Koestering Family Papers

Collection

Identifier: Collection ID-2029

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The collection contains the papers of Johann Friedrich Koestering (1830-1908) and Emmanuel Friedrich Koestering (1867-1951), Johann’s son. There are fragments of handwritten documents (f.27), but since they are not dated and/or signed, it cannot be determined whether they were generated by J. F. or E. F. Koestering. The folders appear in alphabetical order.

The largest part of this collection comprises a description of various congregations. These documents are filed in alphabetical order by the town and country where the congregation was located. These descriptions may have been copied from articles published in early editions of Der Lutheraner. Again it could not be determined if they were written by J. F. or by E. F. Koestering.

A translated copy of J. F. Koestering’s book, Die Auswanderung der sächsischen Lutheraner im Jahre 1838, was completed by Walter J. Plischke in 1978. This translation is filed in the last folder of the collection (f.28)

Folder Listing

f.1 Biographical Material
f.2 Call Document (5 May 1861)

Congregational Descriptions

f.3 A
f.4 B
f.5 C
f.6 D
f.7 E
f.8 F
f.9 G
f.10 H
f.11 I
f.12 J
f.13 L
f.14 M
f.15 N
f.16 O
f.17 P
f.18 R
f.19 S
f.20 T
f.21 V
f.22 W

f.23 Congratulation (10 April 1881)

f.24 Photographs

f.25 Printed Material

f.26 Sermon

f.27 Various Writings

f.28 Translated Manuscript of Die Auswanderung der sächsichen Lutheraner im Jahre 1838

Dates

Creation: 1867 - 1951

Biographical Sketch: J. F. Koestering

Johann Friedrich Koestering was born in Dahlinghausen, Hanover, Germany on 20 February 1830. He graduated from Concordia Seminary in 1853 and served from November 1853 to May 1858 at Martini in Adams Township, Allen Country, Indiana. His second call took him to Frankenthal, Spencer County, Indiana, were he served from 1858 to 1861. From April 1861 to 1864 he served in Arcadia, Hamilton County, Indiana, and from 1864 to 1887 in Altenburg, Perry County, Missouri. In 1887 he accepted a call to Saint Paul Congregation in Saint Louis.

J. F. Koestering wrote Die Auswanderung der sächsichen Lutheraner im Jahre 1838, which was published in 1867. It is an account of the Saxon Emigration. J. F. Koestering died on 1 January 1908 in Saint Louis, Missouri.

Biographical Sketch: E. F. Koestering

Emanuel Friedrich Koestering was born in Altenburg, Missouri, on 16 December 1867. He graduated from Concordia Seminary in 1891 and served from August 1891 to August 1899 at Trinity in Muskegon, Michigan. His second call took him to Saint John (New Minden, Illinois), were he served from 1899 to 1938. He retired from the ministry in 1939.

He was the editor of The History of St. John's, a booklet published in 1921 at the congregation's 75th Jubilee. He died on 28 February 1951 in New Minden, Illinois.