Our museum will host a large school group from St. John’s Lutheran School in Chester, Illinois today. Therefore, I have decided to post an old story instead of writing a new one. I am attaching a story that was first published back in 2018 that told the story of the ship, Carl, which arrived on October 22, 1866. Many of our present-day residents of Perry County can say that their original ancestors came to America on that ship.
I have one question that I would like answered about the passengers who disembarked from the Carl. For those who ended up in Perry County, if they traveled together up the Mississippi River on a steamboat, what was the name of that boat? Perhaps one of our blog’s readers can answer that question.
Back to St. John’s, Chester. That congregation, which is not far from here, had two pastors who served them who could be traced back to the 1839 immigration. One was Rev. Martin Stephan, Jr., the son of the leader of that immigration. The other was Rev. J.A.F.W. Mueller, who was the first graduate of Concordia Seminary when it was located in Altenburg. Previous posts have been written about these two pastor. I hope when the students return to Chester after their visit here, they will have an understanding of their church’s close connection to the early history of East Perry County Lutheranism.
I will also point out that another important project is going on right now involving Perry County and Chestier, Illinois. The old Chester Bridge is being replaced with a new bridge that is now under construction. I know that I cross that bridge on our fairly regular trips to visit our grandchildren in Illinois. It is fascinating to watch the progress on that bridge’s construction. There are places on the internet where people have been posting videos taken with drones that are absolutely amazing.
Here is a YouTube video that was posted earlier this year in February.