One Church, Two
Congregations
In 1832, the first Lutheran pioneers arrived in the territory north of Sidney, Ohio to found their homes. While dealing with
the hardships of beginning a new living in the wilderness, they combined efforts with a
few of the Reformed faith for establishment of regular congregational work.
The
earliest records of these pioneers include names of Bey, Moothart, Altermatt, Schlosser,
Gump, Staley, and Schwander. This group with two distinct sections was necessary because
of fewness in numbers, and the poverty and difficulties with which they had to contend. It
was named the St. Jacob’s Congregation. The Schwander family moved to the area
in 1833 to build their log cabin as "deer and wolves still roved through the
forests," according to one writer.
That year found the Lutherans busy at building a parsonage for their pastor. Rev. John
Henry Ferdinand Joesting took possession of the one-room rough log house, which was also
used as a school and a church. It stood on the east side of what is now County Road 25A,
across from the old cemetery that is still identified there. That fall more names were
added to the Lutheran ranks, names that in today’s spelling are Hagelberger, Fogt,
Finkenbine, Zimpfer, Schafer, and Knasel.
Then in 1835, the Lutherans and Reformed, now numbering about 18 families in each
group, joined hands in erecting their first church. It was a 36 by 24-foot dressed log
building, situated on a piece of land donated by David Schwander, which is now the old
Lutheran cemetery. The confirmation of the first Lutheran class of catechumens took place
there in May of 1836. Descendants of David Schwander, later spelled Swander, still
live on the farm that hosted the old Lutheran cemetery.
Rev. Joesting served the congregation for seven years,
while clearing land to raise crops, traveling the wilderness on foot, and establishing a
second congregation in Auglaize county, to where he eventually moved. He was replaced by
Rev. George Klapp, who resided in St. Paris, and from there served a number of scattered
congregations.
During the next several years the Lutheran
ranks slowly grew, including more new names – Schiff, Stengel, Pfaadt, Beemer, and
Stang. When Rev. Klapp died in 1844, and the Lutherans were left without a pastor, the
Reformed pastor proposed to absorb them into the Reformed ranks, but the Lutherans were
not in the least willing to give up their Lutheran doctrine and identity. In fact, the
situation led to their insistence that there be a complete separation from the Reformed
section.
Lutherans Build Brick Church
And so the church property was auctioned, with both sections bidding, and it passed
into the hands of the Evangelical Lutheran St. Jacob’s Congregation. The log church
served for twenty years, but the congregation continued to grow in number and wealth, so
that 1854 found the members hauling brick from Sidney for a new one, and its dedication
took place in October.
The old log structure was sold and moved twice, finally to the north side of the road
two and a half miles west of Anna. The brick church was used for services seventeen years,
although it stood considerably longer.
After the C.H.&D. was built through western Ohio in the mid-1850s, the village of
Anna sprang up, and it was not long until quite a number of Lutherans lived north of
there. It became the center of the growing population. The brick church had become too
small, and an addition or a new church was in order. Modern cultivators of the field where
the church once stood still find fragments of brick from the long deceased structure.
The decision was made to locate the church in Anna, and the cornerstone of a new 60 by
40-foot frame building with a 70-foot spire was laid in 1870. During its 35-year
existence, there were 889 baptisms, 689 confirmations, 262 marriages, and 272 burials.
In 1881, when Rev. John M. Meissner was pastor, two bells
were purchased and placed in the steeple, weighing 800 and 400 pounds. The church was
extensively remodeled during the summer of 1899, and rededicated December 17. Later the
church was finely papered and eight new art glass windows were installed.
The frame church stood until 1906. Once again, the physical plant of St. Jacob’s
congregation had become too small, and was frequently overcrowded. The contract was let
for the new brick church on June 11 of that year. A farewell service was held June 24, and
the following day the work of taking down the old church began, S.F. Fogt having bought it
for $150.00.
Of the lumber, Fogt constructed a
barn a half mile east of Anna. That was 94 years ago, but traces of the old frame church
can still be seen from I-75 and from OH-119, because the barn still stands. It is on what
was once the property of Clyde Boyer, which was later purchased by Francis Bertsch, and it
has been moved farther back from the highway from where it originally stood.
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The
Bertsch barn is pictured above. Over its main door is the semicircular window that once
graced the front of the church (left). Another window frame, a side window from the
church, is still seen in the east gable of the Bertsch barn (see inset above). Lew Diehl
photos. |
Cradle
and Hobby Horse
Francis used pieces of the walnut beams that were left over to make rockers for a
cradle. The cradle belongs to his daughter, Sondra Pence, who used it for her daughter,
Lisa, when she was born. He also used some of the walnut to make the head and body for a
wooden hobby horse for his granddaughter Stacy, daughter of Susie and Gary Bertsch
(members of the Shelby County Historical Society) who now own the farm where the old barn
stands.
The finely hewn walnut beams seen
overhead in the barn look as strong and straight as ever. Over its main door is the
semicircular window that once graced the front of the church. In the east gable is a
window that came from the side of the church, in which years of weather have left only one
pane of amber colored glass. The amber glass would indicate that it is one of the
original, from before 1903, when eight fine art glass windows were installed. At least six
of the latter were incorporated into the magnificent windows of the present church. The
two bells still are heard ringing in the tower.
Recycling From Our
Ancestors
It is good to be able to see and to use things whose existence goes back to our
ancestors. In today’s economy, too many things are considered entirely dispensable or
disposable. Much of what has been made by hard work and skill, from resources we seem to
think are inexhaustible, is committed to the landfill, or goes down to rubble under
bulldozer and backhoe.
Frugality is a virtue. And so is reverence for the work and art
of our ancestors and the things they created. Past, present, and future – all three
are important. Without consideration of and connection to the past, how well can we
comprehend or appreciate where we are and where we are headed?
And those who have gone on before would be proud to see their belongings still in use,
whether in a utilitarian way or simply as keepsakes, what our German ancestors would call Andenken, to remind us of them.
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