Church: Globe Lutheran 50th Anniversary
Contact:  Lois Hagedorn

Tell of Old Days at Globe Celebration

----Source: The Clark County Press (Neillsville, Clark County, Wis.) 8-Sep-1949

Immanuel Lutheran Church at Globe observed last Sunday the fiftieth anniversary of the building of its present church edifice. It was the occasion of a great homecoming of those whose lived and interests center in the Globe, Clark County, Wis. community. The attendance, as judged by dinners served after the morning service, was not far from 400.

At the morning service the preacher was Rev. William Wadzinski of Manchester, and in the afternoon the Rev. Frederick Brandt of Appleton. In the evening there was a brief address by the Rev. Alfred Schewe of Neillsville, followed by a picture.

The Revs. Wadzinski and Brandt were in their student days teachers in the church summer school, and to them the occasion was a homecoming. To Mr. Brandt, as he said in his sermon, the occasion recalled the old days when his father, pastor of St. John's in Neillsville, also served the Globe Church. Mr. Brandt said he could remember the preparation made for his father's cold drive to Globe; how a hot soapstone would be put into the buggy or cutter with him, and how he would then be tucked in with many blankets.

The church history, as give in the latter part of this article, was read to the congregation by the pastor, the Rev. Adolph Schumann. He explained, however, that the earliest records of the church are not available, and that even the later era, up to 1916 is without independent records. Up to that time the Globe church was served from Neillsville, and its affairs seem to have been record as part of the record of St. John's Church.

In view of the lack of record of the early days, the Clark county Press interviewed G. E. Grap, who at the age of 20 helped to build the original log church. That structure, Mr. Grap says, occupied the present site of the school building. It was much smaller than the present church; was built of logs and was one story high. The ceiling was about the height of the ceiling in the old-style house.

There was but one door into this old log church, and that door was at the south. The altar was in the southeast corner of the building, at the right as persons entered. The congregation faced north. The pews were crude board affairs, made on the spot, with single board backs, and with crude shelving on the back of each to accommodate the hymn books for those in the next pew to the rear. The large heating stove was at the north center.

In the old log church there was no organ. The hymns were led by William Brunkow, who was regarded as the singer of the congregation. The lack of an organ was a privation rather than a matter of discipline. If, as recorded last week, some of the Methodists at York Center objected to an organ as a worldly extravagance, that was not the viewpoint at Globe; the Lutherans there simply did not have an organ, but they got one when they could.

Nor was it looked upon as a hardship that the old church was built of logs. The men who went to help with the construction of that church went from log houses. In the 1880's there was no other kind of houses in the Globe community. Gus Grap's mother, who lived in the Globe community until 1936, continued to live in a log house until shed died. That same log house is there today on the old home farm, now occupied by Ferdinand Garp, Jr., with his son Frederick. They lived in a fram house but behind that building is the old log house, with modern siding on it.

Of course the old timers used boards for flooring and incidental purposes, but it was not easy to get boards. The nearest saw mill was on Wedges Creek, at what is now the Snyder dam. From there it was quite a haul to Globe. The hauling was by ox team, and that was the mode of conveyance when the Globe people went to Neillsville for supplies. It was an all day trip, though Mr. Grap recalls that oxen, when properly encouraged, could travel at a rate that would keep a man hurrying.

Mr. Grap recalls the first burial in the present church cemetery. The person interred was Mrs. August Bahr. In her last illness she worried about the place for a grave, the woods being all around her. So the men went to the site intended for the cemetery and made a clearing. Presently she was interred there, with stumps all around the grave.

Mr. Grap recalls, too, that there was wildlife in the thick wood, including wolves and bear, as well as deer. August Bahr once killed a bear, which had two cubs with her, on the forty later bought by Ferdinand Grap, Sr.

(The Church History)

The story of Immanuel Lutheran Church of Globe was told as part of the celebration. The church was organized in 1887. It was at first related to St. John's Church of Neillsville, the pastors of which supplied it until 1916. In that year the congregation completed a commodious parsonage, and the first family to occupy it was that of the first full time pastor, William Parisius. Mr. Parisius continued in the pastorate until 1927. He was succeeded by the Rev. Walter Motzkus, who served until 1939. Then came the present pastor, the rev. Adolph Schumann.

The pastors who served St. John's Church were: F. J. Eppling, Jr., 1887 - 1890; Christian Dochler, 1890 - 1892; F. Thrun, 1892 - 1904; Herman Brandt, 1904 - 1916.

Charter members of the church were William Scheel, Julius Hagedorn, William Kuhl, Eric Schoenherr, R. Spranger, Albert Lueck, Carl Schroeder, William Kalsow, Ferdinand Grap, L. Schultz, Fred Glasow, R. Mitte, Frank Kalsow, Albert Klueckmann, F. Steinberg, August Bahr, William Schlinkert, Sr. All of these charter members are dead.

The first board of elders consisted of Frank Kalsow, Julius Hagedorn and Frank Steinberg.

The members of the Globe Church at the time of the construction of the new church building in 1899 were as follows, as recalled for the Press by G. E. Grap: William Kuhl, William Scheel, Julius Hagedorn, Louis quast, Fred Glasow, Sr., Rudolph Spranger, Albert Lueck, Erich Schoenherr, Sr., William Kalsow, Sr., Ferdinand Grap, Sr., Ludwig Schultz, Carl Schroeder, William Mitte, Robert Mitte, William Brunkow, Fred Steinberg, Fred Kalsow, Albert Klueckmann, Andrew Krisling, G. E. Grap, William Schlinkert, W. B. Thoma, David Boyer, August Worchel, Albert Manthei, William Kuenkel, Henry Nemitz, Herman Hoffman, August Dudei and August Meihack.

Of the 30 listed above as members in 1899, only four are living now: G. E. Grap, who now resides in Milwaukee; August Worchel, who resides in the Frank Kaufman home in Neillsville: William Kuenkel, who still resides at Globe; and Henry Nemitz, who resides in Neillsville.

The present church building was erected in 1899, during the pastorate of F. Thrun. The building committee consisted of F. Steinberg, William Kuhl, W. B. Thoma and Frank Kalsow. This building, of frame construction, had been preceded by a building made of logs.

The schoolhouse, also frame, was constructed in 1906. The parsonage was erected in 1916, and in that year the congregation became fully self-supporting.

During the early years of close relation to St. John's Church the summer school was taught by theological students, these being William Krause, John Destinon, Robert Ave-Lallement, John Pieper, one Ploneid, whose first name is not known, A. B. Korn, William Wadzinski, Victor Schroeder, Walter Motzkus, Paul Bast, Walter Baumann, Frederick Brandt.

The first child baptized in the present church was William Kuhl.

The first church wedding was that of Ferdinand Grap to Martha Kalsow.

The first church funeral was that of William Brunkow, in Jan. 1900.

The first confirmation class in the present church building consisted of Emil Manthei, George Boyer, Paul Fechtner, Albert Steinberg, Gust Belter, Louis Scheel, Ewald Worchel, Oscar Kuenkel, Arthur Thoma, Anna Voigt, Anna Mallig, Anna Nemitz, Margaret Meihack, Mamie Hemp, Ida Dudei, Elsie Schlinkert, Helene Manthei, Amanda Kuhl, Alma Poppe, Frieda Henchen, Elva Seif, Ross Lueck, Margaret Wegner, Johanna Fechnter. This confirmation took place Oct. 6, 1907.

Immanuel Ladies Aid was organized in 1919 with these charter members: Mrs. Bruno Henchen, Mrs. G. E. Grap, Mrs. August Worchel, Mrs. Carl Schroeder, Mrs. William Mitte, Mrs. Albert Hemp, Mrs. Ferdinand Grap, Mrs. Albert Kalsow, Mrs. Frank Hoffman, Sr., and Mrs. Lebrecht Kalsow. The first officers were: Mrs. August Worchel, President; Mrs. Lebrecht Kalsow, Secretary; Mrs. William Mitte, Treasurer.

The present board of elders consists of Arthur Wegner, president; Henry Stiemke, secretary; Louis Dux, treasurer. The present school board consists of Leo Henchen, Ed Kalsow and Fred Marg.

(Add on Note)

Re: Church: Globe Lutheran 50th Anniversary
Contact:  Melani Motzkus Carty

I am the granddaughter of the Reverend Walter Motzkus, who passed away in Omaha, NE in 1962. My mother is an avid genealogist and has documented the Motzkus family history. If you are seeking information on the family tree of Rev. Walter Motzkus or his wife Eva Tolles Motzkus (who passed away in Santa Ana, CA in 1987), please contact Nancy Motzkus at nmotzkus@yahoo.com or contact me at mmotzkus@yahoo.com. SIncerely, Melani Motzkus Carty