The Great Saxon Lutheran Migration
My archival object is a a detailed 75 page manuscript titled “Journey of the Stephanites from Saxony to St. Louis, 1838, and settlement in Perry County, 1839.” It was written by C. Heinrich who was one of the many travelers that voyaged with the Saxon Lutherans to Missouri, and he does a fantastic job of explaining how the Saxon Lutherans ended up in Perry County.
In 1838, a large group of Germans known as the Saxon Lutherans left Germany and headed for America. This group of six to seven hundred Germans was in search of religious freedom. At the time in Germany, there were two religious groups, the Rationalists and the Unionists. The Lutheran Germans from Saxony, Germany were opposed to both ideations, especially the Unionists, as it was a government sanctioned religious program that forced the Lutherans and the Reformed Church to merge. The Saxon Lutherans were being persecuted by these other religious groups and either had to change their religious identity or leave the country, and they chose the latter.
The Saxon Lutherans departed from Bremen harbor and started their voyage across the Atlantic Ocean. After arriving in New Orleans, they headed north all the way to St. Louis, and then back down south to Perry County in southeast Missouri, where a plot of land had been purchased for the settlement of this group. During the Saxon Lutherans stay in St. Louis, information about their bishop, Martin Stephen, was uncovered that proved him lo longer worthy of leading the congregation. He had partaken in unfaithful sexual activities, he was disloyal to the congregation, and he was guilty of hypocrisy. It was decided that Martin Stephen was no longer fit to lead and he was exiled from the congregation before the settlement of Perry County.
With the removal of the bishop and a desire to leave the trauma that occurred in St. Louis, the Congregation hastened their movement to Perry County, and arrived there on May 30, 1939. The plot of land purchased was 4,400 acres with a pricetag of $10,000. They had laid out a plan to construct several hundred buildings along the river with housing behind them, and on the bluff, the official and church buildings would be built. The full settlement of this Lutheran Congregation in Perry County was estimated to be about 500 people when fully completed.
The Saxon Lutherans had officially planted their roots in a new location free of persecution from anyone which allowed them to grow their religion and new settlement. 35 years later, a new church was built in Uniontown, Perry County, and hundreds of Germans from various parts of the country traveled to see then unveiling. The new church building in Perry County was among the finest in the state at the time, and brought attention to the establishment of the German Lutherans, by whose freedom it was built.
