Martin Stephan: The Man Behind the Madness in Perry County, MO
The ousting of Pastor Martin Stephan in 1839 was by far the most dramatic historical event that has taken place in Perry County, Missouri. After misappropriating parish funds and committing adultery with multiple women, his Saxon Lutheran parishioners exiled him across the Mississippi River to Kaskaskia, Illinois where he lived for the rest of his days. It was definitely one of the most interesting events that I found in my research on the area, but I wanted to know more about this mysterious & scandalous figure. How could a man once upheld as a religious, pious leader have such a dramatic, shocking fall from grace? I researched his life and background to find out more about the man behind the scandal.
Stephan was born on August 13, 1777 in Stramberg, Moravia (now the Czech Republic) to newly converted, devotedly Lutheran parents. His parents were linen weavers and were bringing him up to continue the family trade, but both died while Martin was a young boy. A local pastor saw great potential in young Martin and decided to take him under his wing and gave him free access to the his parish’s library. This pastor’s mentorship and his newfound passion for reading set the foundation for Stephan’s mind to form into the conservative firebrand that he would later become. When he reached adulthood, Stephan was able to attend both the University of Leipzig and the University of Halle thanks to donations from Pietist Lutherans who also saw the same pastoral potential in him. However, academic matters did not interest Stephan and he chose to spend most of his time reading Lutheran theology and Pietist writings. He did not graduate from either university, instead becoming a pastor and living in Bohemia for a year.
In 1810, Stephan was called to be a pastor for St. John’s Church, which was a unique church formed by Bohemian refugees after the Thirty Years’ War. This parish was so unique because it was granted special privileges by the government, like holding irregular gatherings, electing its own pastors, and governing itself. All of these things were typically denied and strictly regulated by the government. Technically, Stephan never should have been chosen as pastor since he did not have a university degree, but the parishioners’ right to self-government allowed them to choose whomever they wanted.
Within Stephan’s 10 years as pastor at St. John’s, membership increased sixfold and his fame began to spread throughout the region. He preached an ultra conservative view of the faith, raging against the unionism and rationalism that were sweeping Germany in the 1830s. During this time, the conservative Lutherans (Pietists) and the more liberal side (Reformists) were forced to join together under one government in Saxony. This upset the Pietists, who believed the Reformists were far too worldly and rationalist in their beliefs. They believed the word of God should be upheld over the reason and logic of man, and being forced into a union with the Reformists watered down this belief.
By the late 1830s, Stephan had become a very connected and powerful religious figure in the Saxon Church. He gave sermons multiple times a day, both in German and Bohemian (Czech), and spoke with a dignified Bohemian accent, allowing the powerful words of his message and appeals to conscience saturate the minds of his parishioners. Many confided in him and sought advice on serious matters, viewing him as a trusted paternal figure for their community. Also at this point, Stephan had become a Pietist and conservative leader, drawing ire from his liberal Rationalist counterparts. They began to attack his insistence upon using confession, his methods of preaching, and even his personality. Stephan was even arrested multiple times for his abnormal gatherings and preachings.
As resistance against the Stephanites began to grow, he began to set his sights toward America. Here, the Pietists would be able to worship and practice their faith freely, without the interference of a theocratic government. Unlike many emigrants at the time who may have left the Fatherland for economic reasons, Stephan and his followers sought religious freedom and wanted to preserve their Old Lutheran beliefs. He and his followers formed an emigration society, and after months of intensive planning under their “Emigration Codes,” they set off for America. Like many German emigrants of the day, they were inspired to follow the course of Gottfried Duden’s Report on a Journey, and head westward to Missouri to live on the frontier. On the treacherous voyage, Stephan’s facade began to crack and he devolved into a controlling, paranoid shell of his once respected and revered former self. You can read more about their journey and the dramatic events that followed here.
