St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church (York, Neb) [RG3232.AM]

NEBRASKA STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY MANUSCRIPT FINDING AID

RG3232.AM:  St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church (York, Neb)

Records:  1879-1972

York, York County, Neb.:  Evangelical Lutheran church

Size:  1 reel of microfilm

BACKGROUND NOTE

Before the official organization of the church, a lay minister, Mr. Kugland and nearby ministers including Reverend K. Theodore Gruber, J. Seidel and Traugott Haessler served the area’s spiritual needs of the German Lutherans. On December 29, 1878, an organization entitled the German Evangelical Lutheran Church was formed under the direction of the Reverend G. Endres. The first permanent pastor, Wilhelm J. Gans, was called in 1884. The congregation was incorporated as the German Evangelical Lutheran St. Paul’s Church, U.A.C., in 1890. Two years later it joined the Missouri Synod of the Lutheran Church.

The congregation was disrupted to a degree in the late 1890s over the need for a larger church building. After eight members left the congregation and founded the Zion Lutheran Church of Thayer, Nebraska, the remaining members proceeded to build a new rural church structure in 1901. This replaced the first structure built in 1880.

One parish was formed consisting of the St. Paul’s and Zion Congregations of Thayer in 1945 under the advice of the district president. Each, however, retained their identity and continued to hold their own services. In 1952 a name change occurred when the German Evangelical Lutheran St. Paul’s Church became the St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church.

The St. Paul congregation was disbanded in January of 1964.

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE

This collection consists of the records of the St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church of rural York, Nebraska, arranged in four series on one reel of microfilm: 1) Minutes of Congregational meetings, 1879-1964; 2) Minutes of the Cemetery Association, 1964-1972; 3) Church Records, 1871-1963; and 4) Miscellany, 1953, 1970.

The bulk of this collection consists of the Minutes of Congregational Meetings, 1879-1963, which are recorded in the German language until 1932. Among the records in the Church Records series are lists of church members, confirmands, communicants, marriages, deaths, etc. The Miscellany files contain data relating to the both the 50th, and 75th Anniversary celebrations, including anniversary booklets and bulletins. A historical marker file (1970) relating to the St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church is also available in the Miscellany.

DESCRIPTION

Series 1 – Minutes of the Congregational Meetings, 1879-1964

Reel 1

Volume

1. 1. Minutes, 1879-1901 [in German]

1. 1. Minutes, 1901-1933 [in German]

1. 1. Minutes, 1934-1955

1. 1. Minutes, 1955-1964

Series 2 – Minutes of the Cemetery Association, 1964-1972

1. 1. Minutes, 1964-1972

Series 3 – Church Records, 1871-1963

1. 1. Church Records, 1884-1953 (original)

1. 1. Church Records, 1954-1963 (original)

1. 1. Misc. church records, i.e. list of confirmands, marriages, burials, baptisms, communicants by the Maryville and St. John’s Churches, 1871-1884. St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church Records, including a confirmation register, 1886-1951; marriages, 1884-1949; burials, 1885-1950; church officers, 1879-1953; voting members, 1880-1954. (compiled from official sources)

Series 4 – Miscellany, 1953-1970

1. 1. Community and Church history (including draft for Anniversary Booklet), 1953

1. 1. St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church’s 75th Anniversary Bulletin, 1953

1. 1. Anniversary Invitiations (includes invitations & mailing list)

1. 1. Historical Marker file, 1970

ADDED ENTRIES:

Evangelical Lutheran Church in Nebraska

German Evanglical Lutheran Church in Nebraska

German Evanglical Lutheran Church (York, Neb.)

Germans in Nebraska

Lutheran Church in Nebraska

St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church (York, Neb)

York (Neb.) — Churches

York County (Neb.) — Churches

DJJ/ht   6-2-1973

kfk   3-22-2003

Revised 10-28-2009   TMM