local Lutheran community. It also says that Professor Kraemer and Dr. Walther (President of Synod) included these Lutherans in their ministrations as time allowed.
Pastor Emit Julius Moritz Wege, who had immigrated to this country on the ship "Olbers," which brought a number of Saxons to the United States in 1839, was installed at Zion Church April 6, 1856 and took up the work of his predecessors.
Immediately before coming to Jefferson City, Pastor Wege had served at Holy Cross Church, Cole Camp (1842-1855) and St. Mary's Church, Stover (1853-1855). St. John's (Lohman) centennial history states that "he also served a number of Lutheran congregations around Jefferson City from 1856 to 1865." Until March of 1865, Pastors Kalb, Frederking, and Wege were the only Lutheran pastors resident in the immediate Jefferson City area. If our 75th anniversary history is correct in saying that "Pastors from neighboring congregations would from time to time visit Schubert," the above mentioned pastors must have been those visitors. In 1864 serious dissension, which would indirectly but greatly affect the Osage Point Church, arose in the congregation at Lohnian (St. Paul's). This doctrinal disturbance rose to such a pitch that the president of the Western District, the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, was contacted. Having only recently been elected to office, President John Friedrick Buenger was spending a great portion of his time in travel throughout Illinois, Texas, and Kansas, only part of his extensive district. Because of the district president's wide-ranging travel, no word was received from him and the congregation grew impatient. A representative of the Iowa Synod did appear at St. Paul's in an attempt to calm the troubled waters. His proposed solution did not, however, meet with unanimous consent. Certain members could not subscribe to the compromise and were faced to withdraw and reorganize The Council of St. John's which would remain Missouri Synod in 1867. This was the origin of St. John's, Lohman. Those who remained with St. Paul's received an Iowa Synod pastor, the Reverend Joseph Meyer in 1865, and the congregation itself joined the Iowa Synod in 1867.
The disturbance at St. Paul's, Lohman, brought another element into play in Jefferson City Lutheranism. Until this time, there was only one Lutheran pastor resident in the area at a time. All these men had represented only one synod - the Missouri Synod. Now there were two resident Lutheran pastors and two synods. This would be important to the church in the Schubert community because it increased the chance that this community might be served more regularly. The limitations of travel during that time and the distance of the Osage Point Church from other Lutheran congregations in the area probably made it difficult for a Lutheran pastor to visit this community on more than a "from time-to-time" basis. The Missouri Synod pastors had always had a number of congregations in the area to serve. The coming of a resident Iowa Synod pastor to St. Paul's placed another Lutheran pastor in the area - a man who had only one congregation to serve. This may account for the fact that the Osage Point Church came to be served out of St. Paul's, Lohman, a connection that led the way to close relations with the Iowa Synod later.
The next year after Pastor Meyer came to St. Paul's; the Osage Point Church entered upon a period of transition. The transition began with the purchase of the present site of St. John's in 1866. This plot of 4.45 acres had been sold to J.H. Sanfort, Philip Miller, and Christi Viesman by James B. Bowlin and his wife Margaret Virginia of St. Louis County, Missouri in 1850. The purchase price was one dollar, with the understanding that Sanfort, Miller, and Viesman were to see to the erection of a house of worship for the Methodist Episcopal Church. On December 5, 1866, John H. Steininger, John A. Engelhardt, John Eberhart, Franz Propst and J. M. Pettry, trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Church, sold this parcel of land to Lorenz Schubert, George Schuster and Albert Koehler, trustees for the Osage Point Church, for a consideration of two-hundred dollars. On February 18, 1867, Lorenz Schubert, Albert Koehler and John W. Meyer, trustees of the Osage Point Church sold the property belonging to that church since 1844 to George Schubert for $166.00. These property transfers raise questions for which answers are yet to be found. Why did the Methodist church sell its property? Why did the Osage Point Church dispose of almost twenty-two acres to move to a 4.45 acre tract? The effect of the Civil War upon Methodism in the Jefferson City area may account for the decision of the Methodist trustees to sell the property they had held for 16 years. The War Between the States split Methodism in this area into two distinct camps: those favoring the Union cause and Southern sympathizers. The bitterness engendered severely weakened the local Methodist cause. This may be the reason for the property sale. No particularly suitable explanation has been advanced for the Osage Point Church trustees' desire to purchase the smaller tract, although proximity to the old St. Louis Road, which runs along the north side of the present cemetery, has been suggested as a possible motive. For whatever reasons, the Osage Point Church had a new home.
The problem of pastoral services remained regardless of the location. For such services, the Osage Point Church turned to St. Paul's, Lohman. Pastor Meyer, who had come to St. Paul's in 1865, left Lohman in 1867 to take a charge in Iowa and was succeeded by Reverend Conrad Duerschner. While it has been impossible to determine whether or not Pastor Meyer ever served at Schubert, his successor definitely did. Pastor Duerschner came to Lohman "near Christmas 1867." The next year, 1868, he was serving the Osage Point Church, as indicated in a letter of his dated 9 November, 1868, in which he states. "I am serving another congregation 20 miles from Stringtown." Further developments in the transition process are evident for Pastor Duerschner explains that this congregation now has a parsonage and desires a resident pastor. The desire to obtain a pastor of their own was not new. Pastor Grozman president of the Iowa Synod, before and Inspector Grozman had suggested a certain Pastor Bode in the Illinois Synod. Pastor Bode, however, received a salary of $1,000.00 and the Schubert community could not pay such a salary. Pastor Duerschner was anxious that the Iowa Synod supply a pastor soon since he thought that if their Synod did not, a pastor would be sent by "the Missourians who have already placed a student in the vicinity." This is evidently a reference to Candidate Carl Thurow, who came to be pastor at Zion Church in August 1868. At the time of Pastor Duerschner's letter, the Osage Point Church was already active in the affairs of the Iowa Synod supplying both funds ($10.00 from the harvest festival collection and $3.00 for church periodicals) and produce for the Iowa Synod seminary (dried peaches). In view of the wording of Candidate Kalb's call notice in 1847 ("to the evangelical Lutheran congregations on the Moreau Creek and on the Osage"), it is interesting to note that in this letter Pastor Duerschner describes the Osage Point Church as "the congregation on the Osage." Pastor Duerschner's desire to have a resident pastor sent to Schubert was three-pronged. His own parish (St. Paul's, Lohman) was continually growing and it became increasingly difficult for him to leave it for the forty mile roundtrip to Schubert. He was also concerned that the lack of a pastor at Schubert might forestall expansion of Iowa Synod work in the area and formation of an Iowa Synod conference in this area. In addition, he expressed concern that he might build up a congregation that could not be provided for later. There were other pressing needs that required a resident pastor in the Schubert community.
The irregularity of services and instruction for the young rendered the church on the Osage vulnerable to the efforts of German Methodists who were active in the area. Philip Diedel related to his granddaughters Rhadell Krummen and Rose Mary Schroeder that a Methodist preacher used to live on the Diedel property and that the property had been deeded to some Methodist trustees by this preacher.
According to William Schwab, a certain Jake Steininger owned what most people presently in the congregation remember as the Baer farm, and part of the house was used as a Methodist Sunday School, which Mr. Schwab's mother attended. In addition, the present site of St. John's Church belonged to the Methodist Church until its acquisition by the Osage Point Church, as mentioned above.
The increase of population in the area, the difficulties involved in keeping the congregation strong, and the need for regular religious instruction and services, combined to make the calling of a resident pastor a matter of prime concern for the Osage Point Church.
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