SAXON LUTHERAN MEMORIAL CAPTURES ESSENCE OF SAXON LEGACY

This log barn is thought to have served as slave quarters.

Victor Snyder, who is curator along with his wife, Hilda, holds straw that has been made for brooms. Broom making is only one of the demonstrations that will be featured at the Fall Festival, which will be held on Oct. 14.

The Saxon Lutheran Memorial in Frohna is a walk-in history book as well as a legacy to those Saxon Lutheran immigrants who settled in Perry County in 1839.

On Oct. 14, the public is invited to attend the 15th Annual Fall Festival and then everyone can see for themselves what a fascinating place it is.

The Memorial Complex consists of 11 and one-half acres dominated by a log cabin. Also restored are a log barn within a frame structure, two small log buildings thought to have served as slave quarters for settlers prior to the arrival of the Saxons, a wooden granary converted into a country store museum, a Visitor Center and outdoor museum for farm equipment.

"The fist cabin was built by the Twyman family," said Victor Snyder, who, along with his wife Hilda, has been curator for the memorial for the last nine years. "They came from Carolina and built the south cabin in 1820."

But the Twyman's didn't own the cabin and surrounding property for very long.

In 1839 Pastor Martin Stephan led a group of some 700 Lutherans from Saxony, Germany to America in search of a haven to their religious beliefs.

Leaving a few of the families in St. Louis, the rest came with Pastor Stephan to Perry County where they established their first settlements in Frohna, Altenburg, Wittenberg, Seelitz and Dresden.

Among the immigrants were the brothers Wilhelm and Christian Adolph Bergt. They purchased the property from the Twyman family, and many additional acres of government land that adjoined the property.

When the Bergt family was done, they owned 4,475 acres of land.

They added another cabin onto the original one in 1842, Snyder said, with a cellar underneath. A double fireplace is between the two cabins, and an attic above extends the length of the building.

The attic served for the second pastor of the Frohna church, Christian H. Loeber, who lived with the Bergt family in 1850 and 1851. During this time he held parish school sessions in the 1842 room of the cabin.

One of the pamphlets from the memorial claim that this building is undoubtedly one of the oldest existing buildings used as a parish school in the Missouri Synod.

On Oct. 14, the memorial will host its Fall Festival from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Snyder said it's always a good time.

"We always have a large crowd," Snyder said, "usually between 2,500 to 3,500 people depending on the weather."

The festival is full of great things to do. Apple butter cooking in 30-gallon copper kettles over an open fire will be a main feature. Other displays and demonstrations will also be featured including quilting, spinning, soap making, apple cider pressing, corn grinding, broom making and cross-cut sawing.

Local and regional artists and craftsmen will show off their crafts and a 1995 Festival Artist will be chosen from among the festival exhibitors.

The Gift Shop and Country Store will provide traditional items including baked and canned goods as well as garden produce.

Plate dinners of German potato salad, cole slaw, pork burgers or bratwurst and sauerkraut as well as coffee cakes and other delicacies will be available.

"Don't bring a sack lunch," Snyder said. "There'll be plenty enough to eat for everybody."

Free parking will be available. There will be no admission charge, but visitors and guests are encouraged to make a contribution for the work of the memorial when they register upon arrival. There will be drawings for attendance prizes.

Over the years, several additions were made to the Bergt home. A lean-to porch was added across the west side when the second log room was built. In the 1840s a board and batten lean-to was built across the east side to serve as kitchen and porch, but were removed in the '20s.

In 1870 a room was added beyond the west porch and later the porch was closed to serve as a kitchen.

In 1912, they built the white house that the Snyder's now live in that also serves as a gift shop.

With most of the original immigrant homesteads rapidly disappearing, Concordia Historical Institute purchased the Bergt home in 1961 and restored it as a museum reflecting the life and work of the early immigrant group. The project cost some $60,000 and many hours of volunteer work. Contributions are needed to meet current operating expenses.

The Memorial was dedicated on the 125th anniversary of the Saxon Immigration with a special service on Oct. 31, 1964. Dr. Oliver R. Harms, then president of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, was the festival speaker, with hundreds of people in attendance. The Visitor Center was dedicated on Dec. 4, 1983.

The memorial is owned and operated by the Concordia Historical Institute, Department of Archives & History, The Lutheran Church -- Missouri Synod.

To get to the Saxon Memorial, take U.S. 61 to Uniontown, turn east onto Highway A and proceed six miles to Frohna. Turn left on Highway C past Concordia Lutheran Church on the left, at the bottom of the hill turn right on Saxon Memorial Drive.