Saxon Lutheran Heritage, Inc P.O. Box 39 Frohna, MO 63748

In celebration of the 175th Anniversary of the founding of St. John Lutheran Church and School we want to take a look at a portion of the heritage of our church and the roots that contributed to the formation of our congregation. Below is a description of a film made in the early 1990's that depicts the Saxon migration of our Lutheran friends in Perry County Missouri. Click on the button to the left to view the 45 minute film on YouTube. Many of the "actors" in the film at the time the film was produced are or were residents of the Altenburg/Frohna, Missouri area, one of the settlements of the Saxony Germans in 1839.

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In 1838 five ships set out from Bremerhaven (Bremen) in Germany bound for the port of New Orleans with the plan of reaching St. Louis. This convoy of ships and people was called the Gesellshaft. They arrived shortly after the new year in 1839. They continued their voyage up the Mississippi River to St. Louis with some settling in Perry County. The five ships were the Copernicus, Johann Georg, Republik, Olbers, and Amalia. Sadly, the Amalia was lost at sea. The book, Zion on the Mississippi, (published in 1953) chronicles the account of how Lutheranism originated in Missouri and its "influence on the social, political and economic sectors of the United States" (author Walter O Forster, Ph.D.). The YouTube video brings the emigration closer to home for us.

YouTube description of the 45-minute Video: For many years, a handful of people with roots in Perry County, Missouri have wanted to "fan into flame" their "His-Story." They felt that Walther, Loeber, Winter, and countless others belonged in the "Church's Hall of Fame" as the heroes our younger generation could look up to. In some ways, the story of the Saxon migration to Perry County, Missouri is no different than the stories of countless others who migrated to America in the 1800's and early 1900's. But, there is one thing that separates them from the masses. The Saxon immigrants did not come looking for fame and fortune. They came for one thing alone... RELIGIOUS FREEDOM. With the leadership of Martin Stephan, some 700 believers traveled halfway around the world from Saxony, Germany to find a religious freedom that had no part in "holding reason above Scripture." They wanted only to practice the teachings of Martin Luther without the restrictions placed on them in Saxony. Little did they know what hardships faced them.