The beginning
In 1838, John H. Ph. Bleeke, then living in Cincinnati, made a trip to Adams County and purchased the northwest quarter of section 21, becoming the third man to enter a deed for land in what is now Union Township. In 1840, he returned with his wife and their two sons and three daughters, arriving on November 27. A wagon-cover stretched across poles was their only shelter while they built a rough log-house, which still had no roof or floor when they moved in on Christmas Eve.
During those first years, the Bleekes walked five miles through swampy woods to attend church services in the Clamor Fuelling home in Root Township, and later in the log church built there in the early 1840s.
A congregation takes shape
It was in 1849 that the Rev. J. Andreas Fritze, pastor of St. John’s Bingen and St. Peter’s Root Township, began holding regular preaching services in the Bleeke home. That November, two other German families arrived to settle in Union Township: John H. Krueckeberg with his wife and three daughters, and Henry Wm. Weyland with his wife, son, and daughter. Both families immediately joined the Bleekes at divine services, forming the nucleus of the present Immanuel Lutheran congregation.
Other Lutheran pioneers followed in the years that came: J.H.W. Carl Grote in 1852; C.D. Ferdinand Reinking in 1853; J. Andreas Thieme in 1855; and Carl H.W. Krueckeberg, C. William Schamerloh, K.H. Ludwig Koldewey, J.F. Hoeriger, and H.J. Ruecklos, Sr., all before the end of 1858.
These ten men, together with John Bleeke and his sons Christian F. and Karl F. Wm., were the charter members who on December 14, 1858, adopted and signed the constitution, formally organizing Immanuel Lutheran Church.
Building a church
The first church, built of logs, was begun in 1851 by the half-dozen pioneers then present in the community. The structure was completed and dedicated in 1855. The first parsonage was constructed in 1865, replaced in 1917 with a brick-veneer building.
The present house of worship was built in 1891 at a cost of about $5,000. In 1912, the church was placed on a higher foundation, a furnace and pipe organ were installed, the tower was lowered thirty feet, and other improvements were made. In 1929, side balconies were added, the church was redecorated, and the altar statues of Christ and the adoring angels were installed where they remain to this day.
Today
Immanuel continues to gather in Adams County as it has for more than 175 years around the same Word and Sacraments that sustained those first German families through the hardship of a new land. The congregation is a member of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod and shares in its worldwide mission. You are warmly welcome to plan a visit and worship with us.