Concordia College - Spire / Concordian Yearbook (Fort Wayne, IN)

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1825034 FCDREWORD This souvenir booklet of Concordia College and Concordia Lutheran High School hopes to serve a two-fold purpose. It has been written to act in the same capacity as the stone in Samuells day, called Ebenezer. namely. to commemorate one hundred years of Godls great mercy. love. and grace. It pleased the Lord to utilize this institution for His purposes for a period of one hundred years and He gave the school a glorious history. This book is an acknowledgment of this grace. To those who are interested in a record of this historical development this book will be welcome. A second purpose of this booklet is to act as an ambassador of good will entering the home of the reader and soliciting his prayers, his interest. his patronage for the future. Concordia realizes the value of the friendship of staunch supporters that has helped in the past to make the institution what it is. May the coming generations of students at Concordia uphold the good Christian traditions of the school. the worthwhile customs, the scholastic standards. the college spirit in the best sense. May the next century under God's grace be a notable one. To Him we commend our school and this book. May He bless both! OTTOMAR KRUEGER

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Concordia College 1839 -- l939 ONCORDIA COLLEGE drew its first breath of life a hundred years ago under rather in- auspicious circumstances. Few editors of a newspaper were more amazed than the editor of the f'Anzeiger des Westens in St. Louis when he read the copy of a notice in which the Perry County Saxons were announcing the opening of a college, the first Lutheran college west of the Mississippi River. That group at the Obrazo had made the headlines before, and the German newspapers and the non-Lutherans of St. Louis followed the activi- ties of the Perry County settlement with a great deal of mirth. But there were also others who thought that the endeavor was impractical. Dr. Walther wrote thirteen years later that many of the settlers themselves considered the founding of a college ridiculous. Still others viewed the project with serious misgivings for various reasons. Thus Dr. Carl Eduard Vehse wrote in 1840 that the pro- ject was ill-timed since credit for the development of a school could not be established. No words can more fully convey the significance of this notice or more adequately state the purpose of the founders than the words of the announcement itself, which bears the date of August 13, 1839, and reads as follows: An Institution of Instruction and Education. 'fWe, the undersigned, intend to establish an in- stitution of instruction and education, which dis- tinguishes itself from ordinary elementary schools, especially by this, that it comprises, besides the ordinary branches, all 'gymnasium' sciences neces- sary to a true Christian and scientific education, as: Religion, the Latin, Greek and Hebrew, German, French and English languages, history, geography, mathematics, physics, natural history, introduction to philosophy, music, drawing. The pupils of our institution are to be so far ad- vanced in the above named studies, that they, after absolving a complete course of study, shall be qualified for university studies. 'fThe esteemed parents, who may desire to place their children with our institution, are requested to make inquiries regarding its plan and arrange- ments of Pastor O. H. Walther, in St. Louis, Poplar Street, No. 14, between First and Second Streets.- Instructions are to begin, God willing, on the first of October of this year. At the settlement of the German Lutherans in Perry County, near the Obrazo. August 13, 1839. HC. Ferd. W. Walther Th, Jul. Brohm Ottomar Fuerbringer Joh. Fr. Buenger' Yet, despite adverse opinion and jeering on the sidelines, the founding of Concordia College was begun with unabating zeal and energy. The Saxon immigrants had landed in St. Louis during the months of January and February and on April 8 less than six hundred of these purchased 4,472.66 acres in Perry County, about 105 miles south of St. Louis, after they had spurned an offer made by the Gratiot family of some of the richest land in the valley of the Merrimac River, only ten or twelve miles from St. Louis. The purchasing price was S9,234.25, and an additional 81,000.00 was paid for the Wittenberg landing. The site of the settlement was not the most ideal. The land presented many aspects of the untamed American wilderness, and as a result the first few years tested the fortitude of the settlers almost be- yond endurance. One redeeming feature was their nearness to the Mississippi, which was at that time a crowded artery of river trafiic, teeming with nu- merous river boats, Thus they were in close con- tact with the outside world. The first homes were built at Dresden. All of the pastors and candidates were staying there. The Rev. Gotthold Heinrich Loeber moved into the par- sonage at Altenburg on November 25, 1839. This large parsonage. which housed the college for a while, as we shall see later, was built largely from Loeber's own funds. The Rev. Ernst Gerhard Wil- helm Keyl, the Rev. Ernst Moritz Buerger, and the Rev. C. F. W. Walther remained in the Dresden set- tlement during the winter of 1839-40. Later this congregation and the congregation at Johannesberg were placed under the charge of Dr. Walther. So Dresden was selected as the place for the college, and six acres were procured for this purpose. The idea of founding a college emanated from the three candidates who worked under the guidance of Dr. Walther. They were Johann Friedrich Buenger, Ottomar Fuerbringer, and Theodor Julius Brohm. These three were also the first teachers-all grad- uates of the university of Leipzig. Dr. Walther also assisted in teaching as much as his ailing health permitted. He also assisted with his advice till he was called to St, Louis in 1841. Dr. Walther's elder brother, the Rev. O. H. Walther, pastor of Trinity Church in St. Louis, died on January 21, 1841. The congregation called Dr. Walther on February 8. and he accepted the call on April 26 by attending the meeting of the congregation in person. The Dresden and Johannesberg parish was now joined with the Altenburg congregation. The three candidates were the founders of Con- cordia in another real sense, they were also the builders of the first structure. While the settlers Page 7