Emanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church New London, Wisconsin

Emanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church New London, Wisconsin Celebrating 125 years of God’s Grace September 10, 1893 – September 10, 2018 We Rejoice with Thanksgiving – Psalm 95:1-2 Come, let us sign for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song Anniversary Committee Pastor William Heiges – Advisor Dale Krause – Chairman Sue Besaw Jean Gorman Marsha Krause Edward Krause Sandra Krause Mary Schoenrock Julie Schoenrock Cyndy Schulz Shirley Steingraber Janet Strebe A special note of thanks goes to the following: Pastor William Heiges – Advisor to the committee Pastor Mark Tiefel who designed the nine worship services Mr. Ed Krause who researched and wrote the history on the following pages Mr. Dale Krause for the research on the pastors who served Emanuel and the sons and daughters of Emanuel who entered the public ministry Ms. Susan Willems, WELS Archivist, for her research assistance Mr. Stephen Balza, Martin Luther College, Director of Alumni Relations, for his research assistance Mr. & Mrs. Greg Mathewson, Mathewson Monuments, for support with the anniversary dinner The information contained in this booklet is thought to be correct. If there are omissions or needed corrections, please accept our apologies. It was not intentional. 1 Historical Setting In the years before 1850 a considerable number of Native Americans lived in the region of the confluence of the Wolf and Embarrass rivers. The rivers were the highways which made travel easy. This area had a rich soil to grow crops; was full of wild game and fish which made the area attractive for the Native Americans. At first these Native Americans were not very friendly toward the Europeans. They did not feel the French had treated them fairly. However, in 1670 Father Claude Allouez came from Green Bay and started a mission called Saint Marks in the region of the two rivers. At the time this helped to sooth the relationship between the Native Americans and Europeans. Forty-two years later the French initiated the Fox Wars (1712-1742) to eliminate the Native American competition and interference with their fur trade. As a result, in 1712 the mission of St. Marks was abandoned because the battle of Butte des Morts had removed the Native Americans Father Allouez had been serving. After the French and Indian War (1754-1763) the British came on the scene and also had issues with the Native Americans. The two European nations were only interested in exploiting their colonies. However, the British were on the scene only until 1783 (the end of the American Revolution). Because of the previous history, the region was not settled by non-native people for some time. A prospector was sent into the area in the 1830’s to look for minerals. He was followed by a steamboat from Oshkosh in 1846 that went up the Wolf all the way to Shawano. In 1848 William Johnson built a trading post at the junction of the Wolf and Embarrass rivers and named it Johnson Landing. This was the first building at the site that was to become New London. By 1852 two other families lived here, Lucius Taft and Ira Millard. These two families formed a partnership and purchased the trading post from Johnson. About the same time, Rev. Reader Smith of Appleton received a charter to build a plank road from Appleton to the settlement that was to become New London. Also, by 1854 there was regular steamboat service from Oshkosh. The settlement had a Post Office, and was named New London. The population of the village had grown to 150 in two years. The Lutheran congregations in the states of Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, and Missouri were a result of the immigration of many German Lutherans from their home land of Germany. This movement was caused when, in 1817, the King of Prussia, Frederick William III ordered the Lutheran and Reformed churches to join into one. Frederick was seeking unity in his kingdom. There were many of the Lutherans that did not tolerate the doctrines of the Reformed Churches. They disagreed with the Reformed view of Lord's Supper, election, inspiration of Scripture, and salvation by faith and works and others. This desire for religious purity and freedom caused them to make the long journey by ship to Australia and America. This started in 1835. The majority that came to Wisconsin sailed from New York by boat up the Hudson River, by canal boat on the Erie Canal, finally by ship on the Great Lakes and landed in Milwaukee. A few also traveled overland to the Midwest. While many stayed in Milwaukee, others moved to the Watertown area or north and west to settle on the rich farm lands which they had to claim from the pine forests. This also gave rise to the lumbering industry in the area. 2 When these Lutheran immigrants came to America they brought their Bibles, hymnals, and catechisms, but they did not bring pastors. That meant there was an acute shortage of pastors. Most of the pastoral work in rural areas was done by traveling missionaries who traveled by foot, horse, or canoe. They traveled from Milwaukee to the areas where they found Lutheran people settling and made a circuit of preaching stations that later became congregations. Many of the pastors served multiple groups of Lutherans. Because of the shortage of pastors, the churches had to depend upon the Mission Societies of Germany to send pastors. These transient Lutheran pastors saw America as an opportunity for mission work. However, some of the pastors were trained to be both Reformed as well as Lutheran and that became problematic. Many times the people could not worship with the pastors of mixed loyalties and that made the shortage even more acute. By 1836 there was a Lutheran seminary at St. Louis, Missouri. By 1847, the Missouri synod was organized and centered in St. Louis. By 1850, the Wisconsin Synod was organized at its population center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and the opening of its seminary in 1863. The organization of the synods was prompted by the difficulty in obtaining faithful pastors from Germany. One of the main priorities of the synods were to open pastoral training schools. These schools trained faithful men from the immigrants who returned to serve as faithful pastors for the immigrants. The Wisconsin synod also opened a teacher training school at New Ulm Minnesota in 1884 to provide faithful teachers for their children. Organizing into a Congregation The Lutheran Church in New London dates back to 1857. On May 31, Heinrich (Henry) Ziehlsdorf purchased a piece of property at the corner of South Pearl and Warren Streets. This became a home church for the Lutherans in the area. In the late spring of 1857 Pastor Martin Stephan of the Missouri Synod led the first formal Lutheran service here offering baptism and the Lord's Supper to the immigrants in the area. Rev. Stephan was the pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Oshkosh. It is thought that he traveled as far north as Belle Plaine. He returned to New London several times before he accepted a call to Fort Wayne, Indiana. In the late summer of 1857 Rev. Gottlieb Fachtmann, the first traveling missionary of the Wisconsin Synod, came to New London from Fond du Lac traveling by foot and canoe. He also visited the Lutherans in the Dale and Hortonville area at that time. He reported in a letter sent to the Synod dated September 1, 1857: “and especially in New London and near Hortonville I found a hearty desire and great hunger for the Word of God. There is a great, extensive field of work opening here for one or even two preachers of our Synod.” Rev. Fachtmann also reported that there were thirty Lutheran families in the area around New London. These families had emigrated from the Pomerania and Mecklenburg region of Prussia (Germany). Rev. Fachtmann also noted that the “Ziehlsdorf” Family was the mainstay of the Lutheran community in New London. In June of 1858, Rev. Stephan accepted a call to Fort Wayne, Indiana. After Rev. Stephan left, several Wisconsin Synod pastors became very active in the area. This may have precipitated what 3 happened when the next Missouri Synod pastor arrived. Rev. F. Ruhland of the Missouri Synod was installed in Oshkosh on June 5, 1859. New London became a bitterly contested preaching station. There was a race between pastors Ruhland (Oshkosh) and Fachtmann (Fond du Lac); Rev. Fachtmann came to New London by boat and Rev. Ruhland was chauffeured in a buggy by a member of the Oshkosh church. Rev. Ruhland arrived one day before Rev Fachtmann. Rev. Ruhland preached his first sermon on the afternoon he arrived. The next day when Rev Fachtmann arrived, he was not allowed to participate in a service. An altercation resulted that became a blessing in disguise for the Wisconsin Synod. Later, in June of 1859, a congregation was organized as St. John’s of the Missouri Synod that was served by Pastor Ruhland every five or six weeks. During this bitter struggle Rev. Fachtmann, in July of 1859, resigned from his pastorate in Fond du Lac and was installed at First Lutheran in La Crosse, Wisconsin. The result of the heated competition between the two synods culminated late 1859 or early 1860 when half of the members of St. John’s left to become members of the Wisconsin Synod. This resulted in a tension that took years to resolve. The congregation of Lutherans had been using the Little Prairie School as a meeting place and now St John’s either was asked to move or chose to do so on their own.

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