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St. John's Lutheran Church / (Wisconsin Synod)
Founded 1852
North 5th and Cady Streets
St. John's, 1910
1952
Watertown Daily Times, 09
03 1952
ST. JOHN’S CHURCH HERE PREPARES CELEBRATION FOR ITS CENTENNIAL
History of its first 100 years to be published
(Editor’s
Note: St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church
of Watertown is preparing to celebrate its centennial which will be observed in
October. Herewith begins a series of
articles detailing the history of the first one hundred years of the
congregation. The series was prepared by
the Rev. E. F. Quandt, the Rev. M. A. Bertermann and Dr. C. L. Bergmann and is
as complete as research could make it.
The series will appear in daily installments in the Daily Times over a
period of about two weeks.)
Introduction
St.
John’s Lutheran Congregation in Watertown, a member of the Missouri Synod, this
year is observing its 100th anniversary and the centennial will be
celebrated on the four Sundays in October.
There will be outstanding guest speakers.
A
display of crosses has been placed in the church, starting with the founding of
the church in 1852. A cross is added
each month representing another decade of progress until the entire display of
eleven crosses is completed in October.
In the center of this display is the Luther Rose, which was the official
seal of Dr. Martin Luther. At the bottom
of the display are the words, “Through a Century with Christ”.
St.
John’s congregation and its members played an important part in the growth and
development in the city of Watertown and the surrounding area. It not only founded this church, but helped
in the founding and development of other churches in the surrounding
communities.
Its Beginnings
St.
John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church had it beginnings, together with many of the
older Lutheran churches of our land, in the great emigration from Germany that
took place in the latter half of the nineteenth century. In Germany, as in most of the countries of
Europe, there was opportunity only for the princes and the landholders. But in America, opportunity was
unlimited. Vast reaches of land, fertile
farms were available to those immigrants, whether native or foreign, who were
willing to come into what was then known as the West, and live on the land and
cultivate it. The railroad, improved
roads, established settlements, the push to the far West inspired by the gold
rush of 1849 helped to tame the wilderness, to make it easier to get into the West, and to remove the fear of the
unknown which kept many at home. By the
hundreds of thousands immigrants poured into the land, and those from Germany
resolutely moved into the West, and took their faith with them.
Among
the vanguard of the German immigration there were the founders of St. John’s
Church. They came from Pomerania, in northeast
Germany along the Baltic Sea. They were
a little band, closely knit by friendship, relationship and by their common
faith. Already in Germany they had left the State Church which had become more
and more lax in it adherence to the word of God, and affiliated themselves with
a Free Lutheran Church.
Arrived in 1851
1851
In the
summer of 1851 they came to Watertown.
Watertown was then a thriving community of 4,000 inhabitants. It was not yet a part of the great railroad
network that contributed so much to the opening of the West, but was connected
with the nearest railhead, Milwaukee, by a plank road. The journey across the Atlantic took eight
weeks, from there they went by rail to Milwaukee, and the final stage of the
journey was made by wagon.
It is
impossible to ascertain exactly the names of the hardy, Godfearing pioneers,
who under God, were the founders of St. John’s Church. Among them were, however, the following: Heinrich Kroening, Friedrich Schumacher,
Friedrich Klug, Wilhelm Dobbratz, Heinrich Koch, Erdmann Folijahn, Ludwig
Mielke, August Schatz, J. G. Gerbig, J. F. Spiegelberg, Caspar Schroeder, Carl
Grewe, Wilhem Graunke, Carl Glamm, Christoph Wiedenhoeft, Gottlieb Hicke and
Goerge Marquardt.
First Service
Being
devout Lutheran Christians, one of the first cares of this little group was to
provide for their own spiritual welfare and that of their families. There was in existence in Watertown a
congregation composed of German immigrants, served by the Rev. Friedrich
Rentzsch, but it required only a little investigation to discover that this
congregation was not an orthodox Lutheran group, but taught the same “error”
which had moved them to leave the German State Church in their homeland. Unwilling to compromise the true Lutheran faith,
and being desirous to establish that church which teaches the word of God in
all its truth and purity, and make a beginning free of all compromise, a number
of the immigrants, under the leadership of Heinrich Kroenig, and through the
cooperation of one of the civic leaders of Watertown, John W. Cole, rented a
small public school building at North Fourth and Division Streets. Here this little group of Christians met, and
since they had not pastor, one of the members would read a sermon each Sunday
from a book of Lutheran sermons prepared and published by a German pastor,
Heinrich Mueller. There was, at first,
no formal organization, so that actual date of the founding of St. John’s
Church is indefinite. But so eager were
these devout immigrants to be served by the pure Gospel that according to the
best information available these services were instituted a very few months
after the arrival of this little band of Lutherans in Watertown, very likely in
the fall of 1851.
Pastor Called
Within
a year, in 1852, the congregation called its first pastor, the Rev. A.
Kleinegees, who lived in Watertown and was a member of the then Ohio Lutheran
Synod. He remained with the congregation
a very short time, until March of 1853, since it was soon discovered that at
the time he believed and taught the liberal and rationalistic doctrines of the
German State Church. Obviously, however,
Rev. Kleinegees, who was born in Germany on
During
the tenure of Rev. Kleinegees and under his leadership, the congregation took
the first steps toward organization, the election of a board of trustees. This act is recorded as the first entry in
the first volume of the records of corporate bodies filed with the register of
deeds of Jefferson County, Wisconsin, and is reproduced here in it entirety because
of its historical importance:
_______
German
Evangelical Lutheran
St.
John’s Church
Certificate
of Election of Trustees
State of Wisconsin
SS
Jefferson County
George Gerbig and Johann
Spiegelberg being duly sworn on oath depose and say that on the 6th
day of
December, instant at
a meeting called according to law for that purpose Christoph Weidenhoeft,
George Marquardt and Gottlieb Hicke
were duly elected trustees of the German Evangelical Lutheran St. John’s Church
in Watertown, Jefferson County and State of Wisconsin, namely Christoph
Weidenhoeft for one year, George Marquardt for two years and Gottlieb Hicke for
three years.
Watertown,
Witness George
Gerbig
A
Kleinegees John
Spiegelberg
Subscribed and sworn
to before me this 11th day of December, A. D. 1852
A.
Minges
Justice of the Peace
Recorded
________
Being
without a pastor, the congregation prevailed upon Rev. L. Geyer, the pastor of
Immanuel Church, Town Lebanon, which at that time was a member church of the
Missouri Synod, to serve in this capacity.
He began to serve the congregation on
Parish School
Into
this period belongs also the beginning of St. John’s Parish School. The exact date of it origin cannot be
determined, but it is obvious from what is known that one of the first concerns
of the founders of St. John’s Church was the Christian education of their
children.
Already
before the pastorate of Rev. Geyer, Heinrich Kroening, and Rev. Kleinegees had
served as teachers to the children of the congregation. Now, however, the work of the school was
expended, and the children were placed under the instruction of the son of the teacher
of Immanuel Church, Lebanon, Mr. Wetzel.
It is remarkable, and a reason to glorify God, that in the one hundred
years of St. John’s history the needs of its parish school have always been
close to the hearts of the members of St. John’s Church, and that its small,
difficult beginnings have grown into such a magnificent institution, and that
this nursery of Christian education has provided uncounted blessings to
thousands of blood-bought souls.
Join Synod
In
this period St. John’s Church took another important step, which has had far-reaching
significance upon its history. In 1854,
at the eighth annual convention of what was then known as the Evangelical
Lutheran Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and other States, the congregation applied
for membership with this boy and was received as a member.
It is
noteworthy that St. John’s congregation is thus one of the oldest member
congregations of what has become a world-wide church group. Through its affiliation with this staunchly
conservative Lutheran body, St. John’s Church has carried out its duty of
preaching the Gospel into all the world, has helped to bring the printed “Word”
to thousands of blood-bought souls, has, by it gifts and by sending men and
women from its midst, provided pastors and teachers firmly indoctrinated in the
Gospel to meet the needs of a constantly growing church body, and has taken an
active part in the spreading of the Church of the Reformation into every state
of the union, and many of the far corners of the world. Through its affiliation with this body, St.
John’s Church has also taken part in major works of charity, supporting
institutions of charity within the church and contributing liberally with its
fellow congregations whenever an emergency arose among members of the household
faith.
Full Time Pastor
It is
understandable that a group as God-fearing and devout as the founders of St.
John’s Church would not long be satisfied with only one service a month,
particularly as their group continued to grow as the tremendous immigration
movement of the mid-nineteenth century gathered momentum. They wanted, not only a service every Sunday,
but also to have a pastor in their own midst.
And so, in the year 1854, they addressed a call to candidate of
theology, Anton Wagner, who had just graduated form the Theological Seminary of
the Missouri Synod at Fort Wayne, Indiana.
He accepted the call, and came to Watertown around the first of the
year, 1855. At that time the railhead
was extended to Oconomowoc, form where the young pastor traveled the remaining
miles to Watertown by stagecoach. He
arrived in the middle of the night, and found lodging in a hotel. The next morning, in spite of having
contacted a severe cold on his journey, Candidate Wagner walked the six miles
through snow a foot deep to the home of Rev. Geyer in town of Lebanon. Here he discovered that St. John’s
Congregation had no “Agenda”, that is, the book of forms and prayers for church
services, baptisms, the celebration of communion, the performing of weddings,
and similar ministerial acts. The
Missouri Synod had published no such book at that time. There remained nothing
for him to do but to spend several days as the guest of Rev. Geyer, and copy
the most important sections from Rev. Geyer’s book, which itself was also a
handwritten copy.
It
might be well to note at this time that in those early years before the
publication of hymnals by the Missouri Synod, the conducting of a church
service involved considerable difficulty.
The German immigrants had faithfully brought with them their copies of
their hymnals, but since they came from different sections of Germany, the
selection of hymns varied considerably, and the same hymn, although it often
appeared in all the hymnals, nevertheless had different verses and was
published in different dialects, all of which made congregational singing a
problem. There frequently remained
nothing for the pastor to do but to serve as cantor. He would sing the first line of a hymn and
the congregation would repeat the line, whereupon the pastor would go on to the
second line, which was repeated by the congregation, and so on through to the
end of the hymn.
Because
of deep snow, Candidate Wagner’s ordination was postponed to Quinquagesima
First Church
It was
well that the Lord had provided this infant congregation in virgin territory
with a pastor full of enthusiasm and physical stamina, for there was a great
deal of work to be done. Already in
1854, the congregation had begun the construction of its first house of
worship, a frame building 40 x 26 feet, located, as closely as can be
determined, at the intersection of Vine and Lynn Streets. The deed for the property was turned over to
the congregation on
The
walls and roof of the building had been completed before the winter set in, but
construction was suspended for the winter.
In the meantime, the services of the congregation were still being held
in the little public school building at North Fourth & Division
Streets. At this time the congregation
experienced a wonderful blessing. An
accident, however, made the congregation realize the need for its own house of
worship. It must have been at one of the
first communion services at which Rev. Wagner officiated after his ordination,
the floor of the building suddenly dropped several feet. Panic followed, and the entire congregation,
with the exception of Rev. Wagner and several of the elders, fled the building. After the dust had settled, the congregation
returned, and the service was resumed, although one can imagine how much on
edge the members must have been, fearing a further accident. The service was concluded without incident,
but on the next day it was discovered that the main beam supporting the floor
had broken, and that the joists resting on the beam had very nearly been pulled
from the walls. Even after many years,
Rev Wagner frequently remarked how wonderfully the Lord had protected the
congregation, in that no injuries or deaths had resulted from this accident.
The
accident, together with the rapid influx of German immigrants who came to the
congregation as members, moved Rev. Wagner to urge the early completion of the
new church. On the Fourth Sunday in
Lent, Laetare Sunday, 1855, he preached on the Gospel for that Sunday, (St.
John 6, 1-15) the story of the Feeding of the Five Thousand. He pointed out that, as the Savior had
provided a place for His miraculous meal, so the congregation had the duty to
provide a place for hungry souls to be fed with the “Bread of Life”. The next day members of the congregation
came, prepared for work, and in a few weeks it was possible to conduct services
in the new building. It was not
completely furnished at first.
For
some Sundays, Rev. Wagner officiated before an altar made of a table covered
with a cloth, and preached his sermons while standing on a pew. But the altar and pulpit were also soon
provided, so that it was possible to hold the dedication services on the day of
John the Baptist,
First School
Immediately
after his ordination, Rev. Wagner took over the conduct of the parish school in
which he was soon actively engaged. It
can no longer be determined, where the classes were held, but from a
description of the building one can see how determined the fathers of St.
John’s Church were to carry out the command of the Lord to bring up their
children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord in spite of humble and
primitive surroundings. The building was
a little hut made almost entirely of slabwood, the trimmings from a lumber mill. The walls were made of slabs struck into the
ground: the roof was composed of the
same material, and was anything but water tight. In the center of the room was an old stove,
from which a metal stovepipe projected through the roof in lieu of a chimney. Such a condition was not permitted to exist
very long, however.
Approximately
a year and a half after the dedication of the church, the congregation
constructed, on the same plot of ground, a school building, which was also to serve
as a parsonage and teacherage. This was
the well known “old school”, which many of the older members of St. John’s
Church attended, which served as a school until 1885, and was subsequently
converted into a teacherage and used for the purpose until 1929, when it was
sold. The building located at
Trinity Church – Town of Lowell
It was
necessary that the pastor be relieved of the burden of teaching the school,
since opportunities existed in great number in neighboring communities for the
pastor to gather together the ever increasing numbers of German immigrants into
congregations. This was particularly
true in the neighborhood of Reeseville, in the town of Lowell, where there was
a community made up largely of immigrants of Bavarian descent. Clergymen of various persuasions attempted to
form a congregation in this area.
One of
the most successful was a non-confessional pastor from Watertown, Rev. C. Sans,
who regularly held services on Sunday afternoons in a public school in this
community.
The
Lutherans of the community, however, felt dissatisfied with his avoidance of
any clear cut statement on the Bible doctrine, and asked Rev. Wagner to serve
them.
In
order to be absolutely neutral, the board of the public school decided that the
pastor who arrived first could conduct the services in the public school on
that day. Naturally, the trips to the
town of Lowell frequently amounted to a race.
The pastor would drive or ride horseback to the shore of Mud Lake, where
he would be met by one of the members in a row boat. It frequently happened, of course, that Rev.
Wagner would arrive later than Rev. Sans.
Then the Lutherans would leave the school house and go to the home of
one of the neighbors. Several pieces of
fire wood would be taken into the kitchen, planks laid across, and the
improvised church was ready. Toward the
end of his ministry at Watertown, Rev.Wagner was instrumental in forming this
nucleus into a congregation. It was in
1858 that Trinity Church of the Town of Lowell was organized. It was served by the pastors of St. John’s
Church, Rev. Wagner and Rev. C. J. A. Strasen, until 1865, when it called is
first resident pastor.
Rev.
Wagner also preached occasionally in the vicinity of Ixonia in the home of Mr.
Keup, no doubt, laying the groundwork for the unique Lutheran school district
which was organized later, and gaining many families for the cause of
conservative Lutheranism.
Growth Continues
The
infant congregation under the blessing of God and due to the phenomenal influx
of immigrants grew amazingly in a short time.
In 1853 Watertown was a city of 4,000 inhabitants, the second largest
city in Wisconsin. By 1855 the
population had doubled. A good proportion
of the immigrants were of German origin, and many of these were Lutheran. It is understandable, therefore, that by
1857, only five years after its organization, St. John’s Church was a
congregation of 90 voting members and 381 souls.
Not
all the experiences within the congregation were happy, however, perhaps due to
the fact that the membership of the congregation was drawn from Lutheran
immigrant from various sections of Germany, where customs differed. A controversy arose in 1857 in St. John’s
Church as well as in the congregation at Lebanon. The custom of private confession before
communion, which many of the older Lutheran liturgies still recognize as good
Lutheran order, was followed. A group of
the members, however, under the leadership of the first teacher of the
congregation, Friederich Hasz, opposed this custom, at first privately, without
the knowledge of the pastor. When
finally the matter was brought into the open, and in spite of the fact that in
deference to the objecting faction the equally correct custom of using the form
of general confession was introduced as an optional practice, 20 families left
the congregation. While this constituted
a serious loss to the congregation, it was quickly recovered; so that only a
year later the voting membership had once again risen to 96.
Rev.
Wagner, who had served the congregation for four years, received a call from
Trinity Church, Fristadt, Wis., late in 1858, and being convinced that the Lord
was calling him to a different field of service, left Watertown with the
reluctant approval of the congregation, and was installed in his new charge on
Such,
under God, were the beginnings of St. John’s Lutheran Church, the first
orthodox Lutheran Church in Watertown.
The first seven years the congregation had become a sizeable group; it
had founded a school; purchased property; built a church and school; called a
pastor and a teacher; and undertaken missionary activities in the surrounding
communities and affiliated itself with the Missouri Synod. It is with deep gratitude to God and to the
fathers of St. John’s Church that we can look back upon these early efforts,
which laid the groundwork for the century of Gospel preaching which St. John’s
is permitted to celebrate, which had brought peace of conscience and the
assurance of salvation through the merits of the Blessed Savior to thousands of
blood-bought souls.
___________________________________________________________________________________
1924
08 27 At the time of the
death of Rev. Christians was assistant
pastor of St. John’s Lutheran Church. WDT
1907
01 20 1907
At a meeting of the congregation of St. John's Lutheran church on Sunday,
it was definitely decided to carry out the plan to erect a new church edifice
at a cost of about $30,000, plans for which were drawn about a year ago by
Architect F. A. Lindsay. This will be
one of several notable improvements that are promised Watertown for the present
year, another writer having in mind the new M. E. church, which is to be
erected of concrete blocks at a cost of $10,000 or $12,000.
It is the plan of the St. John's church people to begin building
operations just as soon as possible. A
meeting of the building committee will be held tomorrow evening to perfect
plans for the preliminary work, and arrange for the commencement of operations
in calling for bids.
The new building will be erected on
Judging from the plans, the new church will be an imposing
structure. It is to be erected of red
pressed brick, with a slate roof. The interior finishing will be handsome and
is to be of oak. The fixtures will be in
keeping with the other appointments and when completed the St. John's
congregation will have a house of worship of which they can feel proud and the
city another ornament.
1907
06 30 1907
St. John's German
Lutheran church is one of the oldest churches in Watertown and probably in the
state. It was organized in 1852 . . .
The foundation of the congregation was layed by the Rev. Louis Geyer, who lived
eight miles northeast of Watertown. Rev.
Geyer visited the small congregation for a few years, when in 1855 a resident
minister was called. Rev. H. Wagner
became, in the fall of 1855, the first permanent pastor of St. John's
church. The services during Rev.
Wagner's pastorate, were held in a small frame building in the Sixth ward. In 1859, Rev. C. Strasen succeeded Rev.
Wagner. Rev. C Strasen's work at the St. John's church was crowned with great
success. He occupied his position for
over forty years and until seven years ago he was pastor of the church when he
retired owing to old age. Since 1900 the
Rev. H. Eggers has acted as pastor of the church, a minister known for his
conscientious work.
The new church is expected to be completed by Christmas time . . .
New
St. John’s Church, Gamm Drug Store postcard.
1908
10 30 Fred.
H. Meyer, school instructor for the past 40 years, died at his home; 11 06 Funeral held from his home to St. John's Church. WG
__________________________________________________________________________
1954, 09 15
St. John's Lutheran School
Work has begun on the
demolition of St. John's Lutheran School to make way for a new and modern
structure which will be undertaken shortly.
The old building has served St. John's congregation for the past 69
years. It was erected in 1885 and several generations of children have attended
its classes. The school which is to replace it will be a modern structure,
utilizing considerable glass and will embody many of the latest features. The architect is Alfred Siewert of Milwaukee. The new school will front on North Sixth Street,
between Cady and Jones streets. It will occupy a much larger site than did the
old structure, since additional space (the former Wendt home and property on
Cady Street and the Zimmermann home and property on Jones Street), were
acquired by the parish for school campus purposes. The old properties have been cleared away to
make room for the new school. Groundbreaking ceremonies will be held at the
site by the congregation Sunday morning. Classes in St. John's School are being
conducted in the city's old Webster School in Western Avenue during the
interval of construction.
1954, 01 09
Final details were
being arranged today for the dedication on Sunday of the new school erected by St.
John's on the site of the old school building in North Sixth Street between
Cady and Jones Streets. There will be three dedication services at the church,
directly across the street from the new school. The school, which has a current
enrollment of 270, will open Monday morning. The new $360,000 school was
designed by Alfred H. Siewert, well known school architect. The general
contractor was the firm of Fred Piette and Sons, Appleton.
1954, 09 Rev E F Quandt’s
30th anniversary as Pastor
1958
Edwin H. Matthes, retirement of,
teacher and principal WDT 06 04
1971, 08 30
Good Shepherd
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church sprouted shortly after
members of St. John's Lutheran Church voted to sever its affiliation with the
Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, on
1992
140th anniversary celebration at St. John’s
St. John’s
Lutheran Church will conclude its month-long 140th anniversary celebration with
three festival services on Sunday, Reformation Day. Services are planned at
7:15, 9 and 10:30.
The special emphasis
for the day is on the organizations of the church and the service of its
members. Parishioners and guests are
encouraged to stop at the new display case in the entrance of the church to
view the pictures showing past and present organizations of the church.
Preservice music
will be played by the handbell choir and special music will be offered by the
three church choirs during the services.
The youth league
will serve a potluck dinner at noon in the school cafeteria. Following the meal, Ruth Feld will give a
slide program on the history of St. John’s Lutheran Church. The congregation
and friends of the church are invited to share in this time of remembering.
St. John’s
Lutheran Church was formed in the summer of 1851, when a group of emigrants from
Pomerania in northeast Germany made their way to Watertown, a thriving
community of 4,000 people. Under the
leadership of Heinrich Kroening, the group rented a small public school
building in the neighborhood of North Fourth ad Division streets. There was no pastor so a member would read
the sermon each Sunday from a book of Lutheran sermons. The congregation called its first pastor, the
Rev. A. Kleinegees, in 1852. He and
Kroening also served as teachers.
The construction
of the first house of worship began in 1854 and was located at the intersection
of Vine and Lynn Streets. A school was
later built to the south on the same lot.
This building is currently being used as a private home.
The Rev. C. J. A.
Strasen was installed as pastor of the congregation on July 31, 1859, a
position he held for 41 years. During
that time, a new and larger church was constructed on the corner of South Fifth
and Cady streets at a cost of $15,000.
Dedication services were held June 25, 1865. The new school building was construction on
the corner of South Sixth and Cady streets in 1885, with F. W. A. Fuerstenau as
teacher for 37 years. F. H. Meyer was
called as the second teacher in the 1868 and served for 40 years.
In less than 50
years, the congregation grew to 1,600 members, making a larger church
necessary. The demolition of the
existing church began April 2, 1907 and the dedication of the completed new
structure took place on April 5, 1908. N This new building, the present church,
can accommodate approximately 800 people and was built at a cost of
$45,000. The Rev. F. H. Eggers was
pastor of the congregation and served St. John’s for 47 years.
The oldest
organization in the church, the Mixed Choir, was formed in 1908 and the ladies
aid society was organized May 24, 1918 with 47 members.
The school
received necessary changes in 1911.
Construction of the present school began in 1954, with dedication
services in 1956. In 1987, the school
received an extensive facelift, replacing the glass-block walls with more
energy efficient material and remodeling the office area. A parish hall was built in 1926 and is still
in use today.
Two major church
renovation projects were carried out by the congregation. The first project in 1967 saw the removal of
much of the original balcony, installation of a new pulpit and altar,
enlargement of the narthex, completion of the basement and an addition to the
office area. The 1988 renovation was
chiefly a redecorating project, with painting, installation of new carpeting, a
lectern, modified lighting , and the erection of the Ascending Christ behind
the altar.
St. John’s left
the Missouri Synod in 1971 for doctrinal reasons, ending a 117-year association
with the synod. The congregation became
a member of the Federation for Authentic Lutheranism (FAL), an interim
synodical body.. On July 9, 1975 the
congregation voted to apply for membership in the Wisconsin Evangelical
Lutheran Synod (WELS).
St. John’s
congregation supports a school with nine full time teachers, two part time
teachers, and a principal. Classes are
held for children in preschool through eighth grade. The Rev. E. P. Kauffeld
and newly installed associate pastor, the Rev. John Boehringer, serve St.
John’s.
2002
The
150th anniversary of St. John's Lutheran Church-WELS was celebrated with guest
preachers and special activities throughout 2002. The theme of the anniversary
celebration was "Children of God: Then, Now and Forever."