LuthernP-oneersr

The Bavarian Settlements of the
Saginaw Valley.
By TH. GRAEBNER.

CONCORDIA PUBLISHING HOUSE,
ST. LOUIS, MO.I

I -- I, - - 1
I
----- --------------- -5~------ --~-- --- -- ~-~------- -- ----- ----------~-- ---







LUTHERAN PIONEERS.
II.

The Bavarian Settlements of the Saginaw Valley.

The Story of Lutheran
Primeval Forests

Pioneer Life in the
of Michigan.

Retold Mostly in the Words of the First Colonists
tj  By
TH. GRAEBNER,
Concordia Seminary, St. Louis.

ST. Louis, Mo.
CONCORDIA PUBLISHING HOUSE.
1919.

I -







Wilhelm Loehe.

[3]







1. Introductory.

The founding of the Lutheran congregations in the Saginaw Valley, in the
State of Michigan, leads us to the little town of Neuendettelsau in Bavaria, Germany.
At Neuendettelsau Pastor Johann Konrad Wilhelm Loehe was doing a noble and
blessed work.   Bavaria had not escaped the blight of Rationalism      (infidelity)
which at that time ruled most of the institutions
of learning and many pulpits throughout Germany.
The pure doctrines of the Word of God were proclaimed only by a few pastors, and among these
Loehe held a recognized leadership. It is a regrettable fact that this man later departed from   the..
truth of the Lutheran Confessions, but during the
years in which our story commences, his work was
crowned with blessed results both in Germany and
America. Awakened souls, eager for salvation, who
gathered about the few faithful preachers of the old
Gospel, especially sought the chapel in which Loehe
held forth, and regarded neither storm nor rain when
coming long distances to Neuendettelsau, their hearts
burdened with the question, "What must I do to be        Friedrich Wyneken.
saved?" Loehe directed such questioners not to the
doubtful feelings of the heart nor to human reason, but to the firm foundation of
the Word of God.
Filled with an intense love of his Savior, Loehe was deeply stirred when,
in the early forties of the last century, he heard of the great distress of the
Lutherans in America.    In the year 1841 a call for help had been issued by
Pastor Friedrich Wyneken to the Lutherans of Germany.        His burning appeal
mightily affected the heart of Loehe, and ultimately led to the foundation of
those Lutheran colonies whose origin we are about to relate.        Wyneken had
written: -
"Thousands of families, your brethren in the faith, possibly your brothers
and sisters according to the flesh, are hungry for the strengthening meat of the
[51




Gospel. They cry out and implore you: Oh, help us!         Give us preachers to
strengthen us with the bread of the Gospel and to instruct our children in the
teachings of Jesus Christ!   Oh, help us or we are undone!     Why do you not
assist us?  Consider the words: 'What you have done to the least of these My
brethren, ye have done it unto Me.' Why do you not help us?         Is that your
love of Jesus?   Is it thus you keep His commandment? - It is literally true
that many of our German brethren in America thus complain. Besides, in many
places there has arisen a new danger. In no other country are there so many
sects as in North America.     Some have even now    directed their attention to
the settlements of our German brethren and fellow-Lutherans. Foreign laborers
would harvest where the Lord would call His own. Shall our brethren no longer
worship in the Church of their fathers, filled with the breath of the Lord, and,
instead, recline in the lazarettos of the sects?  Shall German piety decay in the
New World under the influence of human measures?        I beg of you, for Jesus'
sake, take hold, organize speedily, do not waste time in consultations! Hasten,
hasten! The salvation of immortal souls is at stake!...
"Consider that thousands of families are scattered over this great area.
The parents live and die without hearing the Word of God; no one awakens,
reproves, comforts them. Behold, young and old lie upon their deathbeds, and
their souls are not even preparing for the great Judgment. The servant of the
Lord might direct the lost to the God of holiness, who is to them that are without
Christ a devouring fire, but who is in Christ a reconciled Father. He might,
by the grace of God and through the Word of His power, lead them to faith
and repentance, and the lost souls would be saved. The poor soul looks into
the solemn eternity, the approach of death makes dull the eye of the spirit so
that it cannot see the reconciled Lord and His Mediator, the merciful High
Priest in the Holy of Holies.   How many thousands of souls thus unprepared
and uncomforted pass into eternity!
"It happens that after some years a 'traveling pastor arrives in one of these
settlements. Then the children are brought, and I myself have baptized a dozen
or more of children at one time, children of various ages, up to ten and twelve
years; but who instructs the baptized?   How can the Washing of Regeneration
continue its blessed effect and power when there is no preaching of the Word
and no Christian instruction?    Who will confirm   the children, who distribute
to them, later, the Lord's Supper? Their parents, of German birth, are themselves
heathen, unbaptized; consider that, -German heathen!..
"Thousands upon thousands of Germans immigrate every year; only in the
last two years between eighty and one hundred thousand.      Five thousand have
landed in one week alone at Philadelphia. There is a great movement westward.
[6]




The descendants of those who have lived for some generations in the Eastern
States follow this westward trend. A territory of increasing vastness is being
settled by members of our race, and ever wider the area is becoming in which

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Wyneken's Appeal to the Lutherans of Germany.
there is such great spiritual destitution.  Ever greater become our difficulties
in the task of surveying this enormous field and of granting these people spiritual
aid, and hence with ever greater insistency the call of the Lord addresses itself
to your hearts: 'Help! Help in the name of Jesus!'"
[7]




What a stirring appeal! Soon after it had been published, Pastor Wynekeni
made a trip to Germany in order to acquaint wider circles with the distress
of the Lutherans in America. On this journey he also came to Bavaria and
called on Loehe. Now the love for his brethren in America no longer permitted
Loehe to remain inactive. Aided by others, he began to gather about him faithful
and pious young men in order to prepare' them through a rapid course of study
for the office of preachers and) teachers in North America. He called these men
"Emergency Helpers."    When they had passed their examinations, he would commission them   for their work with such words as these:"You leave your fatherland and' go to North America in order to serve the
emigrated brethren in the faith as pastors. You have, in various places, pursued
Commission Issued to Loehe's Emigrant Pastors.
Facsimile (reduced).
a course of preparation for this task, and we regard you as properly fitted for
the holy ministry, according to the special conditions which prevail in your
future field of labor.   No one has prevailed upon you to accept the call of
a North American preacher of the German Lutheran Church, and no one can
send you. You have been prompted solely by loving desire to go to America
and to offer yourself to your Lord and His congregation.       The Lord of the
harvest, which is truly great, will call you and give you a full measure of work.
May H1is richest blessings go with you!"
The commission, of which we have reprinted the first paragraph, was given
to each candidate in writing.    Above we are showing in photographic reproduction a facsimile of such a commission, possibly the only one still extant in
[8]: ^ j '''^  ^  ^^^-. '  ~tr;/^4~ -/  4.
May His richest blessings go with you!"'
of Craemer, and also by Loehe and his associates.;i[8]




2. Frankenmuth.

As early as 1843 Loehe had requested one of his first emissaries, Pastor Wilhelm  Hattstaedt, then laboring at Monroe, Michigan, to make inquiry, what,
if anything, could be done also for the native Indians by the Lutheran Church.
For, ever since Loehe's attention had once been directed to America, his thoughts
often dwelt upon the American aborigines, who were then still in complete heathen
darkness. Hattstaedt reported that the work of evangelizing the American Indiani
was entirely feasible and might best be undertaken jointly with the Lutherans
already settled in Michigan. Soon Loehe found a company of young men who
were willing to settle as a Lutheran colony in the State of Michigan in order
to assist in the conversion of the Red Man through
the testimony of a Christian life. These men were
mainly young peasants and mechanics. And God
had already chosen the man who was to serve this
band of colonists as spiritual leader. This man was
Friedrich August Craemer, then a candidate for the
holy ministry, a man of great piety and of iron willpower, "one of those spiritual men cast in heroic
mold who by the grace of God became the founders
of our Synod." Craemer in 1844 offered his services
to Loehe. He visited Neuendettelsau, and there,
jointly with the members of the future colony,
weekly consultations were held concerning the establishment of a Lutheran settlement in the Michigan
forests and the evangelization of the natives.
On May 20, 1845, this little group of Bavarian  Friedrich August Craemer.
colonists sailed on the Caroline from Bremerhaven
with the set purpose in view to establish a missionary settlement among the Indians
of North America. Loehe wrote at the time: "Not poverty is the cause of their
emigration from their home country; they have, every one of them, been favored
with good fortune while in the home-land; some, indeed, have been prosperous.
Nothing prompts them but the thought - at once humble and sublime - of founding in the wildernesses of the New World a starting-point for missionary work
among the heathen."    None of them, indeed, was acquainted with the Indian
tongue, but Pastor Craemer had acquired a "perfect knowledge" of English, when
he resided in England, and through this means he intended to approach the
Indians. Later he mastered the difficult Chippewa tongue.
On the day of departure from      Bremerhaven, the ship ran aground on
a sandbank.   Fortunately the sea was quiet. The ship lay grounded until the
following morning.   During the long ocean voyage-the Caroline, of course.
[.]




was a sailing-vessel - Pastor Craemer regularly conducted divine services aboard
ship. The daily morning and evening devotions were led by Candidate Lochner.
There were a number of children in the company, and these received regular
instruction from  Lochner every forenoon.     But the voyage was not without
serious interruptions.  Six heavy storms passed over the ship's path, once the
Caroline collided with another vessel, contrary winds blew the ship from her
course, and it drifted for a time among icebergs.   Then there was an epidemic
of smallpox on board. Four persons died, and also Craemer was down with the
disease. At last, on June 8, after, a voyage of fifty days, the Caroline reached
6.
Farewell Song of the Frankenmuth Emigrants.
(Photographic reproduction of the original.)
the port of New York. It was a fine, sun-bright Sunday, the Third after Trinity,
and the farewell-service on board ship was a service of praise and thanksgiving.
From New York the immigrants took a Hudson River boat to Albany, and
thence they continued their journey by rail. This was on the 13th of July.
One hour after their departure from Albany their train collided with another
head-on. They were traveling fast at the time, and the coaches were so badly
damaged that the train had to be pulled back to Albany. On the evening of
the same day the journey was resumed, and four days later the immigrants
arrived at Monroe, Mich. From Monroe the colonists made their way to Saginaw,
where they intended to remain until the purchase of a suitable tract of land
on the Saginaw River, 680 acres in extent, had been concluded.
[101




Soon after their arrival in Saginaw, Pastor Craemer, accompanied by some
of his men and a surveyor, struck out for the primeval forest to inspect the land
which had been recommended to them, and to have it surveyed. They traveled
sixteen miles cross-country from  Saginaw, partly over marshy ground.     Dense
woods covered the entire countryside. There stood the ancient giants of the forest,
among them a thick underbrush which had been visited by no human foot except
when the red huntsman had penetrated these fastnesses in order to track the wolf,
the bear, and the deer.
Where now is situated the old cemetery of the Frankenmuth congregation,
the first blows of the ax were heard.     This was probably in the month of
August (1845).    While the women remained in Saginaw, the men would set
forth on Monday mornings with their tools, in order, first of all, to clear a piece
of ground on which it was the intention to build two log-houses. After the unaccustomed labor the men would rest their weary members on rude bedding spread
under a temporary shelter of boughs and branches.      The pastor regularly led
morning and evening devotions. Finally the huts were ready for occupancy.
The "Company Hut" was thirty feet in length, and was to serve as a shelter
for the five couples and the two single men. The other log-house was intended
for the pastor's family and also for the conduct of divine services. There were
doors in it, but no windows. The roof was not rain-proof, and during the frequent
downpours tables and umbrellas had to be employed to keep the bedding dry.
Nevertheless, it was a shelter sufficient for the most urgent needs.   Now the
women, the baggage, and all household goods were loaded on ox-carts, and the
trip from  Saginaw to Frankenmuth was successfully accomplished.
Thus did the colony of Frankenmuth originate in the summer of 1845.
While the first settlers were busy erecting their log-houses, Craemer already commenced his work among the Indians. Accompanied by an interpreter, he visited
the Indian families living in the neighborhood, and also began to teach their
children. Craemer worked with utter disregard of self, heeding neither rain nor
snow, neither dangers on water nor on land. Several times he was in imminent
peril of death when crossing Saginaw Bay. He slept with the Indians in their
smoke-filled huts and ate with them  out of the same meat-pot.
Pastor J. H. Ph. Graebner later wrote: "I have often heard my dear neighbor
and relative Craemer say in after years that these early days in Frankenmuth
were full of hardships also for himself and his family. During the first summer
they dwelt in an abominable log-cabin, which gave free access to wind and weather
from every side. Then the disagreeable intermittent fevers began to afflict him
and his family, which, however, did not prevent him from   performing his work
as a missionary as soon as he would be able to lift his head again. And in the
years that followed Craemer spent much of his strength in traveling the trackless
forests, afoot and on horseback, visiting the Indians in their wigwams. Often,
[11]




upon such trips, while in the depths of the woods, he would be attacked by the
fever, so that he would hardly be able to remain upon his horse.
In the summer of 1846 the colony Frankenmuth received a new lot of settlers,
some ninety persons, all directly from  Germany.    It now became necessary to
build a church. In August of the same year a tract of land had been cleared
as "church-land."   There was much interruption of the work, due to the fevers
which raged in the settlement, but the little church finally was completed, a loghouse, 42 by 26 feet, with thrde windows on each side. It was dedicated to the
Triune God with prayer, preaching, and Holy Communion on Second Christmas
Day.   On the following day the first three converted pagans of the forest were
baptized.
Church and Parsonage, Frankenmuth, 1859.
Due to new immigration, Frankenmuth grew rapidly. Craemer conducted
divine services every day, morning and evening, preaching a series of sermons
on some Biblical book. He commenced to experience difficulties in finding time
for his work among the Indians, and it was found necessary to provide an assistant
for this work. The Mission House in Leipsic now sent Missionary E. Baierlein,
who arrived in 1847 together with a band of immigrants whose leader was
Pastor Graebner. Baierlein labored jointly with Craemer for a year among the
natives. But since the Indians gradually withdrew from the vicinity of Frankenmuth, it was found necessary to establish a mission-post (Bethany) on the Pine
River in Isabella County.   Missionary Baierlein removed to Bethany in 1849,
and Frankenmuth from that time on ceased to be, in the proper sense, an outpost
of heathen mission-work. Craemer thereafter was not personally active in the
work among the natives.
[12]




Late in the summer of 1849, the pious and splendidly gifted Professor Wolter
of the Practical Seminary at Fort Wayne died of the cholera. As his successor
Craemer was elected by Synod, and with many tears the Frankenmuth colony
permitted their beloved pastor to follow this call. In May, 1851, his successor,
Rev. K. A. W. Roebbelen, was installed.
Frankenmuth was even then a congregation of considerable size, and some
of the people had begun to acquire wealth. Here and there pretty farmhouses
had been built in the place once occupied by rude log-cabins and huts. A sawmill and a flour-mill had been erected, and three times a week the mail was
brought by carrier from Saginaw. The old log-church now no longer sufficed
to accommodate the worshipers, and the colony proceeded to build a spacious frame
church, which was dedicated in 1851. Roebbelen's successor was Pastor Ottomar
Fuerbringer, formerly stationed at Freistadt, Wis., who was installed in the fall
of 1858.
Franken.uth Church.
Frankenmuth Church.

[13]




3. Frankentrost.
"As a missionary outpost for the work among the Indians," says the founder
of Frankentrost, the now sainted J. H. Ph. Graebner, "the colony of Frankenmuth
had only a limited period of usefulness, since it could not follow the Red Man
from huntiling-g roun ad to hunting-ground in the primeval forests. But the colony
prospered and in the course of years became a flourishing congregation. This
circumsl-ance prompted Loehe and his friends to inaugurate a new plan of colonization. Loehe saw the danger of losses to our Church through the settlement
of Lutheran immigrants in widely scattered communities, especially in view of
the activity of the sects, and suggested that the settlers unite, before emigration,
into colonies, each with a pastor of its own, and
build up new \ Lutheran communities in North
America.   In this manner the plan of founding
the settlement Frankentrost was conceived in the
fall of 1846."
The name Frankentrost (Consolation of the
Franks, or Bavarians) was chosen for this settlement because, as Loehe remarked, "the first emigrants having had the Courage" (Frankenmuth
means "Courage of the Franks") "to settle on
strange, Indian soil, the successors of these shall
take Consolation from these their brethren, and rest
assured that the same divine blessing and the same
divine favor and guidance are to be their lot
likewise."
J. H. Ph. Graebner.            The man who was to serve this colony as
pastor was already chosen    by Loehe.    It was
one of his Emergency Men, candidate of theology Johann Heinrich Philipp
Graebner.   In 1846 Loehe issued a call for participants in, the new    venture,
and in fall of the same year a number of persons who had become weary of the
rationalism proclaimed in pulpits and classrooms, and who longed for the preaching of the pure Gospel and free exercise of religion, announced their readiness to
participate. They gathered among themselves a fund of 6,000 guilders ($4,000),
for the purchase of a tract of land in the State of Michigan.
The first troop of these emigrants left on the steamer Creole on the 18th
of April, 1847. Pastor Graebner followed with the rest on the Hermine, which
weighed anchor April 22. In the following we have copied out some manuscript
notes of Pastor Graebner concerning the voyage to New York and thence to the
Saginaw Valley, and the early experiences of the colony:
"The instructions of Pastor Loehe provided that I travel in steerage together
[14]




with my colonists. If our vessel should meet with dangers, I was to think of
my own rescue only after the last of my charges had left the ship. In case of
extreme peril I should be found ready to remain on board with those who should
happen to remain there, and comfort them in the moment of death. However,
it pleased God in His mercy to lead me and my dear colonists safely across
the ocean. After a voyage of six weeks we arrived, June 1, 1847, in New York
harbor.
"On the next day, after a successful trip up the beautiful Hudson, we arrived
about noon at Albany, and on the afternoon of the same day we continued our
journey by rail to Buffalo. In Buffalo we remained about five hours, during
which time our baggage was transferred to the steamer which was to take us
across Lake Erie to Detroit.  We had bought tickets directly from  New York
to Detroit. On Sunday, about noon, we arrived at Toledo and then continued
the voyage to Detroit.
"There was, at that time, no other way of reaching Frankenmuth from Detroit,
except by team, and we experienced considerable difficulty in securing a sufficient
number of wagons to transport so large a company and so much freight. Part
of the men remained as guards over our baggage until the required number
of teams had been secured. On the third day after our arrival in Detroit, the
entire company was happily under way for the cross-country trip to Frankenmuth.
Baierlein had rejoined us at Detroit. Some of our teamsters knew the whereabouts
of Frankenmuth, and after traveling for three days, we arrived about noon at
Birch Run, where we were informed that Frankenmuth was about sixteen miles
distant. However, the teams had to rest during the night at Bridgeport, and
so Baierlein, myself, and two other young fellows decided to cover the rest of
the journey by foot. At the end of five hours of very hard walking we arrived
at the parsonage in Frankenmuth. The teams, together with the rest of companions, arrived about noon the next day (June 11, 1847).
"The task of selecting a parcel of land for our colony of Frankentrost at
once engaged our attention. Together with a surveyor, Mr. Beach, Pastor Craemer,
myself, and about a dozen of my men left on the very next morning in a northerly
direction from Frankenmuth and entered the primeval forest. After tramping
steadily for about two hours through the splendid wood, our guide made a halt
and said, 'Here we are six miles north of Frankenmuth.'
"About noon we made a second halt at a creek with fine, clear water, and
there prepared our tea. As we consumed our repast, we decided to make our
camp in the same place during the night. We had taken with us provisions
for two days and a night. The afternoon was spent in exploring the country
in every direction, and then we requested our guide to take us back to the place
where we had spent the noon-hour. We arrived there about sundown, and at once
made a large fire. We again had a cup of tea, whereupon we sang a few evening
[15]




songs, and then each of us wrapped himself up in his woolen blanket. Thus we
spent the first night in peaceful slumber, under the protection of God and His
holy angels, among the trees of the American forest primeval.
"After we had spent another forenoon in exploring the land, we were all
agreed--the best land that we had seen was the spot where we had rested on
the preceding day. Having definitely selected this tract, we returned the same
afternoon to Frankenmuth.
"The acre of government land then cost a dollar and a quarter. But since
at that time Michigan state bonds could be purchased very cheaply, and were
accepted at face value for the purchase of land, the acre cost us only eightytwo cents.
"When each member of the colony -there were twenty-two families in all
had decided upon the size of the tract which he intended to call his own, the
surveyor was again summoned in order to measure out for each man his parcel.
This work of surveying was continued throughout an entire week, which we again
spent in the beautiful green forest. On the second day, just after our noonday
meal, we saw a few clouds rising in the west beyond the tall timber, and our
Mr. Beach said to me, 'Mr. Graebner, I guess this afternoon we may get some
heavy rain.' When I asked, 'Well, Mr. Beach, what ought we to do?' he replied,
'I think we ought to fix some shelter.' I apprised the men of Mr. Beach's fears
and of his suggestion, and we at once set to work building a shelter of branches
according to Mr. Beach's directions.  Two hours sufficed for the completion of
a hut 24 feet long and 14 feet wide, and scarcely was it completed when the
downpour commenced. We smoked our pipes in comfort until the rain ceased.
This shelter stood exactly upon the spot where the parsonage was built later,
and served as a domicile until each had built his log-cabin upon his own property.
Just in front of our leafy shelter there stood a mighty oak tree. During the
noon-hour some of the young men remarked that this tree on the parsonage lot
ought to be felled by united efforts, - 'how, if we went to work at once?' No
sooner said than done. Four men seized their axes and commenced work; after
a little while four others took a hand. After two hours of uninterrupted work
the mighty giant of the forest fell-he measured more than six feet in diameter.
-- As soon as the task of surveying was accomplished, the labor of building loghouses commenced, and as each one roughly completed his cabin, he would go
to Frankenmuth and bring his family to dwell with him in his new home.
"The congregation desired that we follow the example of Frankenmuth and
conduct brief morning and evening services every day. During the suimmer,
commencing about Easter, they would gather at six in the morning and evening,
and after St. Michael's Day, during the winter half-year, at seven in the morning
and five at night."
Concerning the services held during the early years of the colony, 'Pastor
[16]




Graebner reported to Loehe: "You would rejoice to see the pretty quarters in
which we worship at my house. It is only a log-cabin, but the logs are nicely
squared and trimmed, and the inner arrangement is quite in German style.
The west room is my domicile, the east room our church, which has three windows.
Behind the desk, which takes the place of a pulpit, there is a large chair, and
about the altar there are grouped nine benches for the congregation.        I can
assure you that I experience, at times, great happiness as I kneel or stand at the
altar at six in the morning and chant the Kyrie or Te Deum with my congregation.
Then, as I see the morning sun rising above the green forest and shedding its
benign and gentle light through the windows, the thought comes to me that
our dear Savior would indicate how well He is pleased that His praises are sung
and a tabernacle erected to His name in this wilderness, where but a little while
ago. only the dreadful howling of the wild beasts was heard."
-:      -~! ~

Homeland, Farewell!

[17]




4. Frankenlust.
When Loehe and his associates in Germany observed the ready response which
their system of colonization had found in wide circles, they devoted their attention
to the development of a plan which had some time been maturing in their minds.
The intention now    was to collect a, fund of several thousand dollars and to
purchase, for this amount, a large tract of land which was to be sold at a low
price to Lutheran colonists. About this time the Hannoverian Ferdinand Sievers,
then candidate for the holy ministry, offered himself to Loehe for service in
North America. Sievers was invited for a conference to Neuendettelsau in order
that the plan of colonization might be jointly discussed. Complete agreement was
reached on all points, and soon Candidate Sievers
emigrated with a small number of families, accom"    panied by Candidate Brauer of Hannover and a number of scholars for the Seminary at Fort'Wayne.
S    When Sievers and his colonists, provided with
considerable funds, arrived, Craemer at first suggested that the new colony of Frankenlust be established on the Tittipiwassee River, about half-way
Sbetween Saginaw and the mission-outpost Bethany.....~~~1 But the land on the Tittipiwassee did not suit the
Simmigrants, and so the well-watered country on the
Saginaw River, about twelve miles north of Saginaw,
was selected for settlement. Frankenlust lies some
four or five miles west of the Saginaw River, and
of what is now Bay City, on a little stream, the
Ferdinand Sievers.
Sqwa-qwa-ning.
About this time the congregation at Saginaw was founded. Pastor Graebner
relates: "Pastor Sievers, who was best able to get to Saginaw because he had
a horse, at first preached in private homes; sometimes at Stelzrieder's, sometimes
at Geuder's. There were twelve families who gathered for divine services in the
fall of 1849, whenever Sievers made his preaching-trips.     Then Pastor Cloeter
arrived from Germany, and Geuder proposed that the congregation issue a pastoral
call to Cloeter. Fears were expressed that such a handful of people could not
possibly sustain a minister.  Then it was that Geuder said: 'We certainly can
do it if we have a will. Among the children of Israel eleven tribes had to support
the twelfth. There are twelve of us, should we not be able to support the thirteenth?   I shall give a month's earnings for the support of the pastor, and will
offer him  a home with me, to begin with.       Which of you is willing to give
a month's earnings for the pastor's salary?' All gladly assented, and Pastor Cloeter
accepted the call. The name of the pious Geuder ought to be never forgotten
in the congregations of the Saginaw Valley."
[18]




In 1850 Pastor Sievers was able to report the dedication of a church edifice.
He wrote to Loehe: "On the 12th of November we rejoiced in the dedication
of our new   house of worship at Frankenlust.      It is built of fair-hewn logs,
is 28 feet in length and 24 feet wide, and the insides are plastered with clay.
My few schoolchildren and the women of the settlement had w.ound garlands
and chaplets, as well as it could be done with only evergreens and autumn foliage.at hand, and above the altar the words were spelled out in evergreens: 'St. Paul's
Church.' St. Paul, the great apostle of the Gentiles, shall remain our constant
pattern, that we may not forget our call to build also among the pagans of
Michigan a tabernacle to the Lord. The morning address, on Luke 19, 1 ft., was
assigned to me, and Pastor Graebner preached in the afternoon. We sang our
praises to God, who, after long and weary waiting, had given us grace to dedicate
unto Him   a quiet sanctuary. Of course, much is still lacking; there is neither
bell, nor organ, nor altar-painting. A pulpit and an altar we shall have before
long." Pastor Sievers donated 63 acres of land to the church, the colonists
27 acres.  There were 16 families in the colony at that time. Loehe remarks,
in a paragraph on the work at Frankenlust: "The results achieved by Pastor.Sievers have entailed the suffering of unspeakable hard'ships."
His neighbor Graebner tells the following incident: "I shall never forget
the first pastoral conference which was held at the home of Pastor Sievers when
he was still single. At night the entire conference retired to rest upon one long
spread of straw. In one of his rooms Sievers had caused wheat-straw to be spread
upon the floor. Upon this, linen cloths had been laid, and a pillow      for each.
We covered ourselves with linen cloths, and all enjoyed a restful sleep. I was
indeed tired enough, having made afoot that same day the twenty miles to
Frankenlust."
5. Frankenhilf.
In the year 1850 Pastor Loehe decided to establish a new settlement in the
Saginaw Valley. This time the love which he had for his poverty-stricken countrymen was the motive which prompted the undertaking. At that time there were
in Bavaria many peasants who were barely able to eke out an existence. Many
young people were prevented from entering matrimony because they did not possess
the amount of property which the state had made a condition of issuing marriage
licenses. Loehe wanted to provide an opportunity for such people in a Settlement
for the Poor, to be planted in Michigan. Since this colony was intended to provide
a home for people who were unable to make a living in Germany, the colony
was given the name Frankenhilf (Aid for Bavarians).
In the year 1849 Pastor Sievers had received instructions from      Germany
to invest the Colonization Fund, already referred to, in the purchase of land
for another, the fourth, settlement. In the spring of 1850 a number of families,
under the leadership of candidate of theology Herman Kuehn, left Germany
[19]




in order to found this colony.      Kuehn succeeded in bringing his emigrants
as far as Detroit. But a number of his people decided to remain here, others
went to Saginaw    or joined other settlements, and finally a single family, the
Ammons, renained true to the purpose of starting the colony of Frankenhilf.
These Ammons were not only people of good education, but, above all,
very devout and of noble traits of character, also, we should add, enthusiastic.
followers of Loehe. Pastor Loehe was very anxious to secure for them the services
of a pastor, and so Pastor Deindoerfer, with a small number of emigrants, was
sent forth and arrived at Frankenhilf in the following year.
On the second Sunday in Advent, 1851, the first service was held at Frankenhilf, in the home of the Ammons. Ammon also assigned a room          in his house
to the pastor's use, and this room   was!used for divine services.  And although
he had already spent his entire fortune, he took the pastor into free board.
In 1853 the first church was built, of hewn logs, and measuring 36 by 25 feet.
Now also this colony was provided with a sanctuary for Lutheran worship.
Frankenhilf, like the other Saginaw    Valley congregations, from    the very
beginning fostered the Christian day-school. This wise measure, dictated as well
by Christian sense as by love, has unquestionably, next to the preaching of the
pure Word, been the main reason why these congregations have flourished and
grown, until they have become large and active congregations, which now offer
to God the sacrifices of their lips and hands in gratitude for the spiritual riches.
which through church and school have been their share these many years.
Jointly with these old Bavarian settlements in the Saginaw Valley, our entire
American Lutheran Church, so far as she is true to her Confessions, praises the
wisdom and mercy of God, who, in spite of the human frailties of those who were
the founders of these congregations has poured out temporal and spiritual blessings.
upon them from the very first age of their history. These Franconian settlements
have been a benediction to our entire Lutheran Church. There is - to mention
only one factor-with the exception, possibly, of the Perry County, Mo., congregations, in the entire Lutheran Church of North America, no group of congregations which has given a greater number of men to the service of the Christian
ministry in church and school than these settlements of the Saginaw        Valley.
This, too, we must view as a blessing which accrues to those congregations which
regard the training of the children through the medium of Christian day-schools
as one of the prime duties of the Church.
In the concluding chapter of this sketch we shall supply some detail concerning the mode of life in these early settlements. Our generation is iii danger
of forgetting, and has in great part already forgotten, that the foundations of
our beloved Missouri Synod were laid through the incalculable labors and manifold
sacrifices of those pioneers whom   we rightly call the Pilgrim   Fathers of our
Church. In supplying these data, we follow the manuscript record of the founder
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of the Frankentrost colony, J. H. Ph. Graebner.     It is very probably the only
original record extant of life in the Michigan colonies as it was in the first decade
of their existence, and is, for this reason alone, of sufficient value to be preserved,
at least in a few extracts, for future generations of Lutherans.
6. Life on the Frontier in the Forties.
The first pastor of Frankentrost writes, in his reminiscences: -
"Cash money was hardly ever seen in Michigan at that time, and was used
almost exclusively for purchasing flour.   All other goods were bought for socalled 'store-certificates.'  Sometimes the settlers would experience difficulty in
raising enough cash money in order to purchase a barrel of flour, and it would
happen that the supply of flour would be exhausted and not a cent of money
at hand to buy this all but indispensable necessity. I could relate many a story
to show how the Lord provided for His own in those days. Let me tell about
an experience which I had in my own household. It was at the time that
Pastor Kuehn had come from Germany and was stopping a. few days with us
in Frankentrost. One day, after we had just arisen from the dinner table, and
our guest had stepped into the other room, my dear wife came to me with tears
in her eyes and said, 'The flour is all used up, I can no longer bake.' I tried
to comfort her by reminding her of the little text about the 'young ravens,' etc.
Then I went out to friend Kuehn. A little while later, as we were standing
at the fence, the wife of neighbor Buchinger stepped over to us and said to me,
'Pastor, we have not been able for some time to give you anything.       I should
like to have brought you some money, but my husband works in the mill at
Frankenmuth, and Hubinger says that he cannot give him         his wages in cash,
but only in flour. Would you have use for a sack of flour?' I told her that
a sack of flour would be most welcome. Then I went in to my dear wife and
told her how marvelously the good Lord had helped us out of our predicament.
We Christians, of course, know that every morsel is received out of the beneficent
hand of God, but we realize this best in times of poverty. But while it is true
that we have been very poor, we really never lacked the necessities of life, and
never had to suffer hunger. Therefore - give thanks to the Lord, for He is good,
for His mercy endureth forever!
"All of my dear Frankentrost people at times had to suffer want, but only
a few of them ever got into such straits that they actually had to get along with
a bare subsistence for a short time. My dear old Mr. Moll (who, by the way,
never permitted his cheery temperament to become clouded) told me one day,
'Pastor, in my house we were at times reduced to such extremities that we either
had potatoes and no bread, or only bread and coffee.'      At a ripe old age he
concluded his pilgrimage at Frankentrost, but even then the years of grinding
poverty were long past, and some of the people had begun to acquire wealth.
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At the time when a certain degree of prosperity had become noticeable in the
colony, I happened to meet my dear old Moll as delegate at a synodical convention.  On this occasion he gave me a ten-dollar gold piece, which I at first
refused to accept.   'Take it, pastor,' he said, with tears in his eyes, 'take it;
it is only a small instalment paid off on my debt; I can spare it now, the
season of want, praise God, is now past.'
"As we had to get all our supplies from the stores at Saginaw, and the
all but impassable roads often rendered traffic extremely difficult, it would frequently happen that the lack of all kinds of minor necessities would become
acutely felt in the various households. Hence, whenever it became known that
some one was going to Saginaw, there would be a considerable number of little
orders of all kinds to be filled. And, of course, whenever the 'Herr Pastor'
would go to Saginaw, he would likewise be commissioned to get various articles of
which the supply had run short. I have often returned from Saginaw loaded down
with orders like a palfrey-mule, and in each house I would deliver the parcels
I had been asked to bring with me. People were measurably certain that the 'Herr
Pastor' would not forget, since he had a habit of noting down all such orders.
"Whenever women happened to go to Saginaw, they would arrange to go
two, three, or four in company, but never singly. It was not at all an unusual
experience for them to start on the return trip somewhat late and in the gathering
dusk to lose their way while still in the forest.   Their cries of distress would
cause excitement throughout the settlement, shots were fired and tin-horns blown
everywhere, until they were found.' Upon such occasions the protecting hand
of God more than once was very noticeable, as in the following instances.
"Dr. Koch, of Frankenmuth, at that time was the only physician in our
vicinity. One day he was making professional calls in Frankentrost, and the
sun already stood low when he had administered his remedies to several people
who were sick with fever. He took a cup of coffee at the parsonage, and I suggested that owing to the lateness of the hour it would be best for him to spend
the night with me, rather than expose himself to danger in the forest. But he
said that he had several people down with the fever at Frankenmuth whose condition was such that they required his attention that same night, and so, walking
afoot, the good doctor set out on the way to Frankenmuth. But he made no professional calls that night. He got lost in the wood, and for three nights and two
entire days he strayed about in the district between Frankenmuth and Frankentrost.
Only on the third day he arrived, completely exhausted, in Bridgeport. Emerging
from the forest, he received the hospitality of an English farmer. While roaming
about in the wilderness, Dr. Koch continually had masticated fresh twigs of the
linden in order to satisfy his gnawing hunger. This happened at the end of
winter, and during the second night spent in the forest, Dr. Koch had the toes
of one foot so badly frost-bitten that he was confined to his home for months.
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"My brother Conrad had settled at Frankentrost about one and a quarter mile
distant from the colony proper. One day my sister Margaret, then Mrs. Geuder,.
and her friend, Mrs. Hemeder, intended to make a visit in Frankentrost and
left Saginaw early in the afternoon, expecting to reach my brother's house by
nightfall. It happened to be the last night of the year. They might have covered
the distance during the hours of daylight that remained, but were retarded by
the deep snow through which they had to wade a great part of the way. Tired
out by the exertion, they failed to make the nine miles before nightfall and had
to continue their walk in darkness. The way from Saginaw to Frankentrost had
been cleared until within a half mile of our settlement. When the women reached
this end of the path, they lost their bearings and began an aimless march through
the trackless forest. They walked until exhausted, and then lay down near a large
fallen tree in the snow. They knew that they were within measurable distance
of Frankentrost, and so they attempted to make their presence known by means
of loud and repeated cries. The sons of my brother also heard these cries, just
before retiring for the night, but they thought the shouting originated from
certain Indians who were out hunting, and who had spent the previous night
near this spot. Closely locked in each other's arms, the women commended their
souls to God and soon were fast asleep. Towards morning they were aroused
from their slumbers by the lowing of cows which they heard in the distance.
Following up this sound, they arrived in Frankentrost on New Year's Day morning, just as the horns were being blown for the first service.
"We had no church-bells in Frankentrost in those days by means of which
the people might be called to services at the appointed hours, and so we had
to use some other means. Announcing the hour of divine services by some public
signal was all the more necessary as there were at that time few clocks in the
various households which could be depended upon as timepieces. These signals
were given by means of a tin horn, the kind used by housewives to call their
husbands from   the field at meal-times. Half an hour before the beginning of
services I would blow my tin horn, and immediately the signal was passed on
from household to household by means of similar instruments. Whoever had
a watch or clock that still was in running order, at such times would set it,
since 'the Herr Pastor's watch surely must have correct time.'
"Divine services were continued at the church in the same manner as they
had been inaugurated in our log-cabin sanctuary, except that in the winter-months
there were no daily morning and evening services. Instead, there were weekday
services every Wednesday and Friday morning.      On Sunday afternoons public
catechizations were held with the congregation. At first there were but a few
children in the colony, hardly more than three or four old enough to answer questions upon the Catechism. I referred to this circumstance somewhat regretfully
one Sunday during catechization. It was then that the men and women present
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said of one accord: 'Why, pastor, just ask us grown people; we shall answer as
well as we can, and when we fail, you can tell us.' Such became the arrangement,
and so it remained customary at Frankentrost as long as I was pastor there.
"May future generations not forget that at the time when 'my first sons,
Conrad and August, were born, there was still the grand primeval American
forest covering the greater part of what is now prosperous, beautiful Frankentrost;
that at night the bears would utter their howls and the wolves their shrieks, and
the red Indian would call during the day, often also at night, at the parsonage
in Frankentrost. It would happen upon such occasions that the brown Indian girls
would lug around the little, black-eyed sons of the German Mekadikonjeh (Pastor),
and would make them little presents of beautifully embroidered moccasins, little
baskets and boxes made of birch-bark, sometimes filled with maple-sugar. The
family of the old Indian medicine man was frequently seen at our parsonage.
They would generally bring a piece of deer or other venison, but would, of course,
not refuse gifts offered in exchange. One stormy winter's eve the old medicine
man showed up at our house with both of his wives. The younger of these had
a papoose about half a year old. They made themselves comfortable around the
warm stove, and the old medicine man kept on feeding the blaze during the night.
On the following morning they ate corn-bread with us and drank a cup of coffee,
and then departed with a hearty 'Bushu-ni-kawnis' (Good-bye, dear friends).
Several times it happened that we took our boys with us when invited to Craemer's
in Frankenmuth. Then brother Craemer would send the two grown-up daughters
of the medicine man, who would carry the boys, Indian style, upon their backs.
Thus we would go to Frankenmuth, and back to Frankentrost.            Ah, those
were times!"
In Conclusion.
"And now, dear reader," writes Rev. E. A. Mayer in his history of the congregation of Frankenmuth, "now look backwards and consider the days that are
past, and the ways of God with our fathers - are not the leadings of the Almighty
and His protecting hand everywhere in evidence?      Has He not guarded them
as the apple of His eye?     We, the younger generation, have entered into an
inheritance which the fathers obtained partly through fierce outward and inner
conflicts.  Shall we not praise the mercies of God, who so clearly manifested
His faithfulness in His dealings with them? And as we view the perils which
menace our spiritual heritage, shall not the earnest petition be joined to our
thanksgiving: Preserve unto us, 0 Lord, Thy Word! Abide with us, continue
upon us Thy grace, Thy light, Thy blessing, Thy protection -?  And shall' not
a fruition of such prayers be, first of all, that we stand guard faithfully over
the deposit of divine truth entrusted to us, and secure unto future generations
that faithful adherence to the Lutheran confession, to churchly custom, and piety
of life which is the rich legacy left us by our fathers?   Verily, the Lord has
entrusted much to our charge, He will require much at our hands!"
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