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

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1939 QgQgLgLEGgE g W gggg ,gg g 1: 15:57--im: FREDERICK ZUCK1-:R Of these 74 in the college department, 23 were from St. Louis, and the rest from various states. The increase in attendance made it possible to organize the students into graded classes. This was done for the first time in 1857 when the present arrangement was instituted dividing the students into four high school and two junior college classes with Latin names from Sexta to Prima. More stu- dents also meant increased demands for space. So the center portion between the two wings Cder Gedankenstrichl was placed under construction in 1856. But the necessary funds were slow in coming and the completion of the building was delayed until it was occupied in November, 1857. A bed- room had been equipped in the building, despite the fact that the building was incomplete, in the latter part of 1856. The most significant changes, particularly in the last half of the decade at St. Louis, were made in the teaching personnel. In 1855 the administration of the college was separated from the seminary. Dr. Walther was named president of the school, while Professor Biewend was then called as direc- tor, and thus was the first director of Concordia College. Rector George Schick was called as Kon- rektor at about the same time. Both were formally installed in impressive ceremonies on March 31. 1856. Dr. Walther was the speaker, and both Bie- wend and Schick responded. Director Biewend died unexpectedly on April 10, 1858, just shortly before the central portion of the new building was to be dedicated. Rector Schick taught at Concordia College until 1914, and thus wins the distinction of having taught longer at the college than any other teacher. No man has left a more lasting im- i57i5Ei'5EE' 1S!I '.T.E pression on a larger number of alumni at Con- cordia than he. Candidate A. F. Hoppe assisted for some time, especially in 1855-6, teaching Latin and German in the lower class, and Greek grammar in the upper class. On May, 1856, G. Alexander Saxer took the place of Professor Goenner, who left tem- porarily to edit the Altenburger Bibelwerlc. Saxer's position was only temporary, since he had no for- mal call. In July, 1856, Dr. Gustav Seyffarth ac- cepted a position on the seminary faculty, but also taught history and science in the college depart- ment. In the fall of 1856 Synod extended a formal call to him and also to Professor Saxer. Dr. Sey- Pfarth was a noted Egyptologist and gave up his position as professor of archaeology at the Univer- sity of Leipzig. He refused to accept any salary since he had sufficient private means of support. He left the institution in 1859 when he left for New York where he found better library facilities to continue his archaeological researches. The Rev. Rudolf Lange was the last man to be formally called to the college while it was in St. Louis. He assumed his duties of teaching philosophy and English on December 7, 1858. He was considered the successor of the deceased Biewend. At this time also arrangements had been made with the Nor- wegian Synod to take care of Norwegian students. Three Norwegian students had enrolled in the fall of 18583 five more entered during the following year. So the Norwegian Synod sent Prof. Lauren- tius Larsen, formerly pastor at Rush River, Wis.. to take charge of this work. He began teaching in November, 1859, and continued until 1861. During this period the Rev. Theodor Julius Brohm, a founder of Concordia College, who had left New York to accept a call in St. Louis, assisted at the college for some time. Prof. K. Kleppisch also taught at the college during the last few years at St. Louis. The number of graduates also increased rapidly. There was not yet an annual class. but the candi- GI-zo. Sci-ncx Page 15

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CONCORDIA .- 1--1 Yfrrr T771-839 E'EEEE7:i1llE-5 or 6 6 'Eii -zziir FACULTY 1879-1880 Standing l. to r.: F. W. Stellhorn, R. Bischoff, Fred. Zucker, Aug. Crull. Seated l. to r.: H. Duemling, Geo. Schick, H. Diederich. dining hall was on the other side. On the first Hoor the hall separated the college classroom on one side from the library and seminary classroom on the other side. The boys' dormitory was placed on the second floor, while the hospital and study rooms were arranged on the so-called third Hoor. In the spring of 1852 Concordia College was granted a charter by the legislature of Missouri. College life in the early fifties of the last century made greater demands on the comfort of the stu- dents than today. The morning bell roused the stu- dents at 5 o'clock. After cleaning the rooms, mak- ing beds, eating breakfast, and attending to other routine matters, lessons were begun. The bedroom was equipped with large and small beds: the small beds, after having been made, were pushed under the large beds. The noon recess lasted from 12 to 2 o'clock, and then lessons were resumed until 5 o'clock. After the recitations in the afternoon, the students worked in their gardens, where many of the vegetables used in the kitchen were raised, did janitor services of some kind or another, or en- gaged in leisurely walks through the neighboring countryside. Board was 31.25 per week, or 34.00 Page 14 per month. The lower class Cnon-ministerialj paid a tuition fee of 36.00, while the upper class was charged 58.00. Examinations were open to the pub- lic, and grades on deportment only were issued to the parents. Summer vacations were short, from July 23 to September 1 in one of these years, for example, but a redeeming feature was long Christ- mas and Easter recesses, which lasted two weeks in both cases. All congregations of the Synod were urged to observe a Freudentag , a day on which special efforts were made to collect funds for liqui- dating the building debt and for buying provisions for the larder of the college kitchen. The enrollment was steadily increasing through- out the years Concordia College was located in St. Lcuis. Professor Goenner had arrived with nine pupils in 1849. The available statistics for the fol- lowing years show this increase: 1850, 6 in sem- inary, 10 in college: 1852, 34 in collegeg 1854, 9 in seminary, 36 in college, 1856, 9 in seminary, 43 in college: 1857, 48 in collegeg 1859-60, 14 in semi- nary, 74 in college. The size of each class in 1859-60 was as follows: 1, 53 II, 9: III, 83 IV, 14: V, 13: VI, 25.

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CONCORDIA - .. 1 3 3 9 'EEZ EET : 5 WY R. A. Brscaorr dates were released as they completed the pre- scribed course of studies. Six were graduated in the spring of 1853, and Hve accepted calls immediately. They were G. Volk, E. Metz, M. Guenther, O. Eisfeldt, M. Stephan, and Th. Gruber. Candidate Beyer passed his examination in the fall of 1855, but the rest of his class, five in number, was re- leased at Easter. 1856. All entered the ministry im- mediately. This group consisted of K. Gros, F. Ahner, G. Loeber, A. Huegli, and H. Hanser. G. Gruber, A. Schmidt, and R. Voigt were gradu- ated in 1858, and three more followed in 1859, viz., I. Moll, W. Achenbach, and F. Schaller. The largest class came in 1860 when ten completed their course. These were: O. Hanser, M. Tirmenstein, H. Wun- derlich, St. Keyl, W. Bartling, D. Buehler, H. Fruechtenicht, M. Zucker, E. Boese, and I. List. All accepted calls, except one, who continued his studies at a university in Germany. By 1861 Concordia College had reached its legal age of twenty-one, and now for the first time it was privileged to stand on its own feet. Until then, the college and the seminary were combined, but now the college was moved to Fort Wayne and became a separate school in its own right. But the change was not made too hastily. The Synodical convention, meeting in October, 1860, at St. Louis reached the momentous decision only after mature deliberation. The Civil War then, con- trary to what has been so frequently stated, had nothing to do with the change. President Lincoln had not yet been elected and no state had seceded from the Union at that time. In fact, the most burn- ing question, which evoked the real issue in the debate, was the advisability of combining the two seminaries, the theoretical seminary at St. Louis and the practical seminary at Fort Wayne. The official proceedings cite the seven reasons which motivated the convention as follows: C15 That the combination would be conducive to greater har- mony and unity in doctrine, C25 that it would pro- mote teaching efliciency by making specialization in the faculty possible, C37 that the employment of new teachers would not disrupt the program of instruction so much as would be the case if the seminaries remained separated, C43 that it would facilitate the problem of placing candidates, C53 that an advantage would be gained by having be- ginners and mature theological students at the 1 HANSER HALL, ERECTED 1869 Page 16