Contents of time capsule offer insight into Cape Girardeau church

Members of a Cape Girardeau church found out Sunday morning that one little box can contain a big piece of history.

Wearing protective white gloves, members of Centenary United Methodist Church and historical preservationists from Southeast Missouri State University opened an almost 100-year-old time capsule in front of a packed congregation. The box was placed in the church's cornerstone when it was laid in 1907.

Inside, and in the best condition at the top of the stack, was the business card for H.A. Leher Stoves and Ranges, the company that made the copper time capsule box in 1907. Preservationists also found a copy of The Choir Herald from May 1907, a booklet dated May 1907 called "Educational Outlook," a copy of the missionary newspaper Go Forward, minutes from the 59th session of the St. Louis annual conference in September 1906, two copies of The St. Louis Christian Advocate from September 1906 and May 1907, a hymnal and two other quarterlies, which could not be immediately identified because of water damage.

The remaining artifacts were too wet to remove from the time capsule, so preservationists will take them back to the university to be dried and separated. According to the May 28, 1907, issue of the Daily Republican, a Bible, copies of the Daily Republican and St. Louis Globe-Democrat, a church directory, a list of pastors from the founding of Methodism in Cape Girardeau and various other papers remain in the box.

Stephen N. Limbaugh Jr., chair of the church's centennial committee, said the time capsule contains the only church records from the period, because all other records were lost when the church caught fire in 1914. Limbaugh, who is working on a book about Centenary's history, said some had wondered if the box had been destroyed as well.

"We were delighted that the capsule box was intact, because we thought it might have melted during the fire," he said.

Margaret Harmon, a Centenary member who graduated from Southeast with a historic preservation degree, said although the time capsule survived the fire, the moisture in the box probably is the result of firefighters dousing the building to put out the flames. She said this could explain why the artifacts at the top of the stack were in better shape than those at the bottom.

"It's remarkable that it has come out as well as it has, but over time the water has just seeped to the bottom," Harmon said.

Preservationists should be able to restore everything, Harmon said.

Ellen Ryan, of the university special collections and archives department, said preservationists will have to put the artifacts in a dehumidifier before they can remove them from the box. She said nothing will be touched until it has completely dried.

"We're looking at several weeks of drying time, and then we'll just see what happens from there," she said.

Preservationists also will take an inventory after the artifacts have been removed, Ryan said. Centenary plans to put the artifacts in a new time capsule, along with present-day items, at a centennial celebration in October 2006, but before anything is put in the new capsule, preservationists will seal the artifacts in mylar to prevent further water damage.

wmcferron@semissourian.com