Wright County, Minnesota - German Lutherans in Wright County, 1915

Their Value as Citizens - Their Part in the Progress of This County - Their Firm Faith - Story of the Individual Parishes and Congregations - By the Rev. Gerhard Hinnenthal.

The Lutheran people as a rule are a quiet, law-abiding and God-fearing people, who try to live at peace with their fellow men, strive to do their duty in their homes, in their church and in their commonwealth. Therefore they are frequently not noticed in the turmoil of living humanity, but still they are there, looking to the welfare of the town, county and state in which they live, honestly paying their taxes, casting their votes intelligently at every election and honestly seeking the welfare of their country. Consequently the presence of a Lutheran community or communities in a county or state cannot be without beneficial influence in its historical development. And since the presence of Lutheran people in Wright county may be traced back to the pioneer days in the years 1855-1858 the Lutheran people have certainly influenced the development of Wright county beneficially, helped considerably toward the general prosperity of the county and especially have been an important faetor in upholding and improving its moral standard. For the Lutheran church has always upheld and sincerely hopes ever and always to uphold the Bible as the only source of all morals.

The Lutheran church does not profess to uphold a system of doctrines invented by human intelligence, but believes in the doctrines of the Holy Bible pure and simple. The Lutheran motte therefore is: As for religion, give me the Bible, the whole Bible and nothing but the Bible. For the Bible is of divine origin. And since the Holy Bible IS the Word of God, it is the only source and guide of all teaching, all preaching and all doetrine - the only source and guide of our faith - the only source and true guide of our morals - and the only teacher to make us wise unto salvation, which is in Christ Jesus.

Therefore we believe it to be absolutely necessary that children be taught not only the things pertaining te life upon this earth, but above all be taught the history contained in the Holy Bible, the doctrines and morals contained therein - stating it briefly - be taught the Gospel that they may be made wise unto salvation. Christ has shed his blood for every human soul and therefore every human soul is extremely precious.

tention of the reader to that part of divine revelation which we consider the most precious, most important and most. comforting, the doctrine of justification which states that a poor sinner receives forgiveness of sins and is Justified before God, not by works, but by grace for Christ's sake through faith. (Rom. 3 :22-25,)

Another fact that the writer would like to bring to the attention of the reader and which may help him to understand many an action of a true Lutheran more readily IS that the Lutheran church firmly believes in the separation of church and state according to the declaration of our Lord Jesus Christ: ''Render therefore unto Cesar the things which are Cesar's; and unto God the things that are God's.''

May these few introductory remarks concerning the religions attitude of the German Lutheran church help the reader in gaining some idea of the good moral influence which has quietly resulted from the teachings and practices of the Lutheran church in Wright county.

In looking over the history of the German Lutheran congregation in Wright county we find the peculiar fact that the German Lutheran congregations in rural districts are, as a rule, the oldest and have for a long time also been the strongest among all Lutheran churches in the county. This is due to the fact that the Lutheran pioneers of this county were mostly farmers. They were the first to organize congregations, build churches and call a resident pastor of their own. Consequently the congregations which were founded later in small towns and in the villages were served by pastors who lived in the rural districts. This proved in a way detrimental to the village congregations. And since a young man preparing for the ministry in the German Lutheran church must go through a ten years' course at college - there attaining the degree of B. A. and in some cases the degree of M, A. besides receiving a theological diploma - there was for a long time a great shortage of Lutheran ministers, which was most keenly felt by the small village congregations who endeavored to call a pastor of their own. When, however, things had so developed that rural congregations could well support their pastor alone and the churches in the villages could afford to call a pastor of their own from the ever-increasing supply of young theologians in the Lutheran chureb, we find that work was taken up with vim and vigor in the small towns and villages also. And at the present time it is just the village congregation, as a rule, that figures among the most rapid growing eongregations of all the Lutheran churches in the county. Many new congregations have since been organized in the villages and from here Lutheran activity has spread far beyond the boundaries of our county.

At the present writing we find German Lutheran congregations at fourteen different places in the county, most of which support a parochial school and have regular services in the German and the English language. The largest congregations of the German Lutheran denomination in Wright county are now to be found at Howard Lake, Albion, Pelican Lake, and Hanover. There are approximately 3,000 to 4,000 German Lutherans in the county at the present time.

Salem Evangelical Lutheran Congregation, Town of Franklin. This is the oldest of all German Lutheran congregations in Wright county. Its history dates back to the very pioneer days of Wright county. When in those days the first German settlers of the Evangelical Lutheran faith came to Wright county they met for divine services where the present church building is standing, three and one-half miles west of Delano. They appointed one out of their own midst to conduct divine services and Sunday school (''Christenlehre,'' as it is called). In this Manner services were held for a year or two. Thereupon the pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Trinity church of St. Paul being the president of the synod at that time, sent out a missionary who held services here every six or eight weeks. Later arrangements were to have the pastor of the Greenwood church (Hennepin county) take charge of the mission at this place in the town of Franklin so services could be conducted every four weeks, The congregation was organized in 1859 and not earlier than 1870 were they able to build a church. Many years later they built a country parsonage three and one-half miles west of their church near Montrose, a location which enabled their pastor to serve quite readily Salem church and Trinity chureh, which had by this time been organized in the town of Rockford, between Montrose and Buffalo. To this parish were then added the Pelican Lake mission in 1882 and Buffalo in 1887. When, however, in 1905, both Buffalo and Pelican Lake had received a pastor of their own the Salem and Trinity parish was at once very happily reinforced by the organization of a new congregation in the village of Rockford to which was soon added a new congregation in the village of Montrose also. Thus in 1910 we find these four congregations: Salem, Trinity, Rockford and Montrose village very busy calling a pastor, Rev. H. Bruns, to fill out the vacancy which just then oecurred, selling their old parsonage near Montrose, renting one in Delano, and soon after that buying a very suitable home for their pastor in Delano. Among the pastors who served Salem congregation, the oldest German Lutheran church in Wright county, during the long period of its existence, we find as the most prominent the names Horst, L. Emmel, C. J. Albrecht, A. Kuhn, W. Scheitel, H. Kreuter, George Lahme, H. Franz, Jul. Engel, Theo. Engel, J. Blumenkranz, and Hy. Bruns, the present pastor, who has led much of the progressive work in this parish since July 10, 1910. Though Salem church is the oldest, yet it has a membership of no more than 134 today. This is due to the faet that twice in its early history this church was very much weakened by the loss of many of its members who left Salem to organize churches of a different denomination, and since of late Salem church is quite well surrounded by new German Lutheran congregations who are not far away, some even as near as three and one-half miles. Yet Salem has always been quite alert and active and anyone who knows them would not be very much surprised at seeing them choosing a new location some day, even in old age.

Evangelical Lutheran Trinity Church, Town of Rockford. Very closely interwoven with the history of Salem church is the history of Trinity church in the town of Rockford. Trinity church is to be found four miles south of Buffalo on the Buffalo- Montrose road. The history of the congregation dates back presumably to 1882, when under the pastorate of Rev. C. J. Albrecht, of Greenwood, the congregation was organized and the church was built. This congregation has always been closely connected with Salem church, near Delano, in as much as both always have belonged to the same parish and for many years commonly owned a parsonage near Montrose and presently a new one in Delano, and have continually been served by the same pastor, beginning with Rev. C, J. Albreeht in 1882 up to Rev. Hy. Bruns at the present time, who still serves this congregation, though he does not live at the old place, one and one-half miles south from Trinity church, but has been a resident of Delano for the last five years, thus making it a distance of from eight to ten miles one way under the present conditions. George Luerssen, Carl Hahnke, Frank Parlitz, Wm. Ramthun are some of the older prominent members, Trinity church today is surrounded on all sides by German Lutheran churches of its own denomination, some of which have sprung up many years after Trinity was organized, Trinity today has 155 members.

The Evangelical Lutheran St. John's Congregation at Buffalo. At Buffalo the first divine service of German Lutherans was conducted on Sunday, July 10, 1887, by Rev. H. Franz, who was then pastor of a rural congregation near Montrose. On Oct. 30, 1887, a meeting was called for the purpose of organizing a congregation. Rey. H. Franz presided, a constitution was drawn up and signed by four men, who thus organized the Evangelical Lutheran St, John's congregation of Buffalo and vicinity. On November 13 of the same year a few more families were accepted as members of the new congregation. A meeting held March 30, 1888, resulted in the election of the following officers: Henry Mueller, chureh elder and trustee for one year; Frangott Schmidt, church elder and trustee for two years; Fredrich Boerner, church elder and trustee for three years; and said Fredrich Boerner as president of the board of trustees. Among the first members were H. Dorf. J. Prahl, F. Boerner, T. Schmidt, and H. Mueller. Mr. Mueller remained a member of this congregation for twenty-seven years. During the first year of its history the congregation had regular services every two weeks and most of these were held on Sunday afternoons. For eighteen years the congregation was served by pastors who resided near Montrose. They were Rev. H. Franz, 1887-1890; Rev. Georg Lahme, 1890-1896; Rev. Julius Engel, 1896-1902; Rev. Theodor Engel, 1902-1905. Thereupon Rev. Herm. EB. Meyer served the congregation for a short time from Eden Valley. The fondest hopes of the congregation, however, were realized when in the same year (1905) by order of the synodical mission board, Rev. Meyer moved from Eden Valley to Buffalo in order that he might be able to do more work at Buffalo while serving Eden Valley, Monticello and other places at the same time. His efforts at Buffalo were crowned with success, for the congregation began to grow in membership and prospects for the future became brighter in general as time went on until finally in 1906 the present church was erected. Meanwhile Eden Valley and other places had been withdrawn and the larger congregation at Peliean Lake, four miles east of Buffalo, had been added to the list of Rev. Meyer's congregations. This strengthened the Buffalo parish considerably. It was, however, very difficult to rent a proper dwelling for the pastor at Buffalo at the time and utterly impossible for the congregation to build him a parsonage, as there was still a considerable debt on the church. The result was that the congregation at Pelican Lake, fully aware of its splendid opportunity, erected a parsonage at Pelican Lake and thus moved the pastor from Buffalo into its own midst in 1907. In 1908 Rev, Meyer was sueceeded by Rev. Gerhard Hinnenthal, who took charge of Buffalo, Pelican Lake and Menticello on November 29, 1908. Becker, in Sherburne county, was added as a fourth place shortly after, and in 1911 Becker and Monticello were turned over to Rev. Paul E. Horn, who on August 6 was installed as resident pastor at Monticello. Thus Buffalo and Pelican Lake were left to Rev. G. Hinnenthal, who is still serving these two progressive congregations, each of which has ample reason to rejoice over the satisfactory progress it has made m almost every branch of congregational activity. The congregation at Buffalo is at present among the fast growing Lutheran congregations in the county and prospects that it will continue to be such are good. A Sunday school, a regular summer school, special instructions on Saturdays, a chureh choir, ladies' aid, young people's meetings, splendid financial condition of the church treasury and regular services in German and English are among the things which might here receive special mentioning. The present officers of the church are: Hy. Hahnke, Robert Kubalsky, Carl Radtke and Edw. Bonk, church elders and trustees. G. Hinnenthal, president; F. Sternberg, secretary ; Paul Kubalsky, treasurer. The total membership today is 210.

Evangelical Lutheran Immanuel Congregation at Pelican Lake, Buffalo Township. About fifty years ago the first attempts were made to gather for divine serviees the few German Lutheran families which then lived near the famous Pelican Lake, from four to six miles east of Buffalo. These attempts were successful and thus we find that regular divine services for German Lutherans were for many years conducted at the various homes as well as in the publie school near Pelican Lake. This was the first done by the pastors who then lived at Greenwood in Hennepin county, where a flourishing young congregation was already in existence for some time, Later on the Pelican Lake Mission was served from the prosperous Greenwood parish and became a part. of the Montrose parish. And so we find that the Pelican Lake Mission was for many more years taken care of by pastors from near Montrose until finally in 1890, under the pastorate of Rev. H. Franz, of Montrose, the Evangelical Lutheran Immanuel congregation at Pelican Lake was organized and a very neat and appropriate church edifice was erected which has now served the congregation for twenty-five years.

Rev. H. Franz was followed by Rev. Georg Lahme, Rev. Julins Engel and Rev. Theo. Engel, all of whom lived near Montrose and had charge of Pelican Lake from there. This covers the period from 1890 to 1905 in the history of the Pelican Lake congregation. By this time Rev. Herm. E, Meyer had, by order of the synodical mission board, removed from Eden Valley to Buffalo, thus bringing a pastor within five miles of the church at Pelican. Consequently on October 1, 1905, the Pelican Lake congregation decided to join the Buffalo parish and this gave Rev, Engel, of Montrose, a splendid opportunity to organize

Two years later (in the fall of 1907) there was great rejoicing at Pelican Lake, for the first parsonage had been erected near the church and the first resident pastor (Rev. H. E. Meyer, of Buffalo) moved into the midst of the congregation. Rev. Meyer now had eharge of Pelican Lake, Buffalo and Monticello and the great benefit of having a resident pastor in the midst of the congregation was soon keenly felt by the members of Immanuel church of Pelican Lake. In the summer of 1908, however, Rev. Meyer accepted a call to Goodhue, Minn., and Rev. F., Zarling from Wisconsin was called to Pelican Lake. Rev. Zarling could not accept as he had just received and accepted a call to Cudahy, Wis. Thereupon G, Hinnenthal, of Black Creek, Wis., was called. He accepted and was installed into office on November 29, 1908. To his new parish, Pelican, Buffalo, Monticello, he soon added Becker in Sherburne county, upon a special request made by German Lutheran families of that vicinity. This soon necessitated another division of this rapidly growing field of labor and the division was made in 1911, when Rev. Paul E, Horn from the seminary at Milwaukee, Wis., was installed as pastor of the German Lutherans at Monticello, Becker and Big Lake.

Immanuel congregation at Pelican Lake has by this time developed into one of the strongest rural churehes of the Lutheran denomination in the county and still has good prospects for growing. The total membership now is 340. A well attended summer school, which is conducted by the pastor for children from six to sixteen years of age, a still better attended Sunday school, a regular class of catechumens, who are there prepared for confirmation, a church choir, young people's meetings conducted by thé pastor, a splendid financial condition of the chureh treasury, liberal annual offerings for mission and works of charity, and regular divine services in the German and in the English language are among the things that might here receive special mentioning. The present officers of the congregation are: William Schmidt, Reinhold Schmidt, William Wagner, August F. Frank, and Julius Becker, church elders and trustees. G. Hinnenthal, president; Reinhold Schmidt, treasurer; Julius Becker, secretary. Gustave Wesenberg was secretary for nineteen years until his removal to Buffalo.

St. Peter's Evangelical Lutheran Congregation of Monticello. The beginning of Lutheran activity at Monticello dates back about three decades. During this time Lutheran families, missionaries, ministers, even Lutheran congregations, have come and gone at Monticello until at the present day we have what we be- lieve will stay. The Lutheran population of Monticello and vicinity was always very fluctuating, which was greatly due to the lightness of soil and other local conditions. People were aceustomed to come as far as ten and twelve miles to attend services, but since there was no German Lutheran settlement at any particular point surrounding Monticello the few German Lutheran families were scattered over a large area. The German Lutheran church could gain no foothold until recently because people would not stay.

There is great rejoicing at present over the fact that Monticello now has a thriving Lutheran congregation, a beautiful church building that would be a credit to any town of its size and a resident pastor. The future looks bright for Lutherans at Monticello, What has been attained up to the present time dates back to 1904. Lutheran activity had been extinet for some time at this period and was resumed when a few Lutheran families of Monticello called the attention of Rev. Theodore Engel, of Montrose, to the possibilities of again starting a Lutheran mission at this place. Rev. Engel, who then had charge of a large part of Wright county, among which were congregations at Buffalo and Peliean Lake, divided his field of labor and was succeeded at Buffalo, Pelican Lake and Monticello by Rev. Herm. BE. Meyer, who came from Eden Valley. After several years of faithful work Rev. Meyer received a vocation from Lutheran congregations at Woodhue, Minn. His successor was Rev. G. Hinnenthal, who was called by the congregations at Buffalo and Pelican Lake with residence at Pelican Lake, where the first parsonage had been erected during the last year of Rev. Meyer's activity. Rev. Hinnenthal did mission work from fall of 1907 until the summer of 1911. During all this time hopes for a Lutheran congregation were growing, as services were regularly held every two weeks in the Swedish Lutheran church and were well attended, although the Lutheran population was even at this period very fluctuating. Success finally came when August 6, 1911, Rev. Paul Horn was installed as resident pastor.

In the same year, September 3, on a Sunday afternoon, a number of Lutherans met at the home of John Marty with the intention of organizing a congregation. People present at the meeting were Rev. P. Horn, John Marty, August Klatt, Rudolph Johns. They organized and agreed on the name, St. Peter's Evangelical Lutheran congregation, at Monticello, Minn, They accepted a constitution and elected the following officers: President, Rev. P. Horn; vice-president, August Klatt; Secretary, Rudolph Johns; treasurer, John Marty. On the same day Mrs. Theodore Luethe was accepted as a member. In the month of January of the ensuing year the first quarterly meeting was held and following people were accepted as members: Ewald

Kruggel, Philip Ullman, Karl Buckel, Sr., Mrs. Charles Johnson, Mrs, Eugene Burkhart, Mrs. Albert Tozer. In a meeting on October 20, 1912, a motion was made and earried to erect a church building. Lots were bought, the building was erected and dedicated on July 20, 1913. It is a model building and pride of all its members. After three years of faithful labor Rev. P. Horn received a call to Morgan, Minn. His successor was Rev. R. Schierenbeck, He was installed in his new field of labor on J anuary 10, 1915, by Rev. G. Hinnenthal with the assistance of Rev. Zarling. The congregation now numbers 200 souls and is showing a steady growth. According to the church records, the first child baptized was Earl Walter Graves, March 31, 1912. The first wedding was that of William Rothe and Selma Luetheon, December 26, 1911. The first burial was Henry Tozer, who died on October 5, 1912. All these ministerial acts were recorded and performed by Rev, Paul Horn.

Evangelical Lutheran Kreuz Congregation of Rockford. The Evangelical Lutheran Kreuz congregation was organized in the month of February, 1906. The charter members are: Fr, Mutterer, Herm, Mutterer, Ernst Mutterer, Henry Czirr, Charles Czirr, Fr, Virgin, Gust. C. Virgin, Lonis Desens, William Schulze and Mrs. Perry Luce. The first trustees elected were Fr. Mutterer, Louis Desens and William Schulze.

In the month of April, 1906, the congregation was incorporated according to the laws of the state of Minnesota. The first services were conducted in the Presbyterian church, of Rockford, Minn., in 1905. In 1906 an Advent congregation being abeut to dissolve as a congregation, offered their property for sale. This was bought by the Lutheran Kreuz congregation, which thereby acquired a very serviceable church edifice that has been used as their place of worship up to the date of this writing. The congregation was at first served by the Rev. Theo. Engel, of Montrose, Minn., becoming thereby a part of the so-called Montrose parish.

Tn 1911 the Evangelical Lutheran Kreuz congregation decided to separate their interests from the Delano-Montrose parish (at that time served by Rev. H. Bruns) and eall a pastor that was to locate at Rockford. Rev. FP. Zarling, of Cudahy, Wis., was ealled and installed November 12, 1911. In March, 19192, the congregation agreed to buy a house which was found suitable for a parsonage for their pastor. In February, 1914, the congregation had grown strong enough to pay the salary of their pastor and other eurrent expenses without aid from the synod, which they had received since their separation from the Delano-Montrose parish in 1911,

1911; F. Zarling sinee 1911. During the nine years of its existence the following ministerial acts have been performed: Forty-three were baptized, twenty-eight persons were confirmed, nine couples were married, 705 received communion and three persons were buried.

Besides the regular course of instruction preparatory to confirmation, according to the eustom of the Lutheran church, the Evangelical Lutheran Kreuz congregation decided to have a Christian school for their children condneted for three months of the year, in which Bible history, catechism, German reading and writing and langnage, some church history, sacred hymna and the singing of the same were to be taught. Whenever it was impossible for the pastor of the congregation to attend to this school a teacher was engaged. The following persons are reported to have been engaged in Christian school work at Roekford: Agnes Blumenkranz, Arthur Blauert, Irma Blauert and Otto Hohenstein. At present a Saturday school is conducted by the local pastor during those months during which no Christian school is conducted during the week. A choir and a ladies' society have been organized since 1910. Both of these organizations have been very active in chureh work up to the date of this writing.

At the time of organization in 1906 we find that there were about twenty-three communicant members, amongst whom were nine so-called voting members. At present our books show one hundred communicant members, of which thirty-seven are voting members. May the work of the congregation and in this congregation be continued for the salvation of souls and to the glory of the Lord.

Evangelical Lutheran St. Paul's Church, Montrose. In 1912 under the pastorate of Rev. J. Blumenkranz, who then lived in the old parsonage of the Salem and Trinity churches, near Montrose, a4 new congregation was organized at Montrose Station. Fred Lange, A. Sechimmelpfennig, Carl Haas, Emil Burlow and August Wandersee are the organizers. J. Blumenkranz and Hy. Bruns have been the only two pastors of this congregation, though during the vacaney which occurred upon the retirement and removal of Rev. Blumenkranz to Maryland, for a few months Rev. Hinnenthal, of Buffalo, had charge of the congregation in 1910. Up to 1914 the congregation held its services in the church building, then belonging to the Evangelical congregation of Montrose. In 1914, however, the Evangelical congregation sold its chureh to the Lutheran St. Paul's congregation and thus in October, 1914, the building was solemnly dedicated as the Evangelical Lutheran St. Paul's church of Montrose, At this dedication a large number of Lutherans assembled at Montrose to at-

Evangelical Lutheran Mt. Olive Congregation, Delano. The Mt. Olive congregation at Delano has the distinction of being not only the youngest congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran denomination in Wright county today, but also of being located nearest the oldest church of the same denomination, Salem church, in the town of Franklin, three and one-half miles from Delano, Mt. Olive congregation is located in Delano. It was organized on October 27, 1913, by the present pastor, Rev. Hy. Bruns, who had moved to Delano in 1910 and had been doing mission work there among Lutherans, besides serving four congregations, Salem, Trinity, Montrose and Rockford. Rockford, however, called a pastor of its own in 1911, thus leaving Salem, Trinity, Montrose and Delano a united parish up to the present time. Mt. Olive congregation has no church of its own as yet, but contemplates securing one as soon as can be done. The services of this new congregation have always been held and are still held at the Swedish Mission church. To Mt. Olive it is of great value to have the parsonage and the pastor of the parish in their midst. Services are held in the German and in the English language and are well attended. The membership is 124. A. J. Schilling, J. H. Graesinger, Otte Tomnitz, Fred Bauer, are some of the prominent organizers.

The Evangelical Lutheran Zion's Church at Corinna. The Evangelical Lutheran Zion's congregation was organized on April 11, 1887. The charter members were Andrew Kuhnley, George Kuhnley and Albert Griesbach. The first services were conducted in the dwellings of the above named charter members. The congregation at that time, together with the German Lutheran congregation at Fair Haven formed the Fair Haven-Corinna parish and was served by the Rev. C. L. Wuggazer as their pastor.

In the year 1888 the congregation built a church in about the center of Corinna township. In 1897 the congregation severed its connections with the Fair Haven Latheran congregation and after having been served by a vicar for a year called a pastor of their own in the person of Gust. Waack. A parsonage was erected in 1899. When the church was to be built in 1888 George Kuhnley presented two acres of land to the congregation as a location for the church and the cemetery. When the parsonage was io be built in 1899 the congregation bought two additional acres east of the church property for a location of the parsonage.

The elders of the church at present are the following: H. W. Manzke, Albert Ratsulk and August Klemz. The trustees are: H. Piesak, Emil Klemz and William Thurls. Herman Spaude ia at present the secretary of the congregation.