I am a day late with this story, but I could not ignore it. It’s a bicentennial birthday story. Rev. Martin Stephan is rather famous (and infamous) for leading the German Lutheran immigration to America in 1839 known as the Gesellschaft. When Rev. Stephan came to this country, he left most of his family in Germany, including a wife and several children. However, he did bring one son with him. That son carried the same name and is often referred to as Martin Stephan, Jr. Yesterday was Martin Stephan, Jr.’s 200th birthday, and I missed it.

Martin Stephan, Jr. was born on July 23, 1823 in Dresden, Germany. No family tree on Ancestry.com lists the name of his mother. I am away from home for a few days, and I did not bring my copy of Zion on the Mississippi. Perhaps that book states the name of Rev. Stephan’s wife. If not, I think Concordia Historical Society in St. Louis might have a name for her in their collections. Martin, Jr. was 16 years old when he traveled with his father aboard the ship, Olbers, to New Orleans. He was one of those who were privileged to travel in the cabin section of that ship, as is shown on the passenger list below. There are quite a few names on this list that became important actors in the early years of the settlement in Perry County and the establishment of the Missouri Synod.

After his father was banished from Perry County in May of 1839, I am not exactly sure what Martin, Jr. did right away. A later passport application was made by his son, Theodore Stephan. On that form, it says his father had gone back to Germany to study art from 1841-1847.

I do not know Martin, Jr.’s motivation for doing so, but in 1847, he returned to America aboard the ship, Europa. We find his name on the passenger list below.

A short bio for him that I will display later says that he worked as a lithographer in New York City and was a private tutor in Vermont before he made the move to St. Louis to attend Concordia Seminary. The Seminary had just moved to that city and was in need of a building. Martin, Jr., who had studied architecture while in Germany, drew up some plans for that new building. Below is a photo of what that building looked like.

Martin, Jr. also studied at Concordia Seminary to become a Lutheran pastor. I have been told that it took quite a bit of serious discussion with Rev. C.F.W. Walther before he was accepted there as a seminarian. We find Martin in the 1850 census. On the previous census page, you find the family of C.F.W. Walther. You probably recognize a few other names on this list of students at the Seminary.

Rev. Stephan served in a few locations early in his ministry. In 1855, we find him in the Wisconsin state census living in the Lomira Township. There is just one person tallied in his entry, so he was likely not married yet.

Then in 1857, he became a pastor in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The map below gives you an idea where these locations were.

It was about this time that he became a naturalized citizen. His application for that status is shown here. Fred. Lochner, one of the witnesses, was another important early Lutheran figure who spent time in Milwaukee. I am wondering if the C. Eissfeldt is the same person as the Otto Eissfeldt, who is listed in the 1850 census as a teacher at the Seminary.

I suspect that Rev. Stephan was involved with a new congregation established with the help of Johann Friedrich Gruenhagen, whose story was told in the post, An Old Lutheran’s Odyssey.

Next, we would find Rev. Stephan living in the Fort Wayne, Indiana area where he was an assistant pastor as well as a part-time instructor at the Lutheran college there. Below is the 1860 census entry for him living in the Adams Township in Allen County, Indiana. You can see that he is now married to a woman named Caroline, and they had one child. Martin is called a preacher.

I do not know much about Caroline. On a later death certificate for one of their children, it says her maiden name was Zimmermann. I also know that she was born on February 22, 1835. For a few years later in the 1860’s, Rev. Stephan served a church in Walcottsville, New York. Then, in 1866, he took a call to a church rather near Perry County…St. John’s Lutheran Church in Chester, Illinois. He served that congregation from 1866-1875. We find the Stephan household living in Chester when the 1870 census was taken. We see that the Stephan family had grown considerably.

In 1877, Rev. Stephan began his service at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church near Waverly, Iowa. That area is known as the headquarters of the Iowa Lutheran Synod, but this congregation was part of the Missouri Synod. When the 1880 census was taken, we find the Stephan household living in the Warren Township of Bremer County, Iowa. There were still 8 children in this entry.

This photo was taken of Rev. Martin Stephan, Jr. at some point in time. It mentions in the caption that he also designed the seal of the Missouri Synod.

Rev. Martin Stephan, Jr. managed to qualify for an entry in the Lutheran Cyclopedia. His bio from that book is shown below.

Pastor Stephan died in 1884 at the age of 60. His obituary shown below describes how he died in his chair and was found dead when he was called for dinner and did not come.

Caroline, then a widow, is found in the 1900 census living in Chicago with 3 of her single children.

Next, we find Caroline and two single children in the 1910 census.

Caroline Stephan died in 1915 at the age of 80. She is buried in the Concordia Cemetery in Forest Park, Illinois.

Martin’s father may have made some poor decisions regarding his personal life, along with how he handled the immigration society, but I have never heard anyone dispute his theology. Apparently, his son was also a skilled theologian, along with his architectural talents. He is credited with designing several church buildings around this country. He provided some very valuable skills during the early years of the Missouri Synod.

So, today we wish a Belated Happy Bicentennial Birthday to the Junior member of the Martin Stephan family.