Church Services Held in Homes, School

The first settlers in the Aspinwall area were mainly of German and Irish descent, and the church was indeed a very important part of their lives. Aspinwall has never had a church building, but that never stopped the people from conducting services and participating in their religious activities.

"Preacher" Martens was one who guided the spiritual needs of early residents of our area. Among those he baptized were Lisetta Sinow and Ida Koester, who were born in 1896 and 1902; the baptisms were held in the homes of their parents near Aspinwall. He also married and buried people of all faiths; Preacher Martens was not an ordained minister, but he was a justice of the peace so everything was legal.

These young men are believed to be taking Sunday School classes in Aspinwall about 1885. Shown are, from left, front row, Winnie Hathaway, Ben Nickel, May Wahl, Adrian Hockett, and L.L. Hockett; second row, John Stammer, Jim Eiler, Charles Smith, Albert Stammer, Ben Smith and John Gluckstadt; back row, John Thompson, H.E. Kuhl, Fred Musfeldt, John Musfeldt, Fred Stammer and Joe Bechtel. Alfred Kuhl identified the boys in 1956 during the publication of the Diamond Jubilee edition of the Manning Monitor.
Our only guess as to why there are only boys in the class is that most had to walk several miles to get to Aspinwall. We believe May Wahl is the teacher.

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Confirmation Day, August 23, 1914, with young people Elsie Pruter, Louie Koester and Ida Koester being confirmed. Pastor Henry Wendt, a traveling pastor, also served the people in Buck Grove and Charter Oak.

Students confirmed into the Lutheran Church August 20, 1911, included, from left, front row, William Hansen, Lisetta Sinow Derner, Pastor Henry Wendt, Alma Guth Ewoldt and Frank Ehrichs, and back, Hattie Kai Hageman, Lora Guth McCann, Mamie Will Bornhoft and Anna Ehrichs Schade. The confirmation service was held at the Aspinwall school house, and the following Sunday, Pastor Wendt baptized Lisetta's brother, Herbert Sinow, there. Pastor Wendt was from the Manilla Trinity Lutheran Church, Iowa Synod; services at the Aspinwall School were later conducted by Pastor Johann M. Ansorge of the Manning Zion Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod.

CATHOLIC SERVICES
Catholic services were held occasionally in Aspinwall until 1886, according to the History of Crawford County, published in 1911. We know very little about the early services; generally, visiting priests came to the area and administered the Sacraments in private homes. In 1889, Father O'Farrell moved to Manning and served the church there as well as the two churches in Buck Grove and Manilla. Today, as then, our Catholic residents attend services in Manning or Manilla.

LUTHERAN SERVICES
The Evangelical Lutheran Trinity Church of Manilla was organized October 24, 1886, in Aspinwall. Services were held in the school house until 1888, when the church building was constructed in the newly-founded town of Manilla. It was later called the Trinity Lutheran Church, Iowa Synod.

After the church was moved to Manilla, Pastor Henry Wendt traveled by horse and buggy to Aspinwall every third Sunday to conduct Sunday School classes as well as a regular church service. The other two Sundays he held services in Buck Grove and Charter Oak.

Many area people were confirmed in the Lutheran faith by Pastor Wendt, and also attended his German Sunday School. This school was established for the confirmands to learn to read and write the German language. The three summer months were set aside for this, and every Wednesday the students would meet for

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an all-day session. They would bring their lunches with them from home, and Pastor Wendt would eat lunch with a family from the congregation. Many people had to walk several miles to attend this class and others drove to town with horses and buggy. The last few weeks before confirmation, the students attended the class twice a week. They had to memorize as many as 90 Bible verses, and at a special service held before the entire congregation, they were asked to recite many of the verses, picked at random by the pastor. Some of the early classes had as few as three members, so it was quite a nervous moment for the youngsters.

Pastor Johann M. Ansorge, the Lutheran minister from Manning, conducted church services at the school in later years. He would have a German service and an English service. Pastor Ansorge would bring Sunday School teachers with him from Manning, as well as his wife, who would provide the music for the services. It was Pastor Ansorge who helped the Lutheran ladies in Aspinwall establish the Aspinwall Ladies Aid in 1929. These Ladies Aid meetings were held in the homes of the members, and then, in 1955, the Aspinwall Ladies Aid became a part of the Zion Lutheran Church of Manning and became the Zion Ladies Aid.

His confirmation classes at Aspinwall often drew as many as 40 students.

Today, Lutherans attend church in either Manning or Manilla.

The Zion Lutheran confirmation class in Aspinwall in 1929 included, back row, left to right, Louie Thompson, Herman Koester, Julius Koester, Herbert Sinow, Virgil Genzen; third row, Harry Schroeder, Florence Schroeder (Mrs. Henry Thomssen), Harry Jansen, Wilhelmina Schroeder (Mrs. Arthur Fuss), Elmer Lund and Vernon Ossenkop; second row, Irene Schacht (Mrs. Ivyl Armentrout), Hugo Schrum, Adelaide Wiese (Mrs. Hugo Schrum), Pastor Ansorge, Elsie Wegner (Mrs. Gus Schrum), Gus Schrum and Hilda Koester; first row, Gertrude Schroeder (Barten-Mork), John Babik, Gusta Jansen (Mrs. Roy Georgius), Alva Schacht (Mrs. Emil Fuss) and Henry Koester.

OTHER RELIGIONS
Circuit preachers were generally responsible for providing services for other faiths. In 1876, the Reverend William Patterson was assigned to the area, with preaching "appointments" at Dowville (Dow City), Willow, Theobald's Schoolhouse (Astor), Pleasant Hill in East Boyer Township, and Grand Valley, near Manning. He reportedly found "few people but plenty of territory."

Church meetings were found in homes, groves, halls, and in some cases even saloons. The Presbyterian Church in Manning was built in 1883 and Manning's Methodist Church built in 1886, making them two of the first church buildings in this area. Members of these two faiths today attend services in Manning or Manilla.

ODDS AND ENDS
My father, known as C. (Claus) Fred Stammer, stayed on the home place 1 1/2 miles north of Aspinwall, which had been purchased by his father Claus in 1881. My Uncle Albert bought the farm across the road to the east in about 1906; he lived with my parents for a year before moving there. Albert's farm didn't have a barn, so the one from our farm was moved there by using skids. The barn is still being used by Harold Voege.
Goldie (Stammer) Meeves