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Feature Article on Anna church. Topic: PIONEERS
Written by Lew and Pat Diehl in July, 2000
GONE, BUT NOT ENTIRELY...Pg 2 |
| 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.
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