105 YEARS AGO

Back in 1870 the American frontier was constantly pushing westward. It is very interesting to note, therefore, that the three Synodical Conference congregations located in the northwestern corner of the Northern Illinois District were first served and organized by Pastors coming from west of the Mississippi.

By 1870 vast throngs of German immigrants were flooding the Middle West. Some of them found Whiteside County, often called "one of the garden spots of America," to their liking and established homes in the village or out on the prairie. Most of those remaining in town located near the Rock River in "Fischerdorf" (fishing village), the area now dominated by the Northwestern Steel and Wire Company. At the same time Hopkins township, located about 10 miles north and west of Sterling, began developing into a rural center for German Lutherans. The history of these two centers of Lutheranism parallel one another; in fact, their early histories are intimately united.

Things looked pretty good for those new Americans. They were in a prosperous area; some of their friends and relatives from the old country were near at hand; the times were good. But one thing they lacked...their Church. Something had to be done about that.

Some of them visited services conducted by an itinerant German preacher, but they found neither his service nor his preaching to their liking. It wasn't Lutheran; it was revivalistic. They had to look elsewhere.

Back in 1870 these folk were Missouri Synod pioneers. Look at the organization dates for sister congregations in our area: Pecatonica, 1875; Freeport (Immanuel) 1877; Mt. Carroll, 1880; Rockford (St. Paul's) 1888; Lena, 1890; Elizabeth, 1895; Rochelle, 1897. That same year a Circuit Rider Missionary reported to the Illinois Synod of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod that "all missionary opportunities outside of metropolitan Chicago have been exhausted." Also in those days some lacked vision.

REV. CLAUS SEUEL 1870 - Sept. 1874

In time they heard about a Pastor in Lyons, Iowa, now a part of Clinton. A request was addressed to the Rev. Claus Seuel urging him to break the Bread of Life with them. That was in 1870. The Lyons congregation was already 15 years old at that time.

To answer the call meant a lot of traveling over rugged roads, but a faithful Lutheran Pastor simply could not turn a deaf ear to hungry Christians calling for spiritual nourishment. So about 1870 he began occasional excursions across the Mississippi into Illinois. Though the settlers would have liked to have had him with them oftener, they had to be content with public worship about once a month. After all, each journey meant about 60 miles by horse and buggy, by horse and sled, by railroad hand-car, or - if it happened to be the right week - by train.

In 1947 your Pastor struck up a conversation with a Pastor Zimmermann in Chicago. He beamed with joy at the mention of Sterling. "My Dad was working for the railroad and living in Morrison in 1869," he explained, "and often told us about the part he played in establishing the Lutheran Church out that way. He would borrow a hand-car, call for Pastor Seuel at Lyons, bring him to Round Grove and Sterling, and then see to it that he got back again the same way."

Mrs. Dietrich Knelson, who came to America in 1870 at the age of 14, was certain Pastor Seuel conducted monthly services in the Round Grove area that year. She could still recall the first service her family attended in the Hopewell School. She was 84 when she shared this information but her memory was sharp and clear and her knowledge of the Scriptures commendable. Sometimes the Pastor could get away on Saturday; then he'd spend the night with one of the area families. At other times it was necessary to make the round trip on Sunday. Sometimes he was able to provide his own transportation; on other occasions it was necessary for a local farmer to call for him and take him back to Iowa again. Only occasionally could the train be used because there was a Sunday train only every three weeks. Whenever he could stay over until Monday, he was able to take a Monday train back to Lyons, but school teaching duties in Iowa didn't often permit that.