RESTORATION IS ONGOING; HISTORIC GERMAN EVANGELICAL CHURCH SURVIVES

INTERIOR: Elroy Kinder, president of the German Evangelical Church and Cemetery Association of Dutchtown, Mo., Inc., looks over the interior of the church. The pews and elevated alter are original to the 1887 structure. Jackson USA Signal/Mark Evans

BRICKWORK: A sample of the simple, yet attractive German brickwork that will have to be replicated on the West side of the church, can be seen on the undamaged East wall. Jackson USA Signal/Mark Evans

GRAVE: Elroy Kinder, president of the association that maintains the German Evangelical Church and Cemetery, has also encouraged efforts to restore the 19th century German tombstones in the church cemetery. Jackson USA Signal/Mark Evans

DUTCHTOWN -- Tenacity and durability were attributes that allowed Dutch and German settlers to survive and prosper in the still-harsh environment of rural Southeast Missouri in the early 19th century.

The family and spiritual seeds planted by the German Evangelical Church near Dutchtown still grow strong throughout the region. Many area families can trace their lineage back to the German Evangelical Cemetery, just outside of the small community.

The architectural legacy of those 19th century German-speaking Christians has also proven to be tenacious and durable. The old German Evangelical Church building, built in 1887, was badly damaged Jan. 17, 1999, during a windstorm. The wind, which destroyed Fred Glueck's barn next door, also split an ancient pine tree in the adjacent cemetery. Apparently the change in air pressure caused most of the West wall of the historic brick building to collapse.

Work is currently underway to replace the demolished wall. A temporary plywood support has been in place since the storm. A wood frame wall is being put in for additional support, with a brick veneer on the exterior.

"We discussed it with the Department of natural Resources and they said that doing it that way would be fine," said Elroy Kinder, president of the German Evangelical Church and Cemetery Association of Dutchtown, Mo., Inc., since its inception in 1981. "The wall will be a lot stronger than the original."

Which is saying something. The German vernacular craftsmanship of the 113-year-old church is still apparent. Kinder and the association is taking time to do the restoration right.

"We're very concerned that we do it in a way that maintains the historic integrity of the building," he said. "The three windows were destroyed on the West wall, so we're having replacement windows custom-made to match the ones on the East side.

The association is also searching for a skilled brick mason to replace the bricks on the West wall. Kinder hopes the project may be completed within six months.

German-speaking Swiss Protestants founded the town of Spencer in 1835-1836. The town was later renamed Dutchtown. In 1846 the German Evangelical Congregation was organized by Rev. Jacob Koehler. Services were initially performed in the homes of the minister and various members.

In 1850, 1.54 acres of land were purchased from Wilhelm and Wilhelmina Willer. A log church was built in 1851. A parsonage was built nearby in 1865. The first recorded burial in the cemetery was in 1852, when Christian Kuss was interred. Kinder believed earlier unmarked burials may have occurred.

On May 15, 1887, the present brick building was dedicated by the growing congregation. A cistern, dug about 1865, caught water from the roof of the church. The log church was torn down some time later, as was the parsonage.

Little written record remains of the congregation -- other than the translated tombstone inscriptions. The church's fate was sealed in the 1910s, when the path of Bloomfield Road was moved. The church -- now on a gravel trail, just off of Mockingbird Lane -- was on the main East-West thoroughfare at the time of its construction.

The change in transportation patterns led to the disbanding of the congregation some time after 1910. A cemetery association was incorporated in 1910, but apparently was not active. The church sat empty for some 40 years and was near collapse in 1953, when the cemetery association was "revitalized."

"They say you had to fight your way to the cemetery and church, through sassafras and grape vines," Kinder said. "The wood shutters had blown off and eventually both the roof and floor pretty well rotted away."

An original pump organ had been left in the church. It was damaged beyond repair by the time the first preservation movement came about in he 1950s. Kinder speculates that the church records were probably left there, too. If so, the weather did them in, as well.

A new floor and new tin roof were added during the 1950s and the association has continued to maintain the building and cemetery. An annual meeting is held -- often a picnic on the grounds, in past years. In 1981 a perpetual care fund was established and has been growing ever since.

"Everything was going great until Jan., 1999," Kinder said.

The collapse of the wall forced the association members to decide what they wanted to do with the historic structure. A temporary support was put in place, to prevent the roof from collapsing, while an architectural inspection could be made. The building was determined to be architecturally sound and the association opted to go for the most historically accurate restoration it could manage.

The small, unadorned church still boasts its original 1887 elevated pulpit and pews. A salvaged beam from the demolished parsonage is also stored in the church. The original wooden front door still opens into the sanctuary. The German evangelical tradition of elevating the pulpit, Kinder said, was to cause the congregation to "look up, toward Heaven," while listening to the sermon.

Some of the original bricks -- now piled at the far end of the cemetery -- should be salvageable in the reconstructed West wall. Kinder hopes to use them "especially around the windows." Those bricks were hand-molded and kiln-fired, probably by church members. The cemetery, although containing primarily 19th century burials, is still an active cemetery. One grave was dug as recently as 1985 and one current member of the association owns a plot next to some ancestors and will eventually reside in the historic grave yard.

"A lot of people in Jackson, Chaffee and other towns have roots here," said Kinder, whose own great-great grandparents, John Jacob and Wilhelmina Nussbaum, are interred there.

Pastors of the church were Jacob Kobler, F.W. Umbeck, Johann Ulrich, Rev. Brunner, Rev. Herman, Jacob Schwab and Christian Frey Other pastors served both the German Evangelical Church and Salem Church simultaneously. The last evidence of the congregation being active is in he 1912 Evangelical yearbook. It lists Rev. G. Press as pastor.

Names of early members include Eggiman, Kuss, Suedekum, Bothe, Britz, Schneider, Hamburg, Butiger, Allers, Ackerman, Keller, Steimle, Bohnsack, Ackerman, Mullet, Nussbaum, Geiser, Steinhoff and Frey. The association has done work in recent years to carefully restore many of the markers and to translate the German inscriptions.

Some of the inscriptions are quite poignant. "There I shall live forever," said the inscription of 36-year-old Anna Marie Nussbaum, who died Jan. 20, 1867. "Good night, my dear Ones. God shall reward your faithfulness to me. Dearest Children and Kin, farewell, and good night. My life is completed."

The marker of Jacob Geiser (1830-1879) reads "The quiet grave does not frighten the faithful. He hopes in God and does not fear judgment."

Finally, the stone of E. Wilhelmine Steihoff, who died five days after her seventh birthday, in 1872, also decorated with an angel, reads "I see Jesus' Face. And so, Parents, weep not."

The German Evangelical Church and Cemetery Association of Dutchtown, Mo., Inc., continues to take donations for the upkeep of the building and cemetery. Donations may be sent to Dorothy Rowley, treasurer, 1320 Rolling Fields Drive, Jackson, MO 63755. Kinder is available to answer questions about the property, at 334-4964.