After the death of Otto Herman Walther in January of 1841, Trinity Lutheran Church in St. Louis called Otto’s brother, Carl Ferdinand Wilhelm Walther, to be their next pastor on February 8th.  Rev. C.F.W. Walther was serving two congregations in and around Perry County, Missouri at the time.  The congregation chose a shoemaker named Martin Quast to travel to Perry County to take the news to C.F.W. that he had a call to their congregation.  Martin was married to Rosette Hermann just about a year earlier with Otto Herman performing the ceremony.  Martin would have to make a pretty quick trip to carry out this mission in order to get back to St. Louis to celebrate his first anniversary.

C.F.W. wouldn’t accept this call until after the Altenburg Debate which took place in April that year.  Martin Quast lost his wife in 1849 due to the cholera epidemic, and C.F.W. must have officiated at the funeral.  This was the same month that Rev. Walther lost his mother-in-law, Christiane Buenger, to the same disease.

In case you’re interested, these stories are included in my book, “Mama Buenger: Mother of a Synod” which can be purchased on Amazon, or you can pick up a copy from the gift shop at the Lutheran Heritage Center & Museum.