“Mary Help”: How the Catholic Parish in Frankenstein, Missouri came to be
Background: Osage County
Osage County sits directly to the east of Cole County, north of Maries County, and to the west of Gasconade County. Its northern border is the Missouri River, and much of its Western Border is the Osage River. Frankenstein, Missouri is an unincorporated community in the northwestern part of Osage County. It lies about 12 miles east of Missouri’s capitol, Jefferson City. The town is situated at the intersection of Missouri Route C and Country Road 423. Our Lady Help of Christians Parish can be found in the center of Frankenstein, Missouri.
Frankenstein, Missouri
The entire town of Frankenstein was built with the church at its center. Other homes, stores, and farms were often built around the parish.
“The central location of a church, even the mere presence of one in a town, in this area and in this era, was significant. Early urban promoters realized that the presence of a church attracted settlers and often offered the church land and money to build with if they would locate in their town.”
German Catholic immigrants thrived in tightknit, rural communities in the Great Plains area. This group displayed a unique sense of solidarity, community, and stability among its members. The churches grew and were prosperous. German Catholics also took part in a rich devotional and liturgical life within their churches.
“German Catholics had, it can be argued, the greatest influence on the character of the Catholic Church in that vast expanse that lay between the Mississippi and the Rockies. ”
Building the First Church: Maria Hilf
The first Catholic church in Frankenstein was Maria Hilf (Mary Help), which was a church built in 1865 out of logs that the parishioners collected. This church was considered to be a missionary church from the Immaculate Conception Parish in Loose Creek. Immaculate Conception was established by Father Helias in 1835. John and Christina Huesgen, parishioners of Maria Hilf, donated the land that Maria Hilf was built on. The church was situated on top of a ridge, with a beautiful view of the surrounding farmlands. Since this church was a missionary church and there was not yet an assigned pastor, mass was said infrequently, around once a month.
The Maria Hilf church was the first of four churches to be built. Over the years, Maria Hilf morphed into Our Lady Help of Christians Parish.
Immediately after the Civil War, the area around Maria Hilf grew significantly. By 1873, a newer, larger church building was needed to accommodate all of the parishioners. Two of these parishioners, Gottfried Franken and John Huesgen donated land for the building of a new church. This land was to the west of the original church site. The new site was more centrally located to families, and the church cost about $1,200 to build. This was the second church, and it was completed in 1874.
The first pastor to be assigned to Maria Hilf Parish was Reverend Joseph M. Diel. Father Diel arrived in Frankenstein in 1885. At this point, Maria Hilf consisted of around 50 Catholic families.
Building the Second Church: Father John Bachmeier
In 1889, another priest, Father John Bachmeier, was assigned to Maria Hilf Parish. Father Bachmeier was from Hofstetten, Bavaria. At this time, a third parish needed to be built to accommodate all of the parishioners. Father Bachmeier also wanted the new location to be suitable for both a new church and a new town. However, some parishioners wanted to simply move to the church in Luystown. In the end, Father Bachmeier chose the new church site to be three miles Northwest of Luystown. This new land three miles Northwest of Luystown was a hill that was donated by two partitioners: Dionysius Roettgen and Joseph Schafer. The land transfer took place in 1890. The land was covered in complete wilderness, so Father Bachmeier and his partitioners cleared the land themselves, and made it suitable for building. At this point, Father Bachmeier officially named this place Frankenstein, Missouri. It was either named Frankenstein in honor of Gottfried Franken, or in honor of a German Benefactor who helped fund the building of a new church and town.
Building the Third Church: The Annual Parish Picnic
In order to fundraise the building of a third, larger church, the annual summer picnic was established. There were a variety of foods served at these picnics including German pot roast, fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and sauerkraut. The entire community halted work on Friday and Saturday in order to prepare for the Sunday picnic, as well as help clean and tear down the picnic on Monday. Even today, this picnic is still a huge and important social event in Frankenstein; this year, they will celebrate the 131st annual picnic. Catholics from all over central Missouri, not just Frankenstein, attend the picnic. Because of the picnic’s success, construction for the new church began in 1891, and it was completed in 1892. The total cost for the church was $9,000.
Building the Fourth Church: Parishioner Involvement
By the early 1900s, the parish had grown so much, that they needed a fourth church. WWI delayed the building of a new church, but the pastor of the time, Father Alphonse Nicolas, who arrived at Maria Hilf in 1913, asked partitioners to buy Liberty Bonds to help fund construction. By 1921, there were enough funds for construction to begin. This newer church was made of huge, stone blocks that were quarried a mile away. Parishioners would help by transporting these blocks in the backs of their Ford Model T’s from the quarry to the new site. The church was completed in 1923 and cost less than $30,000. The cost was brought down by the labor and materials that the parishioners contributed.
This is the church that is the current Our Lady Help of Christians, and it is the one displayed in the photograph below.
