of
Muscatine County Iowa
1911
| History of Muscatine County Iowa 1911 | |
Source: History of Muscatine County Iowa, Volume I, 1911, page 334
GERMAN BAPTIST CHURCH. In January, 1859, the German members of the Holland Baptist church dissolved their connection with the latter and, with newcomers from Europe, organized the German Baptist church February 20, of that year, with an original membership of thirty. Rev. John Sander was the first pastor. Until October 1864, the congregation worshipped in a schoolhouse located in South Muscatine, and owned by Joseph Bennett. A house of worship was erected the same year and dedicated the third Sunday of September, Rev. J. S. Gubelmann, of St. Louis, preaching the sermon. In 1870, the congregation was, on account of the grading of the streets, obliged to make extensive repairs on their church and in doing so, enlarged the building in such a manner as to obtain a comfortable dwelling place for their minister.
In 1899, a commodious and handsome church edifice was erected by this society on the southeast corner of Sixth and Walnut streets, and on Sunday, December 12, 1910, the semi-centennial of the church's birth was celebrated. A feature of this occasion was the presence of four of the five living original members of the church. They were August Othmer, Sr., Mr. and Mrs. Caspar Weierhauser and Mrs. Mary Balzer. Congratulatory messages from all of the living ministers were read, they being from Revs. Jacob Meier, Chicago; A. Transchel, Creston, Nebraska; H. Hilsinger, Platte Center, Iowa; C. L. Marquardt, St. Joe, Michigan; John Schuff, Newark, New Jersey; and R. A. Schmidt, Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. The ministers who served here, who have been called to their reward in that better land are H. Sander, the first pastor of the church, Carl Ranz, and P. Piepgras.
In that part of the celebration services held in the evening a very pleasant feature was the presence of the pastors of the other German churches of this city. The churches represented were the German Methodist, German Congregational, and German Evangelical. The pastors were Revs. W. C. Schultze, C. A. Dettmers, and J. J. Jans, each of whom delivered short complimentary and congratulatory addresses.
The German Baptist church congregation and Sunday school are growing steadily and substantially. The present pastor is Rev. A. L. Tilgner.
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