“Pastor E. B. Marr served as the
first resident pastor of St. John’s. His first sermon was delivered in
October 1878. Pastor Marr served two additional groups – a small
congregation at St. Gilman and another group in Baker Township, Osceola
County. This arrangement provided all groups with God’s pure Word and
the Sacraments during the lean years; especially the grasshopper
afflicted year of 1879.” by Pastor Marr
“When Pastor P.C. Hast took over the parish it included the following
fields: the local group at St. John, St. Gilman (now Ashton), a group in
Osceola County, and two groups in O’Brien County – one of these at
Sanborn. In 188_ Pastor Hast organized a preaching place at Sheldon
where Pastor Marr had already conducted several services in 1881. In
1884 or 1885 the two congregations in O’Brien County and the one in
Osceola County formed one parish and called on Iowa synod pastors to
serve them.” by Pastor Hast
“After establishing his home in St. John’s congregation near Boyden,
this young and energetic missionary, Pastor Marr, conducted preaching
services among the Lutherans of the surrounding territory and organized
them into congregations. Among them was a group in the town of Ashton
which became a rural congregation near Ashton later on. He founded
another rural church in Osceola County which now constitutes our Melvin
congregation. A third congregation now being supplied with pastors from
the Missouri Synod he founded at Sanborn and a fourth charge he
established among the Lutherans in O’Brien near Hartley. This
congregation disbanded several years ago and its members joined various
nearby congregations.” by Pastor Baetke
The following pages are a translation of a section of the German
historical book “Gesebichte des ersten Dakota Districts der Ev. Luth.
Synode in Iowa U. A. S. (Story of the first Dakota district of the Ev.
Lutheran Synod of Iowa and other states).
CENTER TOWNSHIP, O’BRIEN COUNTY AND MELVIN, IOWA
The Immanuel congregation in neighboring O’Brien County came into
existence soon after the establishment of the St. John congregation at
Boyden. The congregation was founded by Pastor Marr in 1881 and served
by his successor Pastor Hast until the year 1884. At this time Immanuel,
together with the St. Peter congregation located in Baker Township,
Osceola County, received a resident pastor in the person of H. Blum.
Both congregations (Immanuel and St. Peter) immediately sought synodical
affiliation, no doubt due to the influence of their pastor and the
staunch synodical support evidence by Mr. Heinrich D. Jahr.
Visitors coming to O’Brien county in pioneer days were always graciously
and hospitably received in the Jahr home. On such occasions constructive
conversation was often carried on past the midnight hour. At many a
synodical meeting it was Brother Jahr who came forth with the pertinent
remark or suggestion.
Mr. William Steuck donated a tract of land to the Immanuel congregation
during the summer of 1885. A church building measuring forty feet by
twenty four feet, with a sixty-five foot high tower was erected on this
land. The congregation acquired an additional five acres of land which
provided for a cemetery plot and a pasture. At the back of the church
provisions were made for a parsonage. The parsonage was two stories high
and each story had two rooms. It was a primitive arrangement that was
typical in that time. The parsonage far surpassed the sod shanties or
the board huts of the Dakotas, however. Disturbing unrest and strong
divisions existed in the congregation and this brought about years of
delay in the erection of an improved parsonage.
The third congregation served from Immanuel was a group located in the
town of Sanborn, Iowa. Due to the afore-mentioned divisions, Sanborn was
lost from completely and an opposing congregation which had been formed
in Hartley claimed some members from Immanuel. Immanuel, in its best
years, had included thirty-some members. At this time the congregation
in Osceola county also broke its bonds with Immanuel and the future
appeared very grim.
These conditions contributed to the many changes in pastorates. By 1900,
eight pastors had served: Pastors Marr, Hast, Blum, Goppelt, Thusius,
Sheffelmann, P. Bunge, and Wm. Schroeder. Since 1900 an additional eight
men labored: Pastors Goeringer, Kern, Timmcke, Dequisne Sr., Dequisnes
Jr., Holst and Dieter. The two Dequisnes (father and son) had the
longest tenure – a total of approximately ten years between the two of
them.
In the early years conditions in northwest Iowa were little better than
those found in the Dakotas. The main difference was probably that the
people living in Iowa added more plantings to the prairie landscape. It
is possible that Iowa’s climate and soil were more adaptable to
plantings. It was evident that in Iowa every farm showed plantings while
much of the Dakotas remained treeless.
Once in connection with a mission festival the cramped parsonage
sheltered twenty-one people It did not seem to occur to anyone that
additional facilities were needed to shelter the large group –
fellowship of this kind occurred so seldom that no one complained about
the discomfort of a bed on the floor.
There was little variation of the winter storms or the bitter cold of
many of the winter days. Pastor Bunge (who served the longest period of
time) could tell many interesting stories of his experiences in the
field. Pastor Bunge often recognized God’s gracious protection when
traveling by horse and buggy to the St. Peter congregation in Osceola
county. During the winter he might encounter a winter storm or blizzard
and in the summer it might be a thunderstorm which was accompanied by
pouring rain. Storms also caused difficulty in the care of the pastor’s
livestock; a cow, horses, and chickens. This was because the barn
sheltering the animals was located in the middle of the pasture at some
distance from the parsonage and church.
During Pastor Goerringer’s pastorate a more adequate parsonage was built
at Immanuel in 1902. That same year it was necessary to repair the house
of worship. A storm that occurred on June 24 caused a great deal of
damage in the area. The church tower at Immanuel was completely
demolished and the church building was moved off its foundation.
Insurance money received, together with a small additional sum made it
possible to repair the damages. The rooms that had formerly served as
the parsonage were arranged to provide room for a school. The only thing
that survived from the tower was the weather vane – an item that had
great sentimental value. When the first tower was erected there were
serious differences of opinion as to what should be on the top of the
tower. A cross was suggested, ordered and received but before the cross
even arrived it was evident that many members had an aversion to the use
of the cross on the top of the tower. Many felt they would rather have a
cock gracing a weather vane call them to repentance. Mr. Jahr
diplomatically ended the dissension by placing the cross on his
shoulders, carrying it to the cemetery, and erecting it on his mother’s
grave. The weather vane (complete with a cock) was placed on the tower
and in 1922, when the history of the first South Dakota District was
written there was a faithful remnant who still gathered in its shadow.
While Pastor Goerringer was serving Immanuel he was once again called
upon to serve the congregation in Osceola county for a time. Immanuel
gradually deteriorated and it seemed that she was destined to follow the
path of other country congregations who were gradually being swallowed
up by neighboring town congregations. One of the main obstacles to a
prosperous Immanuel was that a group of unchurchly people had settled in
the proximity of the congregation. Every pastor who came to the fold
labored with the zeal of an Elijah to bring these people into the fold
but it seemed that it was a lost labor of love. The people seemed more
at home with beer and dancing than with church pews. The few that did
allow themselves to be won for a church turned to a less fundamental
church than the Lutherans. It is not surprising that members lost hope,
sold their land, and moved elsewhere. Even so, all who came in contact
with Immanuel and its early pastors treasure the memories of those
years.
A far better destiny was in store for St. Peter’s congregation in
Osceola County. St. Peter was served by the pastors of the O’Brien
Immanuel congregation until the fall of 1894. Worship services took
place in a rural school house until the lack of cooperation on the part
of some of the school directors became tiresome. A decision was then
reached to erect a house of worship and a parsonage under one roof. It
was the fall of 1894 that Pastor Chworowsky was called. Pastor
Chworowsky had succeeded in establishing a preaching place in Hartley.
It soon became apparent that St. Peter’s step toward independence had
been premature since the main congregation numbered less than twenty
families. Pastor Chworowsky had a large family and found it impossible
to exist on the means and small salary the congregation could afford to
pay. The same was true of his successor, Pastor H. Finke, even though he
was a single man without a family. After Pastor Finke left, the old
order was restored and the pastors of the O’Brien Immanuel congregation
once again served the Osceola group.
In 1900 the Rock Island Railroad built a track from Hartley to Sibley.
The village of Melvin was located three miles southwest of St. Peter
Church. Under Pastor Kern’s leadership the old church was torn down, a
new house of worship erected in Melvin and the congregation relocated to
town. After several years of growth, thoughts on independence and
self-support once again entered the minds of the St. Peter congregation.
A slight misunderstanding between the pastor and the membership in the
O’Brien congregation (Immanuel) led Pastor Timmcke to announce to the
Immanuel group that he was loosing all bonds with them and moving to
Melvin. This came to pass and a beautiful parsonage was erected for
Pastor Timmcke’s use in Melvin. Unfortunately he did not enjoy the
parsonage for long. He was offered the opportunity to serve as the
administrator of the new college at Eureka, South Dakota and he accepted
the offer.
Pastor A. Albert became Pastor Timmcke’s successor. Rev. Albert was an
American born citizen and he recognized a need for establishing worship
services in the English language in order to achieve continued growth.
Many who had been reluctant to become members now joined.
When this writing appeared (1922) Pastor Albert was still serving the
membership with blessed results. The membership of the congregation
surpassed forty families and the church as well as the parsonage were
modernized.
The early pioneers who are still a part of the membership retain vivid
memories of the early struggles and give God all honor and glory,
singing praises to him with the hymn writers.