St. John's Church in Dongola Illinois






Home Chamber Business Contact the Chamber Join the Chamber Business Directory Calendar of Events Board of Directors Maps Tourism Tourism Calendar of Events Dining Out Things to do Lodging Information Real Estate Government News/Weather Churches Education History Towns Search this Site FaceBook		St. John's Church in Dongola Illinois St. John's Lutheran Church was Illinois' first Lutheran Congregation. By: Stanley Palmer Photographs by Jeannie Landis A Brief History of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Union County, Illinois 1816 - 1985 Now, when one looks at the Lutheran community in Union County, one sees only four fairly small congregations* which might lead one to conclude that Lutheran witness to the Christian Faith has been rather limited here. This would be in error, as the Lutherans were very prominent in the settlement of Union County and the introduction of Christianity here. The German settlers that came to Union County in large numbers from the 1810’s through the 1850’s constituted a major portion of the pioneer stock in Union County. Many, if not most of the present population of Union County, can proudly claim at least one Lutheran as an ancestor. There were at one time at least eleven congregations or preaching points in or adjacent to Union County, and the members of those churches constituted a large percentage of the county’s population. In the early 1700’s a large number of Germans began immigrating to America under the protection of the German Kings of England. Most were Protestant, Lutheran and Reformed (Calvinistic). It seems that most of the new world churches were a union of both Lutheran and Reformed; and, as conditions allowed, they split and formed separate churches, or one of the denominations ceased to exist. Eastern Pennsylvania was where most of these Germans first entered the colonies. In a few years, because of crowded conditions there, some moved on west or south to North Carolina where there was plenty of cheap land. A large German settlement developed in Rowan and Cabaras Counties in the piedmont of North Carolina. As that area filled and lands to the west opened up, the migrated to such places as Union and Montgomery Counties, Illinois, and Perry County, Missouri. One must remember that part of the reason that these people left Germany was that they could not freely practice their religion. These Germans were devout, and so the first thing they did as a community was to build churches and schools, often the same building. These people organized the first two Lutheran congregations in North Carolina in 1745. Namely, Zion or Organ in Rowan County and St. John’s or Dutch Buffalo Creek near Concord, in Cabaras County (then Mecklenberg County). These people went for almost thirty years without a Lutheran pastor. In 1772, after failing to get ministers from Pennsylvania, they commissioned Christopher Lyrlye and Christopher Rendleman to go to Germany and try and get pastors. These two men set off to Germany by way of London, where they had to get the approval of King George Ill. They returned in 1773 with Rev. Adoiphus Nussman and Mr. John Godfried Arndt, a teacher, who was ordained in 1775. These two pastors supplied Zion and St. John’s, as well as serving new congregations. Shortly after their arrival the congregations met a new challenge, the Revolutionary War. This not only created the hardships of war for individuals and congregations but also severed ties to the European Church. They survived! Zion and St. John’s are today large and prosperous congregations with many healthy daughter congregations. That area of North Carolina is still a stronghold of the Lutheran Church. One of the daughter churches of Zion and St. John’s Churches is St. John’s, Union County, Illinois. It was organized in 1816. Prior to 1818 there was no Union County or State of Illinois. In 1813 the North Carolina Synod sent a missionary to the Ohio River to minister, at least in part, to the North Carolinians who were on the move west. This missionary, Rev. John Market, is credited with organizing St. John’s in 1816. For many years various missionaries and circuit preachers of the Lutheran faith served St. John’s intermittently. In 1828, Rev. J. C. Schroinberg organized Union Church, now Casper Church, north of Anna. The most famous circuit rider was Rev. Daniel Scherer who came from St. John’s Cabaras County, North Carolina to Illinois in 1831. He lived in the Hillsboro area but came to St. John’s and Union Church every three months or so. In his twenty years of ministry spent in Illinois, he helped establish strong Lutheran communities in Union County and Montgomery County and is called the father of the Illinois Synod. The next congregation to organize in this area was Mt. Pisgah, just across the county line in Pulaski County. It was organized prior to 1850 by Rev. John Krack and nurtured by the Rev. Daniel Jenkins who came to St. John’s in 1854. In 1865, Rev. H. M. Brewer organized the First Lutheran Church of Dongola. This congregation helped build a union church with Presbyterian and Methodist in Dongola in 1867. By 1865, in various records, references are made to several additional preaching points; namely, Jonesboro, Meisenheimer School, Luther’s Chapel, and Cache Chapel. Additional congregations were Mt. Moriah in Anna, Mt. Zion, and Mill Creek, organized in 1869, 1889, and 1888 respectively. Although Jonesboro was mentioned as part of the St. John’s parish as early as 1861, it was not formally organized until 1892. Of the previously mentioned congregations and preaching points, the four that remain as active Lutheran Congregations are St. John’s, Mt. Moriah of Anna, Salem of Jonesboro, and First Lutheran of Dongola. Union Church was absent from the Lutheran rolls in 1886. It seems that this congregation moved to town as the Rev. Groseclose held services for Union Church at Anna on the first Sabbath of the month in 1873. A non-Lutheran congregation continues at Casper Church north of town. Mt. Pisgah ceased to exist as a congregation in 1963 but the building still stands and is maintained by the Cemetery Committee. Several factors led to the erosion of membership from this once large congregation. At the turn of the century there was a Lutheran, a Catholic, and a Reformed Church in the Wetaug area. Today there is only one church, the Wetaug Church of Christ. Like most of the other country churches, Mt. Pisgah suffered when people moved into towns; and when roads and transportation improved, people could drive the few miles to Dongola or Ullin to attend church. Mt. Pisgah continues to be a special place for many Lutherans and non-Lutherans. The congregations at Luther’s Chapel in Johnson County and Cache Chapel in Pulaski County have gone into the Methodist folds and continue to serve a need. What happened to the Lutherans at the Meisenheimer School that were mentioned in the 1861 records of Rev. Albright is not clear. They may be, in part, the people who later formed Mt. Zion Lutheran Church, or the Baptists at Meisenheimer School, where Friendships Baptist had been organized in 1858, may have swayed them. Mt. Zion was organized as the Lutheran congregation in 1889 but dissolved i Lutheran affiliation in 1909 and became the Cumberland Presbyterian Congregation. One can readily see from the records and cemeteries of Mt. Zion and Mt. Pisgah that the organizers of Mt. Zion were primarily from Mt. Pisgah. Mill Creek was the last of these Lutheran Churches to be dissolved. In the 1880’s it seems that Union County was prosperous and growing as several new churches were built and remodeled. The village of Mill Creek was an old village but seemed to be on the rise as the St. Louis - Cairo Railroads came through in 1875. At this time Mill Creek boasted over 400 residents. As with other small towns, Mill Creek declined in this century and today there are no stores or schools left and only one church, Baptist, when at one point there had been at least three thriving congregations. The church was closed in 1967, and many members did not join other Lutheran congregations because of hard feelings toward the Synod and other congregations. The people of Mill Creek and Mt. Pisgah are still of concern to the Dongola pastorate; and those that have joined St. John’s of Dongola, First Church of Dongola, or Salem of Jonesboro are valued members. Because of the size and proximity of the Lutheran Churches in Union County, all of the churches belonged to different pastorates or charges for some part of their existence. For example, in 1868 there were two charges, Jonesboro and Dongola. The Jonesboro Charge consisted of St. John’s, Jonesboro, and Union. The Dongola Charge was made up of the Dongola and Mt. Pisgah Churches and other preaching points, probably the Meisenheimer School, Luther’s Chapel, and Cache Chapel. These pastorates had been in constant flux since the 1850’s and were dependent on the pastors serving and the financial situations of the various congregations. At present, Salem and Mt. Moriah are independent congregations while St. John’s and First Church of Dongola are in a joint parish relationship. The latter two churches have been in union since 1928. Mt. Pisgah was also a part of this Charge until its dissolution in 1963. The era of changing pastorates and shared pastors could not have been easy for the churches, but it was necessary for the Lutherans to minister to the area. It is truly a shame that so many Lutherans could not continue in their congregations because of the lack of Lutheran pastors and the loss of membership, which accompanied the general decline in rural population. It is another testimony of the faith of the old German Pioneers that they instilled such a strong tradition in their descendents that the Lutheran Church exists to the degree that it does today. When the various churches ceased to exist as Lutheran, they did not as a rule pass out of existence. As noted earlier, some became Methodists while others went with their Reformed brothers and are Presbyterian. Still others in the need of opportunity to worship joined other congregations and helped to build those ministries. When one considers all the difficulties that the Lutherans had to pass through in Germany, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Illinois, they left a proud heritage and witness to the Gospel. St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church St. John’s, organized in 1816, is Illinois’ oldest Lutheran congregation. Since its organization several histories have been written concerning the congregation. These various histories differ on several points, including the date of organization, which ranges from 1816 to 1819. Any date within this range allows St. John’s to hold the title of the oldest Lutheran Church in Illinois. North Carolina Synod records show that the Rev. John Market organized this congregation in 1816. There are no documents in Illinois to support this, but on the above basis and subsequent entries in North Carolina Synod records the 1816 date is recognized by the Lutheran Church of America, St. John’s parent body. The Rev. John Market had been commissioned in 1813 to minister to Lutherans and others in the Ohio River area by the North Carolina Synod. Another difference between the various histories has been who were the first members of St. John’s. In 1816, today’s Union County was part of Johnson County and the Illinois Territory. Formal church records have not survived, and legal records are scarce. The German migration from North Carolina to Union County, Illinois, was continuous from the 1810’s to the 1850’s. Although it is impossible to tell exactly who was here in 1816, it seems that from land records and other information that the families of Brown, Miller, Eddlernan, Rendleman, Hess, Rhinehart, Meisenheimer, and Sowers were here. It should also be noted that these early families might have been Reformed as well as Lutheran. Other families followed quickly such as the Dillows in 1818, and additional members of the earlier families joined their relatives. There were, without doubt, other families represented at earlier dates; but there is no reliable way to determine who they were. Immigrants from the North Carolina churches of Zion (Organ), St. John’s (Concord), and their daughter congregations in North Carolina, whether the first to Illinois or not, all played significant roles in establishing the Lutheran presence in Union County, Illinois, and in the development of the area. For the first 25 years of the life of St. John’s congregation, pastoral care was limited and sporadic. The list of pastors to serve the congregation includes missionaries and circuit riding pastors. The German Lutheran and Reformed congregations were served not only by Lutherans but also by Reformed preachers and other men of the cloth who might have passed through. For the congregation to have stayed together there was also good lay leadership, as it was the custom for lay people to read sermons when there was no preacher for the pulpit. The first pastor called to serve St. John’s was the Rev. Daniel Scherer, who resided at Hillsboro and came through once every three months. Rev. Scherer, who served both St. John’s (Concord) and Zion (Organ) in North Carolina, was commissioned as a missionary by the North Carolina Synod in 1830, and came to Illinois in 1831. He served St. John’s until 1835 but continued to organize and serve Lutheran congregations in Illinois until his death in 1862. Beginning in 1837 the Rev. Edward B. Olmstead preached at St. John’s once a month for eight years. The Rev. Olmstead was from Pulaski County, where the town of Olmstead was named for him. In 1847, he left the Lutheran Church and affiliated with the Presbyterian Church. Beginning with Rev. Olmstead, pastors became more regular to St. John’s, although they served other congregations in this area they served St. John’s one or two Sundays per month. In St. John’s long history, only from 1913 until 1927 did St. John’s have a pastor with St. John’s as the sole call. Even during this period the pastor was allowed to preach at Mill Creek on Sunday evenings. By the end of this period, St. John’s appeared unable to support a pastor by herself, and in December of 1927 voted to join First Lutheran of Dongola and Mt. Pisgah as a single charge. St. John’s continues as a partner in the Dongola Parish. After a congregation is formed, it needs a place to worship. We can be certain that in the beginning St. John’s congregation worshiped in the homes and barns of the members. Tradition has it that they worshiped in the barn of John Miller who owned the land where the first church was later built and also on the farm of John and Peter Eddleman, which is now owned by Pauline Eddleman Dillow. It is also likely that they worshiped and held prayer meetings in the homes of other members. By 1823 the Lutherans and German Reformed had built a small building on ground that is now in the St. John’s Cemetery. It was described as 18 feet by 24 feet and tall enough for a balcony, which was never put in. It would definitely have been simple and rustic. On February 16, 1824, John Miller deeded to the Elders and Deacons of the German Lutheran and Reformed Churches about 1 1/2 acres to be used by both congregations for the purpose of building a meetinghouse. Additional land was deeded to both congregations in 1827 by Jacob Hileman, Sr. In 1839 the St. John’s congregations were deeded 2 acres by Jacob and Margaret Miller, and on this land a second house of worship was built jointly by the Lutherans and Reformed in 1855-56. Formal dedication was on November 9, 1856. This building was extensively remodeled in the late 1880’s and to all appearances seemed like a new building. From the 1856 structure the frame, the weatherboarding, and other parts were used for the “new” building. The remodeling probably began in 1887 as attested by the sandstone step at the entrance of St. John’s. The Lutheran and the Reformed congregations shared the cost of the work equally. The church’s 300-person capacity was not enough for the dedication service in November of 1888. Five hundred attended this service, conducted by Rev. Turner Earnhart (Lutheran) and Rev. W. M. Andrews (Reformed). At its September 1917 meeting the Council of St. John’s approved the building of an altar, the refurnishing of the church, and the appointing of a committee to make preparations to “build floor at church house.” The March 20, 1921, council minutes read in part “On the above date a new altar was dedicated and set aside as church property and to be used in worship of God, the gift of Mrs. Minnie Poole.” There is no mention of the other new furnishings or the new floor, but they, too, were probably in place. Other changes and improvements in this church building include the 1916 addition of a carbide light plant for S100 installed. At that time coal was still the fuel for heating, but gas heat and electricity have been added in recent times. In 1976, to commemorate the nation’s Bicentennial and St. John’s 160^th anniversary, major renovation was carried out. A few years ago the bell from Mill Creek Lutheran Church was placed in the always-vacant bell tower. In 1980, in order to prevent deterioration of the building, the old stone foundation was removed and new footings and blocks were installed. This old country church stands firmly on God’s earth. Although the church is simple in its beauty, it is a testimony to the Glory of God. St. John’s began back in 1816 as a small mission of the North Carolina Synod. Although it was of good size at various times, it is today a small country church, small in size but large in spirit. The exact size of St. John’s at its beginning will never be known; but in 1825, 43 persons from Union County, Illinois, petitioned the North Carolina Synod for pastoral leadership. It should be noted that the St. John’s Lutheran Church and the St. John’s German Reformed Church shared the building and relied on the pastors of both denominations for leadership. The membership, both congregations, may therefore be a bit deceitful. Without doubt, the Lutherans attended Reformed services and vice versa. The Rev. E. B. Olmstead reported to the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of the West a membership of 130 communing members in 1841 and 143 in 1843. Membership was probably high from this point until 1855 when a new building was started. A decline in membership and in religious interest set in at some point until in 1875 when three men decided to call a pastor on their own and pay for his services themselves if the congregation would not support him. From this low point the congregation again began to grow and by 1888 there were 260 members, probably Lutheran and Reformed combined. The 1880’s seemed to be a high point of church membership throughout the area as many new churches were formed and new buildings built in this decade. A good membership must have also been in existence when St. John’s supported its sole pastor from 1913 to 1927, at which time there were about 75 communing members. In 1928 membership began to fall and in 1935 there were only 23 communing members. There was some growth in the 40’s and 50’s to a leveling off of about 45to 50 members, which is still the case. One wonders what happened to the large membership of the 1840’s and 1880’s. The 1840’s number was for one of two Lutheran congregations in Union County. In the 1850’s and 1860’s we see the organization of Mt. Pisgah, First Church of Dongola, and Mt. Moriah in Anna. The legacy of these congregations from St. John’s included not only the faith and spirit but also part of the membership. As population increased the membership again began to increase to the point that in the 1880’s and 1890’s additional daughter congregations were formed such as Mt. Zion, Salem, and Mill Creek. Also, after the turn of the century, rural population began to decline, and this decreased the size of the community from which St. John’s Lutheran drew. This general shift of population, better roads, and the automobile put more people in the city churches at the expense of the country churches.